TA TALKS BACK: TWILIGHT DVD RELEASE, BORDERS BAD BEHAVIOR
TA fan Rachael Thorley wrote in about her Twilight DVD experience with Borders:
Being the die-hard Twi-hard I am, I decided to pre-order my DVD from Borders so that I could get the cool cover of the DVD. I had paid for the movie in full online on February 17th, over a month before the release. About a week before the release, I checked my email and saw one from Borders that said:“Dear Twilight Movie Fan,
Thank you for ordering your copy of the Twilight DVD at Borders.com. We’re very excited about all the special extras you’ll find on our exclusive edition, and we feel certain that you’ll love them, too.
As you may have guessed, our exclusive edition of the Twilight movie is extremely popular and we quickly sold out of our initial inventory and ordered more from the manufacturer. As a result, we wanted to reassure you that your Twilight DVD order is on its way. We do, however, want to remind you that your order will arrive 1-2 weeks after the DVD officially releases on March 21. You should receive your Twilight DVD(s) on or before April 4.”
I was so angry at Borders but decided that I would go to their release party anyway and bring the emails to see what they could do. I talked to multiple people and finally got an answer. They said that anyone who had ordered after February 6th online wouldn’t get theirs until April 4th while everyone who stood in line the night of the release would get theirs right then and there. We were planning on standing in line anyway until the employee said something else. He said that they had 60 copies on the special edition and 120 of the regular one disc. Now, anyone that can do math realizes that this is only 180 movies/people who will get them. We were number 205 in line. We left not wanting to see the mob when everyone in line behind us realized that they wouldn’t get one.
As we were leaving, people started talking and I think more and more people realized what was going on. On our way out, we asked some lucky people that had gotten one if we could see it and they let us. It was awesome.
I’m not sure how many people this happened to but a few of my friends ordered it from Borders and the same thing happened. I’ve learned my lesson, though. The same thing happened with Breaking Dawn. I didn’t get mine until August 5th when I had pre-ordered it in June. My friends that had gone to the release had theirs on August 1st. It just doesn’t seem fair that some of us that ordered our before everyone else will get ours after everyone else. Something is wrong here and I just want to make sure everyone knows to not pre-order from Borders. If you must, I would recommend RESERVING in the store because the people that reserved-without paying-got theirs the night of it’s release. It’s just completely unfair.
Talk Back to us…..did this happen to you???
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Man, that sucks. I live in New Zealand, and I’ve never heard of anything like that before. Still, I would never pre-order from Borders now.
I didn’t have the exact same experience, but it also ends in not getting the dvd until way after 3/21. When I reserved my copy for in store pickup (about a month prior), the woman I talked to neglected/didn’t know to mention that there was a separate reservation list for the exclusive copy. I didn’t know this and I hadn’t seen any signs or e-mails that might have hinted at two separate lists. So I happily gave her my name and counted down the days before I would own Twilight. Fast forward to March 20th at the midnight release, when I find out that I won’t be getting the exclusive dvd and that there’s nothing I can do about it. I left the store with nothing. When I got home, I ordered it from Borders.com with a projected delivery date of no later than April 14th. If I didn’t want their exclusive copy so bad, I definitely would not have ordered it from them. Needless to say, I, too, have learned my lesson, and I think I’ll stick with Barnes and Noble.
i actually got that same email then the next day i received one saying i would have it by march 24th. i was so upset i sent an email to borders asking if i could just change it to a store pickup instead, but it had already been shipped. thankfully it still came in the mail on the 21st. i so happy.
I actually received that same email then I received an email saying I would have it by the 24th of March. I was so upset I emailed Borders asking if I could change my order to an instore pickup, but it had already shipped and they couldn’t change it. Thankfully the dvd came in the mail on the 21st. I was so happy.
