Coming DVDs

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Precious Doll
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Re: Coming DVDs

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I received my Amazon parcel this morning - it was sitting by the front door with some boxes of red wine.

I expect that to be my last order from Amazon for a long long time. The way things are going distributors may be forced to stop or reduce production for some time and with so many people losing their jobs everywhere many won't have any spare money for what basically amounts to a luxury item.
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Re: Coming DVDs

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Surprisingly Amazon US sent my parcel and its at San Bernardino, California. I don't expect it anytime soon.

Someone on the Criterion Forum posted this on the website. It was an email from 88 Films so I don't know if it applies across the board:

"Royal Mail have told us that from this Wednesday, 25 March, all orders from the UK to US will be sent via an economy service, due to the Coronavirus crisis. This will take significantly longer than usual.

Travel and public health restrictions have significantly reduced transatlantic air transport capacity, and could disrupt the operations of both Royal Mail here and their partners in the US. As such, economy services will now travel by sea and may be subject to further delays at either end."
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Re: Coming DVDs

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I ordered from the Indicator flash sale last weekend. The package shipped, made it from the UK, then on Thursday morning the tracking indicated that it was transferred to USPS in New York and there hasn't been a single update to the tracking since then.

I've got a couple of pre-orders from Amazon UK that are scheduled to ship in late April that I'm expecting cancellations on at any moment.
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Re: Coming DVDs

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So, OK, after giving me a late April shipping date on something, they shipped it to me today from South Carolina via UPS with a delivery date of this Thursday.
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Re: Coming DVDs

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Amazon US is not shipping from certain warehouses in the U.S. to U.S. addresses. Their stock is spread out all over the country, so if you order a DVD (or anything else for that matter) that is marked "in stock" the anticipated delivery date is currently sometime in April and likely to get pushed further back if the only place it is "in stock" is in one of the closed warehouses.
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Re: Coming DVDs

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Amazon US are not shipping internationally for the moment due to the coronavirus pandemic which is understandable. I might see if I have better luck with another seller but I doubt it. Everything everywhere is going into shutdown for who knows how long.
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Re: Coming DVDs

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Warner Archive is no longer accepting orders due to California business suspension although they promise to fill existing orders.

Warner Bros. shut down Warner Archive's separate website which was in Illinois until a few years ago. All orders are processed from California but fulfilled from Illinois.
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Re: Coming DVDs

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You can still place pre-orders with Amazon.US as of the moment.

I don't know how long on-going publications will continue to be available. I just had our community telephone directory, which I update annually, published and delivered this week and our April newspaper is on the way but I don't know if there will be a May, June or beyond issue. Most of what I put out has to do with upcoming events of which there won't be any and reminders of services available of which there probably won't be any. The feature stories can all be pushed back to when things become normal again. I'm busy now sending out e-mails announcing cancellations of events one by one even though everyone must realize by now that all events will be cancelled.
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Re: Coming DVDs

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Most pre-orders on Amazon UK and other Amazon sites (though not the US to my knowledge) are no longer allowing people to place pre-orders and the release dates have been removed. Probably anticipating a slowdown in production of discs until things go back to normal.

Funnily enough I rang my local book shop to see if the latest Sight and Sound had arrived (it hadn't). I mentioned I might cease on-going order for each new edition over the coming months and then added out of the blue that the BFI might stop publishing it for a few months anyway. The book seller agreed.
Last edited by Precious Doll on Fri Mar 20, 2020 4:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Coming DVDs

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Amazon are certainly doing the right thing in terms of priorities.

Though here is another report from The Guardians COVID-19 blog:

As the coronavirus spreads across America, many workers are being directed to work from home but staff at Amazon and Whole Foods are being squeezed to keep up with increasing demand caused by Americans stockpiling food and household products.

Amazon is the US’s largest online retailer and it also owns Whole Foods, the largest natural foods grocer in the US, and fifth largest overall in the world.

Workers say the hectic pace of work amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak is devastating for their physical and mental health as they try and keep up with massive new demand. They also have to deal with their own worries and problems coping with the pandemic.

My added comment: Australia's two largest supermarket chains have suspended home deliveries because they simply don't have the stock to fulfil them. Apparently most supermarkets are in utter chaos. We may produce enough food for 75 million people per year but we don't make the packaging, etc that is also needed. Some medicines are also in short supply.

