Studios: Engaged in Poor Quality Control Management

Mark Talmadge · 03-04-2008, 10:23 PM

I don't know about the rest of you but out of all of the DVD boxed sets that I have purchased I have discovered that a majority of the sets that I purchase, oftentimes have at least one damaged disk included in the set.

This rates for 70% of the boxed sets that I purchase and I purchase from a variety of sources. Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, Borders, Barnes and Noble, Columbia House and manya others.

I don't blame the retail stores for this I place the blame solely on the hands of the studios and they are all to blame. Universal Studios, Warner Brothers, Paramount, BCI, CBS, First Look Entertainment, Sony Entertainment, 20th Century Fox ...

I blame them because they don't spend the time checking the packaging for damaged cases, they just place the DVD's in the case because it's more cost effective to have the retail stores deal with returns, defective DVD's that have a myriad of scratches on the surface. Instead of defecting the disks out, they just ship them out, it saves the company on the bottom line.

How many of you gently shake the DVD packaging to see if the DVD is loose? I know I do, because a DVD that has been jarred loose from inside the packaging is damaged, with 99% certainty. Retail stores no longer pull this defective merchandise from store shelves allowing the company, with full knowledge of this, to knowingly and deceptively sell damaged merchandise.

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StevePA · 03-05-2008, 05:40 PM

I'm still waiting on two replacement sets of DVD's from Time-Life for Man From UNCLE seasons 2 and 3 because the one disc in each set was badly scratched to the point of being non-playable

Mark Talmadge · 03-05-2008, 05:50 PM

These self-same studios also make consumers jump through hoops before a defective DVD can be replaced. From what I was told:

Warner Brothers: Require consumers to send the entire set, in its original packaging, before a replacement for the sole damaged disk can be replaced.

20th Century Fox: Require consumers to send the entire set, in its original packaging before a replacement for the damaged disk can be replaced.

Universal Studios: Require that consumers send the entire set along with the receipt, dated within 30 days, before a defective disk can be replaced.

For anime DVD's, many just require you to send the single damaged disk back to them for replacement. Bandai Entertainment is excellent when exchanging damaged DVD's.

Ockeghem · 03-05-2008, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Talmadge

I don't know about the rest of you but out of all of the DVD boxed sets that I have purchased I have discovered that a majority of the sets that I purchase, oftentimes have at least one damaged disk included in the set.

This rates for 70% of the boxed sets that I purchase and I purchase from a variety of sources. Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, Borders, Barnes and Noble, Columbia House and manya others.

I don't blame the retail stores for this I place the blame solely on the hands of the studios and they are all to blame. Universal Studios, Warner Brothers, Paramount, BCI, CBS, First Look Entertainment, Sony Entertainment, 20th Century Fox ...

I blame them because they don't spend the time checking the packaging for damaged cases, they just place the DVD's in the case because it's more cost effective to have the retail stores deal with returns, defective DVD's that have a myriad of scratches on the surface. Instead of defecting the disks out, they just ship them out, it saves the company on the bottom line.

How many of you gently shake the DVD packaging to see if the DVD is loose? I know I do, because a DVD that has been jarred loose from inside the packaging is damaged, with 99% certainty. Retail stores no longer pull this defective merchandise from store shelves allowing the company, with full knowledge of this, to knowingly and deceptively sell damaged merchandise.

Mark,

I would estimate it's around 40-45% of all boxed sets I have ordered. But for me it's usually not the discs, but the boxes (dents, rips, gashes, etc.) or the cases in which the discs are housed (cracks, broken pieces near the hub, etc.). This is one of the reasons I do the majority of my purchasing through Amazon.com. Their return policy is excellent. For three of the last six boxed sets I have picked up from Amazon.com, I have told them that I wanted a replacement. When the replacement copy arrives, I mix and match until I have one that is stellar.

That being said, I should point out that I am very, very picky when it comes to the condition of the merchandise I purchase. I am almost Monk-like (honest). So what I think needs to be replaced would in the majority of cases probably not really need replacing. But since I'm spending good $$ on sets, I want at least what I pay for from the companies with whom I am doing business. For me, that means no less than pristine condition.

