I've only kept floaters a few times.

The real problem is, if you get something that looks questionable, you really have to watch every feature on the disk to make sure nothing was affected. If it's something with a commentary and a trailer, fine, 90 minutes later and you'll know if it was ruined.

But otherwise, I'm paying money for DVDs so I can watch them at my own convenience, not the vendor's or the studio's. I don't need to speed through 8 hours of bonus materials to make sure the disk is okay, especially if there is a 30-day return deadline.

I would be inclined to return a "loose" DVD that was scratched up regardless of how it plays. Just because it plays on one player doesn't mean other players wouldn't have issues with it.

I've received a number of boxed sets from Amazon with loose DVDs -- mostly Buffy sets -- and the DVDs were unscratched so I didn't consider returning them. (This seems to be a common problem with these sets; in my cases, the the loose DVD was just resting on top of the adjacent disc and hadn't been scratched up by the hub.)

What he said!

I don't give a second thought to exchanging a loose DVD, especailly if it's in a box set and the hub is broken. If the problem is the latter, the DVD may be fine, but it will sit in the case loose as long as I have it and could theoretically become scratched. (That happened with Twin Peaks Season One, the DVD was loose due to a shattered hub, but the DVD was fine, but I still exchanged it.)

Also, here is something that amazon.com fails to understand is that some DVD players are more sensitive to things like this than others. A light scratch might play fine on my DVD player now, but if I decide to buy a player later on that doesn't handle that scratch in the same way, I am screwed, especially if the DVD goes out of print.

I will also use bubble wrap or fold up a plastic bag when mailing DVDs. It only makes sense and it is such an easy way to insure the DVD will arrive safely.

As far as better packaging, I think they have found better ways. WB's current season packaging and Paramount both use packaging that makes the DVD impossible to float around, and it cannot come loose. The thin packs that Fox has been using lately also prevent the DVDs from coming loose, and are awesome.

However, for single DVD releases, I agree something needs to be done. They can save money on the damn stickers and the locking tabs and invest in a thin piece of foam to put in the case to keep the DVD secure. Hell, they should be able to afford that now since so many studios are saving money by getting rid of inserts.

If I get a DVD that has a loose disc in it, I just don't care if it can play or not, I am getting a replacement, especially if the surface of the DVD is scuffed. I will not worry if the DVD is fine and looks new, though, but I just think that it will prevent any problems later on, should they arise (like getting a new player that skips on those scuffs.)

Actually, if they put ads in there, they MAKE money off of that. Studios aren't giving out advertising space in their DVDs for charity.

My roommate is some type of engineer. He has access to some pretty good equipment at his fabrication plant. Whenever I purchase a DVD I give it to him to examine at work. If either the surface analysis test or uniform density test fails at the 0.005% level I'll exchange the disc.

Maybe the studios should just print ads right on foam inserts.

If the disc is scratched, it goes back. I don't care if it's playable or not. I have a number of different players and they all react differently to defects. So while it may play fine on my main player, who knows how it will behave when the player gets a little older or I decide to watch it elsewhere? My old player worked great originally, but as it got older, it had a hard time reading some discs.

So I expect my purchases to be perfect. You never know when a few small scratches will make a difference.

Does anyone honestly think that returning DVDs drives up their price!? GREED is what drives up the price. Some very nice special editions costs as little as $15 MSRP, while others cost $30. The only difference is what the marketing guys think we will pay.
And to go off on a tangent, movie studios are so concerned about piracy these days that they spend millions in lobbyists and legal fees to fight it. Instead, if they just priced their product reasonably, more people would just buy the damn things instead of finding ways to copy them. (The same logic applies to CDs too. Who wants to spend $15 on one CD!? They’ve been manufacturing these things for 20 years! They should only cost $5 by now!)

There are actually three scenarios here...

a) keep the disk
b) politely exchange it (without whining, moaning, worrying, etc.)
c) raise hell; as if the retailer and every employee there were trying to steal from you

I think some have blurred the distinction between "b" and "c".

On a serious note, another good option is to exchange only the damaged disks directly with the manufacturer. The advantage here is that there is reasonable assurance that it will be fixed in one try. A problem with marginally packaged DVD's is that there is a high likelihood that if the first set had a loose disk the next will as well; and the next, and the next....

