So I'm just doing some DVD browsing on Amazon, and I come across the soon to be released Samurai Jack 2-season pack and underneath the title, price, and availability section, I see this warning/advice:

First time I've seen it. Ironically I agree with it. I have received many mutli-disc sets with loose discs, yet I do not panick. I don't immediately go ape-shit and call customer service, or in the case of B&M purchases, I don't go back in and make a scene. Why? Because like this "warning" goes, they are correct. Just because a disc is loose doesn't mean that it's damaged in any way. What I do is just to take a quick one over of the playing surface and check for scratches or scuffs, if none, then I say, "cool". Even if I find minor scratches or scuffs, alot of the time, they're removable with a quick alcohol cleaning.

When I see a lot of folks going back and back and back to the store to get their perfect little set of whatever, I just sit here and . It's like, "Have you tried the disc?" My feelings are, if it plays, then that's good enough. Now I realize that there's so many different players out there that act differently, but if they'll play on your best player, then what are you worried about?

Not only that, but returning undamaged discs needlessly drives up prices for the studio and therefore for the consumer.

Nahh, I'd bang 'em on it. If you open it up and the disk is in perfect condition, then I would keep it. But if it's scratched up, I would return it immediately. As a more serious collector, I've spent way too much money to have "bum" disks floating around.

I just wish distributors would allocate more resources to prevent DVDs from dislodging, period, than the ten plastic locking tabs and security stickers used to secure the DVDs within the case. Shit, every time I mail a DVD out to someone, I always use bubble wrap or something comparable inside the case to make sure the disk stays in the hub through shipping.

However, you would most definately know whether or not you have a floater before you even have it rung up. So, I'm not sure the B&M argument would apply.

Though, I have no problem with Amazon's request. It makes perfect sense for the average joe purchaser. If it cooerces more than half of that crowd from sending DVDs back, it might keep the overall cost of business down for Amazon (which translates over to the customer - hopefully). .. more along the lines of where Illenium was going.

Right.

I also put myself in the place of the customer service rep that had to deal with the exchanges, et al. I mean, it's the overly picky customers that make a lot of service employees irritable.

Sure, if the merchandise is severely damaged, then by all mean go through the return process, but if they're just loose, with no major blemishes, then try the discs out before causing yourself and the retailer the trouble.

And who knows, in the long run, the retailer may drop prices as they won't have to continuously pay for double shipping.

i don't have a problem with it as long as the disc plays. unfortunately, unless they have changed their policy, there is a 30 day limit and i have some boxsets to watch that are waaaayyyy over 30 days old.

Yeah, I know. Me too. I have several that are past date that I haven't watched yet.

They should just start putting a small piece of styrofoam inside the case between the front of the case and the disc itself.That should keep the discs from coming loose prior to being purchased.Wouldn't cost squat either.

The styrofoam thing sounds good, but then again the studios are so cheap they saw fit to remove the chapter insert sheet, so it's probably too much to ask. They'd much rather spend the money on sticking ad sheets in it's place.

Well so far I have recieved 4 sets of Smallville from CH and all 4 of the sets have had at least 3 loose discs that were scratched to Kingdom Come and back. I will continue to call and ask for replacements of these sets until I get 3 fully functioning season sets. Its not my fault that Warner has made craptacular packaging for this series and the discs look like they come from Freddy Krueger's collection. Should I spend my hard earned money on something and just accept it however it is? It doesnt take a genius for someone to figure out how to make packaging that doen't allow 3 floating discs during shipping. And if one cant figure that out then just go with a packaging style that has already been proven to work.

Until they can prevent a floater...then they can expect a few people to actually return a fucked up disc. Still plays...but it's all scuffed up? Sorry...it's still fucked up. You can look at it as damaged but still playable...but it's still damaged, readable or not. A scuff or cut on the disc could cause a problem later. You can say, no, it won't...but I think it's silly to take a chance. Have I ever returned a floater? Only once. Back when I was making rookie mistakes while starting my library. That disc was scuffed, but even then, I didn't hesitate in getting a non-floater. Seemed like a no-brainer. I've never been one of those hardcore seekers of the perfect case or disc....I've always managed to find them without really trying. I've ordered over 500 dvds online and have recieved zero floaters....and about 10 damaged cases. Just lucky I guess. I always do the shake, rattle and roll when shopping at the stores. Many say they are confused in telling the difference between a floating disc and a booklet or adcard. I think it's fairly obvious when a disc is sliding around...it's a totally different feeling than a booklet. Boxsets.....I suppose you just roll the dice. So far, so good.

