Where are the Blu-rays???

[BLu-Balls]

It's happend again...

I am running around the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) looking for new releases to buy for BD. "The Departed" no where to be found in Blu-ray. Everyone has the Hd dud format... Where is the BD? I've only been able to find "Reign of Fire" and "Ladder 49" today. I have been unable to locate "Usual Suspects", "Planet of the Apes" and all of the other Fox titles with the exception of "Entrapment".

Is it me or are the Canadian Consumers getting the short end of the stick?

Walmart... No Departed
Futureshop... No Departed
Bestbuy... No Departed
Starstruck... No Departed
HMV... No Departed

None of these locations are sold out... They never even received the titles!!! Angry!!!!!

[Banjo]

Yes, we are getting the short end of the stick.

[Iceman_II]

Originally Posted by BLu-Balls

It's happend again...

I am running around the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) looking for new releases to buy for BD. "The Departed" no where to be found in Blu-ray. Everyone has the Hd dud format... Where is the BD? I've only been able to find "Reign of Fire" and "Ladder 49" today. I have been unable to locate "Usual Suspects", "Planet of the Apes" and all of the other Fox titles with the exception of "Entrapment".

Is it me or are the Canadian Consumers getting the short end of the stick?

Walmart... No Departed
Futureshop... No Departed
Bestbuy... No Departed
Starstruck... No Departed
HMV... No Departed

None of these locations are sold out... They never even received the titles!!! Angry!!!!!

Did you talk to the manager?

Two weeks ago, I went to a circuit city on a tuesday looking for new releases... none to be found.

I had them track down a manager, and let him know in no uncertain terms that while most people vote with their feet, and probably had already left his store without telling him, I was going to let him know why he was loosing my business.

I told him that people look for new releases on tuesdays, and if he didn't have them, or worse yet, had them and didn't put them out, people would not waste their time coming into his store and would go someplace else...

He asked if there was anything he could do, I told him no, but he may want to start making sure they were stocked so he didn't lose future business from others.

DO:
1. Be polite
2. Let them know that you are displeased
3. Let them know that most people in your position would just walk out (kind of hints that you are the tip of the iceberg)

DON'T:
1. Be confrontational
2. Try to leverage it into free stuff (it kind of takes away from your rightious indignation if you come across as a scammer)

This is just my $.02, but if you don't tell the managers they are screwing up, they probably won't realize just how much in sales they are missing out on.

[Thanos417]

I found The Departed at Best Buy, but they didn't have Ladder 49.

[dobyblue]

The Best Buy and Future Shop's in my area did not get in The Departed on Blu-ray.

[ceros]

Originally Posted by Iceman_II

Did you talk to the manager?

Two weeks ago, I went to a circuit city on a tuesday looking for new releases... none to be found.

I had them track down a manager, and let him know in no uncertain terms that while most people vote with their feet, and probably had already left his store without telling him, I was going to let him know why he was loosing my business.

I told him that people look for new releases on tuesdays, and if he didn't have them, or worse yet, had them and didn't put them out, people would not waste their time coming into his store and would go someplace else...

He asked if there was anything he could do, I told him no, but he may want to start making sure they were stocked so he didn't lose future business from others.

DO:
1. Be polite
2. Let them know that you are displeased
3. Let them know that most people in your position would just walk out (kind of hints that you are the tip of the iceberg)

DON'T:
1. Be confrontational
2. Try to leverage it into free stuff (it kind of takes away from your rightious indignation if you come across as a scammer)

This is just my $.02, but if you don't tell the managers they are screwing up, they probably won't realize just how much in sales they are missing out on.

This may work for some stores, but it may not work for others. For some retailers, what goes on display at the store is not dictated by the general managers, or any of the managers there. That decision is made at the corporate level.

Overall, you should contact the corporate headquarters directly and file a complaint. Actually speak to someone, don't leave a message or send an email because there will be a chance that those will not receive attention.

Speaking to a GM is a good start however. When you have spoken with them, it won't come as a surprise when they receive an email with the complaint you just made.

[BLu-Balls]

Originally Posted by Thanos417

I found The Departed at Best Buy, but they didn't have Ladder 49.

Which Bestbuy?

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by dobyblue

The Best Buy and Future Shop's in my area did not get in The Departed on Blu-ray.

Situation normal for here.

I've yet to see a single non-Warner title go on the shelves on release day. On the day after Crank's release date, I ordered it from Amazon.com. It arrived and I had watched it before it showed up on the shelves of BB.

My orders for Reservoir Dogs and First Blood came back with a 6-week delay from Amazon.ca. I cancelled and re-ordered from Amazon.com. They have already shipped.

Crazy stuff, considering Amazon.com fulfills most of the time out of Mississauga, and Lions Gate Films is a Canadian corporation.

Gary

[ClaytonMG]

Here's my planned buy's for today:
The Departed
Broken Arrow
Ladder 49
Phone Booth
Planet of the Apes
Reign of Fire
The Usual Suspects

My results for the day:

Walmart - The Departed
Best Buy - No titles I wanted (they had The Departed)
First Circuit City - No titles I wanted
Second Circtuit City - a single copy of Ladder 49 and a single copy of Reign of Fire. They also had a single copy of The Departed on Blu-Ray, but like 5 copies on HD-DVD.

This was a somewhat dissapointing day for me. But at least I got 3 out of 7.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by BLu-Balls

It's happend again...

