View Full Version : ViewDVD - the official sticky...
Here is the place to post all your <a href="http://www.viewdvd.co.uk">ViewDVD</a> queries and comments, and the place to look for latest <a href="http://www.viewdvd.co.uk">ViewDVD</a> info. Please stick to this thread and refrain from starting new ones, they'll probably be closed down without notice.
Welcome to the forums Roger :)
OK, well now we have an official sticky, I 'm wondering what sort of info to post here.
Visitors to our site will see that we are offering a free DVD from a list of about a couple of dozen to members joining before Valentine's Day.
Page views have shot up since our banner here became live, so we are looking forward to a lively continuing dialogue and lots of feedback so we can make our service as good as possible. Thanks for the comments todate!
Best wishes to all,
Bapapapa
07-02-2002, 21:02
Hi,
You're bound to be asked this at some stage, might as well get it in early -
Are they all Region 2?
Yes, we only offer region two discs, I'm afraid.
dtsrules
08-02-2002, 10:44
Originally posted by Viewdvd
Yes, we only offer region two discs, I'm afraid.
http://thedvdforums.com/forums/images/icons/icon13.gif http://thedvdforums.com/forums/images/icons/cry[1].gif http://thedvdforums.com/forums/images/icons/sleep[1].gif :D
Welcome to the forums, shame its R2 only though.
Perhaps Netflix would consider sending R1 discs into the UK?
I don't know of anyone else who is offering R1 discs for rental from within this country (the UK, I mean, not Wales!) but if anyone knows of such a firm I would be grateful to know.
For info, I've just poked my nose into the acquisitions dept. and see they are adding a quite a few new titles today including All the Pretty Horses, Down to Earth, the Dirty Harry Collection, Dude where's my car, When Peggy Sue got Married, The Ladies Man and Along Came a Spider (we were a bit late with the last mentioned I feel!) so presume these are now released. I think we need to speed up the time between the date of releases and their availability from ViewDVD and will be seeing how we can get better in that endeavour.
Best, Roger Coghill
Today we've added Road Trip, Taxi 2 and about 28 new titles coming out of the Hollywood label.
I know Hollywood is not a major, but they have some interesting movies, e.g. Mel Gibson in Summer City, Anthony Hopkins and Russell Crowe in Spotswood, Nicole Kidman in Emerald City, Sharon Stone in Scissors, and Holly Hunter and Time Robbins in Miss Firecracker, to mention but a few, all of which are now being asdded to our list, so that we can be on target for having over 3000 titles by the end of March.
With new members flying in thick and fast, I would like to draw attention to this thread's visitors and to the forums generally that ViewDVD's offer of a free DVD (from a best seller selection including Lara Croft, Crouching Tiger etc.) for joining before St. Valentine's Day has only two days to go. (We are also trying to choose a suitable Valentine Card to send out!)
For those interested, the breakdown of our 2500 plus titles by genre is as follows
Genre, Number, Percent
action, 471 , 18.44 %
adult , 70, 2.74 %
arthouse , 5 , 0.20 %
childrens, 165, 6.46 %
classic, 130 , 5.09 %
comedy, 320 , 12.53 %
documentary, 55 , 2.15 %
drama, 419 , 16.41 %
foreign language, 15 , 0.59 %
horror , 127 , 4.97 %
music, 61 , 2.39 %
musical, 27, 1.06 %
romance , 97 , 3.80 %
science fiction, 159 , 6.23 %
sport, 20 , 0.78 %
television , 107 , 4.19 %
thriller , 302 , 11.82 %
Total , 2550
We think the number of romance titles is perhaps too low, and will be strengthening this sector. Also sport seems low, but the demand is not high either. Any comments either about genre proportions or suggestions for new additions are welcomed from you experts out there!
Our genre list has changed upwards since the last post, and is now:
Genre Report (genre, number, percent of list)
action 495 18.86 %
adult 71 2.71 %
arthouse 5 0.19 %
childrens 167 6.36 %
classic 138 5.26 %
comedy 324 12.35 %
documentary 58 2.21 %
drama 421 16.04 %
foreign language 19 0.72 %
horror 131 4.99 %
music 60 2.29 %
musical 27 1.03 %
romance 103 3.93 %
science fiction 164 6.25 %
sport 20 0.76 %
television 111 4.23 %
thriller 306 11.66 %
Total 2620
So we have added 70 titles since the last post, with another 20 or so due for addition during the next few days as the March releases come on stream. In this weather there's nothing much else to do except watch DVDs anyway! Viewed Dead Man Walking last night: great film.
Those still wobbling on the brink of becoming illustrious ViewDVD members might like to try the competition for ten free annual subscriptions (each worth £180) in a shortly appearing issue of Web User. We might later do a similar competition with DVD Times if they are willing!
I think you should add to your foreign films section. I am a great fan of international and arthouse films and would like to watch many films of this genre.
I would definitely join if you had more films of this type.
Yes, zenza, we thought our foreign section looks a bit thin, and are now making a conscious effort to include more foreign films with English subtitles. Some foreign films have burned in foreign subtitles, but never mind. For example inter alia we have just added Abel Ferrara's The Blackout and Antonia Bird's Face, two great French films.
While here I should mention that ViewDVD is now adding links to other sites' DVD reviews from each of its details movie pages, including links to the DVD Forums reviews. Any author who would prefer us not to add a link from our site to his review should contact us and we will remove it. The link is by a button banner at the foot of the relevant film page, acknowledging the site whence the review comes.
I have just signed up Roger, for 3 months with the Gold membership.
I have added several titles to my list and was wondering how many copies of each dvd do you stock. Can you tell me how long I have to wait on average to receive my films. I know that I can only have 2 dvds at one time but how quickly do you send the next batch of films out once I have returned them.
Welcome to ViewDVD zenza!
To answer your questions. For existing members we receive their returned disks from Royal Mail in the morning, inspect and clean them, and re-locate them in their racks the same morning. Early every afternoon the computer allocates the fresh disks for all members and these are then picked, packed, are sent in the mail first class the same day, so effectively we turn the disks round in one day. I've just looked at your list, for example, and both your first choices will be sent tomorrow just as soon as the credit card payment is cleared, (which has probably already happened, since this is an automatic process).
Of course we are dependent on the Royal Mail for both inward and outward mailing legs, but 89 percent of first class mail arrives the next day. We send each disk in a separate package for insurance reasons. Only one first class stamp is required for a packed disk, unless the member returns two disks in one package, when occasionally if he/she attaches only one first class stamp, the package is held up for a day or two, and moreover we have to pay a surcharge, so members soon learn to send each disk back separately in the self addressed package we supply!
For new members the time it takes to receive their first disks depends on whther they opt for a standing order or credit card payment. The former choice can mean that the collection process takes several days, but this is a once only delay.
We monitor carefully how many copies are needed of major new releases, and tend to overbuy, then return unused disks for crediting. For example I see we have several unopened copies of Pearl Harbour, and around a half dozen unpened copies of Tomb Raider for return. We have so far not had a single complaint about delays in receiving choices, though of course they are not always the first choice on a member's list. Many members begin their lists with forthcoming releases, for example.
I hope this sets out our procedures clearly.
Best Wishes, Roger Coghill
Let me be the first to correct my mistake in calling the Face a great French film, when actually it came from the BBC, and is firmly set in the East End of London. Only the subtitles were French! I watched it and found it a great film alright, and very much in the genre of the Long Good Friday. Violent but well worth watching.
Roger,
I am assuming the discs are sent in order from the top to bottom on my list.
How do i change the order. I can see an edit list option but am not sure how to change my list order.
Can you help please.
pbarrass
06-03-2002, 15:07
Originally posted by zenza
How do i change the order. I can see an edit list option but am not sure how to change my list order.
I've had some fun with that part of the site too. You can change the order of the titles simply by entering which position in the list you want them to be into the position box. However, it then seems to randomly place all of the titles which you didn't specify, meaning that you have to give each one of them a position, and you can't just 'promote' a disk that you really want to watch.
Also of note: regarding return of the disks, I've been informed that whereas the Platinum level of service includes return postage, the gold membership only provides for a bag, you have to provide your own stamp.
Paul.
Yes pbarrass, that is exactly what happens to my list when I try to promote a film in the list.
I received my first 2 films today and was disappointe that the return envelopes did not have postage paid or free postage. I think that both gold and platinum should have return postage paid or free postage.
Apart from that, the service seems quite good.
Two good points raised by the last two threads:
a) Postage costs. We ask Gold members to pay the return postage on the pre-addressed jiffy package supplied, which is only 27p for first class, but have kept the base subscription at £10 a month. This compares with In Movies who ask a base subscription of £15 a month for the same service, but provide return postage. Assuming a Gold member rents 12 disks in one month this means a total cost of £13.24 at ViewDVD compared with £15.00 at In Movies (who offer a somewhat smaller catalogue at present).
The average cost per disk rented is £1.10 incidentally from us and £1.25 from In Movies, both of which are far less than all other online rental firms (and this excludes our present month free offer). We think that we are both offering exceptional value for money at these rates, and that our system does not penalise the member who wants a lower than average number of disks each month.
Would people prefer to pay a higher base subscription and have postage included? For myself I would prefer the extra flexibility that paying the return postage permits: the less I rent, the less it costs, which seems appropriate.
b) Random order after re-ordering a member's list. I didn't realise this happens (I am only the managing director!) and we are immediately looking into it. Thanks for pointing it out as a problem. Meanwhile it should be possible to give numbers to the first dozen say on any list before attempting to re order it.
Best to all, Roger Coghill
Roger thanks for the reply.
I would like to know what the advantages of your platinum membership over Gold are.
I am assuming that return postage is paid for with the platinum membership.
Thanks for the enquiry, zenza.
The Platinum Service allows members to have three disks at one time, while the Gold service allows two at one time.
We've had a preliminary look at the order edit software (see previous threads).
The program does not randomise the order after an edit (change or delete only) but simply reverses the order of the list. Adding a new title puts it into the number one position, and then reverses the order of the remaining choices, which is clearly unacceptable!
We are on the case, and all I can do at present is to apologise and ask members to put in the order numbers before initiating an edit so as to preserve the original order. It doesn't sound a difficult thing to correct, and we hope to make the correction later today.
Roger, when I return a disc, do you ship the next one in my order straight away or do you wait for both discs to return and then ship the next 2 in my list.
We receive disks in the morning and activate the dispatch process the same afternoon for shipment by post the same day. If only one disk is returned by a member, then only one return disk will be sent to the member, who may choose to keep his other disks) as long as he/she wishes. In short, no we don't wait for both disks to return before sending the next disk out.
Thanks for your kind enquiry.
OK Folks, we've now fixed the glitch which reversed the choice order of members' lists after an edit. Now if you decide to change the order of your choices the remaining films stay in the same order as before.
In response to other requests we can now send to members a list of titles only, in case they want to print out a hard copy for reference when not at a computer.
Also members can now see the list of films they have on loan at any time, to check in case there is a delay in the post of some sort. If the films they have sent back are still listed as being on loan to them, it means we haven't had them back yet. If they see the next choices on their list it means we have sent out the replacements (always a same-day service).
Finally we are now adding links from our title details pages to in- depth reviews on other sites, (these include DVD Now, DVD Lard, DVD Reviewer, DVD Times, DVD Blokes etc.) so members can quickly get a heap of extra information about a movie, such as the individual subtitle languages available. This is helpful to members with special language needs.
Our offer of a free month for new joiners expires on March 10 by the way. Don't say we didn't tell you! Also members can get more free months by recommending new members using the card we enclose in with their disks.
We are running two competitions shortly: one with Web User and the other with DVD Blokes. In both cases the prizes are free annual subscriptions to ViewDVD. Our title list is now upto 2650, way ahead of the competition, despite what others claim!
