BUying TV series DVD boxsets - quality issue (1 Viewer)

[Carlo S]

Hey, just wondering with any others here have they in the past 12 months whenever buying box sets of TV series, experienced any problems??

Today I got my KNight Rider S2 and A-team S2 and they were scracthed.....some are bad that it just no work properly, and some looks like as if the disc in soem area was how can you say it..grinded??

Its really getting rediculous....and the worse is this using double sided dvd's

Anyone else getting fed up with these poor quality box sets??

 

[DavidofLondon]

My set of "House of Cards" DVDs were also badly scratched. But I just sent them back to the store and they sent a replacement and refunded my postage.

Not something I find worth worrying about desperately. As long as the stores are going to give replacements its not going to bother me if every so often there's a problem.

I'm far more concerned when the versions they select are syndicated versions, or they replace music.

 

[Matt_Troop]

My Friend bought the first season of Raymond and 3/5 discs were scratched so he went back to the store and they opened up other sets to get replacements and their were scratched discs in evey set.

 

[Dave Farley]

I've had nothing but quality issues with box sets since last September. It's gotten to the point that I sometimes dread buying them because I know I'll be making return trips to the store. I've begun opening sets in the car in the store parking lot. It's very rare that I get a box set free of bad scratches, scuffs, or a strange foggy appearance anymore.

The Star Trek:TOS sets were the worst I've ever experienced. I've also had many others with the same scratches, scuffs, a foggy appearance on the disc, skipping, freeze-ups, etc.

Paramount is the absolute worst. I find a solid 40-50% of all the discs in their box sets to be badly scratched and/or scuffed. Universal discs haven't fared a lot better for me, but Paramount is in a league of their own.

The one common point for the bad DVDs? "Made in Mexico" stickers on the back. Prior to September, I had maybe one bad DVD. Since then, I don't even try to keep count anymore.


Here's a thread I started on this subject:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...cratched+discs


Another thread on the subject:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...cratched+discs

 

[RickER]

Yep...made in Mexico, always means you got a good chance of getting crap discs. And it IS always Paramount and Universal. I had bad luck with Fox on the X Files too. Let me tell you at $100 a shot i expect PRISTINE discs. Unfortunately i have also had bad luck with Best Buy, they always put up a fight if i return discs with scratches. They will put it on and say it "looks fine to me." Hate to have to call out the manager,but i do. Who is getting screwed if all i want is a scratch free disc, and the same title i went in to get! Second hand places wont take your scratched discs, so why should i have to take them new?

 

[Jeff Willis]

I have had about 3 sets that I had to return to the seller (internet stores) for the scratches issue. I admit it's a hassle when you buy online because you have to ship it back and then wait for the replacement set to arrive but to me it's worth the inconvenience because of the lower prices online compared to a local store. I've had 1 set from Image (Combat! S1) and one from Fox (NYPD BLUE S2) that I had to get exchanged. Ironically, I haven't had the "Paramount" or "Universal" thing hit me yet although I just received the A-TEAM S2 and one of the disks have very light scratches on it.



Man, that says it all for me Not to go OT on this thread; it's a good discussion survey on the "scratched disks" issue, but the dreaded "cut" eps issue is #1 for me.

 

[Mark Lx]

Out of about 100 sides of TV shows, I've taken two disks back (a Dallas side and The Incredible Hulk:Married side froze)and replaced them no problem. That's why I like to buy in a store if the prices are close to online. Less hassle.

So yeah, that's 2% replaced.

 

[TravisR]

I've only ever had to replace maybe 2 or 3 discs in my entire collection due to scratches, etc.

I said it before in a similar thread but I'll say it again, some of you guys have bad luck

 

[Jeff Willis]

(I forgot to do the math on earlier post

2 out of 52 for about 4% exchanged for scratches.



Man, I'd like to find a local store in Dallas that matched online prices In almost every case I have found that online prices are lower than the local store. Where do you buy your local DVD's?

