Disney Bootlegs? (Need Help)
 

Howdy! Need some help from you guys. I bought 5 Disney DVD's from this guy on Ebay (express_entertainment4u

Basically, a heat of the moment thing. Should have used my better judgment, but didn't. I bought The Little Mermaid, 101 Dalmatians, Lady and the Tramp, Peter Pan, and Pinocchio.

Just got them in today, and am questioning their authenticity. I need your help, guys!

They look pretty normal, even though they came in that hard plastic (cellophane?), rather than the normal plastic. I'm including pictures of each, and I'd appreciate it if you guys could help me out.

EDIT: Just noticed that I can't post images yet. If anyone thinks they can help me, I can email you the pictures. Please help me out!

I would be questioning it as well. Looking through his feedback, he seems to have a lot neutrals/negatives in the last couple months.

3 neutrals I am looking at, mention Disney movies. 1 says that he was expecting the same you can get at the Disney store, 2 others mentioned that they weren't sure if they were authentic.

Post pictures, I'm sure more people on the board will help you out.

Apparently, I can't post pics yet. My forum rules say "You may not post attachments."

If these are, in fact, bootlegs, how do I get my money back?

If you paid via paypal just let them know the situation. I have had a similar situation with anime (just like you I should have know better). I contacted paypal and told them about it and they gave the other party a week or so to refute the claim.Tere is an area on the paypal site to file a complaint and if i recall bootleg is an option. They didn't refute the charge and I got all of my money back (and got to keep a poor quality dvd as well) :)

If you didn't use paypal.......i don't know

Post a link to the photos, and not as a hotlink.

Yes, paid by Paypal. Hopefully, it will help.

Got a few more quick questions:

1. Is the insert for Pinocchio extremely glossy?

2. Some of the wrap-around covers have angled edges, some have curved. Can anyone verify if the covers I have are correct?
a. Little Mermaid = angled
b. Lady and the Tramp = angled
c. 101 Dalmatians = angled
d. Peter Pan = Curved
e. Pinocchio = Curved

3. The cases themselves are white, and have push button centers, not the ones like most regular cases. It's just one piece; a circular button that says "push" on it. Below the tray itself, the statement "Press center button to release" is written. It's not the two piece button like on most other DVD's. Is this correct for these releases?

Thanks for the quick responses guys. I appreciate it.

Hi,
This happened to me in the past on an Ebay auction as well. I politely informed the seller that it was a bootleg Disney dvd, that I wanted a refund and would even pay to ship it back. I also stated that I would provide negative feedback if they did not refund my money. The seller, whom had great feedback, was not aware of their dvds being bootlegs, and I informed them as to how to tell if a Disney dvd was bootleg or not. The way I could tell was that the dvd had languages like Thai and Chinese. Disney titles, to my knowledge, usually only have language tracks in English, French and Spanish at most. Those Ebay sellers that value their feedback will work with you. If they refuse to refund your money, and they already have lots of negative feedback, then you are likely out of luck. Unfortunately, the Disney dvds seem to be bootlegged a lot these days. Good Luck!

I have the Little Mermaid LI and the Pinocchio GC releases. Both inserts have the same amount of gloss (which is to say not much) and both have white keepcases with the two prong push in release thing. The covers both have the same corners, which is kind of a long curve. I believe I got both of them from the Disney Store.

Looking through their feedback I'd also question the authenticity of their Disney titles. It's stated in their auction description that contacting them within three days will suffice in order to receive a refund. They will not refund you for s/h charges however. I'd go ahead and contact them first. Live and learn...

Have you contacted the seller already? I'd do that before contacting paypal, often the sellers are worried about being reported and will refund if you ship back (insist on them paying return postage) if they agree.

If they dont offer your money back, go through paypal...Disney is also one of the few VERO members on ebay, after you get your money back contact Disney with the auction numbers...i've done this a couple times and the sellers usually get booted really quick.

Unfortunately, the majority of rare Disney titles on ebay are boots.

You should get the freeware program DVDDecrypter which can be used to check if a DVD has region code and if there is CSS encryption on the disk. Most bootlegs are all regions and have no CSS encryption.
Considering that those Disney Dvds are OOP unless you paid a premium for them on Ebay chances are you got a bootleg.
It also seems that Disney is supporting bootleggers by putting these popular childrens movies into Moratorium and OOP status thus creating a demand for counterfeiters. If these movies were still available to purchase at a local B&M store, ebay would have less bootlegs as it seems that the rare/oop movies are bootlegged the most.

Hello, some time ago, before Disney released Snow White on DVD, I saw on Ebay a guy offering Snow White on DVD. Intrigued I paid, and received my Snow White DVD, in a reasonable remastered version, with good picture/sound quality, BUT without any titles at either the beginning, or at the end of the movie, and the picture cover from the laserdisc remastered version ( which came originally in a lavish boxed set with posters and a book about the making of the classic movie, by Richard Holliss and Brian Sibley ) in other words without any reference whatsoever to Walt Disney on the packaging or on the DVD, it just says the classic movie but no mention of the Disney organisation! I wasn't too bothered at the time, as at least it meant that I had a perfectly good watchable copy of the film until the official version was released by Disney!
It looks as if it and these DVD's may have come from China or the Far East? Mine came from a warehouse in Hong Kong!

Looking at the feedback, I would guess it is a boot, and most people didn't care/couldn't tell that it was a bootleg. This also happened to me in the past, and I got my money back. The case and inserts were fine (although after seriously eyeballing, I could tell it was a reproduction), but the DVD itself was a total botch job with the printing. They actually spelled Disney wrong (and A instead of the E).