Best to all, Roger Coghill
Thanks Roger.
I appreciate your level of customer service and welcome the new changes you are making.
Hello Roger
I am presently not a customer with viewDVD.co.uk but am now considering it but before I do I wanted to ask a few questions are provide you with some of my thoughts that I hope will be beneficial to your company.
First of all I am a member of indvd.co.uk and have been for nearly 3 months now, I first decided to give indvd.co.uk a try when I heard about the one month free trial. I had considered using them before but was unsure about how good there service would be. As I said I am also now considering trying viewDVD but I noticed your free trial says "The free month will be the last month of the minimum subscription period. ie Month Three" I am a little put off by this and I am sure that many others will be. The whole idea of a trial month for me is to check out the service and see whether I wish to use them. I understand that it is open to abuse and that people could one sign up for a single month and then leave. It would be interesting to see how inDVD.co.uk have done. I suspect that many customers stay on for more than a month. I hope you will consider changing this policy to similar to inDVD.co.uk as it instils trust (similar to the idea behind a guarantee!). obviously indvd.co.uk is your main competitor and I feel that their promotion is more attractive than yours and thus you may loose out on a lot of customers. I hope you feel that this is a valid point, I am not trying to get anything out of this for myself but feel that as a potential customer this information may be of use to you.
On a note about your site. I visited it after finding a advert on DVDbloke.co.uk web site, my first impressions were not too favourable I must admit. I don't want to be harsh but be constructive with my comments that I hope will be of use but the site is quite amateur(ish) in style and I nearly dismissed it without another though. Although I decided to look around and found loading times to be quite slow. Also could I recommend you remove the .wav that you have playing in the background, it reminds me of the early 90's web site and if you look at most e-commerce web site they do not use them.
On a note about viewDVD.co.uk being a sponsor of TheDVDforum.co.uk I think this was an excellent decision on your part. in another thread http://217.33.154.203/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=677662#post677662 I enquired if anyone had used viewdvd before and was informed you were a sponsor. I feel it would have been unlikely that I would have even considered subscribing if it was not for the fact you are a sponsor, to me (and many others here) it is a sign that you are of high quality and good customer service.
I hope my comments have been constructive. As I said I am really writing in an attempt to help you and provide feedback that I know all companies need.
I wish you and your business all the best
Top Cat
Mr T Crosswell
University of East Anglia
Just to second the comments about the site design - it needs a complete overhaul IMO, it just looks very amateurish. That's not to say your service is anything but impeccable, just that first impressions can be very lasting. :)
Hello,
I just wanted to say I hope I have not offended Roger or the team at ViewDVD.co.uk as no one seems to be replying. It was never my intent I just thought I would let you know what one of your potental customers was thinking :)
Top Cat
Mr T Crosswell
University of East Anglia
Sorry to have been slow in responding to Topcat's comments , but I have only just caught up with them. We are finishing construction of a new building to make sure we have enough capacity, and am deluged with electricians, plasterers etc at the moment. We have also been tightening up security in various ways, on and off the web.
Our offer of a free month's rental was intended to provide an incentive for new members, and it really means that the joining Gold member only pays £20 for the first three months service, which is roughly the equivalent of buying one DVD, or renting half a dozen. Anyone not prepared to risk that shouldn't have a DVD player! You would pay £30 for the same service over the same period from In-Movies I believe, so there is more than a compensating factor in our offer, once you have worked it out.
Offering one month free at the outset is obviously open to abuse, and jeopardises the speed we can deal with existing members' disks, if we start unexpectedly losing DVDs to unscrupulous abusers of such an offer, because of the time it takes to replace the lost disks.
I suppose and confess our site is a bit amateurish in appearance at the moment but we have been concentrating on making sure it works technically (at least six months efforts!) rather than offering pretty pictures. We'll no doubt tart it up later! There is a fine balance and trade off in how many pixels you use for DVD cover images or flash images you use, without slowing the download time considerably. At present we are standardising on a width of 150 pixels and 100 density.
The site has been a bit slow lately through pressure of increased visitors, operational pressure, half term hols., and US usage in the afternoons etc., but we will soon have our own server and this should speed things up.
I do not wish to comment on In-movies policies but I gather their arrangement where they test the free-monthers creditworthiness by asking for a pound and then refunding it has irritated the credit card companies no end. We haven't found any slow down in new joiners here, rather the reverse, and what seems to be happening is that people join In Movies for the month, then switch to us because we have a larger choice, lower monthly subscription, and a more searchable catalogue (i.e. by title, actor, and director) as well as links to indepth reviews by third parties!
We are uploading these links as fast as we can and probably have about a thousand operational now, with more than that number still to go. We have capacity to put upto six links or button ads in the details section of each film, and already have several review links available from some pages.
We don't stop at movie reviews, moreover. For example the Shackleton movie page has a link to the Sir Ernest Shackleton archives, and the Watership Down page links to Mike Batt's home page (he wrote Bright Eyes for Art Garfunkel, and is behind The Planets classico-pop group). We hope to do more of this to improve content and benefit from repeat visits. An increasing proportion of visitors already stay on the site for more than three minutes.
The DVD rental market is also becoming vast (several million DVD players now in the UK) that we almost welcome In-Movies as a gallant competitor, so that we will both be kept on our toes, for the general benefit of the customer. For example, I have little doubt that our arrival has accelerated the size of In Movies list from 1600 to 2000 in the last few weeks!
Several have commented they find the wav irritating and would like a button to turn it off, which we are looking into. It is only there as a test piece, since we are working on a project to add film music themes to selected parts of the site and need to know download times as well as customer reaction. On my computer I have a volume control on the status bar with a mute button, so can easily switch off the wav, but appreciate that not all PCs may have been set up like that!
We do very much appreciate the time and effort people like you, Top cat, are making to feed back critical constructive comments to us in these formative months, and hope we are responding adequately. Readers of these forums are probably among the more sophisticated users of DVDs, but there is a large population out there who are not so perceptive, so thanks again and keep the ball rolling!
I see from our database that we have now passed the 2700 movies mark, but still have a long way to go before we can claim to be really comprehensive. It's astonishing how many good films there are out there on DVD now. With Easter coming up we have just added The Robe and the Robert Powell miniseries of Jesus of Nazareth - two great oldie classics - among many other titles, for example. Watched another new addition, Great Expectations, last night (the Paltrow version) = what an absorbing movie!
megabyte
14-03-2002, 11:52
Hi Roger,
As is so often the case with services I'd like to subscribe to in the UK, they aren't available in ROI :(
We have S4C here but they don't show enough movies:D
I suppose theres a legal problem with dealing with a customer outside the UK?
Even if as the crow flies,I'm closer to you than N.I or Scotland :(
Conn
We are confining our service to the UK because it is easier to post disks in a timely fashion, obtain legal redress, and financial security, whilst services to external countries are likely to be slower and more costly. (We have had a few approaches from Zimbabwe, which reluctantly we had to turn down!) What would be nice is if we can find and appoint a franchisee for Southern Ireland who would benefit from our software and purchasing power but carry the financial risk of stocking his/her own library.
Similar remarks apply to other European countries: we have hundreds of visitors from Germany every day for example, but cannot accept them as members just now.
pbarrass
20-03-2002, 12:02
Originally posted by Viewdvd
To answer your questions. For existing members we receive their returned disks from Royal Mail in the morning, inspect and clean them, and re-locate them in their racks the same morning. Early every afternoon the computer allocates the fresh disks for all members and these are then picked, packed, are sent in the mail first class the same day, so effectively we turn the disks round in one day.
Am I the only one suffering longer turn-around times than those claimed at the beginning of the month, or has the service slowed down?
Of 8 movies that I've had so far, only 2 have arrived the day after the 'currently on loan' section of the site claims that the disks were sent. The other disks have arrived after two or even three days. The postmarks on the delayed disks are all one day later than the date which it is claimed that the disks are sent.
I don't know why pbarrass postal delivery seems slower than normal. I do, however, understand that at present there is quite an argument in progress by the Royal Mail over the possibility of competition for letter mail services, leading to local go-slows here and there, with threats of all out strikes. This has been widely reported in the media.
All I can say is we turn the disks around the same day, and no one else has complained about our turnround speed to date, but I guess some parts of the country get a better mail service than others, with rural areas are likely to be worst affected.
We are in the hands of the postal services like everyone else, and also get fed up when deliveries from suppliers we know were sent on one day do not arrive for several days, so some new releases on say 18 March have only just arrived today 20 March. Again they have also been turned round into the racks and posted by us the same day!
Best wishes, Roger Coghill
I had a closer look at the member records and find that our member pbarrass joined on 5 March as a Platinum member, and has ordered ten DVDs in the ten days between 11 March and 20 March, according to our records, with all received and only one still in transit (sent out today 20 March).
If continuing at the same speed, on that basis he should receive at least 25 disks during his first month's membership, at a total cost of £15, which is an average total cost of 60p per DVD rented. Remember that our postage costs take 54p out of that 60p, so from our viewpoint each rental is giving us 6p! Of course, not all members watch DVDs so voraciously.
Unless we fail miserably to maintain that record in the next twenty days, I challenge anyone to beat that value for money and service in this whole country, including retail outlets! That is why new members are arriving at ViewDVD in droves, many by personal recommendation.
I am nevertheless still left wondering if there is a market demand for sending DVDs by Special Delivery, obviously for an extra charge, in order to escape the vagaries of the Royal Mail!?
pbarrass
21-03-2002, 12:51
Didn't actually see this yesterday, or I'd have replied. Firstly, in my last post, I was not implying that the service was of poor value for money, far from it. It's much better value for money than any rental store I've ever seen, and much more convenient, disks arrive on my doormat, and I walk past two postboxes on my way into work, so returning is easy too. It's just not quite as good value for money as it could be in a perfect word.....
Originally posted by Viewdvd
I had a closer look at the member records and find that our member pbarrass joined on 5 March as a Platinum member, and has ordered ten DVDs in the ten days between 11 March and 20 March, according to our records, with all received and only one still in transit (sent out today 20 March).
I did indeed join on the 5th. However, I think the 10 disks that I have ordered are from that date, and not just from the 11th. Hovever, my records are my aging memory,so I may have forgotten a film or 2, or the other half could have watched a couple whilst off work ill and I've been out. I think I have a list at home of the movies that I entered into your system so I can check tonight if I've missed any. (I think that you sent (all dates +/- a day or 2) 3 disks on the 5th,1 on the 11th,2 on the 12th, and one on each of the 15th,18th,19th,20th.... which have I missed?)
My calculations make it 10 disks in 16 days, not in 10. If you also take into account the fact that I am only likely to get one more disk in the next 4 days (1 disk is on it's way back to you, which in an ideal world will have one more arriving on my doormat on Saturday, the other 2 disks, which both arrived today, even though you thought that only one was in transit yesterday, even if I watched them both tonight and put them in the post in the morning will not result in replacement disks until Tuesday at the earliest) means 11 disks in my first 20 days of membership, which is about half of the rate which you calculated.
The main problem in my case, though I can't speak for anyone else, is in the delivery of disks from yourself to me, the service seems fine in the other direction, only 1 disk in 7 that I have returned has failed to arrive in the next post to you. However, of the 10 which you have sent me, only 4 have made it to me in the next post. Maybe you're posting too many, and they won't all fit in the van? :)
I'm guessing that there are several other members of both these fora and of your service, so maybe they could just let us know if ViewDVD need to complain to their Post Office, or if I need to complain to mine.
If continuing at the same speed, on that basis he should receive at least 25 disks during his first month's membership, at a total cost of £15, which is an average total cost of 60p per DVD rented. Remember that our postage costs take 54p out of that 60p, so from our viewpoint each rental is giving us 6p! Of course, not all members watch DVDs so voraciously.
