MovieChat Forums > Whirlybirds (1957) Discussion > 'DVD SCAM'

'DVD SCAM'

posted 17 years ago by rhpvideo1
11 replies | jump to latest

I ordered all 111 of the Whirlybirds show, but only got 32... and those where
the same ones I got from eBay.

DVD SCAM

***********************

Buying DVD's from TVDVDPLANET.com
Could Cost You...This Website Isn't a Safe One

Many users have claimed that other sites are run by the same company pulling the same scam. I did some searching and found TVAddicts.com, TVMILK.com and DVDAvenue.tv seem to be run by the same people as TVDVDPLANET.com. Users from all sites have had identical occurrences which others had with TVDVDPLANET.com. I also noticed that under the About Us section on the sites have a "Here is what some of our customers had to say" and all of the comments are identical on all the sites. Funny that Frank Thompson (the supposedly happy customer) would buy three sets of the same DVD's from three different sites.

The sites look legitimate and DVDAvenue.tv even has a click here for live support icon, and to no surprise it isn't really a link. I tried to call the phone number for support 1-877-7-TVSHOW and it is not an available number, so I am going to go ahead and confirm that this site is also a scam and suggest users stay away from it. I do love how they made their site look like its legit and even added a live support Icon, smart little bastards; they have gone out of their way to make this site look and feel safe.

There is another site that is much like TVDVDPLANET and DVDAvenue.com, the site RAREDVDS.tv, they too are run out of the Philippines and should not be trusted. I have heard just as much negative feedback about them as TVDVDPLANET. Much like TVDVDPLANET at RAREDVDS it sounds like you get straight from TV poor quality versions of the TV shows. RAREDVDS.tv seems to be run by a different company, but is also a scam, so steer clear of them too.

Again all the message boards and forums I found not one person had a good thing to say about RAREDVDS, other than this place actually sends you what you order. You get the goods but they are poor quality bootleg copies, so why not just invest the 45 dollars into your PC and make the bootlegs yourself. It will save you time and money.

So bottom line don't order any of these "to good to be true" deals from TVDVDPLANET or RAREDVDS. It may seem like a good idea but who knows if you will even get what you ordered and what else they will use your credit card for. I think the best idea is to pay the full price and get these DVD's some place you know you can trust and has good quality products. I hope this stops these stupid websites from making money off of un-informed naïve customers.

I also suggest that we as users report them to consumer agencies, even though since they are run out of the Philippines there won't be much that can be done. Possibly the US will block their IP address or something to protect consumers from being defrauded. Also I sent them a nice little email, I hope they can read English. Bottom line; STAY AWAY from all three of these sites and if you know of more then please post a comment saying what others to avoid!

[–] FishIM 17 years ago

Yes...., how dare those bootlegging video pirates do something as dishonest as misrepresent themselves????

[–] bkz2457 16 years ago

Hard to believe isnt it? :)

[–] easycomeeasygo333 15 years ago

most places are only selling the WHIRLYBIRDS episodes that the copyright ran out on and were never renewed,so there ''PUBLIC DOMAIN episodes , I heard VIACOM owns the series and they have no interest in putting it out...?

[–] eljefe320 14 years ago

Yeah, except there's no such thing. All of the episodes are under copyright. What do you expect them to say? That they are pirates selling illegal copies?

[–] easycomeeasygo333 14 years ago

go to www.nationalhelicopter.com they are the one's who supplied the Bell 47 helicopters for the tv show...they have a few of the Public domain episodes on there web site that you can watch !! from what i understand on a few episodes the copyrights ran out and were never renewed and became public domain !

[–] solex10 14 years ago

CBS Studios/CBS Television Distribution owns the rights to Whirlybirds, not Viacom.

[–] easycomeeasygo333 14 years ago

Hmmm i talked to the man who runs NATIONAL HELICOPTER SERVICES in VANNUYS ,CA ( they are the ones who supplied the helicopter for the show) he did some research and tracked down who currently own the rights and he told me it was VIACOM /PARAMOUNT. Back in the 50's Paramount was part of DESILU productions (DESILU produced the show , CBS ran it on their network

[–] gplacher 7 years ago

WHIRLYBIRDS was one of the "crown jewels" of Desilu Productions. Produced for syndication by the studio, the series was absorbed into Paramount in 1968 when the Desilu library of shows went along with the sale. Paramount was fortunate to end up with the Star Trek and Mission Impossible franchises. But many series produced by Desilu were never seen again. Today the master 35mm negatives and prints are (hopefully) sitting in storage. This includes "Fair Exchange" "Guestward Ho" "Harrigan and Son" "This is Alice" etc and of course, WHIRLYBIRDS. Obviously, there is a great interest and respect for this series, and Paramount/Viacom/CBS seems oblivious of their own "crown jewels." An archive contains
great assets which it seems Viacom could benefit from. It would also eliminate the culprit pirates who have preyed upon fans of the series. Viacom/CBS could also provide stunning transfers from these shows in HD no less.

[–] easycomeeasygo333 7 years ago

Best Forget it gplacner ..Whirlybirds will never see the light of day on a legit DVD release .. the bootleggers are the ones putting out the effort.

[–] Lightning-Rose 15 years ago

Thank you for the heads up.

[–] 15 years ago

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