RickER · 03-06-2008, 12:00 AM

I exchange any scratched discs at the time of purchase. I dont play those games. It pisses me off so much, sometimes i wont buy a big set. I gave up on Twin Peaks, for $100 retail it better be mint. I know, i have bitched about that one 100 times. But i had 10 out of 10 scratched to hell and back discs! Try 2, i had 5 of the 10 scratched. I usually check my box set discs in the car now, after i buy them. Paramount has the most beautiful classic TV on DVD sets, but are now among the worst for defects at the time of purchase.

Mark Talmadge · 03-06-2008, 01:14 AM

Ock, with me, it's a vast majority of the DVD's and one of the employees I talked to at Best Buy, and I'm a regular customer, had told me that I'm not the only customer to bring back defective DVD's. The problem is solely with DVD boxed sets, primarily, the TV show sets.

And it's also the same, a good 65% of the sets that I buy are defective inm some way. I only return the sets if the disks are damaged ...

I just donh't think that studios take care when they package their merchandise and I think that these studios have an obligation to consumers to exchange defective disks for consumers who are stuck with defective DVD's instead of making consumers jump through hoops to exchange them.

Mike*HTF · 03-06-2008, 10:21 AM

Wow, reading this thread made me realize how lucky I've been - to date I've never had any issues with a disc in a TV box set (and I've bought many). The only similar sort of problem I've experienced was with the huge Ford at Fox box where several of the discs were seriously scratched (but played).

Jeff Willis · 03-06-2008, 10:25 AM

I've had to exchange 2 sets out of 163 . I've been lucky as well. The two that I exchanged (Amazon) were "Earth 2" & one of the early Combat! sets, I believe S1 V2.

Mark Oates · 03-06-2008, 11:52 AM

Not wanting to sound like I'm letting the Studios off the hook, but the fault of poor QC on DVD releases is down to the replication plants who stamp out and package the discs for the Studios.

Worst offender on this side of the Puddle is Technicolor, who do a lot of their box sets at their Piaseczno Poland plant to keep costs down.

Mind you, I get virtually all of my DVDs mail order (I'd have to be stupid to pay top whack for discs from a High Street retailer), and I frequently get a rattler in the box. I think the Royal Mail pays a guy to squeeze every Jiffy bag coming through the post to pop the disc inside off its hub.

RickER · 03-06-2008, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike*HTF

Wow, reading this thread made me realize how lucky I've been - to date I've never had any issues with a disc in a TV box set (and I've bought many). The only similar sort of problem I've experienced was with the huge Ford at Fox box where several of the discs were seriously scratched (but played).

I dont care if they play now or not. If it is scratched, and i am talking scratches you can feel as well as see. Scratches that you can see under any light, and make you think you bought a rental disc...it goes back. I will NOT buy new stuff that is f***ed up. Its a new product, it should be new in every way. That Ford set of yours may not play in a year or two, once the disc starts to oxidize because the mylar was breached. But see, for me its a permanent library, to last for many years to come, i hope.

AnthonyC · 03-06-2008, 02:03 PM

I'm kind of surprised that defective discs are such a frequent problem--in ~100 TV show sets and ~75 movies (and God knows how many discs total), I've had to exchange a total of 4 discs to the best of my memory.

MatthewLouwrens · 03-07-2008, 06:14 PM

I bought the recently-release Stankley Kubrick box set, and when I got home I found the label side of the extras disc for Eyes Wide Shut was scrached. Actually, scratched doesn't cover it. Gouged would be more like it. It was like someone had taken a screw or a nail and pulled it across the label as hard and deep as possible. You could close your eyes and find the scratch in a second just by touch. You could easily see the damage on the other side. So I tried to return it. But the problem was this was their only copy, and they didn't want to give me a refund unless they had to. So the woman at the desk wanted to know at what point in the disc it didn't play. Now, I was returning it within an hour of purchase, and frankly I didn't have the time to try and watch an entire disc just to find the exact point at which the visibly damaged disc stopped working. And even if by some miracle it were to be capable of playing now, that doesn't mean it will still work in a year's time. And I said this. So she sent me to the DVD section fo the store to test the disc to see whether it worked. And it worked when the guy at that desk put it in, but he was a lot more accommodating, so he just said it was clearly damaged and gave me the refund.