What is Vudu Using to Determine Digital Level?

[novoice2008]

I currently have over 200 4K UHD physical discs and I currently maintain digital accounts with Movies Anywhere, Vudu, FandangoNOW, Google Movies, and Amazon Movies. I don't like maintaining 5 different accounts but it is necessary if I want to get the highest resolution of a digital redemption of various purchased movies, as each one of the digital outlets treat movies differently for a number of different reasons.

My rub has been with Vudu, and it goes like this; I buy a 4K UHD movie (physical disc with a digital redemption), and I redeem it at Vudu and the movie only redeems at the HDX level, and Vudu then advertises for an additional $19.99, they will upgrade it to the UHD level. Wait! I just purchased the 4K UHD movie. Now, if there was not a UHD redemption available, I could live with that (as is the case with many 4K UHD movies). But in this example, Vudu is showing there is a UHD level available, but they do not redeem my purchased 4K UHD movie at the UHD level, but instead offer it for additional money. That is not right.

On 203 4K UHD movies I have redeemed at Vudu, this has occurred with 11 4K UHD movies in my collection, with all 11 of these movies redeeming at the HDX level, and then Vudu offering UHD for additional money, and in a couple of cases, for a cost exceeding what was paid for the movie in the first place.

Many reading this are probably saying why worry about it, because if you have a decent system, the best playback would be with the 4K UHD disc, right? Well, not anymore, since the addition of Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. With a Chromecast enabled Vudu app on my tv, I can watch movies I have previously purchased in Dolby Vision, something I couldn't do with my current DVD player that only used HDR10. What had been a minor issue with what Vudu has been arbitrarily doing with some movies, has now become more significant.

I wrote Vudu and asked specifically about the 11 movies in my collection and asked them if they would tell me what process was used so I could get a better understanding. 48 hours later I received a response from a first tier rep that didn't address my specific questions about the 11 movies I listed, but instead directed me to the digital redemption sheet that came with the movie to determine how it would redeem digitally at Vudu.

I wrote Vudu back and asked for a more specific response to my question and I received a response back again from a different tier one rep, that thanked me for my request and indicated the file would be closed. ??

Where is the check and balance for the customer? In my request it pertained to 11 specific 4K UHD movies that Vudu redeemed at the HDX level when they had the UHD level available, as evidenced by Vudu immediately offering the UHD level for additional money. Is this even legal? Where is the check and balance? When trying to get a resolution from Vudu, I got two canned BS responses which didn't address my request at all. A little frustrating on this end.