People who ship and buy LDs.... (1 Viewer)

[Matthew Furtek]

Hello,

I am new to this forum, and recently bought the Star Wars Trilogy WS THX on LD from someone on LD. When I received the package however, there were no LDs, and according to my father (I'm at college and had the discs shipped home), it was packed quite poorly. So it was either (A) stolen, (B) Slipped out due to poor tape or something... or (C) Broke due to improper handling (I don't fault the mail people for this... I expected to have stuff shipped correctly).

I've contacted the people, but this just irritates me to no end, because it doesn't appear they will have replacement discs.

Has this happened to anyone, and what happened?

I'm sure they won't be too happy about not getting money from me, but it's the shipper's fault.

Welcome to the world of buying LDs I suppose. I've bought tens of DVDs and never have had a problem like this, and my first LD purchase...

Matthew Furtek

 

[Henry Gale]

Matthew,

Welcome to the Home Theatre Forum.

Did you say you bought the LDs from "someone on line? Wasn't too sure about that part. Anyway it seems you haven't paid yet so that's good. No excuse for the seller not properly packaging the goodies. It's important for you to deal with a company or E-Bay seller with an established record.

Jim

 

[Ernest]

It sounds like fraud to me. I have sold many LD's to HT members and have never had a problem. Members pay me using PayPal and I ship Priority Mail. I have the Star Wars trilogy, original THX version and have the LD's posted for sale for $50.00, which includes shipping. If you are interested I can be reached at [email protected].

 

[alan halvorson]

Packing laser discs is one of my biggest complaints in buying LDs. I'm very active in the LD market and in my estimation, about 3/4 of all LD sellers really don't have a clue as to how to properly package laser discs.

However, missing discs is a new one on me and I've bought several hundred. I will say that removing the discs from the jacket is a trick I use in order to prevent "disc breakthrough" - this is where, if the discs are left in the jacket and allowed free movement, they may wear or punch through the jacket at one or more sides. Perhaps this fellow was using this technique but simply forgot to include the discs. I find this doubtful - he ought to have wondered what those extra discs were and informed you right away that they were not included.

Stolen? Just the discs and not the jackets? That's a stretch.

It sounds like fraud to me, although, occasionally, I find that people really don't know what they're selling - the goods was part of an estate they're trying to dump, they're doing a favor for a friend, something like that.

You certainly deserve a full refund, shipping included. If you used a credit card, dispute the charge. If you bought them on Ebay, familiarize yourself with Ebay's fraud protection mechinisms (they aren't all that wonderful). If you bought them here, rat on the guy - I and many others want to know.

Let us know how things turn out.

 

[greg_t]

I just started collecting laserdiscs about two months ago and have not had any trouble. First off, your post says "welcome to the world of buying laserdiscs". Fraud can happen in any collecting, not just laserdiscs. The best thing you can do is only buy from reputable sources. I have bought several discs on ebay without incident. Make sure you look at the sellers feedback. And do read some of them. If a seller has hundreds of feedbacks with nearly all positives, you can be pretty confident. Also keep an eye on the software for sale forum here. Some members will sell whole laserdiscs collections for cheap. However, don't let one bad laserdisc buying experience taint your view of collecting lasers.

 

[Matthew Furtek]

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for the responses. I bought via e-bay and paid through pay pal. I haven't seen the packagaing, since I'm a college student, and my father is the one who recieved the package since I ship all my stuff to home. According to what I was told on the phone, what they shipped me was empty, and it wasn't packed very well, just a flat box 18-inch on a side. There were no jackets in it, no nothing. Also, it appears the box may be tampered. I suppose it's possible a postal worker could have done this.

I feel bad having to dispute this and all, hopefully the buyer is understandable.

I'm gonna go read about the correct way to ship LDs.

Matthew Furtek

 

[alan halvorson]

Matthew: Flat packing is a very common way to package laser discs - there's nothing wrong with it, assuming the cardboard is strong enough. I have never had one go wrong. The kind of packing to really watch for are bubble mailers. This almost always ends in disaster.