Out of Africa Blu ray replacement program

[ckocher]

I wanted to let you guys know that Universal is now replacing the old Out of Africa blu ray discs with the bad transfer with the new 100th anniversary transfer. I emailed them back in January about it and they initially told me no, they would not be doing a replacement program. However, this afternoon I got an email from them saying that they were now in fact able to replace the disc. Below in bold is the email they sent me:

Hello,

We are happy to let you know that we are able to replace your original "Out of Africa" Blu-ray disc with the newly remastered version.

To receive a replacement, please send the Blu-ray disc only, without packaging to:

Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Attn: Consumer Relations
c/o Deluxe Media Management
P. O. Box 801464
Valencia, CA 91380 - 1464

Please send the Blu-ray disc only, via traceable method, and allow 3 - 4 weeks to receive the replacement .

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Consumer Relations
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINMENT

The email I used to contact them originally is: USHE.ConsumerRelations@bydeluxe.com


I tried to send this to blu-ray.com directly, but I could not find a contact email to submit news. So I figured this would be a good place for it. Mods, feel free to move this to whatever thread you feel is right if you don't think it deserves its own thread.

[bentvalve]

Wow, bummer! I sold mine on Ebay a few months ago for like $7. I wish I knew about this back then! BUMMER!

[retablo]

Typical Universal... they should have let customers know form the start, but instead they wanted you to buy the newer, more expensive version first and THEN tell you.

[Abdrewes]

Thanks! How do I Package it?

[lemonski]

Originally Posted by retablo

Typical Universal... they should have let customers know form the start, but instead they wanted you to buy the newer, more expensive version first and THEN tell you.

Yeah, its not a good look...but you have to think about it from Universal's point of view as well. They need to get some return on the cost of the newer transfer, if they offered it up at the beginning everyone would be going out and buying the cheap old version and just swapping the disc out.

It might actually save *me* money, I was thinking about buying the new-transfer digibook to replace my bad-transfer OOA, but now I don't have to

[Geoff D]

Heh. It's no wonder Universal can't be bothered re-transferring 99.999% of their catalogue if they feel that they have to offer a replacement program every time.

[Adam_ME]

Originally Posted by retablo

Typical Universal... they should have let customers know form the start, but instead they wanted you to buy the newer, more expensive version first and THEN tell you.

Yeah, no kidding. I replaced the old disc a couple weeks ago and sold off the original. Granted, I like having a digibook, but they needed to announce this at the same time as the press release was issued for the Blu-ray with the brand new transfer.

[retablo]

Originally Posted by lemonski

Yeah, its not a good look...but you have to think about it from Universal's point of view as well. They need to get some return on the cost of the newer transfer, if they offered it up at the beginning everyone would be going out and buying the cheap old version and just swapping the disc out.

It might actually save *me* money, I was thinking about buying the new-transfer digibook to replace my bad-transfer OOA, but now I don't have to

Well, if they would've done it right the first time, they wouldn't have to be bothered with exchange programs at all. Which again, falls on Universal's continually bad product and even worse PR and customer service.

Doesn't really matter to me, I never bought the first disc and waited for the remaster. But how many times can a studio continually put out bad transfers and bad packaging (BSG, BTTF) and not learn a valuable lesson in economics?

I'm beginning to think Universal is run by a couple of monkeys on loan from Fox's Planet of the Apes.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by bentvalve

Wow, bummer! I sold mine on Ebay a few months ago for like $7. I wish I knew about this back then! BUMMER!

Same here. I sold it around the same time for $10.

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by retablo

Well, if they would've done it right the first time, they wouldn't have to be bothered with exchange programs at all. Which again, falls on Universal's continually bad product and even worse PR and customer service.

Doesn't really matter to me, I never bought the first disc and waited for the remaster. But how many times can a studio continually put out bad transfers and bad packaging (BSG, BTTF) and not learn a valuable lesson in economics?

I'm beginning to think Universal is run by a couple of monkeys on loan from Fox's Planet of the Apes.

