You mean they're not taking this problem seriously? When the BTTF and Animatrix defects bit Magna and Warner, they responded positively to the issue. It took some time but they did recognize their error and eventually made amends.
I am only going by your own words in your post. You said "I doubt Viva appreciates all those negative publicity the Narnia release is getting." That's a rather strong indictment against Viva.
Yes the consumer is free to generalize all he wants, but I think the problem with your position is that you're implying malice where there is probably none. And you know what? That's WRONG. Just because you're invoking consumer rights doesn't give you the blanket authority to peddle your assumptions as truth. Yes it is within your right to complain and to demand action. Did you did get your replacement items? Yes you did. In comparison, it usually takes Amazon up to 48 hours to decide on a refund/replacement case.
It's nice of you to call a post WRONG just because it doesn't fit with your assumptions. My assumptions are generalized basically for purposes of this discussion. And they are founded on complaints posted in this forum about the sloppy products being dished out by some if not most of these distributors, as well as from personal experience. I am not singling out Viva, if you prefer to be on their side rather than the consumer. But the issue of malice on their part is beside the point. Like I said in my previous post, the consumer is not interested whether a blunder is intentional or inadvertant. I am not in any position to ascribe malice on anyone but merely generalize on what I see, hear and read. Consumer advocacy does not imply any complicity on the part of the sellers. Among other things, and as it applies here, It is just an advocacy to put products and label products that will conform with customer expectatioins for the price they pay. Nothing more. That's basically doing their job right and showng regard for the intelligence of its market.
No. You said in a previous post that you were going to buy a copy, then return it the following day to prove a point. You're not exactly the aggrieved party here. You took advantage of the situation.
True, And you deduce from that that I am putting one over the distributor? Never did it occur to you that I was taking a risk that the misprinted product will not be refunded or exchanged or if so, that I can exchange it with a title I like and is available.. That I was helping the market the way I know best to put the message of discontent for this particular title accross. Because it would seem most of the people grumbling in this forum have accepted their lot with a defective product. Your concern for Viva is most intriguing.
There are 5 pages of posts that already confirmed the problem. You simply saw an opportunity to add fuel to the fire.
There could be 1000 pages of discontent but I have to see it to believe. Promptly bought the DVD to confirm this and sent it back. I paid 900 pesos for it not certain if I can get the title I like for replacement. But good I was able to effect a merchandise return and exchange that should speak loudly to a seller if he is concerned with his market. There was no deception involved. I was simply doing what some people who bought this title could have done but didn't do or unwilling to do for whatever reason - effect a merchandise return. Hopefully, the message gets across. Rather than send emails or snail mails that apparently get no response, this is my answer to the question what to do about such defectively packaged/printed DVDs. That's my call. What could be the worst thing that could happen? It'll will get ignored. The best? They can learn and be more careful about their printing and packaging. And if more consumers do this, the better to achieve a far-sighted objective for the benefit of local R3 consumers. That's the fire I am fueling, if at all.
This has nothing to do with regioning. It has everything to do with your statement that there is monopoly, and I responded by citing examples of why this is not the case.
Excuse me, as far as I'm concerned, regioning is obivously a subtle way for the capitalist gurus to effect monopoly. Good thing governments are not strict enforcing this regioning thing notwithstanding their signatures in the WTO to comply with anti-piracy laws and this regioning scheme. Imagine if the Phil government were to disallow and outlaw R1s that have no VRB sitckers, whether at the post office or retail oulets. There goes your alternative market that comprise you "free choice."
You mean your expectations. Packaging isn't a big issue for me compared to defective or badly transcoded discs. Again, you're generalizing. You make it sound like Viva is scum and that they don't "do their job right" nor do they "respect the customer". Did you buy Titanic at Php599? Did you buy SW Episode 3, FF 4, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith at Php299 complete with original Amaray clear cases and double-sided cover labels? Episode 3 even came with an insert if I'm not mistaken.
That's your impression. But like I said, far be it for me to impute motives. I simply generalize based on the products they deliver. If the product sucks, and if it happens more often than the few gems they deliver, I have all the basis to generalize they don't care about their market, have no respect for their opinions and are not doing their job right. That's my impression. You have yours. Packaging isn't the main issue here. It's all about consumer rights for a product they deserve to get at the price they pay. Like I said, I can forgive lousy amaray cases since I can easily replace them with better ones. But what do I do with misprinted labels? I consider that a lot more serious. But that is also beside the point. The point is that these distributors appear to regard the market with contmept as to allow the release of a mislabeled product with false claims. That's simple sloppy merchandising. I couldn;t care what their motives are. Such a mistake commited on the market shoud be remedied. This is not a defective car that should be recalled for safety reasons. It's just a DVD. But still, I hope they do something in the weeks ahead to appease their customers.
Again, let's be specific here and go easy on the generalizations.
Yes it does have everything to do with the local distributors. You keep on referring to other territories as being "too expensive" while complaining about the inferiority of local releases. Are you then concluding that higher prices are in fact an indicator of quality? You have to be specific again because I bought Titanic, FF 4, etc. at rock bottom prices but have nothing to complain about regarding the quality of those releases
.
My goodness, how can you infer one from the other? What has quality got to do with price in this case? When I say R1 is expensive, that's simply a general observation shared by many, inlcuding me, who have done their shopping in both R1 and R3s. Most of the added expense come from an accident of exchange rate and shipping cost. And ofcourse there are exceptions. While it is generaly perceived that the quality of R1s are superior to R3s in this or that respect, especially those released locally, let's not get sidetracked. The issue is about local distributors selling R3s short of customer expecations engendered by false claims espcially at the prices they charge and allowing customers to redress their disappointments. I can understand if they are customzing their products to suit the low-income capacity of most Pinoys which I think they are doing with those 299 and 399 releases. But I have to take issue on regular priced products that undermine my confidence on these distributors.
R1s as Mercedez Benzes? Doubtful. On Amazon, Narnia CE is being sold as low as US$24. It's not that big a difference compared to Viva's MSRP. If you wait another month, you'll probably see it selling for below US$20. And if you wait for Astro's rainy day sale, you'll probably see Viva's CE selling for even lower.
And no, people aren't grumbling because of the "higher price tags of the R1s" -- they're annoyed because Viva screwed up on Narnia. Specifically, Narnia.
Maybe not at all times. But if I can afford R1s, I probably wouldn't grumble so much and just snob the local releases. And true, their prices will just decline as the months wore off. But even for some posters here, even a SALE of these misprinted DVDs would not be sufficient for them to get these. I doubt if I will. If the title appealed to me that much, I would have ordered my R1 at Amazon at this time. But it doens't. So I'll just let it pass, and maybe in the future, once all the Narnia series have been put into screen, they'll most likely release a boxset worthy of the market's patronage.
And after that incredibly eloquent and insightful observation, I think it's time we all moved on before this deteriorates into the (unrated) PinoyDVD version of Edsa Tres.
I shouldn't think so. If at all, it should help members skim through the issues confronting them as consumers. As long as our arguments are impersonal, I see no problem. But I agree, there's really nothing much we can achieve here. It is plain we can't see eye to eye. Though it was a pleasure discourisng with you, let's just move on.
Again, have a pleasant truly blessed Holy Weekend.
