To bring the thread back on track...in Budapest I bought this Extreme Kink Slaves DVD (that wasn't the exact title), that detailed all sorts of bondage, torture, pissing, etc. on the box. The back looked great as well. But then when I popped it in it was a bad gang bang from the 80s with Ron Jeremy :(. So yes, I friggin' HATE lies on boxcovers!!!
Death is caused by swallowing small amounts of saliva over a long period of time. George Carlin 1567 Posts 2/07
Posted - Dec 28 2009 : 1:33PM
Not sure what that means? We have always taken back defectives, we have always taken back overstock. The distributors are my customers, not the end users, so you would never have received bad or good customer service from me. Although on many occasions I have taken care of video store customers that can't get satisfaction from their store. So I don't know why you are rolling your eyes and saying well well well..... I'm one of the only reps I know that comes on here to hear what you have to say, bad or good. I am one of the only reps that actually goes to the owner of the company and gets things changed that people don't like. Care to explain? I would love to hear it. I'm always interested in improving.
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Len801 Deactivated User
754 Posts 9/07
Posted - Dec 28 2009 : 1:59PM
In reading your post, I get the impression you ("you" being the Marketing Dept or "you" the whole firm?) basically involve yourself with returned merchandise (whatever the nature) from dealers you have sold DVD's to. It appears (again reading your post) you rarely get directly involved with an irate or dissatisfied consumer who is unable to get satisfaction from the dealer he bought/rented from. What is the rough percentage of consumers' own (unreseolved) grievances directly with Vivid? On the same point, what if a consumer thinks he had been had by some misleading advertisement in the DVD he has RENTED? Does such a consumer make his dissatisfaction known directly to you or do you suggest he take it up with the video store where he rented the movie? How many such complaints would you field in a month? What do you (or what have you done) when a consumer's grievances have turned out to be quite justified? I am not talking about "defective" merchandise, but merchandise that as has been outlined in this post may not contain the material it claims to have on the box.
Death is caused by swallowing small amounts of saliva over a long period of time. George Carlin 1567 Posts 2/07
Posted - Dec 28 2009 : 3:14PM
Thanks for getting involved len. First i am the sales dept. so we see all the returns coming back for whatever the reasons. I only get involved if someone calls me. Generally they would return to the store where they bought it. We run .5% on defectives, which is nothing. Some companies run up to 10 to 15% defectives to give you an idea. But if someone cannot get satisfaction from where they bought it, I would exchange it for them no matter what. I obviously cannot refund money that i did not take in the first place. We do not sell direct. I rarely hear from customers directly, maybe 3 a year. We back our product to the retailer so they usually have no problem in resolving any Vivid matters. If there is material we claim to be in the movie that is not, I would exchange it for him no problem. But, we try to make sure at all costs, what is on the box is in the movie. If you read the thread, the only thing that was wrong was on Brand New Faces that our art dept. made a mistake on, that we corrected. Someone said that the positions menu was not in there, but it was. Vivid does not false advertise period.
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Len801 Deactivated User
754 Posts 9/07
Posted - Dec 28 2009 : 4:12PM
Thanks for the info. You addressed in particular DVD's that are sold by you to retailers/distrubutors, which are returned or some consumer has technical issues with (which you have outlined is low). But I wanted to know if complaints come to your Dept/Vivid from the general consumer who has a gripe regarding the contents (meaning misleading information like a scene not being there, etc). I realize you cannot refund a consumer who rented the movie in a video/sex shop. But do you get e-mails, faxes, phone calls, letters from angry/upset consumers who believe they have been duped in some way (such a consumer may not be coming to you to try to collect a $4 rental fee, but to just let you know that there was something misleading about a particular movie)? I was not necessarily thinking of the same type of complaints Den has been having in this thread. A consumer may call the Vivid general line, but do such calls gets screened (I assume) or are they immediately directed to you (as a matter of policy) or only as a last resort (if screener cannot resolve client's issue)?
