Defective DVD -- not a mastering error?

POSTED BY: oldFart
UPDATED: Tuesday, May 10, 2005 18:20
VIEWED: 8043
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OLDFART

Friday, February 13, 2004 2:39 AM

I purchased the "Firefly" boxed set from Amazon.com a few months ago. We've been enjoying the set, playing only about one episode a week, in order to savor each episode. Unfortunately the last DVD is defective. In the episode "Heart of Gold" the DVD player hangs in the middle of one of the last chapters (either 9 or 10 as I recall). We tried the disc on a different make and model player and it also hangs in about the same location. In effect a considerable portion of the episode, about 10 minutes, is not viewable.

The disc itself is not visibly damaged, there are no marks of any kind, scratches or smudges. This is the only DVD I have ever had trouble playing(and that includes a lot of local rentals).

Since there are no visible defects in the media itself I thought that this might be a mastering error. But in searching the site I wasn't able to find anybody else howling about not being able to play the last disc. Still if somebody confirms that there isn't some known problem with this set, I'll feel better.

The Amazon site says that replacement of defective merchandise should be arranged with the original manufacturer whenever possible. I tried contacting FoxTVDVD about getting a replacement of just the one disc, but I've heard nothing back -- silence. Guess I'll have to bite the bullet and send the whole set back to Amazon. *sigh*

HOLGRAVE

Friday, February 13, 2004 4:26 PM

I had some problems with my last DVD as well. When I looked closer at the bottom of it, though, there were what looked sort of like fingerprints (not mine) that wouldn't wipe off. I went at it with windex and managed to get it off, then everything worked fine...

OLDFART

Friday, February 13, 2004 6:16 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by holgrave:
... I went at it with windex and managed to get it off, then everything worked fine...

Certainly worth a try -- thanks!!

LONGHAULER

Wednesday, March 24, 2004 12:36 PM

Not shiny. I brought the same set but from a local retailer - I've not experienced any problems, but if it makes you feel any better, Amazon are ultra-quick. Simply call them, explain the situation and ask them to send you a pre-paid label either by email or via post and you can send the damaged set back while keeping the new set which will be dispatched as soon as you report it.

Only one thing - if Amazon do not receive your old set after thirty days, they'll charge you for it.

Best of Luck, stay shiny.

L O N G H A U L E R

ECGORDON

Wednesday, March 24, 2004 12:55 PM

I concur with Longhauler. I had the same problem with the first set I ordered from them, only it was with disc three, and mainly on the "War Stories" episode. I emailed them, and even before they informed me of it they had sent out a replacement copy.

As it turned out, it might have been my player, since I took the first set when I visited my son shortly after Christmas, and everything played fine on his machine. And wouldn't you know, he fell in love with the show too (had not seen it before) and talked me into letting him have it. So the second set ended up being mine.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

OLDFART

Thursday, March 25, 2004 2:53 PM

How did you contact them?

ECGORDON

Thursday, March 25, 2004 3:33 PM

Go to amazon, click on the "My Account" tab in the upper right corner of the page, then click on the GO button to the right of the "View by Item" search box. Select your order for Firefly, then on the next page click on the button that says "Need to return an item?" Select "Product is defective" as the reason for return, enter "1" in the quantity field, then on the next page you can select either refund or replacement for the item. There is also a box where you can enter the details of the defects.

You should hear back from them in a day usually.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

ATHERTONWING

Thursday, March 25, 2004 3:44 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by oldFart:
I purchased the "Firefly" boxed set from Amazon.com a few months ago. We've been enjoying the set, playing only about one episode a week, in order to savor each episode. Unfortunately the last DVD is defective. In the episode "Heart of Gold" the DVD player hangs in the middle of one of the last chapters (either 9 or 10 as I recall). We tried the disc on a different make and model player and it also hangs in about the same location. In effect a considerable portion of the episode, about 10 minutes, is not viewable.

The disc itself is not visibly damaged, there are no marks of any kind, scratches or smudges. This is the only DVD I have ever had trouble playing(and that includes a lot of local rentals).

Since there are no visible defects in the media itself I thought that this might be a mastering error. But in searching the site I wasn't able to find anybody else howling about not being able to play the last disc. Still if somebody confirms that there isn't some known problem with this set, I'll feel better.

The Amazon site says that replacement of defective merchandise should be arranged with the original manufacturer whenever possible. I tried contacting FoxTVDVD about getting a replacement of just the one disc, but I've heard nothing back -- silence. Guess I'll have to bite the bullet and send the whole set back to Amazon. *sigh*

HEY! i have knowladge yes me the no knowladge guy has the info!

the last disc of my firefly dvd set was also defective, heart of gold wouldnt work at all and thats where the very nice people at amazon helped me out. I just clicked on one of the 'got a problem?' links on the site and wrote a short email explaining what was wrong. and recieved this email back.

Thanks for contacting us at Amazon.com.

"First, please allow me to apologize for the problem you experienced
with your shipment. I have placed a new order for this item. There
will of course be no charge for this replacement. Here are the
details of the new order:

Order Number: 001-9906561-7709051
Shipping Speed: Priority International Europe Shipping
Estimated Delivery Date: March 02, 2004-March 04, 2004

As the cost of return shipping is prohibitively expensive in this
case, you do not need to return the original item.

I hope this solution is satisfactory. Thank you again for shopping
at Amazon.com."

And within a few days i got a brand new boxset and due to the fact i live in England and shipping would be 'HIGH' i got to keep both my boxsets. and due the the brilliant way amazon handled the whole thing they will be expecting my custom again and again ( through fireflyfans.net of course) hope this helps in some way.

GKAT

Tuesday, September 7, 2004 10:08 AM

I bought the set from a local dealer, a large chain, & had to take it back 3 times, 'cause the Heart of Gold episode crapped out on me on each set. The fourth set I watched as soon as I got home, and it was flaky but it worked. 3 months later, I just tried to watch it again, and it's haveing big problems. Sounds like mastering wasn't Quality Controlled or something.

G-Kat

MRGREEN

Tuesday, September 7, 2004 2:42 PM

Somethings you guys should try is to first try and watch the episode on a computer. The drives in a computer tend to be slightly higher quality that those in consumer DVD players, and can handle 'funky' discs a little better.

If it works well/better I would suggest that you rip the original and burn a copy onto a new DVD-R. If there is some sort of microscopic flaw with the original, the computer should (hopefully) use the data-correction information in the MPEG file to rebuild it on the disc image, and then when you burn a new copy it will be without the defect, and should play smoothly.

This has the added benifit of keeping your original discs in thier cases where they belong. :)

Rob

If you can't run, you crawl, and if you can't crawl, well, if you can't do that, you find someone to carry you.

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