Re: Reports from Comic-Con

In article <SPcsi.23946$rX4.5258@pd7urf2no>, Matt Ion says...

Amy Guskin wrote:
On Wed, 1 Aug 2007 11:11:06 -0400, Matt Ion wrote
(in article <eo1si.20281$_d2.10588@pd7urf3no>):

Mac Breck wrote:

It's just that all this wailing and knashing of teeth, and returning
stuff because the pre-ordered discs contain no comic even though no
comic was promised when the pre-orders were filed, seems awfully petty
(narrow in ideas or interests, mean-spitited, spiteful) to me. It
REALLY does. It's almost as if some enjoy complaining and making a
fuss. It's got to have a negative connotation to Amazon, and look bad
for B5:TLT.
Ya know... "petty" was exactly the word that came to my mind as Amy
detailed her careful process to slap Amazon.com in the face by returning
her disc and then taking the time to make sure they knew exactly why...
almost like she was BLAMING them for the whole thing. <<

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Are you KIDDING me? Is _that_ why you think I took the
time to let them know why I was returning it?? Seriously? Do you think I
have the kind of free time that I can spend leisurely hours on the phone
trying to reach customer service people just so I can slap 'em down?

That's pretty much how it comes across, yes. And obviously I'm not the
only one who reads it that way.

You knucklehead.

I thought personal insults weren't supposed to get past moderation?

I was trying to _do the right thing_, by letting them know
why they lost the sale, and how they might be able to snag my business next
time. (Let's let slide for the moment that Amazon gets PLENTY of business
from me during the course of any given year, plus I use their credit card.
They're not hurting for my money.) And I believe, in fact, that I did this
at the implicit suggestion of Jan, who is firmly _not_ on my side in this
matter. She made some kind of point somewhere in this thread (very much
paraphrasing) that if you let people know that you want such a thing as a
bonus comic in with your Amazon.com purchase of the DVD, you have to let them
know. So I did.

Perhaps I didn't phrase my suggestion properly then. What I suggested was that
people who wanted something along the lines of the exclusive comic should tell
somebody *who could actually do something about it* in the future, namely,
Warner Bros. Home Video (isn't there supposed to be a whole division for
direct-to-video now?) or WB marketing. *They* are the ones who might actually
have an effect on future decisions.

Know what likely happened to your carefully explained reason for returning
Amazon's product? After listening carefully to everything you had to say, s/he
logged the call and the fact that you were returning the DVD. Under "Reason for
Return" the customer service rep checked "Other" in the menu of options given
and there was probably no free form entry space for them to expand on what the
reason was. Why not? Because it's not something that a Quality Control
department can fix and that's the reason for that question. Not a particularly
effective complaint mechanism.

If you want to actually accomplish anything, let WB know.

I can't say I'm impressed by the way this item's been marketed at all. If it
weren't for the interviews that JMS and the cast have been giving,there's
vertually no word being spread about TLT. Where's the marketing push? Has
anybody seen any TV ads? Online ads on B5 or other SF sites? Print ads? I've
seen exactly one of those and I'll grant that it was a nice one. WB took the
entire back cover of the 'good' Comic-Con program. But that's still only one.
Anybody?

Jan


--
Here, gathered together in common cause
We agree to recognize this singular truth and this singular rule:
That we *must* be kind to one another.
Citizen G'Kar
J. Michael Straczynski

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