"This DVD would not play"

[Tim]

Is it just me? Or...

[mcmarc]

With the help of an obsessive-compulsive employee, we are slowly winning the war against scratched discs.  We have a machine of course, but we've also started catching some offenders and scolding them.

What I've also been doing is taking an informal poll from people who consistantly have problems playing discs.  What I've found is that they play them on game consoles, computers, those cheapo Chinese players and surprisingly Toshiba.  The $30 Magnavox players we bought for the store have played everything except for the Beck dvd, and we are trying to slowly (and kindly) educate our clientele that it might be time to upgrade.


marc
orbit dvd

[videovault]

Yes  because people just dont care  how they treat when they dont own it.

Those SOB's  

[sungifts]

When we started popping the "damaged" dvd in the player right in front of the customer to verify that it won't play, our "damaged re-rents" decreased!

We get very detailed in asking the customer what the dvd did, where it messed up, etc.  We put it in our player to check it out, ask lots of questions about where it messed up, what it was doing, etc., and let them see us logging their name, # and complaint.  All this is done before we offer a replacement!  

I think the customer watches how you respond and if they see you are willing to re-rent to them, no questions asked, they will take advantage of you!  That was happening before I changed the policy.

Now, they have to exchange for the SAME movie - if another copy is not in, we give them a card with the name of the movie they can come back and rent for free - or if possible, we offer to clean it wheil they wait.  You'd be surprised how many people change their tune (and their minds) when they hear it must be the SAME movie!

[BeckyJo]

Misty is right.  As soon as we started replacing with the same title, the damage complaints almost completely disappeared.  There is an occasional customer who will insist that they saw enough of the movie to know that they do not want to see the rest of it.   We have been kind of playing that one by ear.  If it is the first time, we let them take another title but we note that information on the account.  In other words, this will work one time for a customer.

[omahavideo]

Exact same policy here. We let them know our policy is to get the same movie for another rental period. If they are adamant, we let them know they a replacement 1 time and note it on their account.

[PhabyN]

Our Venmill was damaging our discs for awhile and it killed us. I still don't trust it again and that sucks.

The desk it is on became unlevel and began actually warping discs in a hard to notice, bowl-like way. Had to send it in and everything.

Between that and the fact that it seems like we're getting more and more brand-new discs that freeze and things, I had to vote for a diffinite spike.

[amanda]

we make them sit in the store and go thru half of the dvd trying to find the "bad spot" because it was "skipping all over the place"

we usually give them the another copy.

funny story, it woulda been about last month, when i told the customer that she couldnt have her money back, and we had a good ol yelling match in the store. exchanges, yes... money back, no

[premier-video]

We have the same policy.  And some of the same issues with customers wanting another movie not the one that messed up!

We actually had one customer call us and say that the movie was not working so I said we had another copy they could come get.  We even took that copy and ran it on our resurfacer to get it perfect.  When she got here she walked in and DEMANDED that we refund her the rental cost and give her another copy for FREE!  She insisted that they were always having problems with our discs (but for some reason those movies that were always giving them problems were always late).  Needless to say she has never been back in and did not take that copy we had cleaned just for her.

[sungifts]

Our policy is:

1.  Offer to clean the one they have

2.  exchange for the SAME title - if none available, they get a "damaged rerent card" to use later when we do have a copy in

3.  If we only have 1 copy of the damaged movie, they can choose another movie of equal value (this eliminates exchanging catalog dvds for new releases)

**BUT - if they are late - they have lost all rights to do anything!    

If time permits, we will pop it in the DVD player and ask "Where did you say it messed up at?"

The best yet (after popping the movie in our dvd player and not finding any problems) is "I just didn't like the movie - can I just exchange for another?"

[nerothehero]

I just punch them in the face and tell them that should clear the movie up for them.  People only complain once, for some reason.

[PappyDan]

we had the same problem too.
it did not work right and they wanted a different movie.
we caught on to the new game too after a while, it ended after we decided to give them a copy of the same movie.
now some that stated it would not work asked for another copy because they really wanted to see it, on these we are still puzzled because the DVD was brand new and they were the 1st or 2nd renter, no scratches or finger prints.
even after trading it out with a different copy some came back in and stated it still would not play.

on these customers we have it marked on there account what studio will not play on their machine.
as of today I have 56 customers that cannot play a Disney DVD at all.
14 that cannot play trimark and 3 that cannot play any thing from warner.

[amanda]

have you asked them how they have their dvd players hooked up? The customers that we had that said a Disney movie didnt work was because of the copyright protection, because they had it running through their vcr.

[VideoRocks]

Amanda is right.  f the DVD player goes through a VCR on it's way to the TV you'll get copyguard interferance on those discs that have it.  I bet Disney is one studio that uses it often.

[amanda]

disney uses it all the time, and its a mad setup. The screen goes black, and then does like a 'bad tracking thing' then cuts back to the show for 2 seconds and is all pink, then to a split screen thing. on the ones ive seen. and its IMPOSSIBLE to watch.