I also had an unhappy experience with pre-ordering from Borders. About a little over a month prior, I reserved a copy for in store pickup. However, the woman I placed the reservation with didn’t say that there were two separate lists, one for the exclusive version and one for the regular version. I didn’t know this, and I suppose I thought that all Borders would have would be their exclusive copy and that they would have plenty of it. When I got to the store, I got my wristband, only to find out that I was on the regular version list. I left the store with nothing. If I didn’t want the exclusive copy so badly I would have bought any old copy, but I went and ordered from Borders.com. My dvd has a projected arrival date of anywhere between now and April 14th. I’ll be extremely excited when it arrives, (and I know it was probably partially my fault for not being super specific about what I wanted) but I, too, have learned my lesson.
Wow, what a drag. I just hope you get yours on April 4th, as they promised. I was so worried because we didn’t pre-order. Now, I’m glad I didn’t!
I pre-ordered my DVD on Feb 1st. I wrote Border’s an email asking if my DVD would arrive on time and they said they did their best to make sure their customers received their items on the release day.
On, Wednesday I got an email from Border’s telling me my DVD was shipped. Thursday night/Friday morning 3/20 @ 12am it arrived in Orlando. I live 3-4 hrs from Orlando Florida and have still not gotten the DVD! What kind of crap is that!
I went to Border’s Twilight “thing” too, with high hopes. Their “Party” sucked. And still no DVD. I am very disappointed.
these things happen, its probably really hard for them when they only get a certain amount of stock available to them…it would be annoying though.
I too am furious with Borders! I did order my copy early, so I don’t have to wait until April. However, mine is sitting in a Fed Ex sorting facility a mere ten minutes from my house and has been there since FRIDAY NIGHT. I won’t have it until Monday (today) because some brilliant person at Borders didn’t think that perhaps people would like to have the dvd on the release date. There was no info about the delivery dates on the pre-order page. So, after all this, the annoying delivery dates, people having to wait until April….. I am done with Borders. Even if they have the world’s best edition of all the other DVD’s, I’m still not buying it!
That’s completely unfair! Why did they even distribute any special additions in the store insteading of sending them to the customers that had already apid for them? Whoever planned that up at the head quarters needs to be fired.
this almost happened to me. i went to the store to pre-order it and when i went the lady said they weren’t taking any more pre-orders. i was soo upset but she said “they would definitely have extras. i was planning to go to borders really early so that i would get one, but my friend called and told me they wouldn’t have enough and to just pre-order it at Hot Topic. so we pre-ordered at Hot Topic and i was the first one to get the dvd
Hello,
What a shame for Borders! Wow, I am shocked to know that they have not being fair with their costumers.
However, I want to share that I had a very happy experience with Amazon. I pre-ordered my DVD on Feburary 15, and got the 2 -DVDs on March, 20 (that’s right, one day before the release date)
It was awesome! I saw the movie already 3 times, and the features are great two. I just got dissapointed when I went to Target and saw that they have a special edition with 3 DVDs for the same price, $17,99.
Well, that’s a tip for those of you who have not gotten the Dvd yet. Go to target, they have great deal over there!
Ale
Even worse for Borders…I pre-ordered mine the very first day back in January that you could, you would think I would have gotten my copy promptly on Saturday seeing as the tracking number showed it was shipped on March 17th. I wont be getting mine till Thursday…pretty lame
The same thing happened to me, we went to the borders party but did end up getting the movie bc most of the people in line wanted the cheaper version. I was also upset about how the party was run this is the second twilight/borders event I have been to so after my first poor experience I decided to go to a different borders thinking maybe it was the store I went to and not the chain, but it seems the entire chain is unorganized and only cares about getting the twilighters money and not the twilighter. For me the party was run once again by people who had no idea about twilight, the movie or book. Honestly how can you work in a book store, be put in charge of running a twilight party and not have at least read a magazine about the main movie points or seen the movie?? The people had no clue about anything twilight related and during the trivia round made anyone who did know feel bad for it. They didnt do the listed events, didnt hand out refreshments as advertised and when it came time to buy the movie it was a mad house. I was lucky enough to get out with my copy but didnt get out of the store until after 1am and would never go to a borders event again.
