Answering questions you might have.

[Jason R]

I wasn't referring to my calls being ignored.

My cryptic answer: Sometimes, whether you owe a balance to someone or not, it does not hurt to at least return their phone calls or emails.

Well if it is any consolation, I am sure you could find a way to trade in the beer some of us will be sending you for cash.

[Jason R]

If I post links for cancelling orders, I will probably be accused of encouraging cancellations. I am not doing that. I am saying that it is your order and you can do what you want to do with it. The customer service contact methods for AU have been available for quite some time.

hrmmm....
so basically we really aren't getting much of a deal at all from AU anymore are we?[not thatn we ever really did]. Unless you really believe this bonus dvd and lunch box are OUTSTANDING, which we all pretty much know they arent going to be worth the 40 dollors we're spending for them, even though the lunchbox is *free* ar har har.
This is my first time ever ordering something online, so i really have no idea on how to cancel my order? Do i just contact AU through email or do i call? damn damn damn.
Will people through AU be getting their DVDs before all the other people that ordered at amazon and other retailers? or will it basically be only a week of difference??
just wondering, are you sticking with AU?
Do you think the bonus dvd and such are really worth us staying with AU?
sorry for asking questions that im sure were answered before.

[Jason R]

Lance, your post mentions a "nasty rumor" about failure to remit full payment for lunchboxes. Most of that balance was paid. The problem was not really with payment, but rather the fact that the lunchbox manufacturer couldn't get their calls or emails returned. Why should the vendors be treated any differently than the customers, right?

For the small order that this lunchbox represents from the manufacturer, they have stated, on more than one occasion, that it is barely worth their time. The least that AU can do is to return their calls.

[pgh kenny]

i think i felt better when i thought it was a payment problem. given that something has mostly been paid for, failing to return a message is stupid. how hard is it to pick up the phone or answer an email? sorry i misinterpreted what you were trying to say earlier.

[Jason R]

I am starting to write a case study about this project, which I hope will be accepted by a reputable business journal. I think that it is unique in that it represented a real, workable business model. I also believe that if it was possible to make a mistake, AU made it. They may have also single-handedly destroyed the ability for other "grassroots" DVDs. Quite a list of accomplishments, which would make for an interesting study. If you know anyone at such a journal, have them contact me.

And to think, I once called this business model "idiot proof."

[fnordboy]

Are you implying that their customer service record has been less than stellar?

I would NEVER!

I love AU, they are the best (hey maybe if we say something nice they will get these things out to us quicker and cheaper)

[fnordboy]

I suggest a reasonable time frame being 6 weeks after shipping the initial discs.

Shhhh, don't say that now they will jsut delay shipping the set till they are somewhere within that 6 week possibility.

So we should have our set sometime in February.

[andrewgd]

I am starting to write a case study about this project, which I hope will be accepted by a reputable business journal.

Will you also be able to post it here? I know many of us would love to read it, when its done.

[Jason R]

You've already read the long-form version...

will do.

Also, I should use this post to add the following:

YES, I am the person who introduced Ventura Distribution into the equation in the first place, although I sure as heck did not ok the deal as it stands now. I don't blame BMG or Ventura for selling a hot product. I'm just glad the disc is coming out already to tell you the honest truth.

However, it is only fair to add that this deal needed AU's approval to go through. I thought I posted several times that it was ironic that I introduced Ventura to BMG, so there should be nothing new there. I fought the terms of this deal tooth and nail.

I am starting to write a case study about this project, which I hope will be accepted by a reputable business journal.

Will you also be able to post it here? I know many of us would love to read it, when its done.

[fnordboy]

Will you also be able to post it here? I know many of us would love to read it, when its done.

I agree, i would be interested in reading this as well. If not here, let us know where we can find it.

[David Lambert]

Jason - What does "stripped-down" mean?

He's referring to the version without lunchbox and bonus disc. I.e., the Amazon version.


HIYA, LANCE!

[funnyusername]

i'd love to see how AU runs their business over there. it sounds like quite a laid back atmosphere. no rushing. nothing really bothers them. obviously education or brains aren't necessarily required to land a covented placement with the firm. sounds like a great place for me to work. hey jason, do you know if they're accepting resumes?

[andrewgd]

sounds like a great place for me to work.

You forgot that you also get to charge people multiple times for items that haven't even been made yet. And you get to keep this money until months after the customer complains. And you don't even get into legal trouble when you steal this money! How about that!!!!

[funnyusername]

i'm quite excited about the extras dvd, so i hope that they don't just send it as is. i could wait a little longer, if it was quality stuff. as far as the lunchbox goes though, i wish they'd stop working on that, and start doing somethimg more productive. it was a really cool idea, and everything, but seriously. at this point and time, its almost irrelavent. i'll take my lunch to work in a bag if i have to. i'm not 6 years old, you know. or i'll just keep using my "transformers" one, like i'm doing now.

[fnordboy]

as far as the lunchbox goes though, i wish they'd stop working on that, and start doing somethimg more productive.

i think thats been the problem all along...