Herein lies the problem. The longer the virus causes this chaos the worse things will get for everyone and the U.S., Canada, Australia and other countries are very likely to resemble Italy's and Europes growing dire situation within a month, if not sooner.
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Re: Coming DVDs

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Precious,

The five categories they are giving priority to make sense. Everything else may have to take a back seat but it doesn't mean it won't be delivered.

This announcement seems to address third party sales which are not the same as products sold directly from Amazon but products that they sell on consignment for others.

I had no trouble receiving Richard Jewell from Amazon.US a day earlier than promised. My three British mystery series, Endeavor 7, Death in Paradise 9 and Vera 10 from Amazon.UK were received TODAY, the day after I ordered them. Grantchester 6 went across England on planes today, then to Germany and is currently on a plane to Newark, NJ so I suspect I will have it tomorrow, six days before the promised delivery date.

I suspect as this goes on, it will be just as easy to order and receive anything they have in stock until the stock runs out. Orders for new releases and out-of-stock items will depend on Amazon's ability to get them in.

As an aside, restaurants are open here for pickup and deliveries and some of them are even throwing in a roll of toilet paper to get customers to utilize them.
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Re: Coming DVDs

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More details of Amazon's move:

Amazon will suspend shipments of non-essential items to its warehouse as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic worsens.
The online retailer announced it is prioritising medical supplies, household staples, baby products, grocery and other high-demand essentials until April 5.
It said it was being forced to prioritise particular categories of goods in order to "quickly receive, restock, and ship these products to customers" because of increased demand that was depleting them.
The move follows huge increases in orders of certain products on Amazon, including face masks and toilet paper, as more shoppers flocked to e-commerce sites like Amazon for their shopping. That’s put significant strains on Amazon’s supply chain, resulting in shipment delays, technical glitches, and labour shortages.
“Amazon is taking drastic measures to address logistical challenges faced amid the coronavirus pandemic,” Steven Yates, chief executive of Prime Guidance, an agency that helps Amazon sellers, said. “Amazon has struggled to keep up with demand on essential items, so this move will allow them to focus more available resources to meet this increased demand."
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Re: Coming DVDs

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Just in from coronavirus live blog on The Guardian:

Amazon in the US and UK is suspending non-essential shipments to warehouses – from third party sellers – until 5 April.

Five categories of goods will be exempt: baby products, health and household; beauty and personal care; groceries; industrial and scientific; and pet supplies.
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Re: Coming DVDs

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Not time to panic yet.

I ordered four DVDs not available in the U.S. from Amazon.UK Sunday night U.S. time, just after midnight U.K. time - three of four of them were immediately shipped via UPS through Germany the same day (yesterday) and arrived at Newark airport this morning and per UPS will be delivered to me today. The fourth one, which was released yesterday, was not in stock yet when I ordered it but was received by Amazon during the day and shipped to me via DHL today.
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Re: Coming DVDs

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Expect some upcoming DVD/Blu Ray release from all over the world to be delayed. I also wouldn't be surprised to see some smaller companies goes bankrupt. I received this email this morning from Criterion:

Dear members of the Criterion community,

It’s the middle of the month, and under normal circumstances we would have announced our June DVD and Blu-ray releases today. As we all know these are not normal circumstances.

In order to be conscientious citizens and to reduce/delay the spread of COVID-19, the Criterion team spent much of last week transitioning to a remote working environment. It is our sincere hope that we will be able to continue our work this way, serving our mission while attending to the health, safety, and economic security of 100% of our staff.

We’ve been heartened by all the people who have reached out to us by email or shouted out on social networks to ask how we are doing, and the answer is, so far, so good. Our employees are up and running with the new protocols, and we’ll do everything we can to adapt as the situation evolves. We expect to move forward with the announcement of June titles in the next day or two.

We’re also aiming to announce the Criterion Channel’s April lineup next week. April 8 will be the Channel’s first birthday, and in celebration we’ve pulled out all the stops with a ton of great programming. Under the circumstances, we’re glad we did!

Finally, many of you have asked if there is anything you can do, and there is. If you haven’t tried out the Criterion Channel yet, please check it out, and if you like what you see, please sign up for a 14-day free trial. Subscribing and giving gift subscriptions to the Channel are probably the most important things you can do to help ensure that we can keep serving our audiences and our filmmakers, supporting our staff, and making sure that we can all stay connected with the movies we love.

Thanks, as always, for your support. We’ll keep working hard to earn it.

All the best,
Peter Becker and Jonathan Turell
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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