Lionsgate: Basic Instinct - Customer Service Stinks

[Blu-ray Neo]

Well guys, here is the lowdown on my battle with Lionsgate over their defective Blu-ray Discs.

On 12/05/2010, I purchased Basic Instinct: Unrated Director's Cut from Best Buy. Given that I don't always have time to watch them right when I buy them, I placed it on my bookshelf and hoped to watch it soon.

On 01/15/2011, I pulled it off of the shelf, opened the plastic wrapping and placed it into my Sony BDPS360 (Ver. 008). After waiting and looking at a "black" screen for roughly 10 mins, I then placed the disc into my PS3. To my surprise, the PS3 wouldn't even recognize that a disc was in the drive. I even tried it on my old Sony BDPS300. Still a no-go.

I contacted a Sony Technical Support Rep via chat and we went through several things to determine if I had a defective disc or the player. Now, given that I literally tried ALL 338 discs in my collection on each and every player, not one failed except for Basic Instinct. In the honest opinion of the Sony Tech, it must have been a disc failure or defect.

Now, considering that I didn't have a receipt anymore, on 01/16/2011 I messaged Lionsgate on their website and described my problem to them in detail. After not receiving a response, on 01/18/2011 I called the Customer Service number and spoke with a representative.

Talk about a joke, in all but certain terms, I was treated like a complete idiot and I was told in so many words, it's "either you or the player" for the disc not playing. To his credit, he did send me an e-mail with possible options to possibly fix the problem. He stated that if that didn't work, just respond to the e-mail and ask for a "Return Authorization" so I can get a new copy.

After attempting their possible solutions, On 01/18 I e-mailed back asking for a return authorization for the disc.

After a few days of not receiving a response, on 01/21 and 01/23 I sent e-mails requesting a return authorization for the disc.

Now, here we are on 01/24 and still no response. I then called the Lionsgate Customer Relations Line (800-650-7099).

I explained my situation to exhaustion to another Customer Service Rep and she stated that there have not been any reported issues with Basic Instinct and that I needed to make sure it wasn't me or the player before assuming the disc was defective. I told the rep that I had already contacted Sony Tech Support and it wasn't the player. I also told them about people on here having the same problems with movies such as American Psycho etc, etc.

I also reminded the CSR that Lionsgate initially denied a problem with the movie "Crank 2" on Blu-ray.

To make matters worse, she stated that in order to "exchange" the disc for a working copy, I would need the original sales receipt and ship the disc to them. I explained that I didn't have an original sales receipt given that it was purchased in December and considering that this is my first problem EVER playing a disc, I wasn't aware that I needed to keep it.


Now, I'm getting the silent treatment again and they're refusing to accept a return unless I have a receipt. I'm tempted on writing a letter to Lionsgate, but I don't know if I wanna waste the time in doing so.

[kashif]

I m sure its the disc. I found another user complaining:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/blu-ray-mo...ggestions.html

Dont loose hope and keep sending them emails. I am sure someething will be done. Best of luck.

[retablo]

Plays fine on my PS3.

[Mahatma]

Keep away from lionsgate in the future when possible.Also,it is wise to try the disc when you get it first time.Less than 1 out of a thousand there is a problem with probably (Have had none myself),but when problems do happen that way you don't get into that sort of trouble.

Think you just have to write this off as one of life's missfortunes

[Mr. Joshua]

Originally Posted by Blu-ray Neo

Well guys, here is the lowdown on my battle with Lionsgate over their defective Blu-ray Discs.

On 12/05/2010, I purchased Basic Instinct: Unrated Director's Cut from Best Buy. Given that I don't always have time to watch them right when I buy them, I placed it on my bookshelf and hoped to watch it soon.

On 01/15/2011, I pulled it off of the shelf, opened the plastic wrapping and placed it into my Sony BDPS360 (Ver. 008). After waiting and looking at a "black" screen for roughly 10 mins, I then placed the disc into my PS3. To my surprise, the PS3 wouldn't even recognize that a disc was in the drive. I even tried it on my old Sony BDPS300. Still a no-go.

I contacted a Sony Technical Support Rep via chat and we went through several things to determine if I had a defective disc or the player. Now, given that I literally tried ALL 338 discs in my collection on each and every player, not one failed except for Basic Instinct. In the honest opinion of the Sony Tech, it must have been a disc failure or defect.

Now, considering that I didn't have a receipt anymore, on 01/16/2011 I messaged Lionsgate on their website and described my problem to them in detail. After not receiving a response, on 01/18/2011 I called the Customer Service number and spoke with a representative.

Talk about a joke, in all but certain terms, I was treated like a complete idiot and I was told in so many words, it's "either you or the player" for the disc not playing. To his credit, he did send me an e-mail with possible options to possibly fix the problem. He stated that if that didn't work, just respond to the e-mail and ask for a "Return Authorization" so I can get a new copy.

After attempting their possible solutions, On 01/18 I e-mailed back asking for a return authorization for the disc.

After a few days of not receiving a response, on 01/21 and 01/23 I sent e-mails requesting a return authorization for the disc.

Now, here we are on 01/24 and still no response. I then called the Lionsgate Customer Relations Line (800-650-7099).

I explained my situation to exhaustion to another Customer Service Rep and she stated that there have not been any reported issues with Basic Instinct and that I needed to make sure it wasn't me or the player before assuming the disc was defective. I told the rep that I had already contacted Sony Tech Support and it wasn't the player. I also told them about people on here having the same problems with movies such as American Psycho etc, etc.

I also reminded the CSR that Lionsgate initially denied a problem with the movie "Crank 2" on Blu-ray.