I am running around the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) looking for new releases to buy for BD. "The Departed" no where to be found in Blu-ray. Everyone has the Hd dud format... Where is the BD? I've only been able to find "Reign of Fire" and "Ladder 49" today. I have been unable to locate "Usual Suspects", "Planet of the Apes" and all of the other Fox titles with the exception of "Entrapment".

Is it me or are the Canadian Consumers getting the short end of the stick?

Walmart... No Departed
Futureshop... No Departed
Bestbuy... No Departed
Starstruck... No Departed
HMV... No Departed

None of these locations are sold out... They never even received the titles!!! Angry!!!!!

Yep. The studios, distributors or stores simply don't give a damn about customer service. Same old same old. You ask a Blockbuster about BD rentals and they look at you like you're speaking Martian.

I love our backwater unproductive part of the world (disguised as a major cosmopolitan city) but it drives me crazy when it comes to new stuff, or higher-end equipment. All retailers want to do is bash each others brains out over commodity stuff. Few ever see the potential of being the big fish in the little pond.

Gary

[dobyblue]

I have sent polite e-mails to both corporate offices here in Canada of Best Buy and Future Shop.

[DavePS3]

It's not the stores... it's the video distributors up here. I've been seeing titles coming into stores here within 4 days of the proper release dates.

[DavePS3]

HMV at Yonge & Dundas says Reign and Ladder were all they received so far but others could show up anytime.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by DavePS3

It's not the stores... it's the video distributors up here. I've been seeing titles coming into stores here within 4 days of the proper release dates.

If the stores aren't kicking the distributors ass when it happens, then they are collaborators.

I know when I ask at BB, the employees just shrug. Nobody there cares if the titles aren't coming in on the release date or not. They seem confused that I care.

Don't they realize the not knowing when or if a title will ever show up is an issue?!

Gary

[Guinness7]

You guys are not the only ones having problems I live in very populated area near New York City and my bestbuy gets are normal dvd releases but does not get the blu-rays on the release day for some reason. They did get the departed today but some lady got the last copy just as I got there.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by Guinness7

You guys are not the only ones having problems I live in very populated area near New York City and my bestbuy gets are normal dvd releases but does not get the blu-rays on the release day for some reason. They did get the departed today but some lady got the last copy just as I got there.

I expect it has to do with competition. If a BB doesn't get the DVD for release day, they blow possibly thousands of sales and maybe lose customers for the long term.

The BD and HD DVD owners just thing "ah well, that's the price for being an early adopter". BB isn't losing much, and hence doesn't have to try too hard to keep our business.

Sad reality. They only push to the amount they have to. Few REALLY care about customer service.

Gary

[ps3andlovinit]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

I expect it has to do with competition. If a BB doesn't get the DVD for release day, they blow possibly thousands of sales and maybe lose customers for the long term.

The BD and HD DVD owners just thing "ah well, that's the price for being an early adopter". BB isn't losing much, and hence doesn't have to try too hard to keep our business.

Sad reality. They only push to the amount they have to. Few REALLY care about customer service.

Gary

What they don't realize is they are leaving *other* business on the table. I won't buy stuff from either BestBuy or Future Shop anymore. Their anti-PS3 campaign was enough for me.

Employees telling people HD-DVD has the support of all the studios and Sony is the only one supporting Blu-ray was another - the first time I heard it I couldn't believe my ears. So I intentionally prompted which format I should at other stores to get a response .. same story. One of them was even bold enough to proclaim blu-ray would be dead within 6 months and that would also kill the PS3 - so buy a 360 and HD-DVD instead.

Good news is we ended up going to the Bay in downtown Toronto over the holidays. They had a two day special and we ended up getting the 60" SXRD (A2000) + stand + free delivery for $2999. It's back up around $3999 everywhere else last time I checked. For us suckers in Canada that was a bargain compared to anywhere else. Saved us a $1000 bucks over best buy or future shop .. that's a lot of money for blu-ray movies and PS3 games ... money I won't be spending with Bestbuy or FutureShop.

[Banjo]

I noticed that at both Best Buy and Wal-Mart, they didn't get 'The Departed' on Blu-Ray yet they got it on HD-DVD.

What gives?

[AlaskaDon]

Originally Posted by Banjo

I noticed that at both Best Buy and Wal-Mart, they didn't get 'The Departed' on Blu-Ray yet they got it on HD-DVD.

What gives?

I asked the same question of one of the sales people at my local Best Buy just last week. As it turned out, they did get the new releases in on Blu-ray as well as hd-dvd, but the blu-ray sells out faster. Not necessarily the same exact films, but just in general. As I work strange hours and am in the store usually about 1 hour before closing on Tuesdays, I thought this sounded reasonable. At least by asking about it I was able to snag a copy of Res Dogs as they had a couple left in the back. It will probably be the same deal tonight for me, but at least they are selling well here and things should start to improve

[BLu-Balls]

Originally Posted by AlaskaDon

I asked the same question of one of the sales people at my local Best Buy just last week. As it turned out, they did get the new releases in on Blu-ray as well as hd-dvd, but the blu-ray sells out faster. Not necessarily the same exact films, but just in general. As I work strange hours and am in the store usually about 1 hour before closing on Tuesdays, I thought this sounded reasonable. At least by asking about it I was able to snag a copy of Res Dogs as they had a couple left in the back. It will probably be the same deal tonight for me, but at least they are selling well here and things should start to improve

That may be so for your location. However, I am assuming that you are from the US. In Canada, none of the retailers have received "The Departed" on Blu-ray. If you are from Canada and your local Bestbuy said they received "Departed" I call Bull$hit!! On his end. He probably just doesn't know better. None of the BB, FS, and Walmart staff have a handle on this format "war".