Scream Factory Blu-ray Discussion Thread

[A Tortured Duckling]

Originally Posted by waxHead

Just... wow. I hope you rated those replies with "It was bad". I'd probably grab that link and submit it a few extra times for good measure.

I have not done that yet, no. I probably won't mess with that, either. At this point I really just don't want anything to do with these people anymore.

[mclellandj]

You have three options: enjoy your movie if there are no playback issues, get a replacement if there are playback issues, and/or stop purchasing from this company if you disagree with their policy. None of us here can do anything about this.

[darkness2918]

Originally Posted by A Tortured Duckling

And now they expect me to pay to return the damaged product they sent to me.

My reply


Their reply

That’s just horrible customer service on their part. I’m dreading my order arriving . That said I ordered their Bride of Chucky from Amazon & thankfully got a scratch free disc. Same thing with their recent site exclusive Toku set. They really do need to find out what the problem is & fix it.

[A Tortured Duckling]

Originally Posted by mclellandj

You have three options: enjoy your movie if there are no playback issues, get a replacement if there are playback issues, and/or stop purchasing from this company if you disagree with their policy. None of us here can do anything about this.

You're not wrong here, friend. However, these things need to be posted so people can see what's going on and what they're potentially getting themselves into. None of us should have to deal with this, because we all work for our money and we decide to spend it on their product. The very least they can do is make sure we receive it in good condition, and make things right when that doesn't happen.

[waxHead]

Originally Posted by A Tortured Duckling

I have not done that yet, no. I probably won't mess with that, either. At this point I really just don't want anything to do with these people anymore.

So much for companies standing behind their products.

"Buy it! Buy it NOW! But if there's anything wrong with it, don't bother getting in touch."

[Mushi Minion]

Originally Posted by A Tortured Duckling

You're not wrong here, friend. However, these things need to be posted so people can see what's going on and what they're potentially getting themselves into. None of us should have to deal with this, because we all work for our money and we decide to spend it on their product. The very least they can do is make sure we receive it in good condition, and make things right when that doesn't happen.

But if you effect their bottom line, it might impact them from releasing The Exorcist IV on 4kUHD with slipcover, poster and enamel pins!!!

[Midway30]

I wonder when May leaks will trickle in...

[waxHead]

Originally Posted by Mushi Minion

But if you effect their bottom line, it might impact them from releasing The Exorcist IV on 4kUHD with slipcover, poster and enamel pins!!!

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by A Tortured Duckling

Well, I heard back from SF on this scratched discs issue. It's nice to see they're okay with damaged discs that aren't "super" damaged.

Here's my original email.

[Show spoiler]

And their reply.

[Show spoiler]

So, according to SF these are "minor imperfections" that are apparently acceptable on brand new discs bought directly from the company.

Sword and the Sorcerer UHD


The Burning UHD


Escape From New York UHD


Escape From New York BD


Piranha UHD

Some of those scratches are over 1/2" in length.

[Chie Satonaka]

My sale stuff was all clean, except the blu ray disc for my 4k of the fog. I emailed them with a picture and they said they would send me a replacement. No mention of needing to ship anything back.

[A Tortured Duckling]

Originally Posted by rdodolak

Some of those scratches are over 1/2" in length.

They absolutely are. I'm still not sure what to do, unfortunately.

[LeDroitDeTuer]

Absolutely shameless behavior, the kind that totally discourages direct orders.

I was going to say I lucked out with my sale order, but I just rechecked the discs and of course the UHDs are scratched. I already watched Darkman and it played without issues so I'll live with that, but now I have to go watch Creepshow to see if it plays fine.

In the past I would upload video clips of the disc crapping out because I find it really tedious to take good pictures that show the scratches but don't reflect the light source on the disc. That method is absolutely not scalable if you buy a lot of discs.

It's wise and business-savvy to treat your customers like questionable thieves, surely that will pay off in the long run.

[dwk]

Imagine having customer service so awful that it makes Arrow's CS seem competent.

[A Tortured Duckling]

Originally Posted by LeDroitDeTuer

Absolutely shameless behavior, the kind that totally discourages direct orders.

I was going to say I lucked out with my sale order, but I just rechecked the discs and of course the UHDs are scratched. I already watched Darkman and it played without issues so I'll live with that, but now I have to go watch Creepshow to see if it plays fine.

In the past I would upload video clips of the disc crapping out because I find it really tedious to take good pictures that show the scratches but don't reflect the light source on the disc. That method is absolutely not scalable if you buy a lot of discs.

It's wise and business-savvy to treat your customers like questionable thieves, surely that will pay off in the long run.

Yeah, it's honestly quite shocking when you look at the string of back and forth emails, and the pictures of the discs. The wackiest part of this is that I buy from them exclusively during sales (when they offer their product at the kind of prices I am willing to pay) so I really don't have a bunch of their releases. You would think that, when they see a person that doesn't buy a lot receive 4 out of 5 UHDs scratched up and damaged, they'd make an effort to provide good CS so said person doesn't end up feeling that they wasted their money, and will come back for more in the future.

Oh well. As I said, this is the last time. I've shown them leniency before, but this was the straw that broke the camel's back. As much as I love the movies they own and release, they've forced me to make my peace with either getting them used or from one of the UK labels, or simply not owning them at all.

Originally Posted by dwk

Imagine having customer service so awful that it makes Arrow's CS seem competent.

Right? I've had a few unfortunate experiences with Arrow's outsourced CS since The Hut Group took over, but this is far worse than any of that.

[Watershipdownisgood]

Another of many reasons why I don’t buy from Shout Factory’s website it’s better to buy it from Diabolik DVD, Grindhouse Video or Orbit. I avoid buying my Blu Rays from a company’s store website because well as I can see from many of the posts here people get scratched discs or worse. Not only that but the customer service sounds awful and I don’t want to deal with that. So I avoid buying on a company’s website as it sounds to me like a bad idea.

[TripleHBK]

Originally Posted by Watershipdownisgood

Another of many reasons why I don’t buy from Shout Factory’s website it’s better to buy it from Diabolik DVD, Grindhouse Video or Orbit. I avoid buying my Blu Rays from a company’s store website because well as I can see from many of the posts here people get scratched discs or worse. Not only that but the customer service sounds awful and I don’t want to deal with that. So I avoid buying on a company’s website as it sounds to me like a bad idea.

The companies you mentioned get their product directly from Shout Factory. Your choosing to by from them has no impact on whether or not you get a scratched disk. I'd also wager that the aforementioned companies are no better with their return policies than Shout Factory is either and so you likely have no benefit on that front either.

[Watershipdownisgood]

I think I’ve just been lucky with no problems with any Shout Factory or Scream Factory Blu Rays with no scratches on any of the ones I’ve bought. I wish that was the case for everyone though. It’s terrible that a number of people get scratches and worse on their Blu Rays and that’s not right at all.

[Watershipdownisgood]

It might have to do with the fact that I’ve not had any bad experiences with buying Blu Rays from any of those companies and didn’t have to return any Blu Rays at all.

[Watershipdownisgood]

Thanks for telling me though just in case I end up having a bad experience buying any Shout Factory products from them at all.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by A Tortured Duckling

They absolutely are. I'm still not sure what to do, unfortunately.

Unfortunately, if you are not willing to keep the damaged product (and I certainly wouldn't) you might have to eat the return shipping costs just to be done with it. Perhaps follow-up by commenting on their social media posts. Maybe even file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

This sort of "customer service" is absolutely unacceptable. They know the scratches are a problem and are banking on people not noticing, or not wanting to spend the money to return the scratched discs.