Death is caused by swallowing small amounts of saliva over a long period of time. George Carlin 1567 Posts 2/07
Posted - Dec 28 2009 : 5:30PM
But I wanted to know if complaints come to your Dept/Vivid from the general consumer who has a gripe regarding the contents (meaning misleading information like a scene not being there, etc). A. Not really because that is a very rare problem, if ever. The one Den pointed out is the first one I heard of. It would have been resolved if Den would have contacted me or left a message on the Vivid thread 6 months ago. I took care of it right away. Part of the allegations turned out to be false anyhow. I realize you cannot refund a consumer who rented the movie in a video/sex shop. But do you get e-mails, faxes, phone calls, letters from angry/upset consumers who believe they have been duped in some way (such a consumer may not be coming to you to try to collect a $4 rental fee, but to just let you know that there was something misleading about a particular movie)? I was not necessarily thinking of the same type of complaints Den has been having in this thread. A. Nope. I haven't had any complaints. Again we don't put stuff on the box,i.e, pictures of girls that aren't in the movie, or whatever. Read the review of Sunnys Boy/Girl Adventure. That will clarify it for you. A consumer may call the Vivid general line, but do such calls gets screened (I assume) or are they immediately directed to you (as a matter of policy) or only as a last resort (if screener cannot resolve client's issue)? A. They are immediately directed to me. I freely publish my phone number and cell number. 818 435 1607. I welcome any and all calls. I was really hoping to hear from ADT44 as to why he left the negative comment. So far nothing. It seems some people here just have to leave negative comments for no reason at all. That i just don't understand. [/quote] Edited by - hollywood woody on 12/28/2009 5:33:49 PM
Den's review said: Brand New Faces #22 had missing BTS, Positions Menu and Bonus Facials. Don Houston's review said: The only extras this time were a photogallery, some trailers, and spam, those nasty marketing people leaving off the BTS, bonus facials, and positions menu figuring you'd be happy with a mere 4+ hours of actual content (what nerve!) when most companies offer less than half that. ;) Hollywood Woody - Where on the DVD is the Positions Menu that you found? And, how many other Brand New Faces have missing BTS? Thanks, Den
I emailed the Director 8 months ago about missing BTS and I started pointing this out in my reviews 14 months ago. What part of my allegations turned out to be false? Den
Death is caused by swallowing small amounts of saliva over a long period of time. George Carlin 1567 Posts 2/07
Posted - Dec 28 2009 : 6:02PM
I did not say your allegations, i said part of THE allegations were not true. B.Skow is the director, he doesn't check the boxcovers after the fact. I am not trying to put this on you, but I don't read your reviews, only because I didn't know your site. I really stick to AVN,XBIZ, ADT, Xcritic, Gram Pononte and whoever else sends me their reviews once they have written one. I have never received a review from you of one of our movies in 20 years. I have been with Vivid for 20 years in the same position, I sell the movies so I really like seeing the reviews. If we send screeners the reviewer sends us his feedback.That is the case with every single reviewer we ship to. Also, as i stated before, 6 months ago I started a Vivid thread here for everyone and anyone to air out any problems, You never posted a thing.7500 people have viewed the thread, over 300 replied. I cannot fix what I don't know is broken. please add me to your email list for vivid reviews. howard@pulsedistribution.com Edited by - hollywood woody on 12/28/2009 6:12:07 PM
I want to make sure I understand fu_q and Hollywood Woody. The boxcover says: Chapter Search Positions Room My definition of Chapter Search is you first get a screen with all the Scenes listed by Scene Title, Scene Number or the preferred Stars Name. Then when you select the Chapter you want to see you get another screen with what type of action you want to see such as Tease, BJ, Sex, etc. Then it goes directly to the beginning of what you selected. Some Studios call this Sub-Chapters. My definition of Positions Room is that you select the type of sex you want to see and then it plays all the scenes in the entire movie for that actitivity starting with scene 1 to the last scene. So, Chapter Search gives you the action for just 1 scene and Positions gives you the action for all the scenes in the movie. If I am understanding you correctly, you are saying that Positions is now under Search. In this new way of doing things, does Search give you all the activity for all the scenes at one time like Positions use to do? I got confused when your Boxcover says: Chapter Search Positions Room Is this the new way for all of Vivid's new releases. Den
In terms of the positions menus: It might largely be an issue of semantics. Some DVDs from some companies under their "Scene Selection" options don't give a choice of the types of action for that scene -- they just direct the viewer to the beginning of that scene. As part of the "Scene Selection" of "Brand New Faces 22", it allows for a choice of jumping to the desired action for that particular scene and picking it up from there. This is done for each scene that I checked and is done individually. It doesn't play through that type of action for every scene from the disc--just the particular scene--so this is something of a change--but I don't think it's necessarily fair to say that there aren't positions menus b/c they have changed the way that they operate.