Even if my calculations above are out, you (or even myself) maintaining a disk-a-day rental is exceedingly unlikely. I guess that very few people (I'm not one of them) will return disks on the day that they receive them. If disks are watched on the day that they arrive, and returned the next, then, in an ideal world, a Platinum member could have a 3-day (2 postal, 1 watching,0 turnaround) rental cycle, which with 3 disks would mean a disk-a-day. However, this would be a disk-a-working-day, as there are no postal deliveries on a Sunday, and you appear not to post disks out on a Saturday, presumably due to the lack of postal collections after you have prepared the disks.
I guess you've already done the calculations before you started the service, but without disks being returned same-day by your customers, you'd not expect to ship more than 22-23 disks per customer per month, less when the effeciency of the Post Office is taken into account.
Unless we fail miserably to maintain that record in the next twenty days, I challenge anyone to beat that value for money and service in this whole country, including retail outlets! That is why new members are arriving at ViewDVD in droves, many by personal recommendation.
Unless I've missed a significant number of disks that I've had from you, then you've already failed (though I wouldn't say miserably) to maintain the record you've claimed. However, you'd still find it difficult to find another company offering better value for money, especially retail outlets. I, in fact, have also recommended the service, so I'm not an entirely unhappy customer.
I am nevertheless still left wondering if there is a market demand for sending DVDs by Special Delivery, obviously for an extra charge, in order to escape the vagaries of the Royal Mail!?
I really don't think this would be an option, even for the most die-hard rental fan. I think the cost of special delivery would be greater than the cost of rental even from the most expensive of rental stores, and would probably mean a daily trip to the post office to pick up the package when you're out when the delivery is attempted.
In summary: Good service, shame about the Post Office.
Oh yeah, while I'm here, whoever it is hoarding all the copies of Yes Minister, please send them back so I can watch one...:nuts:
To respond to pbarrass's kind and continued dialogue, not necessarily in the same order, I see we bought another copy of Yes Minister today (before I read your post!) so your prayers may be answered soon in that regard. I should add that I see each day a list of every movie which has been passed over for any reason on a member's list and strenuously buy any where there could be a supply delay.
I can assure you that we put our mail bags into the local post office before 5.30 p.m. each night to catch the post, and we turn round the DVDs the same day. I have made this a strict condition, and it's beginning to take more staff, but that is what I want to acheive. We are now going to conduct a test to see if the local sorting office is to blame for the alleged outbound delay. I have to say that most members seem to be getting their DVDs the next day, so maybe you could also check your local post office inbound delivery efficiency?
Now, to turn to your analysis of the ten DVDs you have so far received by 21 March (today), There will always be some kind of initial delay when a new member joins because credit checks need time to implement, and the customer records need installation.
That is why, though you joined on Tuesday 5 March at 1414hrs (too late for that day's postings), the first DVDs did not go out to you until Monday 11 March (there was a week end in between, so this was effectively three working days). Actually this is longer than is usual for credit card users: we normally can send out DVDs the same day if the member joins before 1200hrs. Sometimes moreover the new member does not submit a list immediately, but if they do we action it the day the credit card is accepted.
As I write then, we seem to be in agreement that you have received 10 DVDs in the last 10 days, including weekends, namely seven already returned and three now in your possession. Even if we sent no more at all this would be equivalent to a rental charge per DVD of only £1-50 over your first month would it not? No one else is that inexpensive to my knowledge.
However, the likelihood (and our hope) is that you will shortly return the DVDs you have and we will replace these on our usual same day turnround basis. Say, then, we receive your latest three DVDs back two days from now on 23 March and again on 26 March and again on 1 April and again on 4 April, that makes 12 more returned and three more sent out to you on 4 April, which is a total of 25 during the month since your first payment on 5 March, at a total cost to you of only £15. We think that's staggering value for money both in terms of cost and in terms of service.
You are approaching an effective disk-a-day level because of course as a Platinum member you can receive and return upto three disks at any one time. It would be difficult for our Gold members to acheive that level, but then the very fact that they have opted for the Gold membership (£10 a month) is because they do not have a requirement for so many disks. (A tip: there is nothing to stop a neighbourhood syndicate or one large family operating as one Platinum member, and some do, with several DVD players in one household!)
Against that background I hope readers of this thread will agree that we are the tops, and an effective competitor not only to other online rental firms, but also to Sky movie packages. At ViewDVD we work very hard to maintain an excellent standard of service, because we are determined to be the very best in this business, and so far we are succeeding by and large. Thanks, pbarrass, for your kind and encouraging remarks!
We have now exchanged contracts for our own dedicated server at Fasthosts, so are hopeful that access times will speed up shortly (not that they are that bad, actually). Also we are looking into putting a button on the pages so that visitors can turn the music off (it doesn't interfere with downloads or browsing incidentally). Fasthosts are right on the backbone at Gloucester, with virtually no hops.
pbarrass
21-03-2002, 23:23
Originally posted by Viewdvd
To respond to pbarrass's kind and continued dialogue, not necessarily in the same order, I see we bought another copy of Yes Minister today (before I read your post!) so your prayers may be answered soon in that regard. I should add that I see each day a list of every movie which has been passed over for any reason on a member's list and strenuously buy any where there could be a supply delay.
Hello again,
Glad you've got another copy of Yes Minister.. I've just had to watch What Women Want with the other half, so I think I'm finally due a copy :)
I can assure you that we put our mail bags into the local post office before 5.30 p.m. each night to catch the post, and we turn round the DVDs the same day. I have made this a strict condition, and it's beginning to take more staff, but that is what I want to acheive. We are now going to conduct a test to see if the local sorting office is to blame for the alleged outbound delay. I have to say that most members seem to be getting their DVDs the next day, so maybe you could also check your local post office inbound delivery efficiency?
As I've mentioned, the disks that have been delayed have all had a postmark a day after the date that you have posted them, which to me is indicitive of a problem near to you rather than near to me, as I believe that the postmark is made fairly early on in the journey of the letter. If it would help, I could return to you the outer wrapper (with postmark) of any future delayed packages, though I'd hope that there wouldn't be any more. I'm fairly sure that I've thrown away all of the previous ones.
That is why, though you joined on Tuesday 5 March at 1414hrs (too late for that day's postings), the first DVDs did not go out to you until Monday 11 March (there was a week end in between, so this was effectively three working days).
You ought to give your staff more credit; I recieved my first 3 disks on the 7th and 8th of March, they were back in the post to you by the 11th.
As I write then, we seem to be in agreement that you have received 10 DVDs in the last 10 days, including weekends, namely seven already returned and three now in your possession. Even if we sent no more at all this would be equivalent to a rental charge per DVD of only £1-50 over your first month would it not? No one else is that inexpensive to my knowledge.
I'm afraid I still disagree with you on the number of days it took me to obtain my first 10 disks, though I'll revise my value down by one day for credit card authourisation. You'd have heard from me a lot sooner if it had taken a full week for me to obtain my first disks from you.... but if you still think that it took you a week from my membership application to my first batch of disks arriving, feel free to credit my account with a free week ;) . I'm still not arguing with you on the good value for money aspect though.
However, the likelihood (and our hope) is that you will shortly return the DVDs you have and we will replace these on our usual same day turnround basis. Say, then, we receive your latest three DVDs back two days from now on 23 March and again on 26 March and again on 1 April and again on 4 April, that makes 12 more returned and three more sent out to you on 4 April, which is a total of 25 during the month since your first payment on 5 March, at a total cost to you of only £15. We think that's staggering value for money both in terms of cost and in terms of service.
One of the disks that you are currently showing as being rented to me is on it's way back to you. The other two only arrived today (not one yesterday, and one today as you expected from your posting dates) and are not going to be returned to you by the 23rd. However, assuming that I'd watched them both this evening, and posted them in the morning, then you'd have all three disks back on the 23rd. Following your statements above, that would mean that you'd send me 3 disks, I'd watch them, and return them to you by the 26th. The 23rd will be a Saturday, which I believe to be a non-posting day for you (correct me if I'm wrong, this is based on a sample size of a single disk), so you'd not post the replacements (including Yes Minister, remember :clap: ) to me until the 25th, which would arrive to me on the 26th, so the odds are small that you'd have them back on that same day. Also, I believe 1st April, Easter Monday, is a Bank Holiday, so you'll have a quiet day delivery-wise.
I suspect my total first-month rentals nearer 20 than 25.
Against that background I hope readers of this thread will agree that we are the tops, and an effective competitor not only to other online rental firms, but also to Sky movie packages. At ViewDVD we work very hard to maintain an excellent standard of service, because we are determined to be the very best in this business, and so far we are succeeding by and large. Thanks, pbarrass, for your kind and encouraging remarks!
I think you are doing yourself a dis-service by comparing yourself to Sky Movies; your movies (generally) are wide-screen, 5.1 surround, and are butchered only(!) by the BBFC, and not Sky's own scissor-wielders. You also have a much greater (in both senses of the word) selection and more freedom to the viewer. Add to that the potentially much better value for money (£35 or so to Sky, and another tenner to the TV licensing people vs 15quid all in to you, but the potential for 24hours/day movies for Sky if you can stomach the selection... you choose who is the winner) and I think you should disregard Sky as a competitor.
I just hope that whatever the problem is on your outbound disks is, it is solved quickly.
I meant to add on my earlier post, but forgot: With regard to your posting volume/costs, have you reached a stage where you may be better off using some of the Post Office's other services rather than just attaching first class stamps to everything? I'm sure the PO offer discounts for large volume posters provided you're willing to follow some rules (OCR characters, barcoded addresses or such), maybe looking at services like this you can make more than 6p per disk from verocious lenders like myself :)
Yes, we are looking at various options with the Royal Mail about bulk collection, and hope we may be able to cut postage costs that way. I am wondering if your guess is right and that letter post is not being dealt with the same day at the Royal Mail sorting office. Short of actually going inside and standing over the sorters I have no solution for that!
And yes, I was wondering why your first dispatches took so long, and had forgotten it was the return dates I was examining on the computer. I will pass on to the staff the kind credit you gave them!
I don't intend to speculate further about whether you will get 20 or 25 disks in your first month, since we both basically seem to agree that even at 20 a month the service is very acceptable (only 67p per rental!). What hasn't really emerged from our dialogue is that with one exception (Yes Minister) you have had all the titles in the first part of your list as requested, indicating that we must be keeping keep reasonable copy depth.
Curry's are selling a basic DVD player for £89 now, and many homes have already got two or three DVD players so the various components of the family can watch separately. Maybe that way Ms. pbarrass can see her romantic comedy while you are watching your own choice elsewhere, and the kids are immersed in Aristocats in the playroom!
And of course you are quite right about poor off-air quality. Ladyhawke was on the box the other night, and comparison between the off-air version and our DVD quality made it only too evident that the DVD wins hands down!
Must get on; we have a heavy releases programme this and next week!
All the best and continued good renting!
On another topic while logged in, one little-considered benefit of on-line DVD rental is the security aspect. Many women and pensioners are afraid of collecting from or delivering to local libraries, especially at night or early evening when they see a few young and uncouth persons loitering near the library door. Online rental avoids this exposure to potential robbery or violence.
Also for those unwell or living in remote areas a trip to a library is not really on the cards. In other words, it isn't just the young bloods of the 25-45 age group who benefit from online DVD rental services, as we are finding. So why not teach grandad to use the web!
pbarrass
26-03-2002, 15:34
I now retract my comments regarding the efficiency of Royal Mail in returning my disks to ViewDVD. :brickwall
The last three disks that I have returned have all failed to arrive next day. Add to that the delay they introduce in the return disk's trip to me, and the turn-around time is now unnacceptably slow. An exchange disk for a movie I posted back last Thursday has still not arrived; if it arrives tomorrow, that will be a six day turnaround time, instead of the two days that I should be able to expect.