This same thing happened to me. I reserved my copy on 2/9/09. 3 Days after the cut off. No one told me that I wouldn’t get my copy until Aptil when I reserved it. Instead I found out a week before the DVD came out. Lucky I reserved it in store and didn’t put any money down on it. I went to the midnight release party anyways, and I was not impressed. Borders had a quick trivia contest and that was it. I ended up purchasing my copy at Target that next day for $17.99.. Comparing copies with my sister-in-law who got the Borders copy. I actually got my exclusive content on mine, including Catherine Hardwicks Vampire Kiss Montage. Borders edition costs $32.99..
I pre-ordered from Borders before February 4th, so I was able to pick it up in the store. They had the pre-orders 1st in line, so I ended up being 4th in line and getting my movie within 5 minutes! My only issue now is that I watched my movie and during the scene when Edward and Bella were in Edward’s bedroom, it freezes for a second, so I contacted Borders about exchanging it for a new copy. The store said they didn’t have any more special edition copies and that if I pre-ordered it online (Borders wouldn’t let you pre-order in store anyway), that I had to deal with borders.com (which is NOT what the borders website states). So I don’t know what to do now…I want a perfect copy for the $30 I spent!!!
Almost! I was going to pre-order the borders dvd but when I went to the store I found out that you couldnt pre-order it and my local borders was only going to carry about 20 of them on the 21st. So instead I bought the jelwery box edition from costco (LOVE IT)and went to the midnight release party at walmart. It was okay. A bit dissappointing. But thats a whole other can of worms. HOPE YOU GET THE DVD SOON!
Hey there, sorry you had such a bad experience. This is the one issue when you order any proudct. It’s very diffcult to get something out when there is a lock on when it should actually ship and allows. I received a notification from Amazon that due to the constraints on shipping they were going to provide a free rental download.
As for stock at Borders, I think that’s part of why at the Borders I was at on Friday evening they were providing wristbands from early in the morning.
Believe it or not there is a reason for that. Yea it sucks not being able to get what you ordered right away but one of the reasons for this is because most shipping compaines are not allowed to ship personal orders of street sensitive materials early enough so that it reachers the buyer bye release date. I work for a shipping company that ships for Borders as well as other compaines. The twilight DVD passed through my hands thousands of times before March 21 March 19 was the day when we finally packed the Borders exclusive Twilight dvd. We had a stack of paper that was probaly half a foot deep if not more so. My suggestion to you though is that if you can bare to have a reguale copy or you want multiples pre order from amazon and get 1 day shipping.
Same thing happened for me, only I had actually ordered mine on Feb. 6 (actually it was my Valentine’s Day present from Hubby). I called the Waldenbooks (owned by Borders) store, and they had promised that it would be available for in-store pickup for me on the 21st.
Once I got the same e-mail as Rachael, I called my local Waldenbooks store again. They were great, sympathetic, and insisted that I call Borders customer service asap. I did, and they told me they were “sorry”, but it wasn’t their fault that I was misinformed, and I was welcome to cancel my order (which I did) and buy it elsewhere. Wow… Won’t be spending any more money with them from now on! I talked with Waldenbooks again, they were really unhappy with Borders, but could do nothing at this time. So I checked around and found a Hot Topic, paid for the pre-order, and made it in the next night for my copy WITH a great cell of the kissing scene, AND snacks, trivia, prizes.. We had a lot of fun there that night.
Oh, btw… Hubby got an e-mail from Borders. The CS rep never cancelled my order as instructed. It’s on it’s way. *rolls her eyes*
Yeesh!!
I agree, that seems very unfair, and the planning by Borders to only have 180 copies on hand was ridiculous…from the number of people who saw it in the theaters, as well as the way we all snatch up the clothing, the trading cards, the shirts, they should have known the fans would be turning out in full force…especially if you turn the release into an in store event, as many Borders did.
Having said all that, I preordered mine online from Borders Jan 28, and it actually arrived a day early, on Friday afternoon.
