Re: For Canadians who love their Blu Rays...

Yeah, just sell the ones you don't want. I wasn't going to join either from the selection, but there were a few I have in HD DVD so I figured I might as well start switching over and I'm getting a couple to maybe sell on eBay. Even if you only get $10 apiece, you are still ahead of the game and then there's a better selection once inside the doors.

Like I said originally, there are about 400 and climbing inside, so, while it does kind of suck that the intro selections are so limited, it is so worth it to take advantage of the sales once you get in. I checked today, and Saw 5, Unfaithful, Office Space, Little Miss Sunshine, Napoleon Dynamite, and Nick & Nora have been added to the pre-orders available in Blu since Friday.

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[Post edited by interplanetaryspy on Dec 3, 2008 - CST 6:11 AM]

Hey Peeps...has anybody else heard about Columbia House Canadas sister website chcanada.com? I got a flyer in my mail and checked it out and I'm not sure, but it really looks new and improved. For ex, no more having to respond to those annoying mthly cards and I the prices and shipping is lower than their reg club. I swear, BD's for like $13.99 (or dvds for like $5 for those of you who are still using them!). They even have a live chat service and toll free number! And you don't have to join to see the entire selection avail. Seriously peeps, check it out www.chcanada.com

Already told my folks and my bff to join

Is it just me, or do several people on this thread sound like CH salesmen.

Look guys, all you have to do is do the math. Add up a selection of BDs you actually want bought from CH, subtract a reasonable estimate for reselling the ones you don't want but were obligated to buy on craigslist or eBay and then compare it to buying only those you wanted on Amazon or something. It has never added up for me. In fact if there is even ONE title you don't want on the list it will probably destroy any savings. Even if they are all titles you want be prepared for large 'handling' charges that offset any savings in the price tag. If you buy locally or from places like Amazon, you can get free shipping and no 'handling' charge which works out to less than the real total cost of buying a title from CH.

And by the way it's not about how CH 'used' to be, they still make the same 'mistakes' they used to. I know a bunch of people who got screwed recently. Everyone I know who has joined CH in recent years has found it next to impossible to cancel their membership, taking months of many tries by phone, mail and even in person at their Toronto office, all the while being sent and charged for movies they don't want.

Look, companies need to make money, CH isn't giving you great looking prices out of kindness, they are doing it because they know they can make back the loss and then some by holding you in a membership and sending you movies without asking. When a company makes sure you don't see the prices you will have to pay until after you sign a contact to buy them, they can't be on the level.

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[Post edited by the_dvd_chef on Jan 9, 2009 - CST 12:22 PM]

Brand-new DVDTOWN member "I Heart Movies" may or may not be a CH spammer. Let's just assume the person is enthusiastic and provide a welcome. If the person continues to be as "helpfully" enthusiastic, maybe it will confirm your suspicions.

John

Um, Chef, I think you are the one who needs to do the math. I have been buying movies on Amazon, Ebay, and other places for years and none of them come even close to these prices.

It's fine if you don't want to join CH, nobody is pressuring you. But your facts are wrong, and you are just making posts based on your incorrect assumptions.

I have bought from Columbia House myself years ago (not Blu-ray though) and along with others been screwed. I'm not making any assumptions here. My statements were based on fact. I had a few friends in college who did telemarketing for CH, and they claim they quit after being told to sign up people even if they say no and never close anyone's account even if they have fulfilled their obligations and request it be closed a bunch of times.

Maybe if you actually wanted all those upfront titles and bought your obligated titles right away and hounded them enough times to close your account you might get out ahead. But it would probably save you only a few bucks (literally like $2-$5 total or something) over the retail price and that's hardly worth the effort. This suggestion about re-selling the ones you don't want is crap and something that sounds like one of the sales pitches my friends were told to say over the phone.

Look, this board is the the first place I have ever heard a positive story about CH. And there are only a few here. But I have heard dozens and dozens of horror stories in person.

There are plenty of places to get cheap Blu-rays. Personally I like HMV (disclaimer: I don't work for HMV and don't give a crap if you shop there or not). They have 2 for $40 and 2 for $50 regularly on select Blu-ray titles. And select doesn't mean a dozen titles or so, it means about half their selection of titles at the moment. There are even some for 2 for $20 and they let you combine the '2 for' with any other '2 for' item in the store. So you could buy a '2 for $10' CD and a '2 for $40' Blu-ray and walk away with both for $25. Plus the regular prices on the rest of the Blu-rays are pretty competitive with places like Amazon and here's the best part: because it's right down the street I can pop in on a Tues morning while I'm out to get a coffee and pick up a new release that instant and I don't pay shipping and handling or have to wait for it to arrive.

That beats the hell out of CH. So again, no assumptions about CH not saving me money, just fact.

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[Post edited by the_dvd_chef on Jan 10, 2009 - CST 12:50 PM]

Yep, paying $20.00 a pop beats the hell out of CH, when I just got a whole bunch of movies for $11.58 a piece with FREE SHIPPING. I'm not talking about older titles, either. These are new releases and preorders, unlike HMV.

You are making assumptions. You even used the word "probably" to try to get your point across. I'm not an idiot, I have shopped around, and I know for a fact that these prices can't be beat anywhere. I also have belonged to the CD and DVD clubs at Columbia House in the past and had no problems canceling my accounts. It's possible other people have had issues, but I personally haven't and at least I'm making comments that I know are true.

Some people will always believe what they want to believe, even in the face of facts to the contrary. Shipping costs, when there is no free shipping deal, are $1.99 a disc. Period. The selection, after you join, is fantastic, and there is no need to buy any number of discs per order, so if you can't find 3 to fulfill your membership out of 400-500 available, you obvioulsy don't buy enough movies to even warrant posting anything on this thread. And, as for resale, all of the Blus I have received in the last several weeks have been between $11 and $15 including tax and shipping, and the least I have sold one I didn't want for on ebay was $13 (net, after shipping and fees). I basically get paid to rent movies. If you don't feel comfortable joining, don't. If you'd rather pay more, go ahead. I'll stick with my $13 Blus, thanks, and I'll keep making $5-$10 profit on each one I sell. As for the new site, I'm not impressed. Yes, there's no "regular price" item commitment, but the prices are higher than the old site. I hope they don't shut down the old one any time soon, since right now they seem to both work. Oh, and I've never received an item I didn't order. It's easy to decline your Director's Selection online, and they've actually now discontinued the policy of shipping items out monthly, unless you've ordered something.

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[Post edited by interplanetaryspy on Jan 10, 2009 - CST 8:20 PM]

once again, dvd_spew_salad = FAIL.