On a happier note, I see that I've been sent the elusive Yes Minister DVD, I'll just have to see when it arrives.
The alleged postal delay puzzles me somewhat, and perhaps you can help explain. Of the three disks you have, two were posted by us to you on 25 and 26 March (the latter being the famous Yes Minister), and the third was posted to you on 20 March (last Wednesday) so there do not seem to be any disks awaited either by us or you for as long as six days, last Thursday being 21 March, and there was also a weekend in between. I make that a two way turnround of only four working days, which seems reasonable.
We know for sure we turn round all disks on the same day as a strict matter of policy, and that 90 percent of the mail reaches us the next day, - we tell this from the postmark - except when there are disputes, (as is the case at present in a few major cities). What we can't know is the time it is taking for our disks to reach the customer, which is why this dialogue is so interesting. Nearly all our disks appear to be arriving the next day so far as we know from other customer feedback.
Whilst on, I would counsel all our customers to get their already viewed disks back asap this week so we can send out the replacements in time for Easter. Today was an outright record for outgoing mail, so members have obviously twigged this to some extent!
pbarrass
26-03-2002, 22:57
Originally posted by Viewdvd
The alleged postal delay puzzles me somewhat, and perhaps you can help explain. Of the three disks you have, two were posted by us to you on 25 and 26 March (the latter being the famous Yes Minister), and the third was posted to you on 20 March (last Wednesday) so there do not seem to be any disks awaited either by us or you for as long as six days, last Thursday being 21 March, and there was also a weekend in between. I make that a two way turnround of only four working days, which seems reasonable.
I would expect (in an ideal world, which this is obviously not) a two (working) day turnaround; I post a disk on Monday, you get it Tuesday, post the replacement the same day, and I have the replacement on Wednesday - two days after I stick a disk in the post. This assumes that you manage same-day turnaround (which you claim that you are maintaining even on your busiest days), and that RM can manage to deliver a first class letter the next (delivery) day. I think I've only had a 2-day turnaround twice (out of now 13 disks).
If I assume instead a four (working) day round trip turnaround (which you say is reasonable), then the turnaround time for all disks not returned on a Monday becomes six (total) days (including the weekend). This essentially means that the service is only really usable for one set (2 for Gold, 3 for Platinum members) of disks over a weekend, in the post on Monday, back on the doormat on Friday (4 days later), rinse and repeat. This still totals a dozen disks a month, but nowhere near the 25 you were forcasting a few posts ago.
I'm not clear why you'd consider a 4 day turnaround reasonable, when I think it should be the exception. I'd consider 1+0+1 (post+your turnaround+post) = 2 days to be the norm, whilst 2+0+2 to only happen 1% of the time (assuming 90% next day, other 10% second day). I see no reason to doubt your 0-day turnaround.
To explain my 6 day turnaround claim more clearly, I'd like to state that that was a round trip turnaround (which is what matters, if I don't have a movie to watch, it does not matter if it's stuck waiting to get to me or the previous one stuck getting back to you). I posted a disk to you (Crouching Tiger etc.) on Thursday last week (21st as you pointed out). I'd have expected that disk to arrive with you on Friday, and the replacement to arrive to me on Saturday. My rental status on your website showed the disk arriving to you on Saturday, with the replacement being posted on Monday. This has not yet arrived (Tuesday). Assuming it arrives tomorrow, it will have been 6 days since I posted the previous disk back. I know this corresponds to only 4 working days, but as I pointed out earlier, most of the time 4 working days equates to 6 real days.
As for the other 2 disks - A disk posted on Sunday (in a box with a Sunday collection and before that collection) was only delivered to you today. I don't know the delivery targets for Sunday collections, so that may be normal. However a disk posted on Monday (to a collection box immediately outside a post office) has not arrived to you by today (Tuesday). Practically all disks I've returned are in the post boxes in time for the first collection, and as I say, I've had no real problems until this last week.
If you've had no other notice of slow delivery times, then maybe this is a localised problem, maybe due to disputes - I'm not sure is there are any around here (Birmingham), but the deluge of junk mail and bills would indicate not.
I'm still not claiming that your service is poor value for money, it's just that I thought I was signing up for 20-25 movies a month (If I'd find time for that many), when in actual fact I'll be lucky to get 15, even if I watch everything the night it arrives and post it back the next morning.
As I've said before, the problem appears to be occuring before the postmark stage, so I'd be suprised if this was a localised (to me) effect. I'll let you know of any other times there is a discrepency between your posting date and the postmark if you'd like?
Our member pbarrass's latest post brings up some more interesting points, and investigates further some old ones. First the concept of "reasonable". I was using it in the sense of what one might reasonably expect of a £15 monthly subscription, and felt that a maximum of three disks turned round in four working days (i.e. 21 disks in a month) was a reasonable performance. I think pbarrass was using the word in terms of what might reasonably be expected of a postal service, which is a different thing.
I am sure that no offence was intended, but our same day turn round is not a claim, it is a fact.
More importantly, we are in the hands of members' decisions about when they return disks, since this determines the number turned round in any month. For example member pbarrass received What Women Want but did not return it for at least four days, and the same appears to apply to several other of his disks. If members do not return their disks the next day after viewing we obviously cannot send out replacements.
In this case disks we received disks returned to us during March on the dates below as follows:
Xchange 26/03/2002
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 23/03/2002
Mexican, The 20/03/2002
One Night At McCools 19/03/2002
Enemy at the Gates 16/03/2002
Mercury Rising 15/03/2002
Braveheart 12/03/2002
13th Warrior, The 12/03/2002
In The Line Of Fire (Collector's Edition) 11/03/2002
and those out still on loan as of yesterday were
What Women Want 20/03/2002
End of Days 25/03/2002
Yes Minister - Series One 26/03/2002
From which you can see that only on one occasion did we receive more than one disk back on any day. Since we were not at that time keeping a check on the actual postmarks we do not know whether this was a fault of the Mail or not. On one occasion (23 March it appears we dId not send out a new disk until 25 March, but this is because 23 March was a Saturday, and our staff do log all the returns in on Saturday mornings to take the strain off the enormous number of packages returned on Monday mornings.
Why, no doubt some may ask, if you have staff in on Saturdays to log the disks in, do you not have staff in to send them out as well? Good question: the answer is that there is no afternooon post on Saturdays because the post offices are closed. OK we could put them in the mail box, but we have a strict policy of obtaining Certificates of Postage for every disk dispatched (for insurance purposes) so have to go to the counter to get these Certificates stamped. There is simply not enough time to check, clean, and return all the disks to their racks on Saturday mornings and also run a computer selection programme for the replacement disks then pack them and get them to the counter before it closes at 1 p.m., because the post does not arrive until 10 am. When there is greater competition for letter post maybe someone will open on Saturday afternoons! If they do, so will we.
Back to our member pbarrass. He will admit he has now had 12 disks (listed above) since joining on 5 March, and it is reasonable that he will have another six between now and 5 April, making 18 overall. If he had returned every disk optimally he would have had more, but do people normally want to watch a DVD virtually every night? Like most others our member probably has other things to do on some nights.
This means that for a total cost of £15 our member will have paid on average 83p per rental, and as far as I know there are no movies requested that he didn't get. ( I am leaving out the free month offer which presently lowers the average rental cost even more). This same service would have cost £63-00 at Blockbusters, £53-82 at Movietrak, £53-82 at DVD Options, and £22-50 at In Movies, though I suspect that none of these have as many DVD titles as we do.
I feel it is "reasonable" to conclude from this we are simply the best in the online rental business!
Whilst on, let me remind potential joiners that our "free month's offer" expires at midnight on Thursday, and that to receive disks in time for Easter they will have to have completed the application by 12 noon on Thursday.
pbarrass
27-03-2002, 11:22
Originally posted by Viewdvd
Our member pbarrass's latest post brings up some more interesting points, and investigates further some old ones. First the concept of "reasonable". I was using it in the sense of what one might reasonably expect of a £15 monthly subscription, and felt that a maximum of three disks turned round in four working days (i.e. 21 disks in a month) was a reasonable performance. I think pbarrass was using the word in terms of what might reasonably be expected of a postal service, which is a different thing.
Correct, I was going by what I could expect to get, not what I deserved to get :D . It also occured to me that I was looking at things from a me->you->me turnaround, wheras from your point of view it is a you->me->you turnaround, which will include an extra day or two for me to actually watch the movie. To make such discussion easier, I'll define a 'rental period' which is the time between successive disks arriving on my doormat, which will be the same from both mine and your point of view. In an ideal world, with the disk arriving on day zero, I'll watch the disk that evening (I have the time, it's an ideal world remember), post it back on the morning of day one. It will arrive with you on the morning of day two, and you'll post the return disk back that afternoon. The replacement disk will arrive on the morning of day three, making a three day rental period. In the case of the recent problematic disk, CTHD, which was recieved by me on the 20th - the replacement disk will not arrive until today (27th) at the earliest (I left before the post arrived this morning, so I don't know if it has arrived today, but it had certainly not by yesterday.), making a 7 day rental period. I know that two of these days are a weekend, but I made sure that I posted the disk back on a Thursday, so that the disk should have arrived without any delays caused by the weekend. I'd classify Saturday as a half-working day, as I can recieve and post disks, the only delay seems to be in the lack of a late post at your post office.
I am sure that no offence was intended, but our same day turn round is not a claim, it is a fact.
I can assure you that no offence was intended, and I hope that none was taken. I did not call your claim a false one, quite the opposite in fact.
More importantly, we are in the hands of members' decisions about when they return disks, since this determines the number turned round in any month. For example member pbarrass received What Women Want but did not return it for at least four days, and the same appears to apply to several other of his disks. If members do not return their disks the next day after viewing we obviously cannot send out replacements.
In the case of this disk - I recieved WWW last Thursday, and did in fact watch it that evening. For various reasons it was not put in the post to you until Monday. I notice from my status page that you still don't seem to have it back. What is that latest time at which it will show up as being returned if it has arrived this morning? (i.e. how long does it take to sort/reshelve all the disks?) - Just checked again, seems to have arrived now. However, even if I'd put the disk in the post on Friday, you wouldn't have sent the replacement disk until Monday at the earliest, my delay should have meant only a single days delay in the replacement disk, so whilst it is true that I kept the disk for 4 days, this corresponds to only a single day delay to the next disk.
As for the 'several other disks' which you think I have kept for several days, it should be remembered that I'm not getting the disks when you think that I am, so when you think I'm keeping a disk for two days, I'm not, Royal Mail has it for one, and I have it for the other, which is why I started this discussion in the first place.....
From which you can see that only on one occasion did we receive more than one disk back on any day. Since we were not at that time keeping a check on the actual postmarks we do not know whether this was a fault of the Mail or not.
The two disks returned to you on the same day were both posted to you on the same day, they were disks that I'd had over the weekend, and posted back on Monday morning, you got them both back on Tuesday. The pattern should have been repeated the following weekend, when Mexican and McCools were both posted on Monday, and should have arrived on Tuesday, as you can see though, one was delayed until the Wednesday. This means that when I stated that RM had delayed my last three returns, I should in fact have stated that the last four have been delayed. I am aware that there is little you can do to improve the delivery times, but that does not help the fact that I'm only getting half the number of movies that I thought I would.
On one occasion (23 March it appears we dId not send out a new disk until 25 March, but this is because 23 March was a Saturday, and our staff do log all the returns in on Saturday mornings to take the strain off the enormous number of packages returned on Monday mornings.
