Ketamine

I bought a copy of a mixed martial arts dvd last week. The dvd was Extreme Challenge XXIII. I brought it home and it came up with a disc error. I took a look at it and could see no visible reason why it wouldn't work. After trying it a few different times with the same results, I took it back. BB had one more in stock and I exchanged it and took it home. Again, the exact same problem, error loading disc. I took it back today and was told I was out of luck since they can only exchange for the same disc and since they didn't have one in stock, I would just have to wait and hope they get another one in. I talked to them some more and said that while I understand their concern with giving my money back, I really didn't want to be stuck with a bad disc. Again, I heard "Sorry but we can't give your money back b/c of copyright concerns. How would we know that you didn't just copy it then return it?" Again, I was told to try back again later and if they didn't get one in the next month (30 days to return an item) then I would have to work it out with a manager).

The person that was helping me was a young girl and I really didn't want to press the issue much more b/c I had other things to do so I said I would try back later. Now here is my question.

How would you go about fixing this issue if you were in my shoes? It is a good bet that they won't be getting more of this dvd in b/c it is an obscure title that I have not seen elsewhere and they only had 2 in stock when I bought the first one and no other BB in town has it. Also, this title doesn't show up on the bestbuy.com web site which doesn't seem like a good sign to me. Since it is a little bit of a drive for me to get to BB, I don't want to have to keep checking back waiting for something to get something in that I doubt they will ever get. My plan is to go back next week and if they don't have one in then go straight to a manager. If I have problems then I will ask them to try playing it in one of their players. I would guess that if it didn't work then they would know that I didn't copy it. I guess there is a chance that it just won't play in my dvd player, but I don't think so for 2 reasons. 1) I bought Extreme Challenge XXII (the dvd that came before the one I am having problems with) and it plays just fine. 2) This dvd doesn't look like the company has the highest production standards and I wouldn't doubt if they have some bad baches of dvds. I would like to try it on another player before going back, but don't really know anyone else with a dvd player except one person and they have the same player as mine.

Anyone here work at BB that can give me some advice? Anyone else? How would you handle this situation?

P.S. Please don't turn this into a BB bashing thread. OK to state negatives about the company but please only if it explains a situation similar to mine in order to give me more info on what to expect the next time I go in demanding another disc/credit/or money back. Thanks

sracer

First, I would point out to them that this is the second disc of the same title that you returned. Show them your driver's license, show them that it is not convenient to keep coming to the store....that if you were simply trying to copy it, you would've just tried to get a refund the first time around and not go through this hassle...nor would you be trying to get yet another copy of the film.

Have them try the disc in one of their players.

If you are a fairly frequent customer and have paid by credit card, ask them to pull up a report of your purchases, and that you haven't tried to return a disc before (assuming that you haven't).

If you want a better chance of getting your money back, help them see that the disc is damaged.

Heat

Have you taken the DVD to a friend's house to try on their player?

Also, what is the make and model of your player?

If the DVD works on your friend's player, you could always just take your DVD player to Best Buy to show them that the DVD doesn't play on your machine. They might give you an exchange then. Of course, if the DVD doesn't work with your friend's player then there is a good chance that it will not work at a Best Buy player, so when they try it it won't work and they will give you a refund.

POWERBOMB

As long as you are within the printed guidelines return policy, you should get a voucher or exchange for something else. Politly try again.

Ketamine

I need to look at it again but I believe that once you open something, then you can only exchange for the same item. That is where I am having the problem b/c they don't currently have the same item and they say I just need to try back when they do. The problem with that is that the 30 day retuen date gets closer every day and it is a pain for me to go back and see if they have another one in stock.

Ketamine

I have not tried it on my friend's dvd player but since his is the exact same machine as mine (Toshiba SD-1200), I still wouldn't know if it was a specific problem only with that disc and my type of player. I would really like to try it on another model and see if it worked.

I just need to try again and see if it works at BB. I can't imagine that if it was defective on one of their machines also that they would give me a hard time about giving my money back. The thing that I am afraid of is that they will give me a hard time.

POWERBOMB

That is true of their return policy. But you do have the option of having a tech try the disc to see if it may be a problem on your player. There has to be a little lee-way in that they may not get the item w/in the 30 days. Try this:Go into the store and ask to speak to the Operations Sup. Explain your issue and ask for alternatives. Give them the option of coming up with a solution. If they don't have one, ask for a voucher or in-store credit. [If you paid with a credit card, they should be able to get your money back to the card.] The worse you can do is sit and wait. However, any purchase after Black Friday is considered a "gift" so you have 30 days from Dec. 25th to return your product. Maybe they will have it in if all else fails.

jimmywong

I would ask to see a manager immediatly and explain to him the problem. If he will not give you your money back or store credit, then I would say to him:

YOU sold me defective merchandise and if you can't give me a replacement copy then it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to give me my money back. It is not my fault that your merchandise was defective, but what you are saying it is MY RESPONSIBILITY to keep coming back here to see if you have another disk. I am telling you I did not copy this disc, so you are complicating the matter by calling me a liar. Futhermore since the disc is defective, how could I copy it???

If he is still anal (like the BB near Almeda in Houston), ask for the district mananger's name and phone # and try to get him to sign a piece of paper stating exactly what he told you. If he is so adamant that he is following store policy, then he shouldn't have any trouble putting it in writing - but he won't do it.

Can you tell I've had a few problems lately with BB??

Ketamine

Well, I went back today and got things worked out. Actually I was going to the other side of town so I thought I would try the BB there. Went in and explained my story to date. They were very nice and said they can't give my money back but would give a store credit. I said great and went back to get another title. They happened to have the same dvd so since I really wanted it I went ahead and picked it up. When I went back I asked if they would put the old dvd into one of their machines so I would know if it were a disc thing or a problem with my dvd player. They said sure and guess what, it played on their player. It did take a long time to load but did eventually play. So it was a problem with my player. They were still very nice and said go ahead and get a different dvd (even though it wasn't really their problem). They could have easily said tough break, but they didn't so I walked away very happy and have to give that BB an A+ for the day.

P.S. I bought Blood Simple without seeing it per reviews on this site. I hope it is a good one. Thanks everyone for the replies.

jimmywong

Even with all my rambling, some BB managers are really customer-service oriented. Just not the one near my house!

POWERBOMB

Good to hear you got the problem fixed.

Ketamine

I got the problem fixed as far as trading it in for another movie but I am not happy that I can't play a dvd that I want on my player. What you gonna do?

dirtrat

I wouldn't assume the DVD is defective, especially since two in a row didn't work. Most likely your DVD player is having a compatibility issue. Yes, I know, its never had an ISSUE before. I've owned two Toshiba DVD players and they are notorious for these kind of problems. Most likely you are out of luck!

Ketamine

Right. I doubt my player is going, bad but it makes me mad that I can't play a dvd that I want. The *****y thing is that the player that they used at BB was a Toshiba, though it was a newer model.

POWERBOMB

Give your player to a charity, sell it to a friend/ebay and buy yourself a new player for xmas!