The Colossal Disney Flew-Away Offer

Back on November 6, 2007, I scooped a story on a Disney Movie Rewards promotion for a Limited Edition Blu-Ray Lightning McQueen. The offer was simple...purchase Cars on Blu-Ray disk, join Disney Movie Rewards, enter the Code in the package and pay $3.50 shipping and handling and you got an LE 15,000 die cast McQueen. The promotion would last until January 31, 2008, or until supplies ran out. They never turned away orders saying supplies were out. Weeks passed and people started getting their McQueens at the end of November. January came and people wondered about the confirmation numbers and if they correlated to the actual inventory. I personally called and had my second conversation with Disney Movie Rewards supervisor Regina. She was aloof, evasive, and after much pressure, told me the confirmations didn't correlate to the numbers of Cars sold. In early February people started receiving numerous Cars they didn't order or pay for. One man boasted he got 20 sent to him and even pictured them all lined up on his discussion board posts. This was the point at which I knew a major problem was going to happen. So, on January 31, 2008 I called and spoke to the same robotic person Bonnie. All she did was assure me my orders were in process and would be fulfilled. I was skeptical and my suspicions came true today. I started the day reading a post by a gentleman who received the first bomb...

"I ordered 4 Blu-ray Lightning McQueens the first week of January - one for each of my sons and of course one for me! I spent $120+ on those blu-ray Cars dvds and then I wait 5 weeks and what happens? Disney Rewards sends me this "wonderful" email below stating they can't fulfill my order!!!!

I have a lot of reasons why I am a little angry (ok, very very angry). First, I ordered mine the 1st week of January and my credit card was charged (they are lying in the email when they said my card was not charged...I can show them statements). 2nd, I read on the board that there were several people who received WAY more than they ordered (someone orders 6 and receives 26?!?! Come on now!). I am really happy for whoever those people are who received their extras but I think Disney needs to look into this and figure out what went wrong and compensate equally the people who ordered their toys in advance of the offer end date (4 weeks ahead of time!). Their counter-offer are old DVDs they probably have stock-piled in a warehouse. I don't think these will make up for the $120 + tax I spent on getting those Blu-ray DVDs. The only compensation I could imagine would appropriate would be the actual Car, considering the mess they created.

A Father's Plea
I know I am reaching out on a limb here, but is there anyone who has a kind enough heart who received MORE than their order that would be willing to sell me 3 of their Blu-ray Lightning McQueens? I only need them for my sons (the 4th one was for me and I can live without one). I will be willing to pay for them, however, I hope you can find it in your heart to be fair and understand that I did already spend $120+ on trying to get these and received nothing. I know you may have also bought 3 or 4 or even possibly 6 blu-ray disks as well, but if you received more than you ordered, I am asking to please help.

I can provide all the information necessary that will show that I did indeed order 4 cars and the time frame I ordered them (January 10, 2008).

Email from Disney saying they cannot fulfill my order

Dear Disney Movie Rewards Member,
Recently you were offered the opportunity to receive a Blu Lightning McQueen car for entering the Disney Movie Rewards Magic Code found inside Pixar's Cars on Blu-ray Disc.

Due to an overwhelming response to this promotion and the limited availability of inventory we regret to inform you we will be unable to fulfill your order. Your credit card has not been charged the $3.50 shipping and handling fee.

You are a valued customer and we would like to take this opportunity to offer you a replacement product. Please select one of the titles listed below for the same $3.50 shipping and processing fee.

· Eight Below

· Chicken Little

· Bridge to Terabithia

· Sky High

· Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

· Remember the Titans

· The Wild

· Dinosaur

· Glory Road

· The Haunted Mansion

· Meet the Robinsons

· Underdog

· Invincible

Simply reply to this email with your selection and your preferred format (DVD or Blu-ray Disc). If no preferred format is provided, the default will be DVD. Your credit card will be charged the $3.50 for shipping and processing.

The offer for a replacement product is only valid until March 31, 2008. Please remember to make your selection by this date.

Again, we apologize for this matter and value your loyalty.

Disney Movie Rewards Consumer Relations Team

Confirmation email of order on 1/10/08
Thank you for shopping with the Disney Movie Rewards!
We appreciate your membership and we know you'll enjoy
your new titles.

Your order will be promptly processed and shipped as
detailed below.