To make matters worse, she stated that in order to "exchange" the disc for a working copy, I would need the original sales receipt and ship the disc to them. I explained that I didn't have an original sales receipt given that it was purchased in December and considering that this is my first problem EVER playing a disc, I wasn't aware that I needed to keep it.


Now, I'm getting the silent treatment again and they're refusing to accept a return unless I have a receipt. I'm tempted on writing a letter to Lionsgate, but I don't know if I wanna waste the time in doing so.

I have had problems with Lionsgate blu-rays in the past and I'm sure you tried this, a firmware update. But if this has not been suggested try clearing out the data storage where your blu-ray player updates when your disc is in the player. Delete that and that may work. If all else fails buy another disc and shrinkwrap the one you have and tell them it was a gift. Pay cash. I don't know what else it could be other than a bad disc. Email me if you need specifics on how to do that. I have a PS3 also.

[Blu-ray Neo]

Originally Posted by Mr. Joshua

I have had problems with Lionsgate blu-rays in the past and I'm sure you tried this, a firmware update. But if this has not been suggested try clearing out the data storage where your blu-ray player updates when your disc is in the player. Delete that and that may work. If all else fails buy another disc and shrinkwrap the one you have and tell them it was a gift. Pay cash. I don't know what else it could be other than a bad disc. Email me if you need specifics on how to do that. I have a PS3 also.

Yep. All of my players are current in their firmware. I may take you up on that offer. Thanks!

In the future, I will be avoiding Lionsgate films just because of this one incident.

[Graboid]

I don't see any reason why a manufacturer should need a receipt in order to replace a defective product. All that matters is that it is their product and it doesn't work. Where you bought it or how much you paid is irrelevant.

[Blu-ray Neo]

Originally Posted by Graboid

I don't see any reason why a manufacturer should need a receipt in order to replace a defective product. All that matters is that it is their product and it doesn't work. Where you bought it or how much you paid is irrelevant.

I agree 110%. That's their "policy" though.

Still...... it's crap!

[Zen_Amako]

Several people have reported problems playing older titles from Lionsgate and MGM (example: "Speed"). In some cases, the discs play fine at first, but after a while, don't work anymore. That's what concerns me: That you can purchase a disc, watch it, add it to your collection and discover in a year or two that it has gone bad.

[Jeff B]

I have had similar experiences with Lionsgate, both in terms of discs and customer service. I avoid their releases, if there are alternatives.

[BrandonJF]

Best Buy would've let you exchange it. I know it's not their "policy", but if you explained that you hadn't watched it within the return window and just found out it was defective, they would've done a no-receipt exchange.

[felixemartinez]

I'm in the same boat with this title and Lionsgate was unhelpful. No surprise. Buy this title at your own risk.

[Atreyu]

Geex, when laserdiscs were out if one suffered from a malady such as laser rot, or something else not caused by the consumer most companies would replace it, provided they were still making the same version of the same disc.

[AKORIS]

the only disc I've ever had that would not play was HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES-- another Lionsgate title-- I tried it on 2 different players and it would not load at all--

The bad thing is that it worked at first, I stopped the movie cause I had other things to do and then when trying to watch it again it didn't work--

in other words if I had maybe watched it all the first time I would have finished it, put it away, and might not have revisited this title for years...

and then

makes me worry a bit about some titles having problems down the road-- i have BASIC INSTINCT and it played fine.... do I dare pop it in again?

[jitter22]

Customer service at Lionsgate is possibly the worst of any studio in the world. I bought 3 seasons of Mad Men, and had no intention of watching a dozen discs immediately to see if there was a problem. When I got to Season 2, Disc 1, the second chapter froze, and could not be continued; there were bubbles on the outer rim of the disc. To me, this is a most obvious bad pressing. The customer service (a misnomer in this case, obviously) refused to do anything to replace the bad disc because I had no receipt. Frankly, out of 650 discs in my collection, I've had four bad ones. All the other studios replaced the defective discs with no questions asked. I've written to the CEO of Lionsgate, but have so far received no answer, no letter, no call. If this is how Lionsgate wants to behave, I'll surely boycott that studio in the future. It's surely no way to treat a customer. The dollar it might cost them to replace a poorly constructed disc from 3 sets purchased is a small price to pay to have any sort of decent reputation in the home entertainment industry. I'm really surprised and disappointed.

[Banned User]

What we need is someone who's a lawyer to be treated this way and start a class action lawsuit. Just not buying their Blurays isn't going to hurt them in the least. I'd suggest contacting the better business bureau and registering a complaint.

[BasicGreatGuy]

Originally Posted by Banned User

What we need is someone who's a lawyer to be treated this way and start a class action lawsuit. Just not buying their Blurays isn't going to hurt them in the least. I'd suggest contacting the better business bureau and registering a complaint.

There is no legal case here, in my opinion.

[MuscleCarMike]

Originally Posted by BasicGreatGuy

There is no legal case here, in my opinion.

Are you a lawyer?

[slimdude]

Recently, my Basic Instinct went bad all of a sudden too. I've watched it a couple of times a year ago, and it played without a hitch. I don't know what happened, Since the blu-ray is inexpensive, I'll just replace it with the UK release, which is suppose to better than the U.S version anyway.

[rubystone356]

I own a copy of basic instinct on blu ray. I never had any problems playing it. I did however have a problem playing hellboy 2. it happened twice. it was so weird. it would play fine at first but then get rot or something. I bought it fom a store and I was able to take it back. which I think I was not suppose to do. it was so long after the warrenty on it. however I then got a used copy later and had the same problem. I finally got in touch with universal and they sent me the info. I sent the disc off and they sent me a new one. new case and everything.

Jacob