I wish to register a complaint! Your advice, please, on complaining to CBS. Will it help and how to do it?
The story: I ordered a DVD from the CBS archive (b.t.w. AFAIK that can only be done for one or two chat shows from the seventies, not for other things). It cost almost $100.
However, the copy they sent me was worthless: 1. it was low quality with a lot of interference, colours dropping from time to time and 2. it had a HUGE timecode in the middle of the screen. No warning was given about this.
I returned it with a detailed description of why I wanted a good copy OR my money back but they basically told me to go f*** myself (“all sales are final”, apparently, even if they sold me a piece of cr**). They didn’t go into my (pretty sound) reasons why I sent it back, they just wrote that one line, “We’re sorry, but all sales are final.”. I wrote them again to protest but after that they simply stopped replying.
As a righteously dissatisfied costumer, I want to complain to another department. Does anyone know which department I should contact, and if I stand a chance? Thank you.
It was, but that transaction happened a long time ago, because of the protracted discussion (at first they replied to emails to “explain” to me that I was wrong).
What I really want is that I could write a letter that would end up on the desk of someone who is reasonable. I’m sure he or she will agree with me. Then I’ll get either a proper copy or my money back.
Perhaps that explains why at first the contact person was actually replying to my emails. Stalling for time. No, it has been longer than that. Also, secretly I would prefer if I could get a normal copy of the item (and possibly order something else which is collecting dust in their archive).
if it’s a show from the seventies its very possible that no better quality version exists. Especially a chatshow that was probably topical and never reran.
Well it’s possible that that particular master tape was damaged, not properly stored, or suffered something else. But normally it would have been decidedly better.
And the time code was put there deliberately. I wouldn’t have minded a small time code, but this one was ridiculous.
Give it a try anyway, and provide copies of your communication with CBS as a way of showing them that you tried to work this out without resorting to a chargeback. They may waive the time limit.
True, but it was someone else who ordered it for me because she was in the USA at the time and had a credit card, while I wasn’t, and hadn’t. Surely, there must be a division of CBS that I can turn to?
Post your question on Consumerist.com. The teeming millions there may be able to point you in the right direction for an Executive Email Carpet Bomb (EECB), wherein you send an email to the powers-that-be. They have an amazing number of email addresses for top execs in a multitude of companies.
I’m gonna go ahead and agree with whoever suggested small claims court. Unless you’re in New York or Los Angeles, I’d be willing to bet that CBS won’t even show up, and you’ll win by default.
They didn’t insert the timecode when they burnt the DVD for you. The timecode would have been “burnt in” to the only surviving copy they have on U-Matic or Beta SP or another tape format. Your DVD is then copied from the archival tape which already has timecode.
You might get your money back but asking them for a copy without the timecode is unlikely to get you anywhere.
post production / editing industry guy… seen similar things happen many times.
No it’s not. I know that sometimes timecoded copies are all that survive or all that circulates amongst collectors. But this series was never junked. The woman I spoke to admitted the time code was added deliberately when they made my copy.
This happens sometimes to ensure a copy is used for viewing or research purposes only (and is not used in anything else or any other way). I got the same offer of a timecoded copy from a silent movie once, that I considered ordering from the French Pathé Gaumont archive. But that was a reasonably sized time code near the top of the screen. And what CCBS sent me was ridiculously big and just below the middle of the screen and without warning.
There, I’ve reported them to the FTC. Hahaha, that will teach them.
But consumerist dot com, how does it work? I have registered, but where do I spill my story? Do I send it to the editors or do I post it somewhere forum style? Thanks.