I also pre-ordered the Border’s dvd (knowing that I may get it late) and got the email that I would receive it by April 4th. I couldn’t wait and I also wanted the Target extras so I went in store and bought it. I came home and to my surprise I got my Border’s dvd. So now I have both versions and it is so worth it. I’m sorry for what happened to you.
This did happen to me. I preordered mine online because when we went into our local store a month or some ago they told us they were sold out & I would need to preorder online. So I did preorder. Than a week or so before the release I got an email stating that my order wouldn’t be ready until April 4th, so of course I was a little unhappy but I thought that might happen but I really wanted their special edition so I thought I could live w/it.
Then the day before the realase my mother got an email from them about the realase party & in that email it said that some borders stores would have some copies for those who haven’t preordered a dvd. So of course this made my & my mom mad how could I preorder one onine like I was told to do but not get it until April? So we called our Borders & talked to the manager & he said if I wanted I could come down the night of the release & pick one up & then once mine comes in (it’s being sent to the store) just to remind them I already picked one up. Our store I guess got A LOT of copies (I heard numbers as high as 600 but don’t know if that’s accurate) and wouldn’t need to worry. So I did go down at about 11:50 that night & was able to pick one up! So I guess I was lucky and I’m grateful the manager of my local Borders!
Borders has just completely messed this one up! The release party was aweful also. They did not do anything they said they were going to do, No raffle, No prizes, No give aways, nothing.
I sent an e-mail to borders telling them how angry I was about the whole situation and how I thought what they did was false advertisement. We will see if anything comes of it. I seriously doulbt it. With all this bad publicity I wonder how the cast feels about having endorsed them in the thank you video? I’d bet they are not real happy about it.
Liz (EdwardCullensLamb)
Wow, I can’t believe Borders screwed up so monumentally on this, there’s no way they couldn’t have predicted the demand. I’m a die-hard Amazon customer when it comes to needing things on the launch day though, they have never failed me.
I pre-ordered the special edition of Twilight from Borders on January 28th, over 2 months before the release and I still don’t have mine. They sent me an email saying they shipped it out on the 18th, so I figured I’d get mine on the 21st, but it still hasn’t arrived. I don’t know if it’ll be here today or this week but the fact that I pre-ordered so long in advance, paid for it and didn’t get my copy on the day of the release really upsets me. I could have just gone to the store to buy a copy and would have had it the day of the release. It’s just really disappointing, like what’s the point of pre-ordering if I’m not going to have it the day everyone else will?
I doubt I’ll order anything from Borders again if that’s the kind of service they’re going to give its customers.
Same thing happened to me from Amazon.com. I pre-ordered the DVD on the first day you can order it and I still haven’t received it. I won’t get it until March 25th. They sent me an email on Friday saying that because I won’t get it on time I can watch it for free using a promo code on Amazon On Demand. I tried the code and it didn’t work. I am super angry right now with Amazon.
That is one of the reason why I did not pre-order the dvd. It is so much easier to just go to walmart at midnight and get it first hand and watch it right away. I did not want to wait to get it and espically knowing how easily it could of got lost. And it does suck for all those people who waited in line for the dvd and didnt get it. I was lucky enough to be 16th in line at Walmart and got my second edition one. The next morning my friend went to go get it but all they had was one disk ones.
I ordered mine for shipping the day that turned out to be the “drop dead” date (Feb. 4). I got one of the e-mails telling me that I would have to wait until April to get it, and I was very bummed about it since I had gotten mine ordered “in time.” Then, on Thursday, I got another e-mail saying it had shipped via FedEx USPS, and would arrive Monday the 23rd. Okay, not great, but better than April. Then I went to get the mail on Friday the 20th and there it was in the box! A full 12 hours before the official release time!
So, on the one hand, I was annoyed that Borders jerked me around on e-mails. But on the other, I got it before the release time, and watched everything before there was even a party here in Atlanta.
