Anyone had luck returning defective dvds to the manufacturers for replacement copies?
 

I was wondering this as I have been running into a few discs lately that just seemed to have died. There is not a mark on them but they will not even load on any dvd player no matter what the brand.

I ran into this recently with my Criterion copy of A Night To Remember. I hadn't watched it in a while and was going to trade it. When I checked it before the trade, it no long would work in any of my dvd players. This was a copy that I had bought new and had only watched once or twice. The other trader suggested contacting Criterion quality control...which I did. They had me mail my disc into them & they mailed me a brand new copy out! Awesome customer service! :up:

Now I was about to sell my copy of The Apostle and when I went to check it, it was doing the exact same thing. I have not watched it in several years but there is not a mark on it. I cleaned but it still will not even load. I tried 4 different dvd players all made by different companies.

I shot an email to Universal Studios but have not gotten a response yet. I was just curious if any of you have run into this before with the larger studios. I now know that Criterion handled it well and I have heard that Anchor Bay has similar good customer service but have never really heard about the big guys.

Recently received the 'Lone Gunmen' series on dvd only to find out that disc 2 contained identical episodes on each side.
I contacted Fox who sent out a replacement disc for me without having to return anything, couple this with the fact i live in the UK and i'd have to commend them on their service etc.

A while back i purchased the 'Christopher Lee Boxset' from an online retailer and found the 'Circus Of Fear' disc to be at fault....a replacement from the online retailer proved to be the same so i returned it directly to Blue Underground who duly replaced it with a non faulty copy.

I too had a defective copy of "A Night to Remember." (Only watched it once or twice.) Criterion took care of it without any problem. I also had a brand new copy of The Cell that wouldn't load right out to the case. Contacted New Line and they sent me a new copy after I mailed the bad one back to them.

Criterion took care of a DVD that I had problem with. Pretty painless.

I can't speak for other studios. They usually take care of a defective DVD ONLY when it is a common defect that they have to deal with.

Bandai Entertainment (anime) is also good at exchanging defective discs.

Kino just sent me my replacement for a defective disc. Did you Universal's form on their website to contact them? For the larger studios messages can get lost if not directed to the right source.

I sent my copy of Kentucky Fried Movie to Anchor Bay about 4 months ago...still waiting on the replacement disc to come in the mail. :grunt:

I just used Universal's form on their website since it was the only contact I could find. Anyone know of a different one for them?

I had no problem with my Anchor Bay, Sony and Criterion returns.

I'm doing one now with Rhino for MST3K set 7 disc 4, but they don't require you to return the disc first.

The only one I ever tried w/ was Leon and I never heard anything back from Columbia :(

Good luck with Universal. I bought a factory sealed copy of the '78 Battlestar Galactica series off of Ebay. Disc 2 had a surface flaw on Side 2 near the hub that prevented the disc from loading. I contacted Universal several times and their response was because I didn't have a receipt and that I bought it on Ebay, they could only treat it as a "used" copy. So therefore, would not replace my defective disc. You'd think this would be a simple matter, you know, exchange a disc...but no...they had to make a big deal out of it. Amazing! Anyway, I had to contact the seller and fortunately he had a couple more copies and we exchanged full sets. I mailed mine back to him, and then he sent me another. Easy exchange, but I had to pay for shipping costs all over again...both ways.

But screw Universal and their customer service.

There have been certain known defects for which I did replacement programs with Kino and Anchor Bay. I believe both Disney and Fox have a form you can fill out for defective discs.

DJ

No problems with Anchor Bay (Heathers, FM and The Wicker Man) and Universal (Back to the Future Trilogy: Widescreen Edition and Monty Python's The Meaning of Life), but I cannot get anyone at Warner Home Video to acknowledge, let alone process, my exchange request for Kiss Me Kate.

I've had other defective/damaged discs, but I've just exchanged them at the retail level.

I've only had to return 2 DVDs for replacement:

Defective Opera - Anchor Bay :up: (got a surprise free DVD)
"Defective" Back to the Future - Universal :up: quick turnaround

My original KFM went bad as well. I've sent 2 or 3 emails to AB through the link on their website and have never gotten a response.

They used to be pretty good about this stuff - they replaced my Heathers, Opera (got a free Moonlighting DVD too!) and maybe one other over the years.

I bought a Warner WWII box-set at Sams (with Big Red One, Battleground, Where Eagles Dare, The Dirty Dozen, The Battle of the Bulge, and To Have and Have Not). I gave a couple of these away before I got around to playing To Have and Have Not. When I opened the factory sealed package I found a single- sided , unlabeled DVD that was severely scratched and covered with fingerprints (as bad or worse than any used DVD I've ever purchased). I had to put the DVD in my player to find out it was "She's All That" instead of To Have and Have Not.

I plan on trying to get the studio to make good on this, but haven't gotten around to it yet, primarily I suppose, because I don't know exactly who to contact.

How is that possible? They're not even the same studio.

I'm guessing with an OOP title that we are totally out of luck? My copy of Anchor Bay's The Bedroom Window is useless now.

UPDATE: Wow, it only took 9 minutes to get a reply from AB when I sent them an email about this just now. Unfortunately, the reply was "We no longer carry this title, so I'm afraid so."

I've had no problems with Anchor Bay witha bad Kentucky Fried Movie and they sent a completely new copy case and all, so now i have both versions of the cover art!

Back to the Future was no problem, but I did have a bad disc 2 in my Frankenstein from the Monster Legacy collection (I bought the set). I contacted Universal via e-mail explaining the exact problem and that I received it as a gift (well it is a gift set!) and did not have a receipt. The person I was in contact said that they do not normally do this and returns need to be made within 30 days, but made an exception, I mailed the disc in and received a replacement in a few weeks.

Those are the only defective discs that I have had and in the future if its not a widely known issue I first try to get a replacement from Best Buy without a receipt if it is a Universal disc and its after 30 days (has anyone ever tried that?).

I grabbed Ghosts of the Abyss the last time MG had a sale. I popped it in and it wouldn't play. BVHE sent me a postage paid envelope, I mailed it in and within a week had a brand new copy of the DVD still factory sealed.

Tried to play it and had the same problem. Must be an incompatibility issue.

I guess that title was just in my head. It was some kind of "romantic comedy" with an african-american female lead, but I can't remember the name. I'll have to pop in the DVD when I get home tonight to check the title, since I'm going to need to know in order to complain to Warner Bros. Suffice it so say that instead of To Have and Have Not the DVD is single-sided, has no label or other identifying marks, is scratched, covered with fingerprints, and of some relatively recent "romantic comedy."

I've had success returning dvds to Criterion, Anchor Bay, and Warner Bros....

I bought one of the X-Files season box sets on Ebay. It was new and in shrinkwrap, but the first disc was warped and wouldn't play. Fox's web site gives an address to send defective discs to and says they will check it out and get back to you, and that it costs like $7 a disc. I sent the box set in, never heard back, but did receive a new box set a few weeks later.

I received a replacement "Butterfly Effect" from Alliance Atlantis.
I received a replacement "Opera" from Anchor Bay.
I received a replacement "The Adventures of Tintin volume 1" from Anchor Bay UK.

To Have and Have Not isn't part of the WWII set. It's part of the Bogart set.

Yeah, I realized that when I went back to Sams looking for another one. I guess I got two things wrong: the collection name and the name of the title I got in the To Have and Have Not case, which is "What's Love Got to do With It." That's what I get for trusting my memory.