Amazon Resealing

[isaacredfield]

I buy all of my blu rays from amazon and I've never had any reseals. I've only ever been sold reseals-as-new through GAME. And they don't even pretend to reseal it.

[nuttyhotspurs]

i got juno from Amazon that was a reseal. case & disc marked. complained "nicely" on live chat and got given £6 credit. unfortunately when i returned it for a replacement i got another reseal. luckily it was in as new condition so couldnt be bothered complaining again

[shogun123]

Originally Posted by chip75

Crikey I thought I read that title right in shogun123's post. I thought I was seeing things. That might be called a Freudian Slip Cover...

That's what I call the Spielberg film ever since I heard of the porn version, haven't actually seen the porn version.

Love the Freudian slip pun

[MacEachaidh]

Originally Posted by shogun123

That's what I call the Spielberg film ever since I heard of the porn version, haven't actually seen the porn version.

Love the Freudian slip pun

I've always called it Shaving Ryan's Privates, just because it amuses me.

Do you mean there really is a porn film called that?

[shogun123]

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

I've always called it Shaving Ryan's Privates, just because it amuses me.

Do you mean there really is a porn film called that?

That's what I heard. Maybe an urban myth?

[shogun123]

Its not an urban myth:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0221532/

[MacEachaidh]

Yeah I went hunting too — also on IMDb, so I was no more brave than you were!

There are *two* porn flicks: the one you found from 1999, and another from 2003.

And there's a documentary from 2002, called Shaving Ryan's Privates, that's about the trend in the porn industry to parody the title of mainstream films.

Bugger. Somehow, it doesn't really seem funny any more ...

[FilmFanSam]

Originally Posted by shogun123

Its not an urban myth:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0221532/

Thats a short directed by Craig Moss. AKA the fairly sh!t director who is always attached to parody films (though I will admit I found Bad Ass very entertaining)

[Pooch]

Hi,

In the eight or nine years I've been using Amazon (probably longer, but I can't recall earlier than that), I've never once had a used or finger-printed disc on any item I've bought from any of the Amazon sites (e.g. UK, US, Italy, France, Germany, etc). Maybe I've been extremely lucky? I have had damaged goods, were something was damaged prior to shrink-wrapping (e.g. a Digibook with folded corners, or a tear in one of the pages, or a loose disc that got scratched) but the item(s) were either returned and a new one sent out, or I got my money back. Occasionally, stuff has got damaged in the post, but these were also easily exchange/refunded by Amazon.

Even when I've bought stuff "As new" or "Like New" from Sellers on Amazon, I am scrupulous (nigh OCD) about the condition it arrives in, and double-check everything. If I'm not 100% happy, I complain.

Obviously, there's no way to know if an item is 100% original, with the original shrink-wrap on them, as plenty of perfectly legitimate, but smaller, independent labels don't use the shrink-wrap with the strip that removes the cellophane wrapper. And some independent labels don't even shrink-wrap their items at all.

However, Amazon are excellent when it comes to their returns policy, so I do feel that those of you who aren't getting what you have legitimately paid for, should be complaining forcefully, but politely, to Amazon. It's not right that anyone receives resealed, or previously-opened items, if you've paid for brand new ones.


Pooch

[MacEachaidh]

Good points, Pooch.

I suspect it's a relatively rare occurrence, though I have been sent what was clearly previously-owned product four times (perhaps more) in the last two years — twice from the UK, and twice from the US.

To Amazon's absolute credit, it was resolved each time very quickly with no fuss at all — even to the point a couple of times of replacements being sent to me via express courier at Amazon's expense.

I *have* wondered if maybe Amazon tries it on a bit — sending used product to OS customers, maybe when new copies are out of stock, on the odds that many people won't complain — if the goods aren't actually damaged, how would you ever know? So perhaps these four times were just the ones where I was sent visibly worn goods, not the only times I was sent recycled goods, as such. Still, that can happen in a B&M shop as well, and as Amazon readily replaces anything that's damaged, I'm not fussed.

[Pooch]

Hi,

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

Good points, Pooch.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

I *have* wondered if maybe Amazon tries it on a bit — sending used product to OS customers, maybe when new copies are out of stock, on the odds that many people won't complain — if the goods aren't actually damaged, how would you ever know?

I guess Amazon is at the mercy of its Pickers-And-Packers staff. After all, it's these men and women, who choose your items for you, from Amazon's inventory, and don't check (or don't care) if the item they send to you, is faulty, damaged.

And to be fair to them, sometimes it may not be possible to tell that something is faulty, in the first place.

