Major retailer in the US is intentionally defacing every BD they sell.

[shinseiRomeo]

This post is continually updated. See bolded dates below for updates.



Did some shopping today and picked up a few new BD (of course with slips!) and visited about five different stores, from BB, FYE, Borders, and Target. At this point I will not name them because this was mentioned to me by their security but it concerns me very much.

I happened upon the BD section in this retailer and noticed an employee with what looked like a small screwdriver in his hand. They grabbed each and every BD, did something, then put it back down. I questioned them on what they were doing and was told that management had instructed them to poke a hole in the back of the case, through the cover and box art (I won't reveal where on the BD at this time) so that if the items are returned, they are able to track if it was purchased at this store or not. This applies to all BDs and DVD box sets.

The employee told me every store in the district was told to do this, but I visited the same retailer at a different location and did not notice this.

Has anyone every heard of this before? I am utterly blown away when I found this out and have no idea if this a cause for concern or am I just overreacting?


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Edit as of 9/19/10:


Now if some of you recall about the Target store I reported that pokes holes in their movies and intentionally sells damaged products... it just got worse. I was at the very same Target today and saw brand new copies of Prince of Persia with holes poked through the UPC sticker, which is directly over the BD disc on the 1-disc set and over the digital copy on the 3-disc set. Target corporate refuses to do anything and the store management said they have to do this. Now all copies of PoP at this Target will have their discs damaged. I have a picture attached to show all of you.


The hole is poked under the fifth number in the UPC. Because of the sticker location on this disc, the hole is poked directly into the disc.







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Edit as of 10/20/10:


The closest Target near me is now poking holes in their BDs as well. I struck up a conversation with some young girl who worked in their department, and she became very cocky and condescending with me, flat out telling me to shop somewhere else if I don't like it, that they don't cater to re-sellers like me (came out of nowhere), and that it's not my business why they do it.


She as well as her store are now being reported when I come home later.


Confirmed Target stores that are defacing BDs and poking holes through BD cases AND discs:

1. Dickston City, PA
2. Pittsburgh, PA
3. Wilkes-Barre, PA

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Edit as of 10/21/10:


Just an update as of this morning:

I had a lengthy conversation with a corporate representative and subsequent supervisor this morning, their office being based out of Minnesota. I informed them of the issue a second time and brought up how I was treated by the employee, telling me to shop at other stores if I don't like it. The rep was appalled by my story and seemed to want to take charge to rectify the situation. I was told that they were not aware of the issue as a corporate policy and need to verify with my districts AP (asset protection) on what they are doing.

I made sure to note names of the reps I spoke with as well as a ticket #.


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Edit as of 11/03/10:


Guys, I have some good news and also horrible, horrible news that ruined my night.


Good news? My local Target seems to have gotten the word from corporate and is NOT poking holes through discs and BD cases, nor did they crush boxes with spiderwrap on new releases.

Bad news? The Target that started the vandalism all along just got worse... to a point that poking holes would be better. This Target is throwing away ALL slipcovers before putting them on the shelf and putting spiderwrap so tight you can't even move the individually strings as they're literally cut into the box and even metal cases. What makes this insane as they have $50 DVD box sets with no plastic case or spiderwrap but even the $10 budget BDs are destroyed! It's maddening since if I went into a store, took the slipcovers, and walked out, I'd probably be arrested for theft. Yet target seems to think throwing away a part of an item is simply all right.


As always, photos from me as seeing the damage is even more powerful than reading about it.