Al Padrino

you finally sit down and watch a DVD that has been in your unwatched pile for quite sometime and it's...messed up, skips, defected? Although I don't have a huge collection, I do have several unwatched DVD's and recently, while catching up a bit, I found that two of my DVD's froze up at certain points, even in the middle of a chapter. Now, although these were sealed until I decided to watch them, I'm stuck since you can only return them within the first 30 days. Has this happened to anyone? What do you do? I really hate how a store like BB can sell you a disc and just because you don't discover it's defected within the first month, it's your fault, your loss. People are busy and with DVD's, the hardcore fans tend to build up quite a collection of unwatched ones. Just bothers me how they can sell a shotty product but then it's your loss if you don't find it's defected within the first month.

DVDude!

As I posted in another thread, I have a defective Charlie's Angels DVD and I plan to try to return it to a local Wherehouse Music without the receipt. I've had it for over a year and it played fine before, but now it freezes. I didn't scratch it or anything. I figure if Wherehouse is willing to exchange it (they're the only place I've found that carries the old CA disc), the studio will reimburse them for the defective disc.

I do the same thing that you do: I have some DVDs that I bought literally four years ago that I still haven't watched. If I pop one brand new DVD in the player one day and discover it doesn't work, there should be some way of exchanging it besides begging a local store to take it.

Rypro 525

Many local shops have used sections where you can trade a dvd in. I think fye even uses it now.

folgersnyourcup

This happened to me with my Hot Shots disc. I have owned it for a little under a year. The audio gets annoyingly out of sync towards the end of the film. Does anyone else own this disc and experience the same problem?

acostigan

I owned Disney's The Rescuers Down Under for over a year and had watched it a couple of times without problems. Then it started freezing and pixelating; eventually it wasn't readable by any of my players. There were no surface scratches or smudges on the disc; it still looked perfect. I called Disney's support number, they sent me a new one with a return mailer and I sent the bad one back to them. Pretty damn decent of them, I must say.

Just my .02, but I think discs that "just go bad", maybe from the platters coming unglued are whatever, are a manufacturing defect and should be exchanged without charge. Hey, aren't these things, like CDs, supposed to last 100 years or something?

-AC

greatjedi

I had a copy of Contact that went bad (rotted?)after about a year. I took it to a store, said I got a bad disc, and traded it straight across for a new one.

Doc Moonlight

Another option is to contact the manufacturer.

I had a copy of FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN that went bad and wouldn't play after a year. I contacted Anchor Bay through their website. They had me send the disc (without the case) to the manufacturer in California who replaced it and even threw in a copy of SUPERGIRL to compensate for my trouble.

gutwrencher

I'll call BS on this. I work up to 60 hour weeks....and still have plenty of time to viddy dvds.....and I have 1,000. it's a little funny that someone would actually wait more than a week to watch a dvd....for the reason that some are defective!!! to let them sit on a shelf...un-opened....you get what you ask for kids. buy the damn dvd, crack the plastic and at least watch a few minutes of several chapters, especially around the layer-change. if you dont feel like watching it...fine. but at least see that the disc plays....before the warrenty fades out for good, and then have to waste valuable time trying to replace it. the stress is avoidable...if you put a few minutes of your time into it.

phephron

Gutwrencher,
I have to call BS on your calling the BS. Does it really matter if you have a DVD that is unopened and when you finally watch it, it is no good; or, you watch the DVD immediately, it seems to be fine, and then when you watch it again in a few months, it freezes, or pixelates, or whatever... ??
The point and question being made is the same, a DVD that is properly handled, should not just "go bad" and there should be some remedy for those situations. Also, just because you watch a DVD immediately, and it is fine, is not a guarantee that the next time you watch, it will not be OK. I have had several DVD's that are fine when first watched, and a week, a month later, it won't even load, or it pixelates, etc. I guess that a number of posts have talked about DVD rot.
Doc Moonlight - I like your idea, and will have to try with the manufacturers. That would be wonderful if they will support their product.
A definite advantage of VHS is that the movie always plays, even though the PQ may suck.
And, here is a bit of trivia for everyone... The Library of Congress is using what form of media to back up and preserve all that wonderful music out there? Is it CD, or DVD, or tape? Nope, good old vinyl is the media of choice for longevity.
Paul

gongon78

Gutwrencher,
Not everyone has time to just sit in front of the TV all day watching every single movie they buy. Every week, there is a sale and sometimes it's hard to resist not getting it. Some movies you have to be in the mood to watch it. Not to mention that people get lazy and just do other things like sports, hang out, and all the other things besides DVDs. I wouldn't call is BS because a lot of people buy things they like only becuase it was an offer that can't be refused.

I've personally experienced this problem a few times. The lastest one I found was my Pearl Harbor 4 DVD version. The first disc had problems on chatper 8 and 16 and I called Disney, they asked about a 20 questions before sending out a packet for my entire set. My old version of SPEED has spots all over the disc (I assume it's the "ROT" people have been talking about), I called FOX and they said that it's your fault, oh well. Luckily, I already owned the FIVE STAR version, so I'm not crying.

I've read a while back about this similar question and some folks said that if you bought a movie from a B&M, even after 30 days, you can take the receipt back and talk to them about it. I have not tried this myself, so I can't elaborate. The only place that I have done something similar is at Costco, they take everything back regardless of time and date.

gutwrencher

yes...I understand. I've been talking about delamination for months...do a search on dvdrot....all 1 word. the point is, new member, people have too much faith in stores and pressing plants replacing your precious dvds. the longer you wait....the less of a chance you have...get it? you really think they are going to care about this issue? ok, you wait 6 months to watch a dvd....it's dead....it's oop. whos fault is this? I never said to watch the whole dvd as soon as you get it. I said watch a few minutes....around the layer change is a good idea. yes...it may go bad later, I agree. again, read all my posts in the many threads that were listed way before you were a member. BUT, people waiting months to watch them...which is the impression I got from the first post, is silly. If I'm wrong...I'm sorry. the fact is....if you dont get it exchanged asap....you will be screwed, as nobody will be helping you to get it replaced. then again....if you want to wait till the dvd is oop or no longer replacable...thats up to you.

Disc-Flipper

Box sets are a real problem trying to get through within a week of purchase; I don't even try.

One preventive solution is to do a chapter sampling of each disc within a few days of purchase, which will reveal major manufacturing issues, but won't necessarily find small glitches. Be sure not to spoil the movie for yourself however.