I also pre-ordered through Borders. They mailed it out on the 17th. It made it from California to Dallas, Texas by the 19th. I still have not gotten it. I live 3 hours from Dallas. I could have walked there and gotten it by now. They’re projected delivery date is tomorrow, the 24th.
I also ordered the Directors notebook from them. They sent it out the day before my dvd, and I haven’t seen it yet. According to FedEx, it’s still in California and has been there since the 17th. I can’t decide if it’s been lost or what has happened. Mostly, I am just sad I didn’t stick with buying it at Barnes and Noble like I do everything else. I am definitely going to stay a B&N shopper. Borders will not likely get any more money from me.
This is why we decided to order Twilight through Amazon. Not only did they give us a free 24-hr rental viewing of the movie (through Amazon on Demand) at midnight on release day, but our special edition DVD arrived exactly on Saturday, March 21! No lines, no crowds, no disappointments! We even had pre-ordered late — just one week before — not months before, and Amazon still came through.
i pre-ordered from FyE and went to the midnight release “party” it was pretty lame and the turnout wasnt’ great, but i did win the trivia contest and there were plenty of copies to go around…
only thing is, that after i did pre-order from FyE, i saw on TA that target was having the 3 disc special edition (which also comes with a free itunes download of the movie) so i pre-ordered from there too. Target shipped it Saturday and i expect to receive it by the 25th.
the only experience i had with Borders was with the Twilight Director’s NOtebook and they shipped that out in plenty of time and i actually received it on the day it came out in stores…
Yep the same thing happened to me too. I was very angry. At least now I have a little more explanation about the whole thing. Thank you for that. Yes, that will be the last time I preorder from Borders.
Thanks for posting this! I have been wondering what was going on, since I too preordered early Feb and am still waiting! I however never received the notice that you posted! Super disappointed with Borders, this is who I always buy from. But I am greatful for you fine people who I know I can rely on for the scoop! Thanks!
That is horrible. It would have been nice if they did what my store did. They had different colored bookmarks with letters on them. Red was if you pre-ordered the exclusive, orange if you wanted an exclusive, and white for regular. And they only had enough bookmarks for the number of items that they had. This was nice. But there was no way that they had enough to fill all the people that wanted exclusive. (this is why I did not order online, I just got in the store.)
I feel bad for you. You should have priority depending when you pay and reserve
I am so glad I can rely on you fine folks to relay the info when it comes in. I too PREORDERED my Special Edition Twilight DVD from Borders and am still waiting for my delivery! I however never received an email from Borders with the information you provided. Thanks for the update, as with all you updates on this site. I LOVE TA!
I KNow U Guys Wanted The Borders One But THe Target One IS Way Way Beteer
Hey Guys I Know You HAd Problems with your order i did to.when i arrived at the store my name was on the esclusive list and i was about the 20th person in line how lucky lol and then suddenly the guy in front put about 11 girls in front of me and i asked wat happen and he said they were V.I.P…What thats not fair and then i didnt get my DVD because they supposdley ran out and those were a little bit of ppl that really got it and it suucked how could a store only contain 25 dvds?????so the next day i went to target and got the DVD and i loved it .also it was in a very good price for all tose special features! $ 17.99
i ordered my movie from borders too but i havent received an email…this sucks…im never pre-ordering from borders again!!!
I went to all the release parties in the area (FYE, Borders, Walmart) None were very exciting… however, bought the DVD @ Target - it is fantastic. There are so many great extra features and i love the downloads included. Totally recommend all the twihards that ordered from Borders to return that copy and buy it at Target - and its half the price!
Yes - that happened to me too! I was so disappointed. I ended up getting one after waiting in line at Borders, and then I will have to return the one that I had ordered on Feb 4th. Seems unfair to have ordered and PAID so far in advance only to have to pay for it again in the store. I will NOT use Borders for the New Moon DVD and I’m willing to bet they lost a lot of future business because of this mess. Better luck next time at a different retailer, that’s for sure.