Order Information:

=======================================================
MEMBER#:

Web Order#: XXX766
Reference#: XXXXXX87
Order Date: 01/10/08

Billing Address:
Kevin XXXXX
XXXX XXXXXX ROAD
XXXXXXX XXXXXX, IL XXXXX


Shipping Address:
XXXXXXXXX
XXXX XXXXXX ROAD
XXXXXXX XXXXXX, IL XXXXX



Item Qty Unit Price Extended Price
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Blu-car 1 $.00 $.00
SHIPPING & PROCESSING 1 $3.50 $3.50
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sale Amount: $3.50
Tax: $.00
Total: $3.50"

I called Disney Movie Rewards and started off with the same robot Bonnie. I then requested to speak with the supervisor Regina again. I spoke with her for about a forty-five minutes. She initially came out of the box giving me the same old corporate garbage, "I apologize, but our supplies ran out. "I told her that I was outraged at the fact that they confirmed my orders back on January 11, 2007, that I hadn't received them, and that I was aware that they had idiots fulfilling the orders who were sending multiple McQueens to people who hadn't ordered them, or paid for them BEFORE FULFILLING OTHER LEGITIMATE ORDERS!! This went on as recently as the second week of February. She said, "We had some anomalies and not a large number of these happened." I retorted, "I'm aware of one man who received 20 toys he didn't order of pay for! There were many more who received multiple toys that shouldn't have received them. I pointed out I also heard that people who placed orders as far back as November still hadn't had their order fulfilled! There is no excuse for this! I mentioned how I even received five pin sets I didn't order or want." She said, you can send them back, and I told her I would once I saw the manner in which Disney would handle this massive screw-up.

I told her that offering us a lame DVD was a totally unacceptable resolution. She asked if my card was charged and I told her yes it was. She said it wasn't because it was a debit card, and would only be had the item been shipped. As far as I'm concerned, the order was accepted and confirmed. She was trying to make weak excuses for not fulfilling the order. The discussion continued where she said I didn't adhere to the terms of use by ordering more than one. I told her as far as I understood, it was one car per account. Their system didn't prohibit setting up other accounts, cross-reference payment from the same card, or stop you from setting up other accounts for friends or family. It is also incredibly hypocritical when they didn't care while people were buying their Blu-ray disks and paying for the toy car! As long as they can try to wiggle out of doing the right thing, it is clear to me Disney doesn't give a damn about customer satisfaction, public image, meeting their obligations, or most importantly fixing their royal screw-ups!

This woman stone-walled me when I asked who was above her, that I wanted to talk to the people who were responsible for the promotion, and that I was far from done expressing my intense disgust. She told me that no matter who I spoke with that it wouldn't matter! She started in on me saying, "Don't you ever make mistakes?" I shocked her by telling her that I had built my business for 17 years to be the biggest, most successful of it's type in Central Florida. I told her that when my company screwed up, that I dealt with complaints head on and did what I needed to fix the problems. I told her that in 17 years I could count on one hand the number of times I've had to comp or refund a client's money. I continued to express strong opinions and offer her resolutions...

1. I told her the resolution they offered was horribly inadequate.
2. I scoffed at the point that they even want us to pay them $3.50 for the lame DVD!
3. I pointed out that I, along with 95% of those who purchased the Blu-ray disk don't even own a player or Play Station, and purposely bought the disk just to get the Blu-ray McQueen! I told her they should reimburse us for the purchase of the Blu-ray disk for failing to fulfill the orders they confirmed.
4. I told her that if they cared about their customers and want to do the right thing, that they should contact those they shipped all those Cars to erroneously and ask them to return them. She admitted that they had done that with some of those people and they refused to send them back. I told her the reason those people wouldn't cooperate was because of the company's arrogance and poor treatment of their customers! I reiterated that if they will do the right thing by us, I'd gladly feel compelled to return the extra pin sets. Why the hell would I do anything for a company that wants to do the least it can to resolve their massive screw-up?! They create feelings of combativeness, uncaring and plain dismissiveness in dealing with their customers! This is not the company Walt Disney built!
5. I continued to tell her that the company should either go and manufacture more of the Cars to complete the orders, or literally go on Ebay and buy them to fulfill the orders they royally messed up. She simply kept with the canned corporate lines, "I apologize, I'm sorry that we can't fulfill the orders, and we've come up with the resolution." I told her that she could expect big problems ahead. That we would never accept such an inadequate resolution. I told her that if the resolution was reasonable that I certainly wouldn't be as upset and feeling dismissed.

The Issue is this simple, Disney had idiots fulfilling their orders who did an incredibly horrendous job tracking the number of Blu-Ray McQueens sold! They sent out numerous Blu-Ray McQueens to people who weren't supposed to get them, thus creating a huge shortage! Finally, they are trying to cover their proverbial ass by saying they simply ran out, instead of admitting their incompetent fulfillment and inventory tracking was the problem. Now, their stance is take this lame DVD and pay us for shipping and handling. This is an arrogant, short-sighted, and insulting offer that is par for this company.

I ask you this simple question, "Do you feel Disney's screw-up to fulfill their CONFIRMED ORDERS is rectified by offering you a DVD that you have to pay $3.50 Shipping and Handling for is an adequate Make Good?!" If not, I say that they haven't done enough to satisfy the dozens, if not hundreds of customers who bought a Blu-Ray disk so they could get the Limited Edition McQueen! Don't accept this pathetic treatment, make them see how this will cost them more in a damaged public image, time spent to deal with us, and ultimately money in lost sales because they have refused to treat us with respect by offering a reasonable resolution to THEIR POOR MANAGEMENT and PERFORMANCE!

http://carsdiecasttoys.blogspot.com/

Do You Have Gold Mia and Tia FEVER?!

You're driving around running errands, and suddenly you decide to make a "Pit Stop" and run into a Wal-Mart to see if there are some "Gold Mias and Tias" in the Toy Department. You're kind of over the insanity of going into stores all the time to try to track down the Newest Cars Die-Cast Toys you want. You're always a few toys behind in trying to get caught up with your collection. And, even though you figure you'll just waste time walking to the back of the store only to turn around and walk out empty handed, you go on in. You walk with purpose and a hurried pace, because just in case there's something good in there, you've got to get there before another crazed collector! You get to the aisle of familiar red packaging. No one is there! You flip through row after row of the cute little Cars. You accidently knock them off the pegs as you try to see if there are any you don't have. Suddenly, six deep on the last row, you spy a Pit Crew Member Guido! You don't have that one yet! You grab at him gingerly so you don't damage the backer card, then you feel as excited as if you struck gold! You feel like Daffy Duck in "Ali Baba Bunny" when he screams, "It's mine, ya understand? Mine, MINE, all MINE!, get back in there!, down down down!, go go go!, mine mine mine! YAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" No gold Mias and Tias on this fine day, but you still struck gold in that thar store! PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: Cars collectors with Gold Mia & Tia Fever should consider the benefits of CA (Not California, but Cars Anonymous). It is a Twelve Tread program designed to wean humans off the paint fumes of Cars collecting. Check your local tire dealer for locations nearest you. ;-)

http://carsdiecasttoys.blogspot.com/

Thieves and Hogs - Tainters of Collecting

Two things have come to my attention as I've watched the insanity of Cars collecting. The first is hopefully a short-term issue, and constitutes the "Thieves" in the title of this article. As the Big Blu-Ray McQueen promotion comes to an end, we caught a glimpse of people being thieves by opening up the Blu-Ray disks at Wal-Mart's, etc. and stealing the codes inside the packaging. How sad and pathetic these people are to resort to such a low thing! You couldn't just do the right thing and pay for the darn disk?! I guess future promotions of this sort will have to be kept under lock and key to thwart the thieves.

There has also been stealing of the newer Cars out of the Target exclusive Dinoco 400 set. The thieves buy the set, then switch out the Vinyl Toupee, Octane Gain and No Stall Cars, with older commonly available characters, and return the set attempting to pull one over on the store. The crooks are also blatantly shoplifting! They are opening the new character 3 packs containing Charlie Checker, Lightning Ramone, Dirt Track Doc Hudson and the NEW Gold Mia & Gold Tia and simply stealing the individual Car. I saw a pack that was opened and missing a Charlie Checker just last week when I was in Target. Again, I can't believe the greed and common thievery. I hope the store security catches some of these low lives and makes an example out of them!

The second and more long-term issue constitutes the "Hogs" of Cars collecting. These are the people who are basically "Stalking" the Wal-Mart toy department staff. They gather around the toy department and linger as the "Stocking" begins around 11:00 pm. They started out by swarming the stockers while they put the Cars on the pegs and literally grab up all the newer characters. They've gotten to the point where now, they are brazenly opening up the store's boxes and taking out the Cars before they are put on the shelves! These pigs are the reason you can't find the NEW Characters for weeks and months! These are the Ebay Selling Hogs! I've seen this in other categories of collecting as well.

As long as the Secondary Market is impatient, frantic and willing to overpay for an item the minute it comes out, greed will continue to dictate this kind of behavior. What is crazy, is that these Cars Die Cast Toys aren't even limited in production. If you are simply patient, they will eventually appear in your local stores in abundance. Believe me, a Secondary Market is needed in all categories of collecting to ensure a hobby's longevity, but true scarcity should dictate supply and demand, not hoarding and over reaction. This makes collecting no fun, and quite frankly a chore!

I got impatient and purchased Sully and Mike on Ebay and I regret I did it. I overpaid, and as you all know, you can find them everywhere! The Moral of the Story...be patient!! Don't buy into the mania. Think of how stocks become over priced, look at the mess our housing market is in, and how about the days of $1500 Beanie Babies! Very few make out when people act without prudent thinking. Don't feed the Thieves and Hogs, slaughter them with patience.

http://carsdiecasttoys.blogspot.com/

Red Line Club Revs Up for 2008

The Red Line Club (RLC) at HotWheelsCollectors.com, opened up for RENEWALS on January 22, 2008 at 9:00 am, Pacific Standard Time for one week (Priority Window). It Opened for NEW MEMBERS on January 29, 2008 at 9:00 am, Pacific Standard Time. The membership will run you $24.99 plus $4.95 Shipping and Processing. Why is this important to Cars Die Cast Toys collectors? Because, it is rumored that another Disney/Pixar Cars set called the "Motor Speedway of the South" will be released this year via the Red Line Club. In order to be eligible to purchase such a set, you'll need to have a 2008 membership to the Red Line Club to do so.













The Red Line Club™ is a premium membership at HotWheelsCollectors.com. Here are just some of the super benefits of the 2008 RLC™ membership:

• Membership Kit – Includes exclusive Hot Wheels® car (the Boss Hoss!), collectible button, personalized membership card and a poster by original Hot Wheels® artist Otto Kuhni!
• First Priority on Sales – RLC™ members enjoy a 24-hour advance opportunity on most HWC™ Exclusive sales -- and earn RLC™ Rewards Points when ordering during that time! Use the points you earn to get special cars at the end of the year!
• Exclusive Cars – Only RLC™ members vote on and purchase the sELECTIONs™ cars!
• Exclusive Content – Some areas at HotWheelsCollectors.com are available only for RLC™ members to view!

The way I look at it, why not get in early to try to get the lower editions of the Boss Hoss, and get the full year of use out of your membership! It took 18 minutes to get my order processed, and I was one of the first 4000 to Renew and get the Chrome Boss Hoss! There appears to be a lot of cool releases coming from the RLC in 2008. I may start buying more than just Disney Cars releases this year. It is also the 40th Anniversary of Hot Wheels this year. Checkout it out, and be ready to rev your collecting engine!

http://carsdiecasttoys.blogspot.com/

Blu Ray McQueen Close to Finish Line

Exactly two months ago today, I launched Alternator Valley with a Big Ka-Chow! I reported on the unkown release of this Limited Edition (15,000) Dinoco Blu Ray Deco McQueen die-cast car! Many still don't know that you can get it. First, you must purchase the Disney/Pixar Blu-Ray Disk. Second, visit Disney Movie Rewards and redeem the code on the insert. Finally, you find the Lightning McQueen Blu Ray graphic, click on it, and for the cost of $3.50 for Shipping & Handling, you'll be able to place your order to get it! The promotion runs until January 31, 2008, or until supplies run out. The numbers of the orders are into the 16 thousands and don't correlate to the 15,000 edition size. I spoke with a supervisor at Disney Movie Rewards and she confirmed the numbers don't reflect sequential order of the 15,000 Cars being given away. She wouldn't tell me how many were left, but said people could still get them until they run out, or until the end of the promotion. So, it appears there's still time to get one if you want one. Here you'll find Disney Blu Ray Discounts for the Cars Blu Ray Disk and other titles. He comes packaged in a simple plastic wrap, and is shipped in a padded manila envelope. Disney has been shipping them about 3 weeks after your order, but asks you to give them 6 to 8 weeks for delivery.

COMING SOON! "Customs - Counterfeits & Copyright Infringement" also, "Thieves and Hogs."

http://carsdiecasttoys.blogspot.com/

New Cars Race Case Launcher!

A new Cars accessory hit me in the face at Walmart yesterday! It's the first time I've seen this NEW Cars Race Case Launcher! It can hold up to 10 of your favorite die-cast Cars. It reminds me of the old "See and Say" toy for little kids. It is in the shape of a tire and has Lightyear printed on the side. It comes with a die-cast Snot Rod to get you started if you haven't got any of the Cars die-cast toys (Yeah Right!).

It opens to allow you to store your Cars as a carrying case. Then, when you are in the mood to play with them, you can launch them at your cat! Simply take aim and give the launch wheel a turn to shoot one out! Ka-Chow!

It retails for $14.94 at good old Walmart. It is a very cool accesory I'm sure most Cars collectors will want to add to their collection!

My cat Hobie likes to whack at my loose Cars, so I'll let you know how he acts once I launch them at him.

http://carsdiecasttoys.blogspot.com/

Cars Special Event Addendum

I got a call from Disney World Corporate today. They told me the manager I had urged you to write had received "Several" e-mails and calls about holding such an event. I was kindly asked to give you a different e-mail address to convey your interest in having them hold a Cars Special Merchandise Event. This is to better sort the calls and direct them to the managers. Make your fervent interest to attend and purchase Limited Edition merchandise at a Cars Special Merchandise Event in 2008 known to the Disney folks. Send your e-mail to WDW.Guest.Communications@DisneyWorld.com. This is the Guest Correspondence management team who will answer your comments and direct them to the Merchandise Operations Managers who can make a Cars Special Event happen.

If you've already taken action, I thank you! If you want this to happen, then do your part and write an e-mail to Disney now. As always, if I hear any news, I'll post it here on Alternator Valley!

COMING SOON! "Customs - Counterfeits & Copyright Infringement"

http://carsdiecasttoys.blogspot.com/

The One of a Kind Case Sold for...

A lot of discussion has gone on about this One of a kind display case and die-cast Cars that were auctioned off for the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation back on October 27, 2007. This auction was the motivation for my starting this blog because of the Dinoco Blu Ray Deco McQueen promotion described in the auction literature! Since that time, the number one question has been, "How much did the Case go for?" Well, I contacted Rolla Bedford the Program Manager and she told me the "Dream Halloween Disney/Pixar Cars Display Case" was auctioned off for $13,000! I didn't ask who purchased it. I had considered bidding for it, and can tell you I would have been outbid!

The organization is a worthwhile one and I encourage you to learn more. Their site can be viewed at www.caaf4kids.org

http://carsdiecasttoys.blogspot.com/

Disney Cars Special Merchandise Event

You love Pixar's Cars movie, you collect the die-cast toys, and love the various characters. Would you like to attend a "Cars Special Merchandise Event" at Disney World? How about having the opportunity to purchase numerous Limited Edition Cars die-cast toys made only for such an event? It just might happen if you show your interest!

In September, I attended an annual Disney pin trading event at Epcot. I stopped and talked to two of the managers who oversee the creation of special event merchandise. I enthusiastically told them they needed to do a "Cars" special event. I mentioned how crazy the collecting of the die-cast toys was out of control and that they must do a Special Event! I was told they had heard this from a number of people.

During the event, I also spoke to the manager of the Special Events Department. She told me the minimum order Mattel would make was 2000 pieces. I assured her that she could easily sell out an edition of 2000 with numerous designs!

I just came back from a Special Event Cruise aboard the Disney Wonder. While aboard, I once again chatted with the same Special Events manager about the prospects of such an event. She told me she spoke to one of the merchandise managers I spoke with, and that they were busy with other things at the moment. I continued to impress upon her how much they really need to do such an event while Cars is hot.


So, here's what I propose so WE can make this become a reality...

1. First, if you would be excited about such an event, and would pay (typically the events cost $75 to $150 per person) to attend such an event, then please post a comment to this blog about your desire to see Disney do a Cars Special Merchandise Event in 2008. Hundreds of comments would be powerful! Don't just read, please post a comment! Disney people read blogs like this.
2. Second, I'd STRONGLY advise you to write an e-mail that conveys your enthusiasm and joy in collecting Cars die-cast toys! Make your fervent interest to attend and purchase Limited Edition merchandise at a Cars Special Merchandise Event in 2008 known to the Disney folks. Send your e-mail to WDW.Guest.Communications@DisneyWorld.com. This is the Guest Correspondence management team who will answer your comments and direct them to the Merchandise Operations Managers who can make a Cars Special Event happen.
   
3. Finally, urge your Cars Collecting friends and family to do the first two things as well. Typically, Disney Special Events have 500 to 1200 people attend. If we have 1000 to 2000 people voicing interest, it will show them there is a very strong demand, and that will hopefully motivate them to act on such an event!

I will publish anything I find out about this becoming a reality. I often see and talk to the people at Disney who can make this come to fruition! Until then, Ka-Chow!

http://carsdiecasttoys.blogspot.com/