How badly does Amazon package your Blu-ray and 4k discs? (2 Viewers)

[Malcolm R]

The primary reason I only really buy dvds/blurays from amazon or costco, is that too many local offline retailers give you the fifth degree whenever there's problems with defective discs and you ask for an exchange. In this regard, amazon and costco are the least problematic.

Have you had that many defectives? I have thousands of discs and don't really recall any issues with defective discs. The only thing I recall was purchasing the Back to the Future DVD set and finding I had the first film and two copies of the third, but no Part II.

 

[Mike Frezon]

With that said, I've seen it from the other side and can tell you that the majority of the folks at Amazon are decent folks who truly do the best they can under the circumstances they're handed from Seattle. I've seen folks in both Customer Service and the Shipping Dept. go out of their way to make sure that someone has a last-minute Christmas gift or something that is needed for someone who is not long for this world. The majority of the people are good and decent. There are also those who should lose their jobs immediately and who tend to bring down the reputation of the company because of laziness, spite, and greed.

I'm certainly not surprised to read that. Companies don't get to be this influential without a good, core base of people.

If the Customer Service Associate tells you that a shipping problem will never happen again, they're lying.

This frosts my cake each time it happens. I can't tell you how many times an Amazon rep has told me that they would personally monitor my account to make sure such a thing doesn't happen again. In whose universe do they live that they think they can actually get away with a guarantee that a mistake won't get made again? I always ask them to explain how they can make such a guarantee. Surprisingly, they never have a satisfactory explanation.

 

[jcroy]

Have you had that many defectives? I have thousands of discs and don't really recall any issues with defective discs. The only thing I recall was purchasing the Back to the Future DVD set and finding I had the first film and two copies of the third, but no Part II.

I've encounter way too many defective/wrong discs when it comes to tv show season sets, and other multidisc sets.

Individual movies with only one disc are less problematic. So whenever I'm shopping at places like Wallyworld or local discount/dollar stores, I'm only willing to do impulse buys on individual movies with one disc. Not tv shows and other multidisc sets.

 

[TJPC]

I order CDs/Blu Rays/and DVDs from Amazon. All are shipped in bubble envelopes.

The brittle plastic on CDs arrives cracked about 5O% of the time.
The brittle plastic of DVDs is also frequently broken.
Blu rays, with their softer plastic usually arrive with no problems.

If there is damage to cases, I immediately call Amazon and they usually take a percentage off my bill. (They used to send out new empty cases).

I live in Canada and use a Buffalo P.O. box. If a disc is damaged, Amazon.com usually just sends me out a new one without having to return the old one and take it back across the border.

 

[jcroy]

I've encounter way too many defective/wrong discs when it comes to tv show season sets, and other multidisc sets.

It seems that disc quality control goes down the toilet, with the larger number of discs in a set.

Perhaps this shouldn't be too surprising.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The primary reason I only really buy dvds/blurays from amazon or costco, is that too many local offline retailers give you the fifth degree whenever there's problems with defective discs and you ask for an exchange. In this regard, amazon and costco are the least problematic.

Not worth the time and headaches anymore (along with wasted gasoline), in dealing with local retailers who are a crapshoot when it comes to getting an exchange for defective dvd/bluray discs. They lost my business a long time ago, and they can go screw themselves !!!

This is one of the main reasons I shop at Amazon, too. When there is a problem, it is so simple to initiate a return and replacement, even if the issue originated with the manufacturer and not Amazon. I do not have issues very often, but when it happens the entire process is automated and I do not even need to place a phone call.

I bought a new golf bag through Amazon a couple of weeks ago, and it had a defect (a cut partially through one of the straps). I initiated an exchange online, printed out the pre-paid UPS label and dropped the box off at the nearby UPS store the next time I went out. Meanwhile, Amazon automatically generated a new order and I had a replacement a couple of days after I filed the claim.