Yeah this happened to me. I got the same email and I pre-ordered on February 5th. They told me if I had ordered February 4th I would get it on the release date. I spent 45 minutes on the phone and basically it came down to 12 hours. if i would have ordered it 12 hours earlier I would have gotten it sooner. But as luck would have it the Borders Customer Service said if they get more, they will keep going down the list. Two days ago I got an email that said my copy had shipped. I am still mad I dont have it yet, perhaps tomorrow, but at least it was sooner than April. I feel for those of you who wont get it until April.
PS- they also told me when I ordered back in Feb that there should have been a sign on the side of the page saying I wouldnt get it until April…I clearly dont remember it, but they insisted I overlooked it. I doubt I would have ordered it from them had I known that. Oh well…we all have to stick together though!!! So I went and bought the one from Target, which has an online download of the movie so I can take on my laptop wherever i go!!!
I ordered mine online from Target on the Thursday prior to the the big Saturday release. My DVD is currently in transit and will be arriving on my doorstep by the end of the week. That REALLY sucks what Borders did! I would def. be mad.
the same thing happened to me! I ordered it from borders and they said its coming on April 13th! UGH I cant wait that long! I hate borders now!
I ordered my copy from Borders on Feb 8th. The site clearly stated, when you ordered, that if you were ordering after the 6th of February you would not get your copy until on or before April 13th. I still chose to order from Borders and I’m glad I did because mine actually came today anyway!
Borders site clearly stated that if you ordered after the 4th of February you would not get your copy until or before april 13th
I reserved from Borders and got my movie at midnight. I knew I wouldn’t get it the day it came out if I preordered! Reserving is the best way because they ensure they have your copy on hand.
yeah something like this happened to me….i actually ordered TWO copies. the first one i ordered online (to get shipped to my home) at the end of January. the online confirmation said something like you will receive your days 2-3 days after the release date, so i was kinda bummed b/c i didn’t want to get my copy 3 days after everyone else. so a couple of weeks later, i checked back with borders.com and realized that it was possible to pre-order in store & pick up @ borders on march 21st. so i went into borders & did that & was guaranteed that i would have my copy ready for pick-up… tell me why my initial online order was @ my doorstep before i actually went to borders that day. and then when i arrived @ borders they said that my 2nd order was back-ordered! i was simply going to exchange the second order & get the director’s notebook, but that wasn’t possible b/c i couldn’t do that until the dvd actually arrived. needless to say, the best way to guarantee your pre-ordered copy is to order ASAP, otherwise, stand in line & make new friends!
I was going to go to walmart then realized target had the 3 disc for 17.99. I instead went and waited for target to open at 8 am and there were maybe 20 people waiting and 100 or so dvds. I felt so much better kning that I didnt have to go and wait in line at a store and not know if I was getting the dvd or not. I didn’t even bother pre ordering because I have had problems before.
Personally, I am a Twilight mom as most of you know and my hubby and I have our first baby girl on the way. I planned on getting the Borders set for her memory box because she is named Alice Rose after Alice and Rosalie. Then when I found out that it was 40$ I told them never mind. Personally I think they put too much into it. Granted it was in a nice case but I got a 3 disk special edition from Target for 17 bucks. Sometimes Borders is great for things and other times they just simply take advantage of the situation. This my dear sounds like one of those times. I have never preordered from Borders other then Breaking Dawn and after reading this and my personal experience with them in general, I would never pre order with them again.
HA!! I just got a call from Borders today (March 28)stating that my (cancelled weeks ago) DVD 2-disc set is in. I now have to drive 20 minutes to RETURN a product (I don’t have in my posession- it’s still at the store) that I cancelled because of HORRIBLE customer service! How absolutely ludicrous!!! And you know Borders will simply shrug their corporate shoulders and do absolutely nothing about it. Unbefreakinglievable!
I wonder what would happen if I sent them a bill for my mileage…
That really sucks! I ordered my DVD from Borders too, before I read this. I am so mad! I agree with you, it is completely unfair that the people that preorder it get it after people that don’t!!! If anything, we should get it before everyone else! Not after!