Yah think maybe the studios can spend a few extra pennies to keep those discs in a firm position? Prices for box sets in the $50-$100 range is more than enough justification for them to do so.

Maybe if more people return their shitty and crappy-built sets, the studios will be forced to make something more durable during shipping.

Here's an irony: I bought the UK R2 "Hellraiser" cube (and I know there have been many comments on that packaging). As the hubs were amazingly tight (so much so that the discs look in danger of cracking when you take them out), no discs were dislodged, but at least two of the discs were really scratched up!! Some other boxsets have arrived with loose discs but no (or negligible) scratches... certainly nothing as bad as that HR set...

Dazza.

My thoughts exactly...only substitute $ with £

I don't see why a loose disc itself would be a problem. If the disc is scratched, scuffed or otherwise has a visible flaw, that's when I take it back.

I just bought Quantum Leap Season 3 yesterday. There weren't any loose discs, but the second disc had a scratch/scuff on it, so I exchanged it. Could it have played just fine? Maybe. But I don't want to buy a new disc that's got a flaw like that I can see.

If there is so much as a scratch or scuff the disc goes back. I open my stuff in the parking lot right when I purchase it. If I get one from an online source it goes back at their expense.
I'm paying for a NEW DVD, not a slightly new DVD. If you bought a car and got it home and noticed a scratch or scuff...you'd be on your way back to the dealership in a flash.
I get many scratched DVD's. In fact it seems like almost every other one I purchase has to go back. I'm tired of it and it gets embarrassing having to face the return desk, but I work hard for my cash and should get a perfect product when I pay for it to be perfect.
The studios should all review their production methods and come up with a better way to pack and produce their product. And here's a little tip to get them started...stop producing and packing in Mexico. The problems have really increased in a major way since this location was chosen for production. Finger prints, scratches and scuffs have become the norm these days.
DVD purchases have become such a major headache. It's so hard to just get a clean copy of almost anything these days.

I bought a couple of dark angel (one for me, one for my sister) dvd sets when amazon was having the sale a few months back. So I open them up & one of the sets is missing a disc. I email amazon & I have them send me a mailing label to return the set. At the same time they ship me a new one. I returned the defective one when I received the new one. Then a couple of weeks later they email me saying that they hadn't received the dvd set. I told them exactly what day I sent it, etc. They said okay, but they never received it. This kept me from purchasing from them for a few months until the fox sale rolled around & I had to get a couple sets. That's why it always surprises me when people say that they were allowed to keep the other set.

Hey I don't have a problem with that but as I said, the ONLY reason this bothers people is that they are collectors and that collectors tend to be anal retentive freaks. But people try to rationalize their analness by pretending that as a consumer, they want their money's worth so they expect a "perfect" product. This has nothing to do with the mentality of a "good consumer" because people apply different standards and only make a fuss about stuff they collect.

People also assume that "quality control" means "perfect" products. This is simply not so on the vast majority of mass produced consumer items, including DVD's. Let's face it, we're not talking about manufacturing and quality control on aircraft parts here. So yes, once in a while you're going to get a scuff or a scratch on a DVD, whether it's loose or not, and you're going to have to exchange it if it bothers you.

Just as long as when I get a disc with a scuff or scratch I'm not looked at as an anal retentive freak when I want to exchange it for another copy or set.

Just curious...why would you be an anal retentive freak if you did want to exchange it for a legit reason. Those who do exchange have listed several legit reasons to do so, and you come in here and basically threadcrap by calling everybody here anal retentive freaks?

This is what I was responding to. The fact that someone would say that im an anal retentive freak simply because I return a disc that may play fine but is scratched up. So please dont accuse me of threadcrapping before you think about what I said. I also never referred to anyone here as an anal retentive freak because they care about their dvds and want them to be mint when they buy them. I care about my collection as much as many of the other collectors on this board do and I want the discs to be factory sealed and fresh when they are purchased. I also expect to be able to exchange a disc simply because it is scratched up without catching any grief from anyone.

Not that there is anything wrong with being anal retentive. It certainly comes useful in several careers, and it makes for good auditors, of which I am one for a bank I work for.

Hey, although not in this particular case, I'm often an anal retentive freak myself. Accepting it is the first step towards personal enlightenment.

Not if it's an ad for their own product, as it very often (usually?) is.