I've been saying this for awhile now:
Universal, IMO, is & has been bitter about losing the format war! They were the biggest studio backing the other format, and were one of the last to really embrace blu-ray. Heck, I bet if you did a year by year, decade by decade listing of catalog releases by studio on the blu-ray format, Uni would be at the bottom(or very near). They just always seem to do 'just enough' to get by on their releases. To me, they seem to have the attitude of a studio that is begrudgingly adopting the blu-ray format.
Take, for example, Uni's biggest commercial BD release to date: Jurassic Park.
While I was pleased with the set...it just looked like only 60-70% effort was put into it. It didn't have the "Wow Factor" that some other studio releases have.(Sony being one of the tops IMO).
I think the verdict will arrive this August with the release of Jaws. Already I see they aren't off to a good start if the posted coverart holds true. I know I don't like and I'm sure many fans will cringe at it. The proof will ultimately be found in the movie. Let's see how much 'blood, sweat, & tears' Universal has put into this release.
Heck I even emailed Bill Hunt late last year, since he had gotten an "exclusive tour" of Uni's BD authoring plant and raved about it early in 2011, well then we get a nice wave of Uni catalogs that were kinda so-so...not bad, but not great. I emailed Bill asking him about these releases since he seems to be close with Universal...well I never heard back from him. I'm sure my email got lost in the shuffle, which is fine but the fact of the matter is: Universal has rarely, if ever, gone 110% on any of their BD catalog releases.
Now this debacle with Out of Africa just shows how they 1) put out inferior products. 2) ask customers to either pay double and/or return said inferior products.
I mentioned Sony earlier...how many times have they put out inferior catalog releases, then had to set up a returns system?
Sony, obviously was a blu-ray backer from the start....Universal was not. Is that a coincidence? Guess we'll never know!

[cinema sickness]

Is the 100th anniversary release a BD/DVD flipper disc like the disc they are replacing? If not, will they also be sending us the DVD too?

[lemonski]

Originally Posted by rickah88

I mentioned Sony earlier...how many times have they put out inferior catalog releases, then had to set up a returns system?

The Fifth Element.

And Sony got a lot of kudos for that return policy, so I think one has to be consistent and (perhaps grudgingly) applaud Universal for doing the same with Out Of Africa - issues with other Universal releases not withstanding.

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by lemonski

The Fifth Element.

And Sony got a lot of kudos for that return policy, so I think one has to be consistent and (perhaps grudgingly) applaud Universal for doing the same with Out Of Africa - issues with other Universal releases not withstanding.

Ok, 1 title that was the very first run back on 6/20/06. Now how many for Universal?
I agree that it's nice that the studios offer these returns(like Paramount did with Gladiator & Saving Private Ryan), but my point wasn't about the return service...as there shouldn't have to be a return service.
My point was, that Universal if compared to a workerbee...would not be considered a top tier workerbee. More like an average workerbee.
Now I don't know about you...but when you plunk your hard earned dollars down for a product(BD, car, house) do you want the average or the above average work that went into said product?
Just saying we're almost to the 6th year of the format and most studios seem to be getting better. Universal just seems to be "towing the line" or "playing out the string" in my opinion....and it is just my opinion.
Again, I'll gladly eat crow if, for example, Jaws comes out and it's a homerun of a transfer. Ditto for ET later in this year.
I guess I shouldn't worry that much...after those 2 titles are released, short of a couple comedies, I don't own any other Universal dvds that would require a BD upgrade. So my business with Universal will only be in potential new releases....Thank God!

[Arkadin]

well even though I already bought the new digibook I don't think many people have because all I read were posts complaining about the cost--not that's there anything wrong with feeling the "new" disc is overpriced.
so I think a lot of people will gladly take up Universal on their offer of a replacement.
I'm assuming they aren't sending the digibook, so people are still going to be missing that.
it is what it is. The disc is what's important.

[retablo]

Originally Posted by lemonski

The Fifth Element.

And Sony got a lot of kudos for that return policy, so I think one has to be consistent and (perhaps grudgingly) applaud Universal for doing the same with Out Of Africa - issues with other Universal releases not withstanding.

Well, Sony didn't offer the new remaster then a month later THEN tell people they can exchange their old one. Totally different scenario, and UNiversal should've been up front about an exchange BEFORE the release, not after.

[bentvalve]

Originally Posted by retablo

Well, Sony didn't offer the new remaster then a month later THEN tell people they can exchange their old one. Totally different scenario, and UNiversal should've been up front about an exchange BEFORE the release, not after.

And you know dang well they planned it this way...."Remaster release, ~30 days later offer an exchange."

[bentvalve]

Although from the business end of it, I can totally see where they are coming from. (....of course I will end up in Hell if I keep running my business the way I run it, so take that with a grain of salt)

[retablo]

Originally Posted by bentvalve

And you know dang well they planned it this way...."Remaster release, ~30 days later offer an exchange."

Of course, they didn't just suddenly decide to replace the old copy... but it's funny, since the old copy technically isn't defective. It's just a bad transfer.

[JimShaw]

Thanks, OP

Getting ready to send mine in and see what happens.

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by retablo

Well, if they would've done it right the first time, they wouldn't have to be bothered with exchange programs at all. Which again, falls on Universal's continually bad product and even worse PR and customer service.

Doesn't really matter to me, I never bought the first disc and waited for the remaster. But how many times can a studio continually put out bad transfers and bad packaging (BSG, BTTF) and not learn a valuable lesson in economics?

I'm beginning to think Universal is run by a couple of monkeys on loan from Fox's Planet of the Apes.

a typical day at Universal Home Video office: