Is This Really from Kalmbach?

This probably isn't the right place for this rant, but I'm sure the moderators will move this to the correct forum.

This week I received a DVD from Trains Magazine. It really wasn't from Trains, it was from a not named marketing company with a P.O. box in Minneapolis.
The DVD is supposed to be the first in a series of train related DVD's in the Railroad Chronicles series.

This one is called Coal Train. It is about a coal train on the Norfolk Southern. In very small print at the bottom it says, " Previously aired as Extreme Trains: Coal Train on the History Channel".

Here's my problem and why I think it is sleazy.

There is no mention of titles for any other DVD's.

There is no actual price for future DVD's. It says this DVD is 40% off list. Then is says future releases will be billed at the "regular subscriber price plus shipping and processing".

Come on, tell us what they will cost and what the series is all about. What have they got to hide?

If they are just going to send us episodes of Extreme Trains, the whole series is available on E Bay for a lot less that this will cost.

It gives a DVD mailer to send back if you chose not to keep it.

I think this is a real low for Kalmbach marketing. Do they really think very many people will subscribe to this big unknown?

I was about to renew my Trains Magazine subscription, but after this, I'm not in the mood to write Kalmbach a check.

 

Should be in Inspection Pit. Anyhow, they've done same thing with the Dream- Design-Build series. 9.99 for the first one then $25 each after that.... no thanks!

Sent from my LG-P930 using Tapatalk 2

 

Why did you title this thread, "Kalmbach at it again with sleazy promotion", then commence the post with the information that mailing was not actually from Kalmbach??? I know nothing about the relationship of this marketing company to Kalmbach, but it seems to me you are on thin ice with what could be construed as a drive-by smear. You might want to consider editing the original post or remove it and re-post with a different title.

 

If this was sent to you thru the USPS and you did not ask for it you can keep it and not be charged for it.
USPS regulations.

 

Trains Magazine and their logo is prominently displayed twice. The start of the letter states, "Since it's beginning, Trains Magazine has served railfans like you..."
Kalmbach has hired a marketing firm to promote this series of videos.

I am not on thin ice at all. This is not a smear. This is endorsed and sponsored by Kalmbach. This is not some fly by night company using the
Trains logo without permission.

What was stated in the post is exactly what I received. (The post has been retitled)

An up front marketing campaign would tell a potential customer how much the next and subsequent videos would cost and what titles they would receive.

I have no intention of either watching or sending the DVD back to them.

 

How is this different from the other DVDs they've been sending for years now?

 

Have a look at last year's discussion. It might shed some light on this topic.

 

Since we're discussing "Extreme Trains," however tangentially, I thought I'd weigh in.

I watched the series when it first aired on History in 2008. (As background, i worked for eight years as conductor for a Class I, and the host's obvious ignorance irritated me.) I agree about the show's not being well-researched; for example, the "host" messed up the term for "fishplate," calling it something else instead.

I also wondered about the title. Except for maybe the Alaska Railroad, there really wasn't anything "extreme" about the trains shown in the series. To a large extent, that series was a disappointment, especially when viewed through the filter of experience in the industry.

Dieter Zakas