Okay, I now understand. Brand New Faces #22 doesn't have Position Rooms and they just had a boxcover mistake. Vivid continues to have Chapter Search. Thanks for the info. Den
I'd like to weigh in as a vendor. It bothers me when boxcovers are misleading, since it forces me to take a caveat emptor standing with my customers. There is no way for me to watch every dvd I sell and be able to tell my customers if it's really got what it promises, so I have to add disclaimers all over the place. Instead of posting a synopsis, I have to post it as a "Producer's Description," along with a qualifying remark that I can't be held responsible for the actual content of the dvd. As a producer, I am hoping it will give me an edge over my less scrupulous competitors. I told my dvd artist that the cover should reflect the exact contents of the dvd.
Here are 25,210 reviews by Den linked to from the IAFD. Again, twenty-five thousand two hundred and ten reviews. Brand New Faces 13 (with links to four reviews)Brand New Faces 16 (with links to three reviews)Brand New Faces 17 (with links to three reviews)Brand New Faces 21 (with links to four reviews)Brand New Faces 22 (with links to two reviews)Den's review and comments (Maybe adds some context to Don Houston's review comments regarding the "extras"?) [ invalid url ]I guess Disc 1 had "no positions menu," and Disc 2 had "a positions menu for the one guy that reportedly cares." I wonder who Don is taking swipes at when he says, "Again, there was a positions menu for the one guy that reportedly cares..."
Wow. I must say that--over a 15 year period--that is a tremendous number of reviews. What is that, like 4 to 5 a day? That is some major devotion. Cool.
There's a reason that reviewers like Rog and myself say that we can never hold a candle to Den. "I do not as a rule seek advice about food from thin people..." - Jeffrey Steingarten
...and even more amazing, if you ever meet Den you'll find somebody that even after that many years of reviewing porn, still has the same love for it and the girls in it as a teenage boy who just discovered it. "I do not as a rule seek advice about food from thin people..." - Jeffrey Steingarten
^I will check them out, but even if we're just talking about watching that much porn -- 9+ hours a day for 15 years -- it's staggering. It defies the imagination.
Edited by - fu_q on 12/30/2009 6:37:50 AM
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Len801 Deactivated User
754 Posts 9/07
Posted - Dec 30 2009 : 9:50AM
Although I would not call them full "reviews", Den/CAVR was one of the first on-line adult movie reviewers, at a time when there were hardly any. He was free at some time, and for a while also pay content. It was not expensive, and was one of the few places where you could read about NEW movie releases, not something that came out 3-4 months ago. He was reviewing 4-5 movies per day and it was hard to catch up with all the movies he was commenting on. He is passionate about adult movies and agree a lot with his annoyance at poor ID credits on movies, choking and rough stuff, lack of production dates, etc. The number of movies he has reviewed is truly monumental, although sometimes difficult in his description of who is doing what to whom in his short summaries. I am astonished that Woody confesses he was unaware of Den/CAVR site, especially since his reviews are and have been linked in the IAFD for many years.
Adding my own two cents' worth regarding the (original) topic... I don't really care so much about the DVD extras. My pet peeve is box covers showing a woman wearing a certain outfit, but in the movie itself, she's wearing something totally different. It's my opinion that, if you're going to show someone prominently on the cover sporting a certain look (not just clothes, but her makeup, hair, etc.), then she better appear the same way in the actual video. As an example, "Swap Meat 2" by 3rd Degree: the cover has Annmarie Rios wearing a black latex catsuit with exposed breasts. She looks hot as hell that way, but doesn't wear the catsuit in the movie (or any latex, for that matter). Now, to be fair, the shots on the BACK of the case don't show her wearing anything like that, so the cover isn't a complete lie. Still, I would have loved to see her actually having sex in that outfit! Along similar lines, "Discipline" by Heatwave: the front cover has one of the stars (Leeanna Heart?) wearing black latex stockings, long gloves, bustier, and thong. But again, in the actual video, she isn't dressed that way. Granted, there's plenty of other latex-wear in the movie, just not what's depicted on the cover. Now, the companies that make these things have every right to make an eye-catching cover, since that's what drives spur-of-the-moment purchases. I just wish they would ALWAYS choose cover shots that actually represent what will be seen in the movies, not just random pics of the performers. PCH
I appreciate Den and what he does. It's a great quick reference system when you don't have 5-10 minutes to read somebody's magnum opus on "Up That White Ass".