 

[jcroy]

Individual movies with only one disc are less problematic. So whenever I'm shopping at places like Wallyworld or local discount/dollar stores, I'm only willing to do impulse buys on individual movies with one disc.

Nevertheless, sometimes I don't bother even doing impulse buys at local retailers. I keep my a list of possible $5 dump bin discs which I might be interested in, until it is enough to get free shipping on amazon.

Sometimes I use these dump bin titles on my list as "padding" when I'm ordering other dvds/blurays on amazon. Basically if the other dvds/blurays I'm ordering are not enough to get free shipping, I'll add one or two of these $5 (or less) dump bin titles to my order to just go over the mimimum free shipping amount.

 

[TravisR]

As someone who used to work for the House that Bezos built (though, disclaimer, no longer do and haven't in a couple of years), I can at least provide some answers from personal experience.

If the Customer Service Associate tells you that a shipping problem will never happen again, they're lying.

Just for the record, I didn't believe the person that told me that. As Samuel L. Jackson says in Jackie Brown, "My ass may be dumb but I ain't no dumbass."

 

[Nelson Au]

I just packed up a Blu ray box set of The Outer Limits that arrived with a damaged disc hub. I’m shipping it back to Amazon and I was going up reuse the blue bubble pack they shipped it in. But decided to show them how it’s done as I had a box the right size and bubble pack. It’s going to arrive at Amazon in perfect shape, so that will show them!

But it occurred to me. The return label I printed that they sent me is for UPS. I imagine that might cost more then the USPS rate they might be getting to ship it to me. And I wondered, and it’s not my problem, if that label will cover the cost of a box. Then it had me wondering about the news. I won’t get into the politics, but if the attacks against Amazon include how the Postal Service is getting ripped by Amazon, I’m not sure I buy that. I’m sure the USPS made a deal for a good rate for the volume of business they get from Amazon. It’s just that the rate is such that the packages just don’t get treated as we’d like. I wish the mailman would deliver my magazines flat and not folded or torn! I'm tempted to get my magazines digitally. But then there goes that argument about streaming killing Oppo. But that’s another thread. (Excuse me for the reference about the news that the postal service might be getting a bad deal from Amazon, I just wondered if it might be relevant. )

 

[Malcolm R]

I won’t get into the politics, but if the attacks against Amazon include how the Postal Service is getting ripped by Amazon, I’m not sure I buy that.

Don't buy it. By law, the USPS is not allowed to negotiate contracts or provide services that are below their actual costs, so they are not getting "ripped off" by Amazon regardless of the "opinion" of some uninformed people in high places. USPS may not be making the usual profit margin from Amazon that they make on regular mail, but they are also not providing service to Amazon at a loss, and Amazon's volume is likely helping keep USPS afloat.

 

[BobO'Link]

Don't buy it. By law, the USPS is not allowed to negotiate contracts or provide services that are below their actual costs, so they are not getting "ripped off" by Amazon regardless of the "opinion" of some uninformed people in high places. USPS may not be making the usual profit margin from Amazon that they make on regular mail, but they are also not providing service to Amazon at a loss, and Amazon's volume is likely helping keep USPS afloat.

I agree.

One day last year when the mailman handed my wife ~9 boxes at the door she apologized for all the packages he was delivering to our house (it had been at least 3 per day for weeks), he replied "It's no problem! We appreciate the business!"

 

[Nelson Au]

Malcolm- totally agreed. I don’t buy it. I just didn’t want to press too hard as it’s touching on forum rules that I didn’t want to break.

I heard on NPR Radio a story about a postal
worker who commented that in his 20 or so years on the job, Amazon packages are becoming more and more what he carries and the weight and bulk increase is quite noticeable!

 

[BobO'Link]

I just packed up a Blu ray box set of The Outer Limits that arrived with a damaged disc hub. I’m shipping it back to Amazon and I was going up reuse the blue bubble pack they shipped it in. But decided to show them how it’s done as I had a box the right size and bubble pack. It’s going to arrive at Amazon in perfect shape, so that will show them!