I charge $95 an hour in my line-o-work...and if I cause the most minute amount of damage on an item, no client in his right mind would keep his mouth shut. I wouldn't expect him to. He's paying for something to be done right...if it's not....it's repaired and taken care of. No bitching involved. No stress of rising costs. Just present the fucking thing in the shape it's supposed to be in.

And the next time I order from Amazon and finally get a dancing disc with scars? They will provide the facelift.

Or it might provoke them to get off their asses and design a case hub that actually holds the discs in place.

I've received about 10 floaters all together, and only one had playback issues (no surprise to regulars here that it was one of the Univesal monsters releases). Most of the others didn't even show any visible marks, and even those that did cleaned up easily and played perfectly.

My feelings are this is horseshit. If I paid for a brand-new DVD, then by God, I better get a brand-new DVD. Playability be damned. If Amazon gets the full value of my $$$, then I better get the full value of my purchase, even on so admittedly superficial a level as the quality of the packaging.

I totally agree. I don't care if the disc just plays, I paid top dollar for a brand new item, and I expect the item to be in brand new condition. Let me make my own scratches. Sometimes discs get scratched from use, but if you keep a disc that came scratched and then add a couple of your own scratches, now you have a disc with a lot of scratches instead of a couple of scratches you would of had if the disc came in new condition. Screw That!

I agree. If it's advertised as brand new, then I should receive it brand new. If I buy a shirt and it has a hole in it, I'll return the shirt. Just because it fits, does that mean I should keep it?

Some of these responses are kind funny...

Oh but hey, I understand that, but if the loose discs are scratch free I see no reason to make a fuss and go through the motions of returning it. But sure, if they are scratched, then sure. Go ahead and return it.

For those with the 24 sets, ought to know that they are some of the worst hubs I've ever seen. When I received my first season set, there were several loose discs. And even when putting the discs back on their hubs, they were barely held on. However, they all played just fine.

My biggest problem seems to be disc surface flaws. You know, those swirley watery marks on the recorded surface itself. I don't know how many discs I have gotten that have that problem. Some play fine, and some haven't.

Most of them seem to be from the Andromeda series. When I got my v4.3 set, I had a digital break up and freeze up around the 28 minute mark on one episode and none of the episode played beyond that point. Another disc like that were two copies of Bat*21. In a double order shipment mix-up from DDD, I had Bat*21 in the shipment. Neither copy was good. Both discs had MAJOR surface flaws on BOTH sides of the disc (WS & FS sides). They'd pixelate, break-up and freeze.

If I wanted a disc to look like a Blockbuster previewed copy i would go ahead and purchase one there and save that money (what little it is since Blockbuster tries to charge close to new price for the previewed copies of recently released dvds).

I received a Gilmore Girls season 2 with a duplicate disc 2 once..they told me
to keep the set and shipped a brand new season 2 set.

If the disc is scratched to death (hasn't happened yet) I'd return it. One or two minor scratches and the disc plays? I'd clean it with alcohol and keep it. Not worth the hassle on a $20 item. If I'd paid $100 for it, then yeah I'd make a fuss. To me it's a matter of degree. And I don't exactly buy the "I paid for it, I expect perfection" argument either. I'd argue that a lot of items you buy on a regular basis aren't "perfect" and if people applied those same high standards to everything they bought, they'd be spending a lot of their time returning items.

So, why do people make such a fuss in this specific instance? Simple, collectors tend to be anal retentive freaks.

But there in lies the difference--these mystery items to which you refer, are they collectibles or not? I don't care if, say, the label on my milk carton is perfect because nobody collects milk cartons (at least not enough people to be considered a normal type of collecting activity), but if my DVDs, CDs, books, posters, etc. have faults then, yes, I hold them to the same high standards and back they'll go...

I just want to thank Mike for proper use of the word "loose".

I've had one floater, no visible damage, played well, no big deal. But I'd send one back if it was damaged. Really does seem obvious.

Exactly. And since I want to be able to resell my disc to a collector if I need to, I insist that a new disc not be scratched or scuffed.

I've got about eight box sets that I haven't watched yet, but I always open them when they arrive and take a visual look at each disc. If I don't see anything abnormal (scratches, scuffs, etc.) then I simply put the boxset in my library for future viewing. This way I don't have to worry about opening a boxset after the exchange period is over and finding unplayable discs.

I returned one disc...Rounders SE. The middle (the plastic thing where the DVD goes) was cracked so the disc had nothing to snap into. I wanted a new case, and the disc was a bit scratched....but a broke case is annoying.

Yeah. My number one reason for returning a disc that had any slight blemish but was still playable would be for resale/trade-in value. If I decide to part with it down the road its going to be worth less.

I just dumped a whole bunch of dvds that were perfectly watchable but looked like crap in my yard sale.