unless there is another thread that offers greater proof than this one, it seems many are very quick to jump on the popular "bandwagon" here and bash Penguin Magic. they may well be guilty of what has been alledged which primarily seems to be mostly moral issues as opposed to legal ones as had been suggested earlier.
a couple of things to consider:
(1) Talk Magic is a well known, well respected magic forum. perhaps, if not already done so, a representative from TM could email Penguin with the post that began this thread and invite them to present directly, from "their mouths"... their side of the story. i am interested to see if faulty DVD cases is the best THEY can come up with.
(2) Quoting Goldfish/alledgely said by Jay Sanky: (In fact, up until the time of this e-mail, if you go to the very first page of the "Jay Sankey Store" on their US website, you'll see that they CONTINUE to advertise "Three Ring Circus" for $30 -instead of the agreed upon price of $40 that all my other dealers are selling it at!)
It's a good thing Penguin didn't do as Sanky asked, in many countries, perhaps most, price fixing is illegal!
Quoting Blade Master/alledgely said by Penguin Magic: Recently we posted a warning on Jay Sankey's Anytime, Anywhere (DVD) in which we stated that "Due to poor case design, this DVD may become dislodged during shipment." This warning may not have made Sankey Magic happy, but it was important to us to be up-front and honest with our customers about our quality concern.
this is a HUGE joke! the case itself is typically made in China. "peanuts" cost more than these! and in most cases quite generic. the printed covers can slide out and be inserted into another case. poor form by anyone who supplies such cases and just as pathetic is any distributor who makes a major drama over it... put YOUR customers FIRST, send the covers back to YOUR supplier & have the covers swapped!
Quoting Mandrake: Whilst I make no insinuations whosoever, does anyone else remember the hoo-hah with a certain large Department Chain Store (no names but the letters M and S come to mind!) a few years back? They started dealing with a small 2 person firm who had designed and produced some rather natty display and storage racks which were ideal for the stores so a contract was placed with them and several hundred were made and delivered. Towards the end of the contract the firm had great difficulty in talking to anyone as to whether the contract would be extended, renewed or whatever - in effect they were just ignored completely. Suspicions were aroused when the rack designers noticed that new racks were still being fitted in the stores and they weren't made by them. I believe the 'explanation' was that the Chain Store had found some other firm willing to take over production at a reduced price and they were buying all the components from the same sources etc so the products were identical but the designers were elbowed out of the picture by the big boys who would be saving a measly two thousand or so.
i have personally witnessed many examples of the small "battler" getting his "clever" product or idea into a multi national or big player. figuring this will have them "set for life" they sit back as they pump out the product and ship it out their door... all the time FORGETTING it was hard work and innovation that got them there in the first place. and when they become complacent, stop innovating and developing... they lose the deal to someone who has developed a more economical way to produce something or added value to the original design. the point being, it is rarely as simple as it is reported.
bottom line with all this, lets get the other side of the story before we condem PM as "evil" and suggest a boycott. if they refuse to satisfy our request, or after hearing their side of the story (DIRECT FROM PM if possible) we can decide we will or wont buy from them any more... then fine. but on the surface, it sure looks like many (not all but many) have determined guilt and "sentenced" PM with little more than a statement by Jay Sanky... which may well turn out to be fact??? lets find out first though.
