From: chrisp@theory.TC.Cornell.EDU (Chris Pelkie)
Subject: Re: Columbia House LD Club questions
Organization: Cornell Theory Center
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 14:11:34 GMT

In article <memo.855815@cix.compulink.co.uk>, andre@cix.compulink.co.uk (Cygnus Software Ltd) writes:
|> I'm thinking of joining the Columbia House LD Club (by proxy from the UK -
|> sshhhh!) but I wonder if any existing members would care to comment on their
|> service/prices/etc.
|> 
|> I'd really be doing it mainly for the three discs for $7.50 offer, then just
|> buy the two extra discs as required by their small-print, and resign. Is this
|> feasible, or do they continue to semi-insist on further purchases, even after
|> you've tried to get out? (e.g. by sending you discs you can return if you
|> don't want them, etc.)
|> 
|> What are their 'normal' list prices like, and what about their stock range?
|> For example, I'm interested in some Disney CAV's, like Bambi and Peter Pan,
|> before they go out of stock everywhere. Ideally I'd like a CAV of Little
|> Mermaid too, but I guess there's not much chance they've got one of those! :-(
|> 
|> Finally, what's their packaging quality, and speed of delivery like?
|> 
|> Thanks in advance for anyone's help (especially to the person who volunteered
|> to do the ordering in the US for me; you know who you are, and it's much
|> appreciated).
|> 
|> Andre
|> 
|> Andre Willey                       |  Email: andre@cix.compulink.co.uk
|> 7 Oaklands Road, Sutton Coldfield, |         andre@cix.uucp
|> West Midlands, B74 2TB, England.   |         ...{mcsun}!uknet!cix!andre
|> Phone: (UK) 021-308-5251           |  "Il est mort, Jean Luc..."


I was going to post this anyway, so I'll attach it to your request.
CHLDC carries a moderately good assortment, but there are some big
holes for LD collectors, including NO Criterion titles. You will
have to shop elsewhere (I like Sight & Sound for everything else
that I can't get through CHLDC).
CH does not (to date) carry any Disney films. They are mainly MGM, CBS,
Fox, Orion. They just added Alien Collectors and Golden Age of Looney
Tunes 3 (already had 1 and 2) to their catalog. This speaks to a 
somewhat more timely release of current hits than they have shown
in the past. They make mondo errors in their catalog, but their
phone sales people only parrot what the catalog says, except in those
cases where they've received enough flack for a particular misposting.
They insist for example that their Lethal Weapon 2 is not LBX, although
I'm not aware it was ever pressed EXCEPT in LBX (haven't ordered it
yet to find out). However, they are very good about accepting returns
for any reason, including their miscataloging. They send us here in the
US a return postage slip to attach to the package; your mileage may
vary, of course in the UK. (:-)

They box things as well as anyone else: I've never had shipping damage,
even though they use US Mail, not UPS.

Their "packaging" is that of the manufacturer, they are just a reseller,
after all, not a publisher. Their stock is generally current, as I don't
think they've been doing this too long: however, double check in the
case of new repressings (say digital remasters) or you may get the
old version (American in Paris, Grand Hotel, Dinner at Eight, for
ex. are OLD). No idea when they will get the newer ones. However, they
do have quite a few new releases so this is not a major problem.

Now here's what I was going to post: the last year's "special sales"
offered by CHLDC. By the way, their normal list prices are the same as
everyone else in the industry. Taken from each catalog--

92V01: No special sale
92V02: for each disc at 29.95 or higher you buy, you can buy another
       of equal or lower price for 19.95; sets excluded
92V03: No special sale
92V04: No special sale
92V05: For each disc at 34.95 or higher you buy, you can buy another
       of equal or lower price for 1/2 the regular price; sets excluded
       (wish they'd do this again! I cleaned up this month!)
92V06: Same as 92V02 (19.95)
92V07: Price Blast: buy any 1 regular priced disc at 19.95 or higher,
       then buy as many Price Blast discs at the marked discounts as
       you want (there were only 36 selections, although there were
       two or three "good" ones, i.e., this wasn't just the dusty bins).
92V08: Red Tag Sale; buy any 1 at 19.95 or higher, then buy as many
       Red Tag discounted discs as you want (56 selections, similar
       but mainly different from Price Blast)
92V09: Same as 92V02 (19.95); note typo in one flyer said 24.95, but
       main catalog reiterated the 29.95 entry point
92V10: Same as 92V02, except this time they really said buy a disc at
       24.95 or higher to take another or equal or lower price at 19.95
       (probably got a lot of flack from people the previous month)
92V11: Price Blast (same as 92V07, 37 selections)
92V12: Red Tag (same as 92V08; 51 selections)
92V13: Same as 92V02 (19.95)

Clearly, you should never pay full list for all discs from CHLDC:
wait til the next sale! If you get a bad disc on sale and return
it for exchange of same, they will charge the sale price for the
replacement. Your net cost is unchanged as shipping the return
is free. They ship out the replacement as soon as you call, billing
your credit card for another, then credit your credit card when
they receive your shipped-back defective. I've had NO problems
with this: about 6 bad discs out of about 50 (I've had a higher
failure rate from Starship, lower from Sight&Sound, but of course
it's not any of the mail-order places' problem).

For all regularly priced discs you buy during sales, you earn
1/2 the price as Discount Dollars which you can apply to reduce the
price of other purchases by 1/2. I.e. buy a disc at $36, earn $18 DDs.
Then, next time you want to buy a disc at $36, you apply the DDs and
pay only $18, plus shipping, handling, tax on the $18.

Other than the fact that you get an automatic shipping if you don't
respond by phone or mail before the deadline, there is no extra
pressure to buy after you meet your commitment. I've heard of people
quitting, then getting offered a rejoin benefit some months later.

Lately, CHLDC has caught on to the fact that people heard about them
so they have tightened the rules about the new member and sponsor
benefits to delete sets of more than one film, and sets of 3 or more
discs, so for example, neither Alien Collectors nor Looney Tunes 3
can be acquired either as the freebie for joining nor for sponsoring,
nor can either be taken at 19.95 even if you buy the other on
a 19.95 sale (they are both 99.85 in the catalog).

However, I've achieved the lowest overall discount from any mail
order seller of LDs through CHLDC so far (about 63% of list: that
includes all shipping, handling, tax). My optimization says to
buy high-priced items at full price while buying "legal" but high-priced
items at 19.95 or 1/2 price. This earns max DDs. Then buy all the
lowest-priced discs at 1/2 price using DDs: this maximizes the number
of discs you get at 1/2 price. So, for example, I bought a set for $100
and took a $69 disc at $20, earning $50 DDs for the $100 purchase. Then
I bought four $25 discs at $12.50 each by applying those $50 DDs against
the purchase.

I'm happy with them. They even responded to a letter I wrote asking
them to add Criterion to their catalog. Others should write also 
and maybe they will!
-- 
Chris Pelkie
Scientific Visualization Producer
Cornell Theory Center
Ithaca, NY 14853-3801
chrisp@tc.cornell.edu
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases