Anyone else here having any problems with Spacecraft Films lately?

I had ordered the Apollo 15 set last summer, and I got it in five days. I was very happy with it. I got the 15 set first, I think, because 15 was the flight I didn't audio-tape at the time of the flight, and I wanted to be able to re-live the EVAs as I hadn't been able to do with the other J missions.

So, on January 15, I decided to order what I've been wanting all along -- the Apollo 16 set. I had little extra cash after Xmas from bonuses and such, and decided I could afford the set for 16, which was my favorite of all of the Apollo flights.

Two weeks after I ordered, no DVDs had arrived. I wrote to Spacecraft Films, asked what was going on, and was told that the set was out of stock (even though there was no mention of this on the website). I was told it would be another four weeks, and the note suggested I might want to take a refund.

I didn't want a refund, I wanted the set, so I said no, four weeks is OK, please send me the set.

Now, four more weeks have passed. I checked the website just about a week or so ago, it said nothing about out-of-stock, so I figured it had to be ready soon. But when the four weeks (plus) had passed, I wrote them again.

They said it would be *another* four weeks, and again more strongly suggested I take a refund.

I wrote back saying I REALLY wanted the set, and was at a loss to understand what the problem was. I also suggested they note this on the website, since for nearly two months, they were out of stock on something and there was no mention of that on the website. I told them I was irritated, but that I really wanted the set.

The reply from that, this morning, was "Why don't I just apply a refund -- we don't want you to be irritated."

These people just don't seem to want to sell me the set.

I am still irritated. I feel that if the item was going to be out of stock significantly longer than what they told me, they had a certain responsibility to let me know that, and not just add another four weeks to the supposed delivery date every time I asked about it.

Now I'm doing the LAST thing I wanted to do, here -- taking a refund and NOT getting my Apollo 16 set.

Now I'm more irritated than ever, and I want to know if I should bother even trying to order from Spacecraft Films ever again? Or if any of y'all should, either?

-the other Doug

I've only ever ordered their stuff from the astronomy now / spaceflightnow website store, so I've not dealt with SCF directly. Sounds like a nightmare though Worth checking ebay / amazon etc for what you're after.

Doug

Yeah -- I had looked through Amazon and Ebay and found several places where I could not only order the set, I could order "used, unopened, like new" copies of the set for significantly less money.

But I wanted to deal directly with SCF because I wanted to encourage them to continue doing what they're doing, making these materials available to the public. I wanted *them* to get the full profit, to encourage them and such.

I don't want them to stop doing what they're doing -- but I'm truly irritated and disillusioned with them, now. So it's quite likely I *will* order any further SCF products from third parties -- preferably third parties who take a nice big cut of the profit and leave SCF with less. Because if SCF is going to be this irresponsible with their direct customers, they deserve to only get the smaller cut they receieve when someone buys their products through third parties.

I might have had a different attitude had I been offered something -- ANYTHING -- beyond a refund. Like, a refund AND the set, or another set for free, or something like that. But they've blown it, as far as I'm concerned.

*heavy sigh*

-the other Doug

(the other) Doug,
I have send You an e-mail to assure Spacecraft Films had some problems with replication due to the success of the J-missions DVDs. I had to wait 6 months to get the Apollo 17 DVD on order again.

Well, to whet your appetite you could request a free copy of JPL's Apollo 16 film (for the cost of a new VHS cassette.....)

http://education.jpl.nasa.gov/erc-videos.html#apollo

It's not a DVD of course and you have to be an "educator" to take advantage of this special offer.

Well, to answer the above I thought it best to hear directly from the source.

Here is the initial email I received from Doug:

Hi, Mark!

It's been four weeks (and a few days) since our last correspondence, and a
good 6 weeks since I ordered. I've not yet received my Apollo 16 disks.

Can I expect them soon? Please??? I REALLY want the Apollo 16 set... it
was far and away my favorite mission. Why I bought the Apollo 15 set first
and not the Apollo 16 set, I really don't know. Please, please, please send
me the Apollo 16 set.

Doug Van Dorn

So I replied:

Doug,

I'm sorry that the Apollo 16 set won't be back in stock until a few more weeks, around the end of March at the earliest. We'll send it out just as soon as it comes in.

Best,
Mark

And I got back:

Mark,

I'd suggest you post something on the website about that, then. As of now,
anyone who might want to order the set is going to be under the same
impression I was, that you would deliver it in no more than two weeks.

Just what the heck is up with it, anyway? Did you lose all the master
copies and someone is re-creating them from scratch or something? I'm at
something of a loss to determine how it could take three months to get a
single copy put together of something that *has* to have already been
assembled and mastered. Isn't a very simple matter of having the DVDs
copied and the packaging printed?

Just how long does that take, anyway?

I admit to being irritated, but I want the set so much that I'm willing to
put up with this for another four weeks. If I do not have my set in another
four weeks, though, I'm going to be more than irritated. I'm sure none of
us want that.

Doug

So I replied:

Why don't I go ahead and apply a refund, then you won't be irritated.

Our site indicates that it is out of stock. We have a schedule of replication that we have to stick by and the packaging for Apollo 16 (cases) has changed so it had to be resized to fit the available packages (the old cases were discontinued). We are a very small company because this is a very small niche market and even reprints where there are changes take time. Reprints of 6 disc sets are also a large investment that has to be planned and scheduled.

If you're going to be irritated by waiting, then I would really rather have you take a refund.

Best,
Mark

And apparently this warrants coming on and posting negative "problems" with us. I've just learned that when approached with a note from someone such as that above, it's best not to have them waiting. Then I received this:

mark,

Yeah -- for right now, apply a refund. I *will* get the set, but for right
now, I'd prefer that I had access to that money than you.

Doug

And on March 6 I sent back this:

Doug,

The only other option is that I have one set here in the office, sealed, that I keep as an example of all the products. Since it is in reprint I would be glad to send that one to you if you want it that bad.

Best,
Mark

And I haven't heard anything back.

Sometimes we run out of stock. We just switched over to a new system in mid February that lets customers track orders and see stock more clearly (with orders placed after February 8). We have been delivering into our 6th year now, and while sometimes it takes some time you do get your stuff (Or we'll apply the refund).

I'm sorry Doug has been so upset by all this, but offering these solutions doesn't seem to me to be "Problems with Spacecraft Films."

Best regards, and thanks to everyone for the support over the years,
Mark Gray
Founder, Spacecraft Films