Received a response from DCU Customer Service re: the comic selection

General Discussion Comic Books
#1

I used the customer service feedback form to explain my reasons for cancelling, since there was no way to do that on the actual cancellation form (that it’s not the DC version of Marvel Unlimited as I had hoped and have been waiting for them to do for a decade and the Support FAQ currently makes it sound like it’s never going to get there). Actually received a response! Not sure it says anything useful, but figured it was worth passing along:

"Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out

I want to assure you that our team is committed to constantly expanding the library and features on DC Universe. We’ll be announcing lots of new content in the months ahead and we’d love to know more about what you would like to see on DC Universe in the future. I think you may be upset with the comic offering we have at launch which is understandable - but I would encourage you to wait and see what we will be offering in the near future as I feel it may be what you are looking for based on your note.

Sincerely,

Joe
Customer Service Lead"

I responded that, if he’s referring to the blurb on the website that mentions the full catalog will be available for purchase in October and that does not, as I’ve assumed, mean issue-by-issue purchase but instead means some sort of expansion of the subscription service, they really need to make the blurb much clearer about that.

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#2

To be fair, you shouldn’t have expected Marvel Unlimited. It was stated in plenty of ways before launch that this was something different.

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#3

Expecting MU is 100% on you and not DC. They made it perfectly clear. This is much closer to Netflix than MU

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#4

Do what you want in regards to cancelling or keeping your sub, and don’t take this the wrong way, but i can’t believe people aren’t willing to give this a chance at least until the end of October.

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#5

I know I expected maybe not all the comics ever but much more than this and there are only a handful of complete series. I expected at least all of Batman and Detective Comics up until the recent months. That would only make sense, it’s what makes DC DC. What good does a handful of random issues here and there do? What good are one or three issues for most books, and I’m not even talking Rebirth and on. They may not have advertised it as Unlimited but they should strive for that goal.

#6

@Redd the main reason I wasn’t willing to give it a chance was that the Support FAQs currently say that the comic selection will not expand. There didn’t seem to be any point in waiting for something they’re saying isn’t going to happen. I had no reason to believe Customer Service would seemingly go back on that in their response (unless, again, what they mean is that additional issues will be available for individual purchase).

@Wolfman and Dude: That’s fair. By the time of the Kevin Smith presentation a few weeks ago, it was pretty clear, though it still wasn’t clear that the selection would be mainly a few issues of story arcs in what appears to be an attempt to motivate those issue by issue purchases I suspect are coming. It wasn’t clear to me at the time of the San Diego announcement in July, which is when I made the mistake of preordering. I interpreted the announcement as saying that this was a kind of MU-plus, with video content in addition. It really didn’t occur to me that, with the model of MU in place for so long, their comic selection would be something so far from it. I realized it wouldn’t be the same size at first, but figured it would grow over time. They did say “curated” but, to be fair, MU also uses that word to refer to its selection, so that word wasn’t much of an indication that it wouldn’t be the beginnings of an answer to MU. Again, I’ll admit I was too blinded by hope not to make the mistake of preordering. I wish that hadn’t been a $75, nonrefundable mistake. All I can really do about that part is commiserate with the other people who misunderstood and hope that, together, we amount to enough noise to convince DC that there’s a demand out there for an MU-like service, but I realize that’s a slim hope at this point if this is what they’ve come up with after 10 years to craft their response.

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#7

Mae- you expected all of Batman and DC, that should have been the last thing you expected. That’s DCs money maker. They aren’t giving that away for a few bucks a money.

Now there should be more older run of lesser known characters that do not sale anymore, but come on, you should never have expected Batman to be included. At least not the main 2 books.

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#8

But like I said in another thread, only a tiny percentage of comic book readers will subscribe to this service. MU exists and Marvel’s sales are not impacted. Why can’t DC do the same?

#9

DJWolfmanJBeezzy marvel does it and Disney would not be doing it if they did not make some money on it and they are giving away a whole lot more than DC is so it is not fair to say they make money on Batman so obviously it wouldn’t be on here when Marvel Unlimited has comic up to six months of current issues and sales are not down for them. the argument well DC is giving away tv and films for so low a month they really do not have that much of a selection when you take into account the price is set at what the average subscription service is set at which means you are getting a lot less than Netflix for the same price where they should have made that up is by having a great selection of digital comics form DC Back catalog for us to choose from. this is not a ridiculous request.

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#10

Got my customer service email form Lead Joe also…I was refunded my 15 month subscription price. I had to threaten to call my credit card company, but i finally got a resolution. I’ll try again in a year after they have an actual service ready with actual content. Maybe by then they will have the comics catalog how it should be.

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#11

DC trades and Graphic Novels sell way better than marvel, especially Batman.

I think they could do a MU app and be fine but it’s insane to think you would get DC unlimited plus new shows and the back catalog of movies and series for $75 per year. Maybe $150.

#12

What I would do is eliminate the rotating out part. Add new books in weekly like Marvel does but keep them 6 months to a year behind what is in stores (again like Marvel). Then offer the ability to buy issues that fall within that 6 mo - 1 year timeframe for people who don’t want to wait and want to read them now and keep those issues on sale until it hits the end of the timeframe period. Make DC Universe a one stop shop for your entire DC digital collection instead of having to use multiple ones like with Marvel.

That way you’re constantly getting revenue and hopefully convincing monthly subscribers to stick around when there might be a lean time for new shows coming out.

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#13

Still, a ray of light here, I now anticipate being pleasantly surprised in October by both the basic included comics selection runs as well as what the full access will cost based on this dc customer service response.

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#14

August 2018 Retail Market Share for DC = 27.51% Marvel = 40.87% Unit Market share for DC = 31.02% Marvel = 43.12% (https://www.diamondcomics.com/Home/1/1/3/237?articleID=218481)

year end 2017 Retail Market Share for DC = 30.07% Marvel = 36.36% Unit Market share for DC = 33.93% Marvel = 38.30%(https://www.diamondcomics.com/Home/1/1/3/237?articleID=205749)

these are the numbers. DC is not out right destroying Marvel in sale and this is not to start a fight but the people saying that doing a Marvel Unlimited would kill sales are wrong, and this is only counting the Comic sales so films action figures video games are not here doing DC Unlimited is not a business killer but a good opportunity to get new readers into the characters especially since the films have not been good I said it before Disney makes money if Unlimited didn’t it would not be available anymore.

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#15

If they charge more than another $20 a year for the rest of the library it’ll cause an uproar

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#16

I could live with 40 to $45 more a year for acces to an unlimited Library here

by the way Marvel unlimited also has huge gaps; check out the Defenders from the 1970s, as one example. I was a big fan of Midnight sons in the early 90s I don’t see any of that there or very little.

#17

To act is if Marvels gaps are anything like the ones on here is ridiculous. Let’s have an honest debate.

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#18

So far the one thing that bothers me is the lack of crossover access. As an example I am trying to finish the Red Robin series (I’m lacking the last dozen or so floppies) but this series crosses over with Teen Titans, Batman, and Gotham City Sirens. None of the issues of those series that cross over are available to read. So I’m left with gaps in the storylines.
I’d think the curation would at least take this into consideration. But otherwise for a recently launched service I’m pretty happy. Can’t wait for new additions.

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#19

Wow you got a legitimate response and it does make me hopeful for the future. I’m done bitching for a lil bit. I’ll wait to see how things work out. Thanks for sharing this.

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#20

In this day and age of info I find it hard to believe you wouldn’t do research before buying. They made it clear what they would have. Why not wait a week to see what has been posted online about the comic selection?

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