I'd have though that Tuesday would be your busiest day, as people watch disks over the weekend and stick them in the post as they go out to work on a Monday. Though I guess Saturday+Monday would add up to a large number of disks.
there is no afternooon post on Saturdays because the post offices are closed. OK we could put them in the mail box, but we have a strict policy of obtaining Certificates of Postage for every disk dispatched (for insurance purposes) so have to go to the counter to get these Certificates stamped.
I'd guessed the reason for the lack of Saturday postings several posts ago, but did not realise the you obtained a CofP for each disk. Would this be of use in future if the date on the CofP does not match the date of the postmark? As I've said, the postmark dates and your status-page dates rarely match, maybe if you could prove to the PO that they were introducing a delay, they could go about trying to fix it (or at least find it). When I get home, I'll let you know the postmarks of any disks that have arrived.
Back to our member pbarrass. He will admit he has now had 12 disks (listed above) since joining on 5 March, and it is reasonable that he will have another six between now and 5 April, making 18 overall. If he had returned every disk optimally he would have had more, but do people normally want to watch a DVD virtually every night? Like most others our member probably has other things to do on some nights.
Taking these points in order. I have until now recieved 10 disk, with potentially another 2 on my doormat which I haven't seen yet, so until I get home, I'm not willing to 'admit' to any number of disks more specific than 10-12.
As for my first-month rental total. A week ago you were forcasting 'at least 25' disks, I replied that I'd be surprised if I reached 20, now your estimate is down to 18, again I'll state that I'll be surprised if I reach your newest forcast, unless there is a vast improvement in the postal service - especially with Easter weekend.
As for my non-optimal returns, I'll remind you again that most of the time Royal Mail delays my returns more than I do. I've had 10 disks in 3 weeks, not 'a DVD virtually every night'. A quick count-up of postal delays gives me 15 'missing' days, which (assuming the 3 day rental period described earlier) adds up to 5 disks that I've missed out on (which is half of the number that I have actually recieved).
This means that for a total cost of £15 our member will have paid on average 83p per rental.
I feel it is "reasonable" to conclude from this we are simply the best in the online rental business!
I somehow doubt that the RM will be willing to refund the 4 quid for the movies that I couldn't rent.
However, as I've mentioned before, I'm not arguing that the service is better value for money than the competitors, and the postal delays are out of your hands. This discussion commenced when I asked if I was the only one experiencing delays - and it would appear that I am.
Whilst on, let me remind potential joiners that our "free month's offer" expires at midnight on Thursday, and that to receive disks in time for Easter they will have to have completed the application by 12 noon on Thursday.
I recommended the service to someone, but had to point out that you had defined Easter (in the 'free month' link from your main page) as being 10/3/02. Maybe you should fix that so it does state Thursday midnight?
For those considering signing up - don't let me put you off, the problems I've experienced seem to be the fault of the post, not of viewDVD, and will hopefully be resolved at some point in the near future. I've found responses from them to be quick, both on this board (as you can see) and from an enquiry made by email before I signed up.
pbarrass
27-03-2002, 16:24
To quote myself...
Originally posted by me
I have until now recieved 10 disk[s], with potentially another 2 on my doormat which I haven't seen yet, so until I get home, I'm not willing to 'admit' to any number of disks more specific than 10-12.
Having just got home, I can now confirm that only a single disk has arrived, making my total 11, not 12. The rather faint postmark for a disk sent on the 25th, is the 26th.
A disk actually sent on the 26th has not arrived.
Hope that this helps you to track down the problem.
Once again, pbarrass, thanks for your continued kind remarks.
We seem to be narrowing the problem down a bit now, if as you say, in the four cases where you posted disks back together only once did they arrive together. This clearly a one day postal delay of some sort in three cases out of four.
When I made the initial estimate of how many disks you might view in your first month I made the assumption that you would return all three disks after one day. This was a wrong assumption as it turns out, so my though my estimate was reasonable, the actuality, as dictated by the speed at which disks were returned, was to lower the number viewed. Only time will tell exactly how many disks you will have received in month one, but our records are showing 14 at the moment!
Re your calculations, I still think you've got them wrong. Let's assume that the RM always takes two days to deliver both out and ingoing mail, that you view the DVDs the same day they arrive and post them back the next day, and that we turn the disks around on a same day basis (which we do).
This means a 4 day period for each disk, and with three disks and 30 days in a month that means effectively that you could see 30 disks in a full month. Obviousy the reality is lower than that, but even a two day postal service should still see you with a disk a day if you were keen enough to want that, for your £15.
Moreover, if you want to keep the cost low do remember that any existing member introducing a new member will obtain a month's free rental. In your case this is worth £15. Furthermore, there is no limit to the offer, so technically you could watch all year at no charge if you introduced twelve new members!
All you need to do is to obtain the special printed card from us (issued only to members) so your introducee can complete it.
Incidentally I see that What Women Want arrived back today and your next choice , Ocean's 11, was sent out today as a replacement. I presume you still have Yes Minister (sent out 26 March) and End of Days (sent out 25 March). If as you say What Women Want was posted last Monday it has taken two days to arrive, today being Wednesday.
Kind regards,always
Sorry, I got interrupted while sending the last post (!) and failed to correct an arithmetic mistake in the draft. The correct calculation should be 30 days divided by 4, which is 7.5 and then multiplied by three DVDs which is 22.5. Thus even on the basis of a two day postal delay, a vigorous Platinum member might expect 22 DVDs in any thirty day period. Of course this ignores week ends, but on the other hand some at least of the DVDs might take only one day to arrive, and if four of these did it would compensate for the four extra days absorbed by weekends. This kind of calculation was the basis of my original forecast.
pbarrass
28-03-2002, 08:32
Originally posted by Viewdvd
Once again, pbarrass, thanks for your continued kind remarks.
Sorry to keep disagreeing with you - especially over something that's not your fault.
We seem to be narrowing the problem down a bit now, if as you say, in the four cases where you posted disks back together only once did they arrive together. This clearly a one day postal delay of some sort in three cases out of four.
Not in this case, the first 2 posted together arrived together - but on the next day, the second 2 arrived seperately, with one delayed. This makes delays in one out of 4 disks. However, the last 4 disks were all delayed, making 4 out of 4. On average, over all the disks I've returned 4 out of 10 have been delayed
Only time will tell exactly how many disks you will have received in month one, but our records are showing 14 at the moment!
In that case your records are wrong..... I've recieved 11, with 2 more in the post.
Re your calculations, I still think you've got them wrong. Let's assume that the RM always takes two days to deliver both out and ingoing mail, that you view the DVDs the same day they arrive and post them back the next day, and that we turn the disks around on a same day basis (which we do).
This means a 4 day period for each disk, and with three disks and 30 days in a month that means effectively that you could see 30 disks in a full month. Obviousy the reality is lower than that, but even a two day postal service should still see you with a disk a day if you were keen enough to want that, for your £15.
OK, here we go again. I make 2 days postage + 1 day watching + 2 days postage to be 5 days, not 4. A 5 postage days period will always include a Sunday, making the turnaround 6 days (the exception being disks posted by you on Mondays, returned on Thursdays, arriving back to you on Saturdays, however you can't post on Saturdays, so this period does include a Sunday, plus an extra day's delay on the Sat, making a 7 day turnaround (This is pretty much what happened to the CTHD disk which I posted last Thursday)) Correcting your corrections that you made in your followup post, 30 days divided by 6 (should really be 6 and a bit to allow for early post office closing on Sat.) is 5, multiplied by 3 DVDs, which is 15.
I'm up to 10 fully rented (ie watched and returned) disks this month. If I'm lucky, I'll break the 15 mark, but that's due to the fact that whilst I was seeing 2 day postage from you to me, only the most recent disks have had a 2 day journey from me to you. Unless the post improves, I'll be looking at the 15 disks/month range next month.
Incidentally I see that What Women Want arrived back today and your next choice , Ocean's 11, was sent out today as a replacement. I presume you still have Yes Minister (sent out 26 March) and End of Days (sent out 25 March). If as you say What Women Want was posted last Monday it has taken two days to arrive, today being Wednesday.
As I said in my follow-up post (which you may not have read before replying to my big post looking at the times), I don't yet have Yes Minister, and End of Days, which you say was posted on the 25th, only arrived yesterday (27th) and was postmarked the 26th. Again, I'll let you know the postmark on the other disks that arrive.
I expect that Easter will disrupt the postal service even more than it already is, so I'll keep a close count on the number of disks that I manage to rent in my second month.
pbarrass
28-03-2002, 11:30
Another postal update.
I today recieved 2 disks, the ones posted on the 26th and the 27th. The disk posted on the 26th (Yes Minister) was (as I'd expected) postmarked 27th (at 9.30pm).
The second disk joins the small minority of disks that arrived the next day.
Would you like me to return the outer wrapper for the 24-hour delayed disks, surely with the wrappers and your Certificates of Posting, you can persuade Royal Mail to look into what's causing the problems?
Roger, I am finding that every time I add a title to my list, I am returned to the first page of that section. This is really a nuisance as I then have to remember which page I was on in the section to continue browsing.
It would be better if the site returned you to the page of the title which you have added to your list rather than take you back to the first page.
Prompted by pbarrass's helpful comments, today (28 March) we started checking the number of packages arriving back in one day, and found the following:
postmarked 27 March: 77.8%
prior to 27 March: 11.1%
unfranked*: 11.1 %
* tempted to steam the stamps off!
I shall collect this info for a week more after Easter to get more statistically useful data, but on the surface this suggests that about 4 out of 5 packages are coming back in one day. Of course , what we don't know is if the packages are being franked the same day they are posted.
Thanks, zenza, we shall see if we can change the software to overcome the problem of where you are returned to after list selection.
We added a few more goodies today: The Rainbow, Angel series 1, Sleepless, The Communion, the Beatrix Potter box set, and The Hunted among them. We don't always list titles in our pre-releases list before adding them, please note!
Roger, where are these new titles listed on the site?
If you don't list them in the pre releases then where do you list them?
As we add new titles we tend to put them first in the New Releases section which can be accessed from the side bar on the left. The list link is shown in red. A film does not have to have been only just released on DVD to get into our "New Releases" section since we are still adding movies and other genres which we think merit inclusion in any decently comprehensive DVD library. Thus I have just added The Servant, a 1963 black and white film starring Dirk Bogarde and directed by Joseph Losey, famous in its day and a real British classic. The Tale of Mrs Tiggywinkle in the Beatrix Potter box set is another new addition. After a while we take them out of the New Releases listing, but you can always find them via the A-Z listing or via a title search.
Best, Roger Coghill
Hi Roger
I was wondering if you were planning on increating your range of Indian Cinema DVD's in the near future? I know that that are extremely popular DVD's at in-movies.co.uk as I have has one DVD (Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam) at number 1 on my list for over TWO months now, and I still have not got it, so it shows how poular these DVD's are.
I think it is because they are not the kind of thing that your local blockbuster stocks.
Thanks
Top Cat
Thank you for the enquiry, TopCat.
Let me explain that we do not intend to make any large commitment to Indian films. These are well served by the Indian community already, and we do not speak the languages or have much idea which are the popular movies. Although I do not rule it out in the future, at present we have enough to do in developing our English language library, and making sure that we keep our position as the largest online DVD library in the UK. We are now just reaching 2800 titles, and want to make it to the 3000 mark in the next few weeks.
Those wavering on the brink of joining ViewDVD should consider that at some time after that we may increase our prices for new joiners, which as the above posts have shown, are ridiculously low compared with everyone else. Those members supporting us in these early days will be rewarded by continuing low monthly fees, and other privileges due to their "Founder Membership" status, but I cannot be more specific at present.
So jump in, Top Cat, the water's fine!
Best,
Thanks Roger for replying. I would just like to pick up on a few points and hopefully try to make you reconsider your position.