Plus, when the item gets picked, it may be perfectly sealed and in A1 condition. By the time it gets to being packed into your envelope, it may not be in such a state. Cellophane shrink-wrap comes off. It tears. Labels get stuck to them. Items may get accidentally dropped, or knocked.

With the billions of items Amazon send out each year, I doubt they can afford the time to check and make certain that every, single solitary item is in A1 perfect condition. It's probably easier for Amazon to offer the customer the option that they do. Namely, that if an item is faulty or damaged upon receipt, they'll replace it free of charge (in 99.9% of cases).

Also, Amazon can't stop - as others have suggested - members of the public opening goods, possibly using them, then returning them damaged - saying to Amazon that that's the way the item arrived in the post. That happens, and probably happens a lot.

I've worked in retail for many years, and I've sold stuff in perfect condition, only to have customers come back a day or so later, complaining something is wrong, when it was me that sold it to them in A1 condition in the first place! The public really are their own worst enemy at times!

You only need to walk into any bricks-and-mortar store, and look at the ways the public handle goods on shelves there. They drop them, tear off the cellophane to read something on the box. They kick things - accidentally or occasionally, on purpose. Yet, these same members of the public are p***ed at staff, when an item isn't in A1 perfect condition...

...It's not normally the staff who damage the stock in the first place!

And we haven't even mentioned the less-than-great postal service we have here in the UK. Who knows what staff do with parcels that go through the Royal Mail service?!

So, the fact that any item arrives at your door, in A1 condition, is a miracle in itself!


Pooch

[Fat Phil]

I've been getting a huge amount of resealed blu-rays lately!

To be honest, it seems to be more of an issue with older Region A titles bought from amazon.com The irritating thing is you can sometimes see fragments of the original factory cellophane stuck to the case under the 'new' shrink wrap.

In my experience, any shrink wrapped blu ray is pretty much guaranteed to be deficient in some way. Marks on the case, crumpled cover, marks and even fingerprints (!) on the disc playing surface!

I ordered a 'new' copy of The Mission which came in shrink wrap so raised my suspicions - I noticed straight away that some of the green ink on the cover had smeared right across the front (just a production gaff in the factory) so of course I sent it back (just like the person before me probably did ) You just know they're going to reseal it and keep sending it out as 'new' until it reaches someone who doesn't notice or care enough to return it.

It doesn't bother me that retailers sell this stock, but label it honestly, don't just fold it in with the genuine factory sealed stuff.

[Portista]

Over the years I've had one or two, not just from Amazon UK but also from the US. Thankfully (as already mentioned), they have exemplary levels of customer service (on both sides of the pond) so reaching a satisfactory resolution has never been an issue.

[Cevolution]

I received a title from Amazon UK the other day that they didn't even bother to reseal. It was clearly a return, the case was a bit banged up and the artwork was damaged, the disc had fingerprints and scratches on it. I sent them an email about it, they apologised and arranged for a new one to be sent.

[tigertron]

This actually happened to me the other day when I bought Escape Plan.

[Superted]

I bought My Darling Clenentine (criterion) from amazon.com a few weeks back and I suspect it was resealed. It was missing the blue sticker from the front.

As a matter of fact does anyone know when criterion stopped sealing their blu's and DVDs with the white seal that you had to tare to open the case?

[Impossible]

Originally Posted by shogun123

Its not an urban myth:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0221532/

There's also one called Edward Penishands.....

[kuro_sawa]

Originally Posted by Superted

I bought My Darling Clenentine (criterion) from amazon.com a few weeks back and I suspect it was resealed. It was missing the blue sticker from the front.

As a matter of fact does anyone know when criterion stopped sealing their blu's and DVDs with the white seal that you had to tare to open the case?

They stopped using those stickers on the tops of the cases around the time they switched to clear ones I believe. And I thank them for it. I'd rather them switch to sealing with the wrap that has a pull string toward the bottom, which I think is awesome.

[Superted]

Originally Posted by kuro_sawa

They stopped using those stickers on the tops of the cases around the time they switched to clear ones I believe. And I thank them for it. I'd rather them switch to sealing with the wrap that has a pull string toward the bottom, which I think is awesome.

Donno bout that. I opened Gimme Shelter blu the other week, it had the white seal, plus the blue sticker to the front. And I'm fairly certain I've one or two factory sealed DVDs in the clear case that have the white seal.

[kuro_sawa]

Originally Posted by Superted

Donno bout that. I opened Gimme Shelter blu the other week, it had the white seal, plus the blue sticker to the front. And I'm fairly certain I've one or two factory sealed DVDs in the clear case that have the white seal.

Interesting. I've never gotten a blu from them with that seal.