 

[John H Ross]

I received The A-Team season 2 yesterday from Amazon. Discs 1 and 3 were fine, but disc 2 was loose in the (crap) super-thin case and there were 17 (!) scratches on the surface.

Amazon is kindly sending me a new set without me having to send the old set back. It'll be fine as long as disc 2 isn't loose on the replacement set.

Frankly I'm tired of this. I've committed to buying all future Columbo and A-Team discs but that's the lot. I am very reluctant to buy any more TV box sets. They're just not worth the hassle.

I was tempted to buy Enterprise but after the crap I went through with the TOS sets (and I still don't have perfect set) I don't think I'll bother.

Congratulations guys, you just lost out on hundreds of my dollars.

Isn't there ANYTHING the mighty HTF can do about this? At least bring it to the attention of the studios or SOMETHING?

John

 

[Mark Lx]

I'm in Canada, so it won't help you. We usally don't pay full US retail (when you convert the dollar) on consumer items. Otherwise nobody would stay in business. Less disposable income, more taxation.

 

[Andreas_K]

Scratched discs in box sets are a problem especially for international customers of RC1 DVD's. We have no choice but to buy online so replacing bad discs can be quite a nuisance because you have to wait that much longer before you can finally enjoy your long awaited DVD set if it needs to be replaced.
That's why I only order a few shows bundled together in an order from Amazon and have them shipped via express. Their replacement policy is really good because they ship the exchange set via express as well so you can theoretically build a complete unscratched set from the two you have before sending one back.
It's much more complicated with smaller online stores, for example I've recenly gotten my "La Femme Nikita" S1 set and three discs were heavily scratched. I had to send it back before I can get a replacement. So I have to wait another 2 weeks before I can enjoy the show. IF the second set is OK - I'm already afraid of opening the box. In a store you can at least shake the box to check for loose discs (it's a pity you have to do that in the first place).

 

[Carlo S]

John H Ross

Believe it or not my Disc 2 of Ateam S2 was scracthed two. NOw in an area it had what looked like as if it was i dont know grinded or something (its a bad scratch)

Its really getting a pain, hopefully I get my replacements next week and the sets are alright.

Its just to the point now its a joke.


RickER

I also agree with what you said. When spending money on a new product, thats what you expect to get.

MInor light scratches are usually not a problem, but its the ones that look deep there the problem.

 

[Kevin L McCorry]

Amen to that. Which is why I've stopped buying them. I just got sick and tired of scratched and damaged discs, and I loathe DVD-14/DVD-18, which is what is now being used for most TV series DVD releases.

You would think with all the discs being returned with scratches on them that the studios putting them out would take action and pull out of manufacturing discs in the suspect plants.

 

[John H Ross]

We have to make a stand on this NOW. If we don't the studios will just carry on churning out the same out rubbish.

Don't forget that both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are optical disc formats and I'm sure just as little care will be taken to manufacture and package those (the studios are far more concerned with protecting their own $ with copyright protection than actually giving their customers and reliable product!)

Surely the Home Theatre Forum is supposed to represent consumers in situations such as this. So here you are guys, here's a challenge for you!

I'm not going to buy ANY more TV box sets (and reduce my purchase of movie sets) until I'm fairly sure that the discs will be scratch-free and set in their cases properly. Not too much to ask surely. CDs have been packaged securely for over 20 years!!!

I'm through spending my hard-earned cash on garbage.

John

 

[John H Ross]

Fantastic! So when my replacement set arrives it, too, might have a damaged disc 2. Superb! What a waste of time!

Ok... tell you what, here's suggestion. Buy yourselves a dual-layer DVD burner, rent these nasty scratched discs and copy them onto pristine blanks! It would serve the studios right!

John

 

[Steven_F]

I bought my Buck Rogers in the 25th Century set and there were no scratches, but several of the episodes had places where they would not play and freeze up. I took it back, and got one that worked, but it was missing the booklet inside. From the reviews at amazon.com several people had problems with bad sets. So far all of my other TV show sets have been ok.