You say that that Indian Cinema is well served already, well in fact that is not the case. There are very few rental shops that deal with Indian DVD's and I have been unable to an online Indian DVD rental web site and is one of the reasons I first started using in-movies because they were able to offer these (although the range is limited and availability is low).
There is a huge need for more Indian DVD rental and if you read the forum you will notice that many of them members here are interested. Many of them are not Indian like me, but we enjoy the refreshing change from the Hollywood films.
You said in an earlier post you were committed to creating a "decently comprehensive DVD library" well I feel it is a huge shame that you feel that you should leave out such a huge amount of great films. If you truly want to be comprehensive then I think you should have such films in your stock. A large number of the UK population is not, White and only interested in Hollywood blockbusters!!
I really hope you reconsider your position of not stocking these films and try to continue with your aim of creating a "decently comprehensive DVD library"
Thanks
Top Cat
Roger, I think you are lacking in the foreign cinema and arthouse sections of your site. Top cat has a good point for having indian films. However, I feel you should add more films from around the world in the international and arthouse genre. I love films from countries such as spain, france, china, africa, brazil, argentina, cuba just to name a few.
Out of all the online rental stores, I have found that view dvd has less of these films than other online rental outlets.
I would really appreciate it if you could address this situation.
Points taken. We will review the position, and meanwhile... Has anyone come across an Indian DVD rental service, online or otherwise? I recall from our early days in video there were quite a number of retail rental shops specialising in Indian VHS rental along the East India Dock Road in East London, and it would not surprise me if these do not now offer DVDs. I will ask some of my East end buddies about this and let you know.
As for foreign films, as you can see we are hoping for foreign franchisees, and if successful this would solve the problem to some extent. Meanwhile I would be grateful for a wish list of foreign films from any readers of these posts. At present we only have 24 films listed in the foreign genre, and would wish to increase this to at least 100 in the near future.
Best, Roger Coghill
Hey roger,
my friend wants to sign up, and he would like to know if you accept solo
Thanks
Credit cards accepted by ViewDVD.
I should know the answer but actually don't at this time, since we accept so many. I will ask the admin tomorrow when they retuirn from the Eater break.
My apologies to all turkeys. I meant of course Easter bbreak.
Did you find out if you accept solo?
Thanks
We do accept Switch I understand, but I am still asking about Solo Is it the same as Switch? We do not accept American Express or Electron, incidentally.
No i dont think it is the same as switch
pbarrass
04-04-2002, 08:25
Hi.
Are you having database problems at the moment? My selection seems to have rolled back to this time last week, with the infamous What Women Want returning to haunt me as showing up as currently on loan. All three disks that I should have out on loan have been returned, but I can't tell if you have them, as your database seems out of date.
To zenza regarding the adding titles problem (returning to the first page of the list, rather than where you were up to). I've not added new titles for a while, so I don't know if this has been fixed, but if you use the 'open in new window' function of your browser (assuming there is one), then just close down the window when it appears, you should find that the title has been added and that you can carry on where you left off in the first window.
To DanDan (or friend of), the quickest way to check this out is simply to sign up... if your friend gets DVDs it would appear to work, if the friend gets a 'sorry, card declined' email, then it would appear not to work. I thought that Solo was not supposed to work for a customer not present transaction, but that it often does (I've not got one, so can't comment either way).
To Roger Coghill, are the comments on the marketing-2000 site (http://www.marketing-2000.net/ and click testimonials) attributed to you geniune?
"Roger Coghill, CEO of ViewDVD wrote us, 'We purchased the Prospect Mailer $149.00 Bundle yesterday to tell people about our new online DVD rental service' "
If they are, does that mean that you are (or were) a spammer? Have you sent unsolicited commerial email regarding your service? If you've not, then maybe you should get in touch with marketing-2000 to get the comments removed, some people (myself included) don't like doing business with spammers.
pbarrass
04-04-2002, 13:54
Originally posted by me
Hi.
Are you having database problems at the moment? My selection seems to have rolled back to this time last week, with the infamous What Women Want returning to haunt me as showing up as currently on loan. All three disks that I should have out on loan have been returned, but I can't tell if you have them, as your database seems out of date.
Yep. Definitely looks like you're having problems...
"Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Driverserror '80004005'
[Microsoft][ODBC Microsoft Access Driver]General error Unable to open registry key 'Temporary (volatile) Jet DSN for process 0x9d8 Thread 0x4c0 DBC 0xfc0d3dc Jet'.
/header.asp, line 20"
Any idea on when this will be fixed? I'm trying to find out how many DVDs I should have waiting for me when I get home (and what they are). There _should_ be 3 disks, as all 3 were posted back on Tuesday, but I was unable to find out which ones you actually got, as the database seemed out-of-date.
Unless more disks arrive in a second post (the first, DVD-less post arrived as I was leaving, but I've known DVDs to arrive in a second post) my first-month total will be 13. As in more than a pound a disk, which still isn't massive amounts, but more than I want to pay.
On a better-postal news front. My brother has also signed up for the service, and recieved 2 disks next-day , with one the day after. Much better than I've been seeing.
UPDATE - I can now log into the site and check my list, but it's showing that Iv'e got no disks out right now, does that mean that all 3 disks were delayed getting back to you, and that you've only just reshelved them?
Whilst I'm on the subject of the site, is there any reason that the links accross the top of the page are Java? Makes it tricky navigating on a browser with scripts disabled.
pbarrass
06-04-2002, 01:37
Originally posted by myself..... again, is no-one else contributing to this thread any more?
Unless more disks arrive in a second post (the first, DVD-less post arrived as I was leaving, but I've known DVDs to arrive in a second post) my first-month total will be 13. As in more than a pound a disk, which still isn't massive amounts, but more than I want to pay.
More site problems...
"HTTP Error 500-13 - Server too busy" when the server finally responded, at 1.30am Fri. night.. probably one of the quietest times for web-servers.
Again, no more movies arrived in the post this morning. Again, I can't check which movies viewDVD think that I have, this time because the site is down entirely. Now all three disks have been delayed by at least two days.
How exactly do I go about cancelling my membership? And how much notice do I have to give? I'll give one of the other companies a trial, and see which is better. I'd like to, in future, if the competitors are no better, to give viewDVD another trial, but there's no way that that is happening with the 3 month minimum membership.
I wish you well in your future business, viewDVD, and regret that none of it will be with me, unless things change radically in the next 2 months.
Morning update -
The site now seems to be up and running fine now, though still not showing rental information. In postal news, a single disk arrived this morning (unfortunately, it's one for the other half, and even more unfortunately I might have to watch it with her as it's her birthday...). Wrapper was postmarked 5th. As the site won't tell me when it was sent, I don't know where the massive postal delays are occuring (the previous disks were sent back on Tuesday, and it's now going to be at least Monday before 2 of the disks arrive, which I'd consider excessive.)
With the disk was a note which I presume is being sent out with all disks this week, firstly giving advice on how to ensure speedy disk returns (for the record, there's nothing in there that I don't do), secondly giving 'advance' notice for some server downtime, owing to a server move. Might have been helpful if this had been publicised better, a quick note here might have helped things.
Originally posted by pbarrass
[Quite a lot of things, actually. Some good, some not so good :) ]
First, I should confess that I am the brother pbarrass spoke of, but that doesn't mean we are sharpening the knives up outside the forum's door.
Regarding my postal experience which was mentioned a couple of posts ago: three disks postmarked 2 April 9:30pm, two arrived 3 April and one 4 April. Small sample size, so no comment on that (guess I'll have to wait another eight hours to see if my next disk turns up...).
But, I have to admit things seem to have gone a little quiet on this thread. Is there ever going to be any comment about the dysfunctional website?
I have to say that I was expecting 2 disks this morning having sent back the last 2 together on Tuesday. Only one arrived which I am very dissapointed with.:(
I expect to receive 2 disks together if I send 2 back together.:rolleyes:
I hope the service improves.
Upon viewing my dvd list, I have noticed dvds which have gone missing from my list which I remember adding.
I hope this has something to do with the server being moved and that I get my full list back.
Is anyone else experiencing this?
Originally posted by zenza
Upon viewing my dvd list, I have noticed dvds which have gone missing from my list which I remember adding.
I hope this has something to do with the server being moved and that I get my full list back.
Is anyone else experiencing this?
Could this the be same thing that pbarrass was talking about - status rolling back one week?
But, similarly, I can't even log in, just returning to the main page when I try. The same thing happens when using an unlikely login/password combination. My account was about a week old when the problems with the site started. Does this mean that my account has gone back one week into a potential-account?
On my dvd front: I was expecting (in the two-day-after-returning-a-dvd-ideal) a new disk today but no sign...
pbarrass
07-04-2002, 15:14
It would appear (just educated guesswork, but it appears that the viewDVD spokesperson is taking an Easter break, so that's all we have to go on) that the database was rolled back, early this week to last week. I hadn't added titles for a while (my initial selection is taking longer to work through than I anticipated, but that's another matter) but one title that had been returned, with a replacement sent out was showing up as being out, and the replacement title (which I had returned) was showing up in the 'wish list' I removed that title to ensure that it wasn't sent out again.
For a brief period, it appeared that the database was more up to date. The 'titles out' section was potentially accurate (it was showing up disks that should have arrived back to them, but with the postal delays, I can't be sure whether they had arrived). Shortly after that the site became inacessible at various levels (not responding, server too busy or MS ODBC errors, or refusing logins). Now the server appears to be responding, but has lost the 'titles out' section (or the database shows that I have no titles out, which is not true). I just hope that the web front end database and the head office pack-em-in-envelopes are sufficiently separated to ensure it's business as normal.
It could just be part of the server move, the old server is fine, whilst the new one (which is the only one that we can access) hasn't yet been updated with the current database.
Interestingly, the note that was included with the last disk pointed out that they were improving their backup systems... normally people only improve their backups after a catastrophic failure... (or is that just me?).
To zenza: You state that you returned disks on Tuesday, and expected the return disks on Saturday? Did you expect that in advance, or only when one of them arrived? I guess I'm asking whether a 4 day turnaround is normal for you, when the ideal world turnaround time is 2 days. It seems that iabpa is also having non-ideal disk turnarounds, with the limited number of disk postage times available.
For the record, in the last week, I've lost (or will have if the disks arrive tomorrow) 12 disk-days (where 3 disk-days should equal one disk), ie 4 disks that I've missed out on renting.
evilvampire
08-04-2002, 02:56
I would like to say that viewdvd's catalogue of foreign films is very poor. I know what was said earlier, but come on if In-movies can provide such a diverse selection why can't you. One of the benefits of dvd is to see films that you wouldn't normally see in the directors vision. I would like to see more foreign films from HK to India to whatever. Come guys your current selection of hollywood films is great. Just waiting to see a diversity and then I'll become member. If you think there's no market in this, I think your're wrong.
pbarrass
08-04-2002, 19:45
Any of those amongst us recieved any of the DVDs that they were expecting? There's at least 3 of us waiting for disks since at least Saturday (expected date of disks). My previous disks were returned last Tuesday, 2 of the replacements have yet to arrive, making at least a 7 day turnaround. I've had disks arrive from Australia in less time than that.
Is the Royal Mail (or whetever they're called nowadays) really responsible for introducing a 5 day delay on a two next-day deliveries?
pbarrass, I was expecting a disk today after receiving only one on Saturday. I didn't get anything.
I am very dissapointed that I have only one disk when I should have 2 disks.
I hope it's not because they don't have any of the titles on my list in stock. I would think that a rental company would need to make sure that they have sufficient copies of disks.
BTW, I wonder how many copies of a movie view dvd stock.
I was hoping to have one on Saturday - I returned a disc on Thursday afternoon so it was possible that another should arrive on Saturday. Still no sign of one.
