The pre-pay deal

[Joanna]

Was that sarcasm? Because you suck at it!

"And dance by the light of the moon!"

[Jason R]

Wasn't Australia a British penal colony anyway?

By the way, what is the difference between Marmite and Vegemite? Wasn't it the stuff that they scraped from the bottom of beer brewing vats? No joke.

(I smell a flame war). Oh well!

[Joanna]

I buy a lot of things from the States on eBay and so I am quite keyed up with the costs of the US postal service with regards to weight etc....it's the packaging of the item (to protect it for the long journey) that I was concerned about with regards to the cost. We are paying for postage and packaging I gather and so that could be a hidden cost. Oh well - it will be worth it I'm sure :0)

"And dance by the light of the moon!"

[Joanna]

Vegemite is the Australian version of Marmite (even though you can get both over here)....ours in the nicest! It is yeast extract - and is thick brown goo to spread on toast (personally I eat by the spoonful - it's gorgeous). They say over here that you either love it or hate it and that's normally true! I LOVE IT!

Australia used to be in our 'Empire' and although they no longer are they still share our Queenie! We used to send all of our Cons (criminals) over there and treated the island like a prison but now the Brits and the Auzzies consider them a country in their own right.

What's a flame war??? Oh, and I don't know how they make marmite! LOL

"And dance by the light of the moon!"

[danguyf]

No, my dear, it was meant to be wry wit. To make a base generalization, I thought a Brit would appreciate it.

[Guest]

<blockquote>
AU has gone out of its way, IMHO, to assuage those concerns -- to the point where Ross, President and CEO has posted on this board!
</blockquote>
A matter of opinion I suppose. AU has responded to concerned customers, but, in my opinion has not done all they could to assuage concerns. The best thing for AU to do would be to treat this transaction like most companies do: have the customers make a deposit (even 50%) and not demand the balance until the product actually ships. As Jason has said, fans of other dearly-loved series are watching this to see how it plays out. What happens with our DVDs could very well be used as the model for other fan-driven collections.

I just think this aspect of the purchase has been handled very poorly by AU. I also think the reasons behind forcing complete advance payment have not been adequately explained.

Anonymous Bill (who really ought to legitimize himself by registering)

[Jason R]

Dammit! I was hoping a thread would end at 50 posts.

I think that this is explanation enough: A project that started very small and tentatively has turned borderline-freaking-huge. 'Nuff Said . Instead of maybe ordering 1000 (by August) sets of 3-4 discs, it is now comprised of 6 discs per set (for video quality reasons) and there are nearly 3,000 orders. Most came in month one. Authoring costs don't increase due to volume, but production costs do rise (while marginal cost may fall, for all you budding economists out there waiting to flame me) =:0.

Again, label reps and big-wig entertainment honchos, it's time for shameless plug #2:
"Are you tired of people downloading all of your music, and do you want to sell stuff by putting out products that people want to buy? The don't overlook your hardcore fans."
You can reach me at ja5on@aol.com.

Jason

[Guest]

2) False. You only recover your deposit if your cancellation is due to changes or unexpected delays. You can't cancel "just because". I never said they wouldn't give back the money in this case, I did say you are not free to cancel without reason, apparently that's their exclusive right (and again an abuse).

*There WAS a change - the unforeseen charges. Therefore you have a right to cancel and get your money back. And you did say they wouldn't pay you the $20 deposit. Go read your first post.

3) Again, you are wrong. Having $20 bucks of your money is more than enough reason for you not to cancel. It's called a "signal" or downpayment, or whatever. If you don't buy, you don't get your $20 back...

*Yes, in most cases if you decide to cancel you wouldn't get your downpayment back. But in this case, they have pointed out (numerous times) the authorization charges were unforeseen and EVERYONE has a right to cancel and get their money back. Pretty clear to me.

[Guest]

I totally agree! *major round of applause*

[Jason R]

If things changed, or if there were not enough orders to make this happen (not the case, clearly), you would get a refund. Very few people have cancelled, but they are getting their $20 back.

[Joanna]

I did appreciate it!!! I was quoting something from the film 'Erin Brockovich'...well, kind of! I thought it kind of fit with your dry Brit wit! LOL

"And dance by the light of the moon!"

[ClarenceWorley]

Yeah, you sent us your convicts, and we sent you Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan
and a myriad of other soap stars. I'd call it even.


Clarence Worley

[Joanna]

LOL :0) Definitely even - you didn't turn out to be a bad bunch though did you!?! I wish we had somewhere to send our cons to these days!

Is Russell Crowe from OZ or NZ??? Because HE has got a major attitude problem! Otherthan that I like Americans and Australians on the whole :0)


"And dance by the light of the moon!"

[Jason R]

I thought you sent your cons to parliament now.

[K-man]

I thought everybody sent their 'undesirables' over here to America. BTW True Romance was a GREAT Movie!

k-man