I had ordered the complete 5 year, 120 chapter series of The Fugitive. Prior to ordering this series, I had already purchased the first and apparently "only" fifteen chapters that was legitimately available through CBS Studios (2007) and Paramount Television. This series was originated by Quinn Martin and was originally networked by the American Broadcast Company (ABD) during the mid-sixties.
My order was placed in early November of 2007 but was not received until mid to late December. I was informed by DVD Collections that it would be received around the end of November. After waiting a reasonable amount of time, I wrote to their support staff. Their response was that it had been sent, however to the wrong address! I was then reassured by their manager that it would be sent "priority".
Shortly thereafter (that same day), I visited this website by means of a random search, and had truly became concerned about this "distributor" as a result of other posts submitted on canada-complaints.com. With respect to those postings (and there certainly were plenty of warnings), I contacted my bank to cancel this transaction - as well as cancel my credit card for reason of doubt about the trustworthiness of this e-business. I was informed by the bank that I would be hearing from them (HQ) as to whether I would successfully be able to receive their cancellation.
The day I received an OK notice to receive credit from the bank, I also received a notification from the post office that I had a delivery from DVD Collections. I had to make up my mind whether I actually wanted this collection since several posts here had forewarned me that this set may be bootlegged material. I decided rather to go ahead and accept the order.
As soon as I opened the package, I noticed the spine of the casings had a amateurishly designed ABC insignia. Inside were thirty discs (four chapters per disc), all white and with nothing other than "The Fugitive" and the disc number on the label. Yes, I knew what I was in for..., cable television to VCR to DVD. In comparison to my CBS-Paramount $30 four disc (15 chapter set), this was worth a sad chuckle.
Upon viewing the first chapter, I immediately recognized the level of quality and was certainly not of any type of DVD quality. As a matter of fact - after viewing several chapters, there's a PG rating set in the corner upon all the introductions. So far I've been discouraged from watching all 120 chapters, muchless the next 105 as a result of the obviously diminished quality of this once grand production.
When I had gone to the post office to pick up my "package", I was very well tempted to invite the PO to open and inspect it. The PO has signs posted that "any media material is subject to postal inspection". Was it worth my losing $90 to have a possible bureaucrat confiscate the material inside - after all, I wasn't absolutely certain that I was dealing with a possibly illegal enterprise.
As to the remaining chapters, I really don't have much interest in watching a videotaped program on DVD. However, I may wait until there's nothing better to do to bide my time. As I've said, this "product" came from videotape and the first forty (or more) chapters are in black and white. I dread having to watch the last few year's programs in color since the level of quality (bleeding) is just plain skanky.
These guys (DVD Collections) should request a U.S. permit that states that they are into the preservation of television society and work from there. Otherwise, I'd avoid them.
Lastly, I sincerely believe all of the previous posts regarding DVD Collections are factual. Considering that they (DVD Collections) are doing business from an unknown (probably foreign) location, who will enforce the copyright laws?
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