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The Brittania Music / Video / DVD consortium has been going since I was a wee thing. One of my mates signed up with them , in the days of vinyl, and it was basically buy one get five or so free and you pay postage and packing. Since then they've spread there wings into many forms of entertainment ... Read review
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A review by mikeydred on Brittania Music June 29th, 2001
Author's product rating:
Range of products
Speed of delivery
Value for Money
Advantages:
I'm not a member
Disadvantages:
Where do I begin
Recommend to potential buyers:
no
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If I have never used a product and have no intentions of using a product unless something drastically changes, am I qualified and allowed to write an opinion on said product? Given that it is only my opinion then I reckon I should be allowed to do this. You may disagree , but what the hell.
The Brittania Music / Video / DVD consortium has been going since I was a wee thing. One of my mates signed up with them , in the days of vinyl, and it was basically buy one get five or so free and you pay postage and packing. Since then they've spread there wings into many forms of entertainment media, but their introductory deals seem to be getting worse, and significantly more expensive, and it cant just be inflation.
They are obviously very successful, otherwise I wouldn't be able to write this opinion, but I've noticed several ops over the last week or so bemoaning the lack value obtained from Brittania.
The premise is the same as the one used by several excellent book clubs (all of which seem to be another arm of BCA) , which is attract new customers by offering cheap introductory good and then get them to commit to a minimum number of purchases over the next two years. I've never had a problem with BCA who offer cheap introductory books, and reasonably priced goods throughout the membership period which can be anything from six months to two years.
However Brittania seem to translate this "modus operadi" as sucker them with what looks like a bargain then take them for every penny you can get, including huge shipping charges. So for instance with DVDs , I believe there normal prices are £19.99 plus shipping. I mean HMV and Virgin aren't that expensive and MVC are cheaper still.
One guy I know took "advantage" of their introductory offer of a DVD player and four DVDs for about £180. I'm on shaky ground here because I can't remember the exact price. The DVD player wasn't even multi-region!!! I pointed out that he could have got a multi region DVD player from Richer Sounds for around £120 and the DVDs for around £15 each from HMV, and he wouldn't be tied to his "convenient" arrangement with Brittania , which over the period of his membership will cost him almost £25 per DVD, that's like a £10 (66%) premium he'll be paying for every DVD he buys from them
It was the same with my mate back in the seventies, while I was paying £3-£4 per album from record shops he was paying £6 to Brittania, and I didn't have to wait for mine.
So what I'm saying is avoid them at all costs. You will pay back your savings manyfold to Brittania.
Unfortunately many people will still fall into the trap, believing they have got a bargain, and not bothering to complain or shop around, and Brittania will continue to rake in the money, but it won't be mine.
As a contrast I've recently joined two book clubs through ipoints, TSP and Just Good Books. Apart from getting 70 ipoints for joining, TSP have a superb introductory offer (I saved £80) and there's no commitment to buy anything more!!!, and JGB have and excellent introductory offer and require you to make two more purchases. Their prices are so good that I've already bought four. If Brittania were that good I'd join them right now, but they're not so I won't.
Advantages: Great for music buyers who like lots of deals Disadvantages: Several little gnats
Well, after reading the other comments on Britannia music, it seems like I'm going to be the only one to write anything positive about it.
I joined Britannia about 5 years ago, much to the joy of my friend since he got 3, free records of his choice for introducing a friend. Perhaps the most attractive offer is the 5 CDs for £9.99 when you first join. After that, you can take advantage of the deal which is the hallmark of the Britannia music club. ... ...the regular price (typically £14.99) you can get the second for a bonus price (typically 8.99). Now, however, if you buy one record for the regular price, you can buy any number of records under the bonus price. As a member, your only obligation is to buy at least 6 records (regular priced) over 2 years, after that you get a free CD voucher. If you are more into cassettes, you will get a free cassette voucher after purchasing 8 cassettes at regular ...
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Advantages: You get more mail. Disadvantages: You needlessly pay a fortune
6 CD’s for a £1 each plus postage and packing. The headlines on the Britannia Music Club flyers practically scream at you from every weekend magazine. So you sign up and before you know it you have paid £14.99 each (in addition to paying for postage and packing at approximately £2 a time) when you could have got the same thing at the shops (you can pay £9.99 for a CD in a supermarket and 8.99 on certain websites and pay no extra charges). You ... ...costs about £101.94 as compared to £59.64 from a supermarket.
Britannia’s service is not even convenient. You are tied to a 6 album deal and receive a catalogue each month. You call a premium line to cancel the recording of the month. If you forget, Britannia Music Club send it out and you pay to return it and you have the teeth pulling experience of an automated answering system.
The Britannia Music Club system is not convenient. You need ...
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Advantages: None Disadvantages: That I was ever a customer
It is quite frankly amazing that this company is still trading. I first registered with Britannia some years ago and at the very beginning all was well. I ordered some, sent some back and I was charged the correct amount.
The trouble was the beginning didn’t last for long. Over the next couple of years I built up the free CD’s I was due, only claiming the odd one. I recievd those ok but increasingly often I was finding it more difficult to send ... ...about three years of ever poorer service I finally managed to cut ties with Britannia. The final straw came when I claimed the free CD’s I had been storing up. Firstly they denied that they had received anything, then after months of wrangling they conceded that I was due a few (far fewer than my purchases allowed me to) – which I received. This was obviously a level of service they weren’t happy giving, as soon after I starting receiving bills for ...
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Advantages: Nice pack of CD's with first purchase Disadvantages: They have you hooked and cancelling is a nightmere
My wife joined Brittania Music Mail order about 6 months ago. Her joining was probably a down to her being drawn to the incredibly cheap prices on first purchase. She duly received box of goodies and was pleased with them. I told her we will never get rid of them and so it has proved. Brittania sned magazines through the post every 2 to 3 weeks and say will send a selected CD within 14 days unless we cancel. That is fair enough, I knew this would ... ...automatically selected CD's. This has been no problem, until recently.
I cancelled the latest Backstreet Boys CD some 3 weeks ago and believe it or not 3 weeks later I was on phone again to cancel the next CD that we were due to receive. To my amazement, the Backstreet Boys CD was still awaiting dispatch, despite my having cancelled it. So, be warned everyone, think twice before you fall for the wonderfull offers this company offers. Whilst there ...
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Advantages: None Disadvantages: delays open delays, stock outages, poor customer service, do not care about their customers
My experience with BClub has been disgusting! When I first joined brittania, I found their service to be amateur at best, delays in getting the order to me, frequent stock outages, customer services came across as if they didn't care about their customers! Emailing customer services, I never obtained a response! Call queues, were upto 35 minutes at a time! I was classed as an elite member, which gave me 10% off all orders and free P & P, i would ... ...this. The only explanation I obtained for the poor service was, they were experiencing technical difficulties moving their operation back to the UK from overseas, my god, they should of planned this better! I cannot tell you how angry I am, I have now disconnected my account with them! They did not say sorry, offer me retention deals to stay with them, did not offer to pass me to a manager, ahhhhhhhhhhh! I highly do NOT reccoment this poor company ...
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