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Topic: Rental DVDs Damaged More Than Tapes

David Stambaugh
Film God

Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 08-04-2003 04:54 PM

Unless you hand the returned disc(s) directly to a clerk who immediately inspects them for damage in your presence before checking them in, you'll have people claiming "That disc was in perfect condition when I dropped it off! One of your employees must have scratched it. I'm not paying." The big chain stores have drive-by dropoff bins for returning discs. Who knows what happens to those discs after you drop them down the chute? At least that's what people will argue if they're accused of damaging them...

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Bruce McGee
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1776
From: Asheville, NC USA... Nowhere in Particular.
Registered: Aug 1999

posted 08-04-2003 08:42 PM

I get lots of rental DVD's. I usually end up washing most of them to get all of the goo and fingerprints off.

None of my own discs are scratched. I dont do that.

BTW: How does a defective DVD damage a player?

Just wondering.

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 08-05-2003 06:44 AM

The only way I can see how is if an abrasive piece of dirt stuck to the disc surface finds its way onto the pickup lens (or other critical part) by centrifugal force once the disc is spinning.

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Bruce McGee
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1776
From: Asheville, NC USA... Nowhere in Particular.
Registered: Aug 1999

posted 08-05-2003 07:25 AM

Thanks, Leo. Thats what I thought it might be.

I bought my first DVD player at Christmas this year. Since then, I have been given 2 of them. Friends that smoke run their machines until they die, then replace them. You'd be amazed at how dirty the laser lens gets from second-hand smoke. BOTH of these free machines work fine after the cleanings. One is in the bedroom, and the other is hooked to the shop TV.

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Chris Hipp
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1462
From: Mesquite, Tx (east of Dallas)
Registered: Jul 2003

posted 08-05-2003 03:03 PM

This is the main reason why I don't rent DVDs or video games.
When I tried netflix a couple of years ago probably half of the DVDs I recieved could not even play.

Personally, I won't spend more than $15 on a DVD (the only exception was when I bought the Godfather trilogy). I would rather spend the extra $5 than go through the trouble of taking back the same movie three times to get one that works. If you dont liek the movie you can always sell the DVD.

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John Lasher
Master Film Handler

Posts: 493
From: Newark, DE
Registered: Aug 2001

posted 08-05-2003 08:42 PM

with video rentals you can't do the thing that Music & Arts (where I work) does with their instruments, when an instrument is returned to the store, it goes back to the main warehouse where it is inspected, repaired(if needed), and cleaned. Then they send it back to a store with a note tucked inside the case that says that the instrument is in perfect condition (as far as playing it, some of the ones that have been out more than 2 or 3 times will show some wear in the finish, especially the smaller violins).

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Elena N. Solovyova
Film Handler

Posts: 44
From: Voronezh, Russia
Registered: Feb 2003

posted 08-06-2003 12:53 AM

I never saw a rental tape in "perfect" condition.

Rental DVDs are perfect, if only not defective.

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Thomas Procyk
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1842
From: Royal Palm Beach, FL, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 08-06-2003 02:49 AM

quote:
Thank God for Netflix.com (mentioned in other posts). At least the people that have joined Netflix seem to be more careful when they handle those DVDs -AND- there is no gas wasted for a trip to the store, etc.

You CAN'T be SERIOUS!?!?! My friend has a NetFlix subscription and every mainstream DVD she's rented came looking like it's been dragged behind the mail truck before they dropped it off. Of course, they all played, but they looked like absolute hell. The only exception are the classic films or concerts she rents. Since those probably aren't checked out as much, they look much better but nowhere near as good as I would take care of a disc I bought.

People in general will fuck up anything they won't have to deal with in the future. Take our planet for example.

=TMP=

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Michael Barry
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 584
From: Sydney, NSW, Australia
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 08-06-2003 04:05 AM

I wonder which of these two scenarios is true:

1) People who trash rental discs actually look after their own discs perfectly; or

2) People who trash rental discs also trash their own discs.

It's hard to say, but neither would really surprise me, although what I can't understand about 1) is that looking after a disc actually requires less effort than not looking after it (placing a disc back in the case is easier than not putting it back, and is less time consuming). Or do people really go through this thing of, 'Oh, wait a minute...that disc I just replaced in the case is a rental disc. Better use it for a coaster first before returning it'.

Thoughts?

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 08-11-2003 09:40 AM

quote:
Friends that smoke run their machines until they die, then replace them. You'd be amazed at how dirty the laser lens gets from second-hand smoke.

