So after years of hearing my fellow nerds sing its praises, I finally took the plunge and bought Babylon 5: the Complete Series via Amazon. So I start watching it and I'm getting into it and I get to the end of the second-to-last disc of Season 2, at which point I go to pull out the last disc of Season 2 and find ... nothing. There's just an empty slot where the disc should be.

Anyone ever encounter something like this? What do I do? I could return it to Amazon, I suppose, but their policy is no exchanges, only returns. Which means I will have to return the entire set (all five seasons plus the movies; it's a 15-inch long brick of DVDs) and then reorder it. If I call Warner Brothers, will they send me a replacement disc?

Mostly, it's frustrating because we're right at the start of a long weekend. I won't be able to get hold of anyone from WB or Amazon unti Tuesday.

Man, this sucks. Everyone told me the series hit its stride right around the middle-to-end of Season Two and damned if they weren't right. I want to know what happens next.

Help!

You mean you bought it at Best Buy or Target and will be bringing it back to exchange it for one with the proper amount of discs right? =p

Amazon is actually really good with returns. Just email them and tell them the situation and stress the fact that your upset you cannot finish watching the season. They will probably send you a replacement and have you sprint out a return slip (prepaid) and just drop off the "defective set" at a post office.

The last time I tried to exchange a DVD at Best Buy witout a receipt (I may have ordered a DVD from Amazon and it may have come scratched and I may not have wanted to hassle with shipping it back to them ... hypothetically), they demanded to know which store I had bought it from, how I had paid, etc. so they could look me up in their computer. When I told them I paid cash and didn't give them my phone number, the reaction was "Then no exchange for you!"

I don't get it, since they are just going to ship it back to the manufacturer anyway, but apparently, that's their policy.

I used to have better luck at Borders, but they have stopped carrying DVDs (around here, anyway).

But Target is an idea I hadn't thought of.

Call Amazon, period.

I bought One Tree Hill Season One from Traget and went home to open it and found it was missing one disc, I took it back to them for an exchange.

It's bad enough that he will have to wait to see what happens next ... but making him run laps too?!

Why not call at 18002017575 or email AMAZON. Here's their General Returns Policy
You may return most new, unopened items sold and fulfilled by Amazon.com within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. We'll also pay the return shipping costs if the return is a result of our error (you received an incorrect or defective item, etc.). Read our full General Returns Policy for information on exchanges, and for further details and policy exceptions.

Also there's someone there today because I had to exchange an incorrect item. I emailed them from Your Account section and a new order was placed within 10 minutes and now all I have to do is drop the package off at either UPS or PO at my convience within 30 days. So there's your chance to swap out the discs you know play correctly.

I actually had a problem with Season 4 OF B5. My copy had two copies of disc 2 in it, and no disc 1. I just took it to where I bought it and exchanged it.

As an update, I decided to try Best Buy on Saturday. I told them I didn't have a receipt, but the set was defective, and could I exchange it for the same thing. The clerk acted like he was doing me a huge favor on the same level as donating a kidney, but he made the exchange. Thanks, Best Buy!

So instead of going through the "hassle" of returning via Amazon (where they essentially do 90% of the work for you), you went to Best Buy and got hassled by a clerk.

Jesus, stop acting so afraid; next time it happens, just let Amazon know of the situation. As someone who's done a couple of returns at both places, I guarantee you it'll be a much easier process than whatever you went through at Best Buy.

I was watching my DVD Saturday night instead of having to wait until much later (probably Thursday at the earliest) to be able to keep watching. I certainly wasn't afraid (if i had that tone in my initial post, understand that it wasn't fear -- it was an intense desire to find out what happens next on the show!)

That's why I always have Netflix as a backup, in case a disc goes bad/missing and I need to find out what happens while I wait for my replacement copy.

I'm just saying: when it comes to returns, Amazon's process is far more painless and smooth than Best Buy's, and it's probably the exact reason why I shop there so often, even when other stores offer better prices.

I'm surprised Best Buy would do the exchange and any abuse one gets from them in doing a replacement without a receipt is warranted.

It costs the company money to handle that transaction and it goes beyond just the labor of dealing with the customer. Now Best Buy has a defective set that they have to return to their distributor.

That there's a good chance they're being defrauded is why Best Buy has problems doing an exchange without a receipt.

So you returned the set to a place you didn't buy it from, they went ahead and replaced it for you, and you make a sarcastic remark like they are in the wrong. Yeah, ok.... Did you happen to break into any homes on your way home and get mad at the owners for locking their doors?

Glad to hear you can get back to watching it. Enjoy! My favorite show.

I have never understood why people around here don't just deal with returns the way they should, rather than take the fraud route. You buy from Amazon because you want the cheap prices, but you go to Best Buy because you want the convenience if there is a problem. Pick one and stick with it.

Considering how easy Amazon's return process is, it's not a big hassle to just deal with them when you have the occasional problem.