Loving the Classics is a gray-market film distributor out of Appleton, Wisconsin that I've bought from a number of times over the years, and in the early days of this blog it was one of the places I linked to when talking about where to buy hard-to-find movies. For an operation catering to the film collector market they had a pretty deep catalog, a busy, well-organized web presence and a fairly aggressive email outreach to buyers. They would offer a lot of sales and specials, and their films came in handsome snap cases emblazoned with cover art and the LTC logo.
But Loving The Classics has not been my go-to purveyor for a long time. The main reason is that they have been painfully slow on the fulfillment end. An order with them took at least three weeks to fulfill, usually more. And if there was a problem with the disc - as sometimes happened - LTC would take its time sending a replacement.
Things took a turn for the worse late last summer. Customers began complaining on the company's Facebook page that orders weren't being fulfilled. Despite a few cheerful replies that they were "behind" on filling orders, things only went downhill from there, and the complaints grew.
It was around this time that I ordered a title from them, and a long wait (around six weeks) a disc arrived in the mail. But the movie I ordered wasn't on it. Instead, there was hodge-podge of short subjects on the disc, with the movie I wanted nowhere to be found.
I sent numerous emails to the customer support address. No response.
I called the phone number listed on their site. It rang into an after-hours message, even during business hours. I never got a call back.
Eventually, I packed up the disc and mailed it back to the company, with a note explaining the problem. No response to that either.
Finally - having run out of other ways to reach them -- I posted on the company's Facebook page. There was no response to that either, and after a month or so I gave up.
But just last week I got the following email:
Hello,
I'm sorry no one has been in touch sooner, but we don't spend a lot of time on Facebook. I see from your post that you have had a problem dealing with us and for that I am truly sorry. I would like to get the situation resolved to your satisfaction and I do hope you will give us that opportunity. I look forward to hearing back from you when you have a free moment.
Sincerely,
Brenda
Customer Service
LovingTheClassics.com
This was a nice (though probably canned) note to receive after nearly six months of silence, but it puzzled me. Consider the first sentence: I'm sorry no one has been in touch sooner, but we don't spend a lot of time on Facebook.
The obvious response to that is, why not?
If your company maintains a Facebook page, doesn't it make sense to check the page regularly -- at least once a day -- in case there are customer complaints that require follow-up?
So - they don't spend much time checking voicemail, email or peeking into the mailbox either, judging by how quickly they've responded in those areas.
It certainly didn't surprise me when my response to Brenda's email went unanswered.
Anyway, a quick Google search indicates that the LTC staff has been busy -- posting missives claiming they're being unfairly targeted by their enemies (whoever they are). These posts have appeared on a number of web sites -- including (for some reason) LinkedIn:
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| Curiouser and curiouser. |
The manifesto claims that everyone thinks Loving the Classics is a great site, and their customer service is wonderful, and anyone who says otherwise has either missed all the glowing testimonials on their web site, or is a nefarious nogoodnik trying to wreck the reputation of a wildly successful and eminently responsible company which brings joy to millions. North Korea couldn't write a more zany or paranoid press release. The only thing missing is a declaration that Loving the Classic's enemies are sniveling capitalist dogs who will soon die in a storm of atom bombs.
So in the end, what's the story on Loving the Classics? Spectacularly inept and self-destructive company? North Korean front organization? Mafia vanity project? CIA false-flag operation? We may never know.
7 comments:
Years ago they advertised that 1931's Universal HEAVEN ON EARTH was available, but of course it never was, and I wonder if they still peddle it today. Untrustworthy, to be charitable.
I ordered from them a couple of years ago and they were late but at least I got a response at some point by phone and by email. This time, I ordered in January and despite all my attempts to reach them by email, since their phone has been disconnected a couple of months ago, they still have my $290 and I still have no DVDs. Not sure what I should do next.
kochillt, I myself was able to purchase a copy of "Heaven On Earth" (1931) from the site, but it took longer than most of the other DVDs I've ordered, but I had to contact them on Facebook for them to tell me that they had to get it from an overseas supplier. The DVD is poor quality (at least picture wise) and I don't know if it will ever get an official DVD release.
The last few months, I haven't even been able to log in to their website; I inquired via PM on the official Facebook page and haven't gotten any response so far.
They aren't located in Wisconsin either. They are in Columbus Ohio and aren't even a they because they are a one person operation maybe two at most. They seem to change their address a lot which is likely a response to avoid the Ohio Attorney General which fined them thousands last year and told them they had to clean up their act, which they have not.
I used to work there as a remote clerk hired through the third party Upwork. Oh boy could I tell you some stories, like how magically, after not working there for about 6-8 months my address just suddenly appeared as the Returns address for the company again. I'm currently starting a fight with the Owner over it. Got a letter in the mail today threatening to sue me as if I own that dump. And yes, they are a 2 person operation. They're the worst. They made me so mad over how they treat their employees that I finally quit without a word.
I cannot believe LTC is still in business. They offered a hard-to-locate TV series SOUL! which I nearly purchased for $45.00. PayPal is listed as a method of payment, but at checkout, PayPal is not an option! It seems I just got away. Thank you!
I'm so glad you escaped safely, Unknown. Ugh, they are the worst. I know, I used to always try to help people set-up Paypal orders and it NEVER worked...ONCE. Most jobs I didn't like I've forgotten about and they're something I can laugh at over a cup of coffee. Seriously, I still get a shiver of pure fury whenever I think about LTC, ha ha!
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