Customer support will be in touch directly with anyone that writes to them about this, but here's the explanation.
The new High Def product is in fact just that, it's a NEW product. It is premium priced (even though the content is the same as the standard def product) because the files are significantly larger and therefore our bandwidth costs on each download are higher.
The deal that was offered to DVD subscribers was a two for one swap – download coupons for DVD issues. That offer is still good for the product that it was offered for. As I just wrote, the Hi Def product is a new product and therefore not part of the original offer.
Now - it's possible to look at this and say, boy these guys are cheap! Why don't they just give us the Hi Def product since there's only $2.50 difference. Or, just charge me the $2.50 difference.
We wish it was that easy. Firstly, we're not being cheap. The coupon is really worth $9.95. For some people in Canada it appears to be worth $11.45 because we have had to build in taxes. For everyone else in the world that's not the case and the actual worth is $9.95 - the cost of our standard def download. There's a big differential between $10 and $15, and as stated, higher costs included in delivering the new product.
Also, it's simply not possible for us to charge the $2.50 (or $5) difference because of credit card handling and transaction processing costs. It costs a lot to handle credit cards online, and on purchases under $10 the percentage is outrageously high.
So after much thought, and considering all of the options open to us, we have no choice but to leave things the way they are; those with DVD to download coupons get two download issues of our standard definition product for each DVD paid for previously.
Hope this helps explain why we're doing what we're doing.
Michael