Currently, I don't have a single DVD (out of three possible) from them at my house. Oh well, there's always tomorrow...
pbarrass
09-04-2002, 11:19
It looks like three of us are awaiting oustanding disks from last week, myself iabpa and zenza. zenza and myself from disks returned on Tuesday, iabpa from Thursday (and also now Friday and Sunday if my memory from another conversation is correct).
It's now been a week for two of us since returning previous disks, mine have not arrived this morning, has yours zenza?
There's no indication of a problem on the website. The site is still showing that I have no rentals out at the moment, which is actually true, as I've returned the only disk that I've had in the last week.
My initial estimate of disks per month was about 20-25. My first month's total was 13, a week into my second month and I've only had a single disk, making the forcast 4 disks in a month.... Not really worth 15 quid.
I'm afraid I had to capitulate dramatically: I contacted them by telephone. But it looks like my problems may have been solved (but far from excused).
Firstly, my complete inability to log in. This was simply because my password was reset to equal my username (security! and thanks for telling me, the password reminder page being dead really helped).
And my getting no DVDs was a result of my not having a list of wants - or rather, my list also being `reset'. I was told that if I add titles before 3pm today I'll get them tomorrow (now that I have also `un-reset' my address.
So, if anyone sees a cheap tape-drive in the Bargain forum they know where to send it...
Well, looks like the excitement is building. Three DVDs are now listed as being out, with today's date. Let's hope that they turn up tomorrow.
As an aside, I changed my address details on Tuesday of last week. That it was reset to how it was before then, and things mentioned by others, really does suggest that there was a little bit of an oops with the database(s) on Wednesday last week.
pbarrass
09-04-2002, 18:44
Well, another DVD arrived this morning (of the 2 I've been expecting for 5 days), and the site is now showing disks on loan again... so it looks like progress.
However...
Now that the disks on loan section is working, more things are apparent. Firstly it looks like a disk actually made a jouney in a single day, a disk posted by viewDVD last Friday arrived on Saturday. The problem is that was to replace a disk returned last Tuesday, so it took 3 days to travel in that direction... worst delay yet (or is it.... read on)
Worse news is the disk that arrived today, it was supposedly sent to me last Thursday (Still a 2 day journey from me to them, which is twice what I'd expect, but better than some), which is 5 days ago... on a first class stamp. Up until now RC has blamed the postal system for every delay introduced to my disks (well, with some hints that it's my fault, but I'll ignore that for now) ... but 5 days??? Also the postmark is yesterday, so it looks like the disk was hanging around somewhere between the 4th and the 8th. Oddly, this disk was hand addressed.
Even worse news... The third disk sent back last Tuesday is still showing up as being out. Is this a genuinely lost disk? I'd have enquired earlier, but I've only just found out that the disk is outstanding (it was also an outstanding disk, being the copy of Yes Minister I finally got hold of, very good). What's the procedure here? Do I have to complain to the post office? Do you do that? I don't want to complain to the PO, as I'm not entirely sure that the database isn't a week out of date again.
I've returned a disk today, lets see if it shows up tomorrow. At least then I'd know that the postal service and viewDVDs database is working. If not, looks like it's time to persuade them that I'm not willing to be stuck in a 3 month contract if I'm not going to get the service I paid for.
Good Luck to iabpa, expecting 3 disks tomorrow, though I think we've determined that the postal service is slightly better in your region.
GeoffStrum
09-04-2002, 21:02
I have been recomended viewdvd by a colleague and after reading these comments, i am unsure if i should trust my credit card details to a company whose website looks like it was put together by a gang of 3 year olds on a fisher price toy computer.
Does anyone have anything good to say about this site? and are you happy with the security of your details
Geoff.
Originally posted by GeoffStrum
Does anyone have anything good to say about this site? and are you happy with the security of your details
My details were quite secure - even they couldn't get access them.
But, I'm not entirely happy with a site that forces me to have my password the same as my username (see above, as I can't seem to find a way to change my password on the site) while storing personal data (name, address, email, telephone, film choices) on the server. And no, my username there isn't the same as it is here :) .
And regarding the "look and feel" of the site: too much Java.
Three DVDs turned up this morning. Looks like things are working again. [And the postal service here is better than where pbarrass is. It was even better a showing than last week.]
pbarrass
10-04-2002, 12:04
Originally posted by iabpa
Three DVDs turned up this morning. Looks like things are working again. [And the postal service here is better than where pbarrass is. It was even better a showing than last week.]
Congratulations on having an efficient postal service. It looks like a disk that I posted back yesterday has not arrived (though I think it still has time to show up), and the disk missing from last week still looks like it's missing. I posted a disk back this morning, any bets on when it will arrive?
As viewDVD seem to have given up on this forum, I've sent them an email regarding the missing disk, see how quickly they get me back to 3-disk membership.
I've also put an enquiry into Consignia to see if there are any problems that they would like to admit to in my region. If not, I'll put in a proper complaint.. not that it will do any good I'm sure.
I have checked on the website and it has a dvd that was sent out on thhe 5th april which I have not received. Apparently I was sent out 2 dvds on the 5th, only one of which I received on the 8th april.
Can pbarrass or iabpa tell me what their contact phone number is as I can't see it on the website. I need to inform them that I have not received the dvd which I am supposed to have on loan.
pbarrass
10-04-2002, 15:57
Originally posted by zenza
I have checked on the website and it has a dvd that was sent out on thhe 5th april which I have not received. Apparently I was sent out 2 dvds on the 5th, only one of which I received on the 8th april.
Just out of interest (if you know, or can find out) what was the postmark on that delayed disk? Was it the 5th, (when they say it was posted), or the 7th(which it would be if the post office manages a next-day)?
Can pbarrass or iabpa tell me what their contact phone number is as I can't see it on the website. I need to inform them that I have not received the dvd which I am supposed to have on loan.
From their website: (hidden behind java)
Telephone: (44) 01495 763389 or 01495 752122
Fax: 0870 706 0168
Originally posted by zenza
Can pbarrass or iabpa tell me what their contact phone number is as I can't see it on the website. I need to inform them that I have not received the dvd which I am supposed to have on loan.
It's on the "Contact Us" page behind the Java-d links; 01495 752122 is the one I had success with, but 01495 763389 is also listed.
pbarrass
14-04-2002, 18:56
An improvement at last. The last few disks that I've sent, and the ones that have been posted back have all arrived when they should have (next day). :clap:
Problem is, now I've got to find time to watch them all. :D
Same here. Seem to be arriving next day.:clap: :clap: :clap:
Sorry if I appear to have gone quiet, but these blow by blow accounts by three contributors (our two barrass Members and zenza) to these forums of slow moving mail over the post-Easter period and backdating of their lists, as well as temporary freezing of their list editing freedoms, were in part due to our upgrading to a dedicated server and for security reasons I did not wish to make detailed comments during critical parts of the changeover.
The Cardiff Royal Mail office also held up a batch of several hundred outgoing disks on 5 April on the grounds that it was overweight, but failed to follow their procedures and inform us of what they were planning to do. They have now apologised and promised not to do that ever again. Some of our members later found themselves paying surcharges on DVDs which had left our offices upto a week earlier.
I would say however that while I was unwilling to expose our site to potential hackers during a critical period, pbarrass has had detailed and timely private emails from me in explanation of the various components of his delay, and himself kindly concedes that things are better than back to normal now.
Despite his calculation of having received only thirteen DVDs, he actually had 16 disks during the period 11 March to 11 April, for his £15 quid, including all postage, which works out at just under a pound a rental. and most of these choices were among the top renters. I honestly think that's better value than obtainable elsewhere, and to judge by the flood of new joiners this weekend, so do other people.
What Member pbarrass appears to expect for £15 is over 20 DVD disks in a month. There is no UK DVD rental firm which could supply that online or otherwise for that money! This would be on the basis of watching a movie every two nights out of three, at an average cost of 75p per rental. Since postage costs are 54p and packaging adds a further 8p or so, this means that we would actually receive only 13p for each rental, - not a very good return to most reasonable people!
Nevertheless, there is no reason why we should'nt acheive this lickety spit pace if the Royal Mail delivers its promises and we continue our policy of a sameday turn round, and if members send back their disks promptly. However our ads in (e.g) Webuser give a usage example based on a dozen DVDs a month, which seems to be nearer the average user pace, and a more reasonable expectation. Many members with the three-disks-at- once option use one of them for childrens' films and keep these much longer than a few days, since children like to see films many times over. In other words the utility of the three disks at once service is not only to see a maximum number of titles in a given period.
I suppose that if by contrast one person represents a whole syndicate of users from their office, home, or workplace, (which is somewhat unfair to us aince they should really join individually), then a deal where only 16 disks arrive in a month including the Easter break would not look quite so good for them!
During the last month our titles list increased by several hundred to over 2800 movies now, which is far more than anyone else in the UK is offering. I haven't seen many recognitions of this acheivement on the forum, but only requests that we increase the foreign film and Indian content of the list!
We did temporarily remove all members passwords for housekeeping purposes, and substitute their user names, during certain critical downloads. These are now restored, though at present passwords can only be altered by contacting us. When we are happy that the new server is doing its job we will introduce the facility for members to change their passwords at will.
Our new dedicated server is hosted by Fasthosts (claimed to be the largest in the UK) and I have every confidence that they will provide a much faster access service than we have been experiencing recently from NTwebhost on a shared server which suffered from surges in US traffic.
As for Mr GeoffStrum's concerns, I would point out that we have clearly displayed a Thawte security certificate, and there have never been any incidents of any kind concerning credit card security. I would prefer not to comment on his accompanying remarks which are value judgements! One day we might get around to spending money and time on prettying the site, but for now we prefer to buy more DVDs to improve members' choice!
Contributor iabpa raised another issue, though I am a little surprised that both he and zenza did not look in our Contact Us subpage to find out our telephone etc details, which seemed to us the obvious place to put and look for such things.
If members do not put any or only a few titles in their lists it seriously inhibits us from sending them out. We recommend that members keep at least 20 titles on their list. Our policy on copy depth is to buy more copies than estimated demand, and return the excesses when the title has gone cold. We are not always correct with our guesses, but by and large most people quickly get the titles they put nearest the top of their lists.
As far as I can tell during the period of about a week when we were moving very large files around between servers there were certainly some unexpected hiccups, and I can only apologise to members for this, which was by no means only the fault of the Royal Mail as Member pbarrass implies I have said.
I also beleive that our service, which had drawn praise from many quarters, suffered for the same period, but is now back to better than normal, with an increased number of titles for members to choose from.
We have offered members who have made us aware that they suffered a lack of service during these alarms and excursions an extra rental free of charge, and we will aim to provide an even better service than before these problems started.
The remaining issue was raised by evilvampire, on the issue of foreign and Indian films. The situation is not quite as bad as painted in respect of foreign films, in that many of the (e.g.) HK films in our list are categorised as other genres than foreign, because the categories are not mutually exclusive. I suppose we should have a cross referencing system to deal with this problem, but didn't see it as a priority before.
We are also in course of appointing foreign (European) franchisees, so in due course our members (and only our members!) will have access to their lists, and we will not need to duplicate them in the UK. In-Movies claim 84 foreign films in their list, where as we only show 22. But at least another 20 of the foriegn films on In Movies list are in our own service, yet categorised to other genres. We are also working to reduce and eliminate this apparent deficiency.
That still leaves the matter of Indian films. While conceding that the Indian film industry is excellent and prodigious, (parts of an Indian film were recently shot in Wales I gather!) I do not think we would want to build an extensive Indian category just yet, because we simply don't have any expertise in the genre, or enough confidence that a market exists any larger than that for European language films. We still have some way to go in completing our English language titles, which is the direction where most people want us to go. It would appear that In-Movies has been developing a good Indian section with 18 Indian films currently, and maybe they would be a more suitable supplier for those seeking this genre.
