Criterion Price Drop & Sales/last purchased thread @ hidefninja

Alright, I had zero Criterion titles a month ago. I got 5 from the UK, and I have 11 more coming from the US :drool: I have to say I like those sales ! Can't wait for the next one, I already have a list of what i'll buy :p
 
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A major blow: Barnes & Noble no longer ships to the European Union (n):(

Placed a Criterion sale order on the 5th of July without issues. Attempted to log in today to place another order, only to discover that my account at BN.com no longer exists.

After online chat and subsequent call to second level support, the resolution was to re-create the account, i.e. no valid reason was found.

When trying to add a shipping address to my new account, I realized that Finland is not present on the country selection list.

Another online chat yielded this information:

The following countries are no longer available to select on BN.com:
• Austria
• Italy
• Belgium
• Latvia
• Bulgaria
• Lithuania
• Croatia
• Luxembourg
• Cyprus
• Malta
• Czech Republic
• Netherlands
• Denmark
• Poland
• Estonia
• Portugal
• Finland
• Romania
• France
• Slovakia
• Germany
• Slovenia
• Greece
• Spain
• Hungary
• Sweden
• Ireland
• United Kingdom
 
A major blow: Barnes & Noble no longer ships to the European Union (n):(

Placed a Criterion sale order on the 5th of July without issues. Attempted to log in today to place another order, only to discover that my account at BN.com no longer exists.

After online chat and subsequent call to second level support, the resolution was to re-create the account, i.e. no valid reason was found.

When trying to add a shipping address to my new account, I realized that Finland is not present on the country selection list.

Another online chat yielded this information:

The following countries are no longer available to select on BN.com:
• Austria
• Italy
• Belgium
• Latvia
• Bulgaria
• Lithuania
• Croatia
• Luxembourg
• Cyprus
• Malta
• Czech Republic
• Netherlands
• Denmark
• Poland
• Estonia
• Portugal
• Finland
• Romania
• France
• Slovakia
• Germany
• Slovenia
• Greece
• Spain
• Hungary
• Sweden
• Ireland
• United Kingdom
Can you buy direct from Criterion.com?
 
Can you buy direct from Criterion.com?
Unfortunately, no. I believe that's because their US releases are locked to region A and probably licensed for that region only.

Things may change in the long run, as they began releasing some titles in the UK (late 2016, if I recall correctly). Not many titles in their UK catalog at the moment, though.
 
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Unfortunately, no. I believe that's because their US releases are locked to region A and probably licensed for that region only.

Things may change in the long run, as they began releasing some titles in the UK (late 2016, if I recall correctly). Not many titles in their UK catalog at the moment, though.
Amazon carries all the US Criterion stuff. You can order from U.S. Amazon right?
 
Amazon carries all the US Criterion stuff. You can order from U.S. Amazon right?
Oh, absolutely. It's not like I won't be able to get my Criterion fix anymore :)

Going back a few years, Amazon used to have these "50% off SRP" sales roughly at the same time as B&N, but when they stopped doing that, I switched most of my Criterion purchases to B&N.

I haven't followed Amazon's pricing for Criterion releases, but at least right now, they are not that far off - Amazon's $22.97 vs. B&N's $19.99 for regular Criterion releases.

I was just a bit disappointed, as with identical products with similar delivery times, it simply makes sense to pay less rather than more :LOL:

I find B&N's handling of the situation crude and amateurish; deleting customer accounts having billing addresses within the EU, with no advance warning nor proper notification to the customer service.

With no trace of my account and all my past orders (identified by order numbers) showing as "guest orders" in the B&N system, you can imagine that it took a bit of time to convince the CS representatives that my account has really been deleted :D
 
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Oh, absolutely. It's not like I won't be able to get my Criterion fix anymore :)

Going back a few years, Amazon used to have these "50% off SRP" sales roughly at the same time as B&N, but when they stopped doing that, I switched most of my Criterion purchases to B&N.

I haven't followed Amazon's pricing for Criterion releases, but at least right now, they are not that far off - Amazon's $22.97 vs. B&N's $19.99 for regular Criterion releases.

I was just a bit disappointed, as with identical products with similar delivery times, it simply makes sense to pay less rather than more :LOL:

I find B&N's handling of the situation crude and amateurish; deleting customer accounts having billing addresses within the EU, with no advance warning nor proper notification to the customer service.

With no trace of my account and all my past orders (identified by order numbers) showing as "guest orders" in the B&N system, you can imagine that it took a bit of time to convince the CS representatives that my account has really been deleted :D
Yeah - that was pretty crappy. But, I just can't imagine B&N staying in business much longer anyway.
Their business model makes zero sense in this day and age, and they are not competitive AT ALL. (Save for bi-yearly Criterion sale)
I decided last year to try being a member. They sent me coupons monthly - and when you applied the coupons for the "savings", the prices dropped to....wait for it...the SAME price as Amazon for the same item. ZERO SAVINGS.
And, if Criterion decide to just do their own bi-annual sales (they do a lot of flash sales as it is) B&N would be absolutely worthless to me.
Amazon prices on CC tend to be close - usually better if you give it a little grace period (wait a little bit for price to lower).
But, are you sure CC site does not ship internationally? I know they have their UK line of discs - but surely they understand that people have region free players?!!
And when it comes to the BiAnnual B&N sale, I'm sure there are U.S. ninjas that would be happy to help as a go-between.
 
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But, are you sure CC site does not ship internationally? I know they have their UK line of discs - but surely they understand that people have region free players?!!
From order support page at criterion.com:
We only ship our products within the United States and to Canada. Our free-shipping offer is good only on orders shipped within the contiguous United States.
And when it comes to the BiAnnual B&N sale, I'm sure there are U.S. ninjas that would be happy to help as a go-between.
You are absolutely right :thumbs: A brilliant HDN member already offered to help me with the Criterion releases :joy:

However, with the current differences between Amazon vs. B&N sale prices (ca. $3 per item) and considering that Amazon can offer commercial rates for shipping, I just can't bring myself to bother somebody (even if it wouldn't be a major bother :)) with re-sending items that I can purchase myself with no difficulty and no major difference in the total costs.
 
From order support page at criterion.com:


You are absolutely right :thumbs: A brilliant HDN member already offered to help me with the Criterion releases :joy:

However, with the current differences between Amazon vs. B&N sale prices (ca. $3 per item) and considering that Amazon can offer commercial rates for shipping, I just can't bring myself to bother somebody (even if it wouldn't be a major bother :)) with re-sending items that I can purchase myself with no difficulty and no major difference in the total costs.
True. No matter what - a ninja will have minimum shipping of around $20 to you. And Amazon commercial shipping cost will beat that figure.