I was about halfway through disk 3 of my Batman:TAS series Vol 3 disk last night when the picture froze up and turned into a pixellated mess. Usually this means a smudge on the disk, but in this case I've got about a quarter of an inch scratch in the surface of the disk itself. It's particularly annoying since this is the first time its been out of its slipcase. And it won't play at all in my computer. At this point I'm really not sure what to do. Judging from personal experience, stores are pretty touchy about replacing disks, especially after almost a week. I also purchased it at Best Buy, which isn't exactly known for its friendly and helpful customer service. Any suggestions?

If you only bought it for a week, and you still have receipt from Best Buy, I don't see why Best Buy won't replace the defective disc. Especially if it doesn't play at all. I buy a lot of DVDs from amazon.com. And I've encountered my share of the disc scratches. I clean the problem disc to see if it'll still work. Then if it still has problem, I would contact the store to get it replaced. If the problem is just a few seconds of freeze/skip, I usually just ignore it. But if it continues for several minutes or more, I would get it replaced.

You should contact WB customer service: E-mail address: [email protected]

Phone Number: (800) 364-6928

From what I've heard they are pretty good at replacing damaged discs though I've never dealt with them. You should be able to exchange the set a Bestbuy if you still have the receipt and it's been less than 30 Days.

Best of luck.

The length of the scratch isn't as important as the depth. If it's more of "gouge" than the typical "scratch" you see on a DVD, and you can't return the DVD, then you can try buffing it out.

I buy lots of used DVDs and I don't worry about scraches unless they're really deep. So far I have yet to buy one I couldn't buff out.

I took a bench grinder (that sells for about $30), removed the safety guards, and replaced the grinding wheels with cotton buffing wheels (that sell for about $6 each at places like Lowes and Builder's Square). Right now I'm using one "hard" and one "medium" because I have yet to find a store that stocks "soft." My experience with many DVDs tells me that the best combination would be "medium" and "soft," using the medium wheel to buff out the scratches and the soft wheel to polish the surface back to "like new." For now I just use the medium wheel, applying more pressure to remove the scratch, and less pressure for the final polishing.

Since this setup will cost you about $50 it's obviously not economical for fixing just one DVD. If you don't expect to do this enough to justify the expense you could take the DVD into a place like CD Warehouse and pay them the $3 or whatever they charge to buff a DVD.

This paragraph:
Should have read: The length of the scratch isn't as important as the depth. If it's more of the typical "scratch" you see on a DVD, not a "gouge," and you can't replace the DVD, then you can try buffing it out.

For future reference, you can easily edit your original post by clicking the edit button.

My recommendation is that if you've only had the DVD for a little while, it's still within the return window. The easiest (and quickest) thing to try would be to take it back to the store where you bought it for an exchange.

If the store turns you down for whatever reason, go with contacting Warner Bros.

like others have said, if it's only a week then you can definitely exchange it as long as you have a receipt. Returns/exchanges are allowed within 30 days.

I called this number to get some help in trying to replace a few damaged discs from some of my Smallville sets. The lady on the other end was offering no help at all and said that she couldn't or wouldn't do anything. I explained to her about the problems I have had with all three Smallville sets that I have pruchased from CH and them being damaged when they come in the mail due to their poor packaging. I also explained to her that I have already been through the whole process of receiving the first set and asking for another one due to damages which each of the first three sets. I have literally had six copies of the Smallville sets in my hands and not one of them didn't have at least a couple of loose and damaged discs. She told me that I would have to keep sending them back to the place I bought them from to get a functioning set (like this was ever going to happen). She also stated that this would be like trying to buy something at K-mart and then trying to return it for an exchange at Wal-mart. I told her that this is not the same. I also told her that I am simply trying to return a defective disc to the company that produces and distributes the sets (since they are the ones that usually are the ones that cause the damage to the sets or discs). I also stated to her that the problem with the Smallville sets is commonly known and that I'm sure that this isn't the first time she has ever heard of it. She tried to pass me off to some other lady with an address and by telling me to write her a letter. WB needs to get their shit together on this whole packaging deal and needs to be willing to accept responsibility to replace damaged discs that are caused by their incompetent design.