Kind regards to all, and continued thanks for keeping us on our toes,
Roger Coghill
Your comments are (I hope) appreciated by all of us here. However, I am puzzled by the following snippet:
Originally posted by Viewdvd
Contributor iabpa raised another issue, though I am a little surprised that both he and zenza did not look in our Contact Us subpage to find out our telephone etc details, which seemed to us the obvious place to put and look for such things.
given that:
Originally posted by me
It's on the "Contact Us" page behind the Java-d links; 01495 752122 is the one I had success with, but 01495 763389 is also listed.
My comment was, more or less, that if some deviant didn't have Java enabled in the browser they simply wouldn't see the "Contact Us" link/button.
As a comment on delivery times I'd just like to say that apart from the issues of last week I've no real complaint about the service I've been subjected to.
Thanks for clarifying your comment about the contact us page. I will now make sure my IT manager deals with the matter. The 763389 number comes straight to my desk, by the way. It is a habit I picked up in the States, when once I phoned and asked to speak to the CEO of ITT and got put straight through. I figure if any customer wants to talk to the boss he has a reason to do so, or wouldn't waste his own time.
I try to deal with all calls but sometimes am working in the lab and cannot answer the phone.
evilvampire
16-04-2002, 02:08
Sorry If I appear to be only pointing out what is missing. I find your responses very satisfying, and although as yet I am still not a member I would just like to say keep up the good work. I will more than likely be joining by the end of the month.
Thanks for your kind remarks, and congratulations on your informative collection. I see you have a few titles we don't have, for example the Never Ending Story. But what impressed me was that this is the first time I have seen reviews containing every actor's name. I presume you got these from the DVD credits, because few covers give such information, and some (e.g. Medusa and Prism) are notorious for their paucity of such details. (I wonder if Dave Hodgkins is still heading up Medusa? If so, extractare digitum, Dave!).
evilvampire
16-04-2002, 13:04
What you are looking at when you click on my link is my dvd collection but all the information is gathered through a program called dvd profiler. I never inputed all the information just merely put down the film title, the program does all the rest.
I fiind the program very useful when friends want to borrow films I just give them the link.
pbarrass
16-04-2002, 16:26
Originally posted by Viewdvd
But what impressed me was that this is the first time I have seen reviews containing every actor's name. I presume you got these from the DVD credits, because few covers give such information
I don't know if you aware of this, and if so, just ignore me.. I'll go away again, but the internet movie database (at http://www.imdb.com or http://uk.imdb.com) has all this info and more.
It is fairly common to see links to the imdb info from sites selling/reviewing movies, so maybe you could add a link to the move in the imdb from the page on your site.
Don't know if this is of any use to you, but every little helps... :)
bettywoods
29-05-2002, 19:04
I've been a member of in-dvds for about 5 months and generally they have been pretty good. I was considering changing to viewdvd because they are a bit cheaper. However, I changed my mind for a couple of reasons :
It took me a long time to finally realise that you have to pay your own return postage - they use this 'no more to pay us' crap which is a bit misleading.
In-dvds started a dvd lite offer last week where you get only 1 film at a time for £7.50 and I noticed that a few days later view dvd did the same thing ! I was originally concerned by how poor their web site design is and now I think I'll give them a miss. Has anybody else tried them ?
woody
Originally posted by bettywoods
I've been a member of in-dvds for about 5 months and generally they have been pretty good. I was considering changing to viewdvd because they are a bit cheaper. However, I changed my mind for a couple of reasons :
It took me a long time to finally realise that you have to pay your own return postage - they use this 'no more to pay us' crap which is a bit misleading.
If you use the top level subscription (platinum, I think), you can have three DVDs at once and pay no return postage. Or at least this is the case for me at the moment. I seem to recall that there was no mention of this on the website when I joined up, but I had this confirmed to me by a current member before I joined up. Having to pay return postage on (up to) six DVDs per week would be a little unfortunate. Perhaps there will be an official reply shortly.
I was originally concerned by how poor their web site design is and now I think I'll give them a miss. Has anybody else tried them ?
woody
The website design is a little quirky. It has improved now that Java is no longer essential for some things. There are still some issues that have been raised in this thread that haven't been dealt with, but the whole thing is wholly functional.
I've found recently that the postal problems which were of concern earlier have essential ceased (at least, they have as far as I can see) and I've been getting good value as far as the number of disks is concerned. You may have problems getting the more popular titles, but this could be your chance to see some of the more obscure films.
Hi Folks,
Sorry to have been a bit slow in responding to the last two posts, through pressure of work. INDVDs never take part in this forum so even though slow to respond, ViewDVD should still get a few Brownie points for the dialogue with you ferocious lions out there!
Pricing comparisons
Yes we are cheaper than either InDVDs or DVD on tap, but you may not appreciate that this is even when the return postage payable by our Gold members is taken into account.
We ask £10 a month plus postage for two DVDs rented at one time, whereras the others ask £15 postage included. This means that members not hiring many DVDs pay less (I.e. when on holiday or busy at work), because the basic charge is lower.
Take an example of a member hiring 10 DVDs in a month: with ViewDVD he/she would pay a total of £12-70 whereas with the others the cost would be £15-00. This is because the return 1st class postage cost on a DVD is only 27p. and really not worth wingeing about.
With ViewDVD Platinum members there is an outright cost advantage over the others: our Members can get three films at once whereas with the others he/she get only two.
So the threader who is staying with Inmovies hasn't done the sums properly. Apart from that we have more titles to offer and other benefits not available from the others (see below).
Turning next to the one unfortunate incident when the PO decided to surcharge every one of our hundreds of dispatches on 5 April it has taken around six weeks to get these back, and we are still missing five top titles. We had to indulge in a large additional purchase exercise to maintain supplies in the interim. The PO has apologised to us profusely, but it still damaged our reputation through no fault of ours. We always turn round the returned disks the same day, Garanteed.
Copy depth
We had been going for copy breadth breadth of coverage in the first five months, so we now have around 3000 titles, more than any other UK online rental service. This tactic forced Inmovies to spurt on their own coverage, which jumed from about 1400 in January to 2500 now, so their members have us to thank for their competitive response.
But now we are working on software to improve copy DEPTH (to match the number of copies of one title bought more closely to members' demand). So soon we expect to satisfy any member's chosen request within 28 days of it appearing on his/her list, i.e within the month requested.
This is only one of around 30 software projects underway or planned, to improve the site. I apologise that we have not yet tarted up its appearance, (this will happen when the software enhancements are completed) but if the absence of a fancy looking site is the only reason for not joining, just consider these points:
a) with ViewDVD you can search by title, director or star. No other service yet offers this facility.
b) on thousands of our films' details pages you will find a button clicking through to an indepth review of that movie. Also click throughs to DVD suppliers if you want to buy ther DVD.
c) we offer greater choice than anyone else, and probably more details on each film too.
d) we are price competitive with everyone else.
e) Our Platinum members pay no postage at all.
f) If you introduce a new member you get a free month. No one else is so generous, as far as I know. Others have moved their subs rates upwards but we have held our prices ever since inception.
g) we shall shortly be launching an affiliate programme
h) we are in the process of franchising in other countries, which will bring many more foreign films within the ViewDVD membership availability.
j) no other service is honest enough to show the split between genres as we do (showing how our 2938 titles are spread.
In summary we think ViewDVD is serving its members better than others, at least that is our aim.
Thanks for reading all this! Join in June and get a freeby!
Best Roger Coghill
Oh, and I forgot to mention that at ViewDVD we now have our own dedicated server, which should help to keep access times low. And a facility for sending newsletter type emails to members, which we hope will enable us to provide special offers from time to time. We can also now supply a titles-only list for those who want to choose movies while not on line.
All these features have been added in the last few months as part of our ongoing software development.
At the risk of sounds like a tight-arse, can two dvd's be returned in one envelope with one first class stamp on it? I don't really mind using two, but you always find you've only got one left when you need more.....!
Thanks.
We send out disks in separate packages with a first class stamp on each and do not try to cut corners by putting two disks in one package, for insurance purposes, and because the customer may not want to send them both back at one time. Our members are asked to return disks the same way, because insurance is only sufficient to cover one disk. If two disks are returned in one package the correct postage is 41p first class. Get this wrong, however by putting only one 27p stamp on the package, and the Royal Mail can hold up the underpaid package for over a week, and we then also have a 69 p surcharge to pay, which is irritating to say the least (and the culprit will get an email from us to that effect!).
In other words you might save 14p in postage by putting two disks in one pack with a 27p stamp, , but you will almost certainly lose £2-50 worth of rental opportunity, so it really isn't worth it!
Our members are already getting the best deal on the web and any where else in fact, in terms of DVD rental charges. Compare us with all the others! 27p is peanuts compared with the savings our members make compared with our competitors: Movie trak for example has just increased its rental price to over three pounds a hire.
Best wishes to all, Roger Coghill
Thanks for the quick reply!
No probs, I just thought I'd ask!
Stamps are one of those things you never seem to have when you need them.....I'll have to get myself a couple of books worth ready!
Roger
I have been trying to contact u by email a number of occasion without success. My username would be the same. I rented Atlantis on the 29/8/02, returned it 3 days after. It is now 16/9 and you still have not received it. I realised that dvd may be lost, but at least you should answer my email about the what to do. Within that period, can only borrowed one dvd (2 dvd each time). From my calculation I missed about 3 rentals.
The reason I post this message here is you did not answer my email and I do not think this is what we call good customer service. Please action on next action, did u receive Atlantis dvd? If not please advise next course of action. I am getting a little bit inpatient here
Thanks
Dear Fabryuk.
I am sorry you are not getting any response to your email, which did not appear to arrive here at all.
I am dealing with your problem straight away.
Best wishes,
Roger Coghill
OK Fabryuk,
I have now looked into the position, and report as follows:
Your Atlantis did come back, but only on the 19th and we despatched Enemy at the Gates the same day, so things are back to normal.
There was some transmission loss with the email service on our dedicated server in the first part of September, because we were upgrading the system so that we can send messages occasionally to members about special offers, new acquisitions newsletters etc. All this software is now working fine, as you will have seen from our recent messages to you.
I am asking that you be sent two additional hires at no extra cost to compensate you for the trouble this loss of email delivery has cost. I still don't know why Atlantis took nearly two weeks to get through the postal system, but it is a medical rarity, I can assure you.
I suggest we now resume this dialogue via private emails.
Best, Roger Coghill
You've conviced me to give you guys a try!
Just had a look at your site and noticed different prices to those mentioned on this thread - am I missing something?
Also you mentioned a free month trial but now it says 14 days?
I apologise if I have missed something obvious.
Yes, I suspect the thread is somewhat out of date, since we have changed prices a bit over the last year or so. Presently the first month's subscription to ViewDVD is half price, which is astonishingly good value at just £3-75 for the first month (one disk out at one time).
Best to all, Roger Coghill
FuzzBuzz
19-02-2003, 02:10
i think ill be signing up as well
u dhould have a anime / karate section as i will be getting loads :D
Good news! Forum members might also know that Classic FM website are running a competition this week for which the prizes are some annual subscriptions to ViewDVD.
Best to all, Roger Coghill
Is DVD Rental still functioning?
The website hasn't worked for about 5 days and an email I sent this morning was returned undelivered.
I'm very concerned about this as I have paid 12 months in advance.
Eric Badger
24-11-2003, 21:23
I've been trying to access their website during the past few days without success. Coincidentally, I cancelled my subscription last week due to the high proportion of unplayable disks I was receiving. Do these people ever check the DVDs returned by their customers? I think not. Nevertheless, I still have a week's worth of rental remaining so I would also like to know what's going on.
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