I really believe that there are a number of these people out there with excellent feedback taking advantage of unknowing buyers. When someone confronts them about their bootlegs, they claim ignorance, refund the money, and then continue to go on to sell their bootlegs to the next unknowing person.

It is a good boot, but still a boot. The seller knows it. I would just ask for a partial refund (or a full refund minus shipping costs) and keep the discs unless you really don't want them.

I've got to agree with you guys about them being boots. The two deciding factors are the odd cases with the push-button release instead of the two prongs, and the 90 degree angles on the edges of the covers, as opposed to the curved edges on normal releases.

Regardless, the Pinocchio and Peter Pan discs I received are immaculate, with curved covers and everything. Don't want to sound like I support boots, but these discs are amazing copies. They aren't even DVD-R's. The seller seems extremely confident about the authenticity of these. I'm sure know that they aren't, and I'm going to get my money back. This whole situation pisses me off because this guy is taking advantage of people. Just glad that you guys have been here to help me out once again. Thanks guys!

P.S. The seller charged me about $2.75 each for shipping, but the package itself was USPS Bubble Mailer that says it cost $1.59 and it was shipped Priority Mail for $5.05. Do you guys think that I can get my shipping cost refunded also?

Well, often times, if a discrepancy like that is pointed out, the seller says (a) handling charges and (b) you agreed to it when you bought it.

However, if he sold you a bootleg, there's no legitimate reason why you should even have to pay the shipping charges. You agreed to pay it, sure, but the implicit understanding was that he was *not* selling you a bootleg.

I would except nothing less than a FULL refund (including shipping) if you were sold a bootleg. The guy is selling illegal merchandise and pawning it off as legit. Why should you pay a dime for that crap?

bah i stopped buying dvds from people with more than 1000 feedback on ebay. It may seem stupid but if i see someone with like 10 and up positive ill bid on a dvd.. reason why is these bastards with more than 1000 feedback are selling bootleg dvds in masses I have gotten about 5 boots so i realized id better go with lower feedbacks because they arent selling boots in massives rather just selling their personal collections. Usually bootleg dvds have DTS writen at the top of the dvd and come with no insert also you can tell by the dvd how its printed. just remember if u see DTS in red at the top of the dvd and has no special features just some stupid crap its bootlegged.

Authentic Disney Region 1 North American releases have the blue "Buena Vista Home Entertainment" stamp on the shrinkwrap along with a pic of the Disneyland logo, blue as well. If this
logo and stamp is not on the shrinkwrap I would return for a refund.

That's my opinion,

Cheers

Once again, thanks again guys. You're the best!

Please get your facts right before making such sweeping statements. DVDs with Thai and Chinese tracks ARE NOT NECESSARILY BOOTLEGS!!! Where do you think the Thai and Chinese tracks come from? You think the pirates actually made the effort to hire voice actors to re-record the whole movie, mix in the sound and produce a dolby 5.1 track????

Please people, I've read many posts and many ppl say that asian DVDs are bootlegs. WHICH IS NOT TRUE!! Disney also has official distributors in Asia, with customised language tracks for each country. South East Asian DVDs are coded in Region 3. We here also get authentic Disney R3 DVDs with local language tracks. Packaging, inserts, covers etc are locally printed and would of course differ from R1 versions. Official disney DVDs here would have the disney hologram on the cover.

Yes, there are bootlegs in asia, and yes, there is a possiblilty that what you have ordered may be a bootleg, but that does not mean that ALL DVDs IN ASIA ARE BOOTLEGS.....

peace.

Not buying from a seller with 1000+ feedback, but buying from one with 10 feedbacks or less? That makes no sense whatsoever. 90% of the fraudsters and bad guys on Ebay register a new name and run it up with fake feedbacks initially before starting a quick fraud or bootleg operation.
If a seller has 1000 feedbacks then they are on EBay to stay and don't want to be suspended. If they sell bootlegs it WILL SHOW UP IN THEIR FEEDBACK PROFILE. You can't sell lots of bootlegs, do hundreds of auctions, and not have a certain percentage complain. Just check their feedback. Large sellers usually don't sell bootlegs, especially over the last 12-18 months as Ebay has really cracked down. If the seller is outside the USA they may be able to bootleg easier and get away with it long-term. If they do, turn them in and then Ebay will suspend them. Ebay throws people off real fast if they have proof of bootlegs or multiple reports of bootlegs sent in by buyers. Just let them know.
I fully recommend on Ebay following 3 basic rules.
RULE #1: Buy from sellers inside the USA.
Rule #2: Check the feedback rating and quickly pull down and scan the last 200+ feedbacks left on a seller.
Rule #3: Use Paypal for all payments and resolve any issues within 30 days of payment being made.
No worries then.

Forgive me, but this makes no sense... you will bid on an item from someone with 10+ feedback, but not someone with thousands of satisified customers?

Wouldn't it make more sense to actually look at the feedback itself, rather than focusing on a number? If the person has 1000-2000 feedback, and only 1 or 2 negatives, there is NO WAY they are selling bootlegs. You're going to see dozens and dozens of negative and neutral comments if someone is doing that.

Are you 100% certain about the stamp?

Cuz I have a few Disney DVD's that I've bought from various B&M stores that don't have the stamp on them.

Not everything has a stamp with every title in every store. That Disney stamp and security wrap insure that the item is offical Disney product, but for a number of reasons titles sometimes don't have the stamping. They should however be factory sealed and have a seal with the name and title on top.