Nothing surprises me about how horrid the inside of any piece of electrical machinery can get when it is used for any significant length of time with a chain-smoker in close proximity.

An ex-girlfriend who could puff for England once asked me to look at her PC, which was behaving erratically (e.g. suddenly freezing or blue-screen crashing for no good reason). I assumed a virus and looked at everything I could think of from a software point of view, without coming across any obvious problem. After a while a pattern emerged: it only started playing up after it had been running for a couple of hours or so. This got me wondering whether the thing was overheating.

I opened up the case, and YUK! Inside that case was about the most revolting sight I've ever seen. There were thick deposits of tarry, gooey congealed tobacco shite over every single surface, motherboard and all. The PSU fan had completely seized (i.e. it wasn't moving at all) and the CPU fan was sounding distinctly unwell.

In the end I stripped the whole thing, cleaned the motherboard, PCI and ISA cards as best I could using IPA and/or a compressed air can, replaced both fans, reassembled it and reinstalled Windows. I suggested that she tried not to smoke next to it while working, but she didn't take the advice...

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Bruce McGee
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1776
From: Asheville, NC USA... Nowhere in Particular.
Registered: Aug 1999

posted 08-12-2003 09:31 PM

I got YET ANOTHER DVD player today. Same problem. Dirty lens. Before I cleaned it, it would only indicate that there was no disc in the machine, when in fact it was there.

I've seen TV's that were absolutely dark brown inside. Just think what the inside of the owners lungs looks like if the TV is that nasty!

This is totally off topic, but we tend to do that here. I think that cleaning the disc when I get it is a good idea.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 08-12-2003 10:24 PM

Has anyone ever seen one of those CD/DVD repair machines? We keep getting flyers for these at my day job. Supposedly you put the disk in and it "buffs" off the layer with the scratches. It's all done automatically...the user just has to change the buffing pads from coarse to fine (polishing) grades. They claim it will repair all but deep scratches. Anyone ever see one of these things in action?

I forget the name of it, but they cost something like $750.

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Martin Brooks
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 900
From: Forest Hills, NY, USA
Registered: May 2002

posted 08-28-2003 12:29 AM

quote:
at also reminds me of a thing that pisses me off at commercial theaters. People (or should I say PIGS) who dump their sodas and popcorn out all over the floor. Would they do that shit in their own living room when watching a movie at home!? Then what the fuck gives them the right to do that at a commerical theater? Assholes!

This drives me crazy also, but it's the same sick psychology as men who won't flush public toilets after they use them. And this type of behavior doesn't just happen at theaters, it's everywhere. I attended the US Open two years ago and the place looked like a sewer when the matches were over and this was a supposedly high-profile, upper income crowd. I live near a large public park that has trash baskets about every 20' and hardly anyone ever uses them. They just leave their trash on the ground to blow around. On Monday mornings, the place looks like a trash dump.

Unfortunately, people are pigs and they get away with it.

You can't do much about it in a movie theater, but I think there should be minimum $500 fines for littering in a public place.

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Ron Lacheur
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 650
From: British Columbia, Canada
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 08-28-2003 02:55 AM

Up here there are littering fines as well as a $250 fine for not picking your dog's shit up.

At any convention held at the stadium's around here, the washrooms are just disgusting for all the reasons listed above.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 08-29-2003 12:03 PM

quote:
Unfortunately, people are pigs and they get away with it.

That is true. But they only do it since the rest of us don't call them on their baloney. Lately, when I see someone doing something trashy, I call them directly on it. If I am in a place of business, I direct a manager's attention to it. If something illegal is happening and a cop is nearby, I let him know about it. Basically, I don't let the shit slide. I'll probably have to start carrying a gun to protect myself though. There is inherent risk in doing the right thing.

This is a signal of how bad the apathy has become: my mother has a new co-worker who has had his driver's license suspended for 6 years. Why so long? During a traffic hearing a couple years ago, the dude had all his heroin equipment and dope on his person right there in the courtroom! I guess a spoon fell out of his pants. He was facing the judge for driving while high. Needless to say, the judge gave him the maximum sentence. If it weren't for prison overcrowding the judge might have put him away for awhile. It is amazing someone would be stupid enough to carry dope into a courtroom. I guess he did what he wanted to do since no one ever got in his way in the past. The fellow has been clean now for over a year and seems to be trying. But still...damn! [Roll Eyes]

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