Up That White Ass (box covers) Imagine, a porn DVD delivering exactly what it promises (i.e. based on the title and box cover photos) -- White girls performing IR anal. Even the bonus scene suits the genre. Up That White Ass (with links to five reviews) Can you believe that Elegant Angel included many nice extras (without even promoting them on the box cover)? Den's review (note the listed extras)Glad to see Don pointing out the extras, and that the movie "had everything it advertised." The DVD already gives us 162-minutes of movie, plus an additional 35-minutes bonus scene. That's 197-minutes (i.e. "a mere" 3-hours and 17-minutes) of "actual content." One wonders why Elegant Angel keeps including these nice extras and trailers -- as a matter of due course -- without even promoting them on the box covers? Maybe it's just "for the one guy that reportedly cares"? Edited by - BigBobxxx on 1/1/2010 10:39:51 AM
Congrats to Vivid Entertainment being named Xcritic's 2010 Studio to Watch For Very nice write-up that mentions all the new things happening and that there is 'a new Vivid in town'. They did not mention Vivid Return Policy that might just be the best in business! They did mention Brand New Faces. I have been watching this website and waiting for an update. Uma Stone is their newst update dated 11/19/2009. Good luck to Vivid. Den
Death is caused by swallowing small amounts of saliva over a long period of time. George Carlin 1567 Posts 2/07
Posted - Jan 4 2010 : 12:35PM
Thank you so much, I found your site and am very impressed. I will most certainly be visiting there on a weekly basis. Len made a comment how he was surprised I "admitted" not knowing your site, honesty is the best policy. I don't know everything, as a matter of fact, in the scheme of things I know very little, the good thing is I am learning everyday. It makes life fun. Again thanks Den
Death is caused by swallowing small amounts of saliva over a long period of time. George Carlin 1567 Posts 2/07
Posted - Jan 4 2010 : 2:25PM
I am astonished that Woody confesses he was unaware of Den/CAVR site, especially since his reviews are and have been linked in the IAFD for many years. [/quote] You learn something new every day.
See I'm ok with that though, even though I agree with you in theory. I can give the front cover some leeway, since I think it's mainly to promote the film. I just hated when they used to show someone on the front cover when they weren't in the film. I go wish more films would at least list the entire cast though on the front cover. I don't give the back cover much leeway though. Now if AnnaMarie was shown on the back in that catsuit, I'd say it was false advertising.
I agree 100%. Imagine if a mainline movie company pulled this BS? They'd be finished. This is really no different. Imagine if they advertised "Tom Cruise" as the lead star and claimed that he flies a space ship in the movie. Then you go see the movie and never see even a glimpse of Tom Cruise, instead the lead star is Drew Carey and the entire movie is underwater in a submarine... no spaceships. They'd be finished. This is indeed the crap that some porn companies pull. Leisure Time Products used to seem to lie in the name of the movie, AND the pictures on the box. Let's say they titled it "Redheads who eat cum", and it has 6 scenes, 5 of them have no redheads, (maybe even a black girl or asian lol) in 4 of them the guy cums on her ass (fade out) in one it's a tight lipped facial, and in the last one it's on the tits... but sure wasn't any "cum eating" and only one red head. Liars and worse yet: THIEVES!!!! That's just bad business. Perhaps Vivid is the new Leisure Time. I don't like liars and I boycott them completely. There's plenty of honest adult producers out there, no need to go to the ones that try to dupe you. They are taking advantage of fans, being lazy and dishonest and nothing fancier than that. I don't deal with thieves.
Death is caused by swallowing small amounts of saliva over a long period of time. George Carlin 1567 Posts 2/07
Posted - Jan 15 2010 : 1:53AM
Why is it that you are singling out Vivid, we did nothing of the sort. We didn't claim someone is in a movie who wasn't. We didn't put someones picture on a box that wasn't in the movie. What are you talking about? And no one in this thread said we did. Try reading the thread before you attack us for no reason at all...totally unfair and for sure not right.
Typically I rent so I don't see a lot of box covers. One of the few Vivid movies I did buy, Pretty Girl, has Cherokee pictured twice on the back cover and she's nowhere in the movie. I just assumed that she was edited out and no one passed it on to the art department. But take someone who has been truly and purposefully burned by other companies and they probably won't shrug it off as a mistake like I did. It happens, HW. You're setting yourself up when you say certain things don't and it's just humanly impossible for you to have seen every single Vivid box cover and movie.
Posted - Dec 25 2009 : 7:42AM