But it occurred to me. The return label I printed that they sent me is for UPS. I imagine that might cost more then the USPS rate they might be getting to ship it to me. And I wondered, and it’s not my problem, if that label will cover the cost of a box. Then it had me wondering about the news. I won’t get into the politics, but if the attacks against Amazon include how the Postal Service is getting ripped by Amazon, I’m not sure I buy that. I’m sure the USPS made a deal for a good rate for the volume of business they get from Amazon. It’s just that the rate is such that the packages just don’t get treated as we’d like. I wish the mailman would deliver my magazines flat and not folded or torn! I'm tempted to get my magazines digitally. But then there goes that argument about streaming killing Oppo. But that’s another thread. (Excuse me for the reference about the news that the postal service might be getting a bad deal from Amazon, I just wondered if it might be relevant. )

Those labels have the weight of the package printed on them. I don't know what would happen if what you return is heavier than that and don't worry about it. Any time I do a return it's *always* in a box.

 

[Jason_V]

Got one this week in the white mailer; got 2 more in a yellow padded envelope. No issues with any of them.

I typically don't do different kinds of products in the same order.

 

[Tony Bensley]

When I use Amazon, it's pretty much exclusively for discs, and very occasionally, books.

The only incident that immediately springs to mind is a few years ago, my first DVD order of ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN: SEASON 1 arrived with a broken hub. What made this particularly annoying was that for some unknown reason, it shipped from B.C, even though Amazon has a major depot just a few hours south of us, from where most of my orders ship.

CHEERS!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Yes, please. Let's continue to steer away from the Amazon/USPS opinions that are being discussed in terms of any political relevance.

Certainly, this thread is all about Amazon and it's delivery protocol (so discussions about Amazon and its relationship with the USPS/UPS/FedEx are relevant)...but we don't need to go to that place where the discussion may get political.

Anyway, this thread is mostly about Amazon's packaging failures, not its delivery failures (which I realize can be tied to the carriers it chooses to use).

 

[Kyrsten Brad]

Brad here.Got a Blu/DVD order from Amazon recently in one of those white bubble envelopes. No problems there. Last month I got a 100’ Roll Of AWG14 speaker cable from Amazon in a solid box. Wish they’d use those solid boxes for Blus.

Also I thought I’d posted this a couple days ago but I missed the posting button and my message was lost.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I just packed up a Blu ray box set of The Outer Limits that arrived with a damaged disc hub. I’m shipping it back to Amazon and I was going up reuse the blue bubble pack they shipped it in. But decided to show them how it’s done as I had a box the right size and bubble pack. It’s going to arrive at Amazon in perfect shape, so that will show them!

But it occurred to me. The return label I printed that they sent me is for UPS. I imagine that might cost more then the USPS rate they might be getting to ship it to me. And I wondered, and it’s not my problem, if that label will cover the cost of a box. Then it had me wondering about the news. I won’t get into the politics, but if the attacks against Amazon include how the Postal Service is getting ripped by Amazon, I’m not sure I buy that. I’m sure the USPS made a deal for a good rate for the volume of business they get from Amazon. It’s just that the rate is such that the packages just don’t get treated as we’d like. I wish the mailman would deliver my magazines flat and not folded or torn! I'm tempted to get my magazines digitally. But then there goes that argument about streaming killing Oppo. But that’s another thread. (Excuse me for the reference about the news that the postal service might be getting a bad deal from Amazon, I just wondered if it might be relevant. )

You are putting way more thought into a return than I ever would. And I doubt anyone at Amazon is going to care or notice how you pack the return or whether it was shipped USPS or UPS. It will just get scanned and then disposed.

 

[Nelson Au]

Perhaps, Scott. But someone might notice.

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks Mike for tolerance.