I don't have many friends who come to my home so it's really not much of an issue; the few who do visit I would have no qualms to loaning something to but if that's the case then that person is a very close friend, so if it turned into a case of me never seeing it again, I'd just make a mental note that they aren't borrowing any more movies. We're talking 2 or 3 people, though, not casual friends and certainly not relatives of friends.
I have never understood the mentality of moochers.....to me they're parasites that are banking on your good nature and generousity, taking advantage of whatever releationship they have-or don't have- with you. I don't borrow other peoples' things, I wouldn't even think of asking to borrow other peoples' things; I've got a job and if I want something I go buy it, and feel like they should do the same.....if they want to watch a DVD, they can always join one of the online rental services nowadays and borrow all the movies they want.

I have a pal at work who has no hesitation in loaning out his CDs to people and then 6 months later he's griping to me that he either doesn't remember who borrowed something, or he knows he'll probably never see this or that CD again because of whom he loaned it to, and he winds up spending money for the same title all over again. If someone is a casual watcher/ listener I can understand loaning movies or music out, but if someone is a fan of a given movie or music title then it's silly to loan it out and take a chance on having to pay double for it in the end.

I usually let people borrow my dvds, because they take good care of them until about 1 year ago. Seeing my collection was growing, I decided to place my dvds in alphabetical order, so I started placing them in the shelves with the help of my dvdprofiler list. When all of them were placed in order, I noticed 2 dvds missing. I searched the house looking for them but they were nowhere to be found.
Ok, let's phone the people that usually borrow my dvds. Funny, nobody has them. They must have vanished into thin air... Funny again... From that day on, no more lending dvds. Period.

It's curious, but since I took that decision, there has been no more "dvd vanishing"

Never do, because I have to look like the asshole when I go begging for the disc back after a month.

I let people borrow something only if they let me borrow one at the same time. That way, I have leverage for getting mine back.

Unfortunately, every time my sister-in-law comes in to my in-laws for Christmas (and stays for-freakin-ever), she raids my collection. Doesn't even say "thank you" as she leaves the house with 3-4 at a time. I have told my wife this is the last year she is doing this as I haven't gotten them back yet (they are somewhere at my in-laws, I just have to search for them). I have already banned her from the children's section of my collection due to letting her demon-brood handle them when she borrowed them. Nothing like cleaning off PB&J off a DVD when you get it back. I have only been "nice" this long at my wife's urging. No more, I tell you! Damn, I got all mad just typing about it.

It seems like 9 times out of 10, when I get the dvds back that they are scratched. That pisses me off more than anything. Any dvds in my collection with scratches were either like that when I bought them or were from people borrowing them. I mean honestly, how f'in hard is it to only put the dvd in the case or the player? Hell, I don't even touch anything but the sides and the hole.

I don't let anyone borrow any of mine either.

I'll usually give people one chance. I loaned Terminator and T2 to a coworker and when I got them back a few months later, they had jelly on the discs. Not jelly residue, as if someone had actually attempted to clean them off at some point - it was actual globs of jelly. Needless to say, that person was removed from my lending list and added to one of my other lists.

I just started loaning out discs and the experience has'nt been bad as yet. There is something annoying happening though. This one friend I recently loaned 10 discs to, came to my house on this weekend and actually began looking through my collection to see what else he could take. Without, mind you returning the 10 he already has. I punked out and loaned him one more title but 11 is definately my limit.

I don't let anyone borrow mine either. I actually try to hide them from site when people come over because I hate to look like a jerk when I tell them that they can't borrow them.

I occasionally lend DVDs to my neighbors and friends. They never ask but if I think of something they might enjoy I offer. Never had a problem with it. One friend won't borrow DVDs because her family is kind of hard on them. Instead I invite them over to watch movies on my HT.

Go here for the best ever reply to this bad idea.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/vze26q...ckbustered.htm

Great writing! Just reading it made me feel great that someone else does share the pain that I do when DVDs come back with food, liquid, scratches and unknown substances on them!

Next time someone wants to question me about lending out DVDs, I'll point them to that site. Thanks for sharing the article!

It made me chuckle here and there, because I feel the same way.

I lend them out only to a very select few and my cat. The few are people that I trust.
The cat because he weights 25 lbs and I don't want to get into a fight with him
Austin

Me too, only my brother, sister, fiance and my best bud. I also keep a list of all the DVDs i have loaned out and to who has them. But lately ive been getting sick of lending my DVDs out, especially to my best bud, he has about like no more than 10 DVDs of his own and never buys anything cuz hes always borrowing what i have Plus i hate seeing empty spaces on my shelf, once i get all the ones i have loaned out now, i aint lending sh*t to nobody!

I only loan out to a small number of people. They always come back in the same condition they left. When they come back is a completely different story.

I feel your pain! there was one particular DVD that my friend borrowed (Irreversible). I was begging him to return it until I was very disappointed with him that I just bought another copy again for myself... Now, I have all my DVD's and one less A-hole friend!

I don't lend mine out because people don't know how to bring s*** back.

I don 't borrow or loan ANYTHING!!! You want it, rent or buy it!!!

Since I consider my DVDs to be movies which are worth watching, by the same token, I try to get people to want to watch them. If they want to borrow them to do so, I see this as a good thing. There are specific discs I won't lend out; the recalled 'Little Shop' comes to mind, and more than once I've had to deny somebody the chance to borrow the Criterion 'Spinal Tap' (but one of 'em wanted the SE version anyway). It's not so much "I don't trust that you won't mess this disc up" as it is "I don't want to have to ask a friend to give me the $100 to replace it if it gets messed up, which wouldn't neccessarily be your fault but for which I know you would, of course, hold yourself entirely responsible."

But my collection has however many hundred discs in it; at any given time, there's very little chance that I'll want to watch the specific title being lent out. (Actually, I once did ask somebody not to borrow something because I hadn't watched it yet and was planning to in the near future.) I bought them because I love movies, and it's the same love for movies that makes me want to expose other people to them. Also, I have never had to re-buy anything I lent out (though my roommate has had a CD of mine for years). I don't really feel too bad for people who lend out their own things and then forget who they lent them too, though I definitely sympathize with those of you who have had roommates who lent things out; I never lost anything that way, but I once had to spend a few hours tracking down some tapes.

I hate when someone wants to borrow something, and then never gets around to watching it. Thats why I don't lend stuff out since they never get around to it. If you want to borrow something that means you want to watch it right ? Well watch it and return my damn disc asap.

No friggin' way will anyone touch my DVDs or CDs again (I've learned after several failed experiments that you will, eventually, get badly screwed over). Not my soon-to-be-wife (a very few exceptions for her only), not my friends (EVER!), and least of all... *shudders*...family.
And this is not BS, or a satirical remark; it's the truth.

Only to friends I know and trust who live within a five-mile radius or whom I see frequently. If it's a friend I don't see but every few months, then definitely NOT. It's too hard to get them back...

never loaned out and never will. I even go one step further.....I don't even let people touch my dvds. if I had my way, except on-line through my sig, I would'nt even let someone look at the library.

sorry, I've invested too much into it. go get your own.

I have a SHORT list of friends and family that are allowed to borrow my dvds. Each time one goes out, its logged in DVD Profiler as loaned, so i can keep track of who has what.