Sold new sealed season , buyer claims one disc is scratched

[nownthenwybkwhn]

I just recently sold brand new season sealed on DVD and the buyer is claiming the last disc is scratched. What should I do? Can new dvds be scratched like that? I've never bought new dvds that were scratched. Will ebay say that I have to give them a refund? Also it was delivered to them 36 days ago and my refund policy is 30 days . Also when they emailed me it was 33 days after it was delivered.

[m60driver]

Put the ball in their court.  Tell them the 30 day window for returns has past and that there is nothing you can do.  But if they file a return on Ebay and Ebay allows the return then you will have to refund.

[katzrul15]

---

@nownthenwybkwhn wrote:

I just recently sold brand new season sealed on DVD and the buyer is claiming the last disc is scratched. What should I do? Can new dvds be scratched like that? I've never bought new dvds that were scratched. Will ebay say that I have to give them a refund? Also it was delivered to them 36 days ago and my refund policy is 30 days . Also when they emailed me it was 33 days after it was delivered.

---

How was it shipped?  In a bubble mailer?  If yes and not cardboarded and heavily bubbled before inserted into a bubble mailer, a disc can come loose in shipping from the pressure on the mailer - that could scratch one that is new sealed - a floater.  Happens.  

RETURN for a FULL REFUND.  If your buyer is legit and it might have taken them a bit to open/use it, they will return it for a full refund.  If they are fishing for a partial - RETURN for a FULL REFUND.

No returns for media is for remorse returns, not SNADs.

[slippinjimmy]

Can new dvds be scratched like that?

Not common but it can happen, maybe more common but still rare is a missing disc or an incorrect disc in a multi-disc set.

[mr_lincoln]

@nownthenwybkwhn   The first thing I do when someone claims damage is ask for pictures for my records, nothing else.  I wait to see what I get back.  If it truly is damage then I ask them to process a return claim. 

The very first thing we were scammed out of was a sealed DVD set of Henry Fonda movies, a collection worth about $ 50 at the time we sold it.  Buyer claimed damage ... then when we asked for pictures he said he didn't know how to do that ... next we advised them to process a return ... he did and he sent back his junk DVDs ...

not much we could do about it at the time (5 years ago - ish) ...

That's not normal but it can happen.  Now I use the Free Returns setting and any bogus returns I Report the Buyer, withhold $$ and am protected against less then Positive Feedback.

Mr. L

[chapeau-noir]

The chances of a DVD being scratched under those circumstances is pretty remote unless it was some kind of factory defect. They're extremely durable and the sealed casing is quite sturdy.  They're also out of the return window - after having a product for 30 days anything can happen.  I guess you could call their bluff and have them file a return, which is what I would do.

[dbfolks166mt]

     I don't buy a lot of DVD's these days but before all the streaming video I used to purchase quite a few. While rare, on occasion I had new disc's that had problems playing and I returned them to the store where I bought them for an exchange. Never had a problem with the returns. 

     The eBay policy for filing a case may by only 30 days after receipt there is nothing preventing the buyer from opening a chargeback with their CC company. If that happens accept the chargeback and refund the buyer. If you dispute it you will not only loose but the CC company will hit you with a $20 processing fee. 

     I would not simply refund the buyer unless they open a case. 

[pburn]

I bought two complete sets of a couple of television productions awhile back, so each individual season in the set was in its own case, plus the complete set of seasons was in one of those five-sided boxes. Sets were sealed--never opened.

Several of the discs skipped and stuttered and froze completely in both brand new sets. 

[lepke1979]

Back when I bought CDs and DVDs. I've had it where the disc was damaged or the internal disc holder was shattered (that thing you push in to take the disc out) was damaged in a sealed case.

It wasn't very common, but it did happen. Gotta figure these things are probably packed by machines, so if something is off it's possible for something to damage the disc or case. Not to mention all that could or did happen between the place it was printed/packed to the store/warehouse to finally you. Lot of opportunities to be dropped or thrown.

Other possibility is the shiny side just doesn't look clean or has an imperfection that makes it look off (but still works fine). Plus, it depends on how bad the scratch is. Minor scratches are usually fine. Maybe even worse than minor. Gotta worry more about the label side being scratched.

[1786davycrockett]

"the internal disc holder was shattered (that thing you push in to take the disc out) was damaged in a sealed case."

In the DVD store in which I used to work, that "thing" was referred to as a "spider" (it kind of resembles a spider that has been turned over).  Once it falls apart, the loose "leg" pieces scatter across the discs, causing scratches, especially in new, unopened DVDs.

We occasionally ran into problems with particular DVD manufacturers, that used poor manufacturing methods, producing CD discs that skipped or stuttered or pixilated.  Many that were manufactured in Mexico also were off center, or were produced with a wave-like sheen on the disc, which created problems when played.

When cheap materials are the basis for building the product, what are the odds that something will go wrong?

Or, as the saying goes -- "Garbage in -- garbage out."

[2013grotz]

Like the others said, a scratched DVD in a new set is very possible.  I ended up with one myself just recently on a cash and carry situation at a store.  Usually it happens when the package it was shipped in was bumped or the disc wasn't put into the case cleanly.   And it can be very easy with these flip arms that a lot of cases use to hold discs.  More commonly for used sets, but possibly for new, the hub in the case might be broken.

Of course, when the disc gets loose, it'll slide around against the hub and create the scratches.

But it's not entirely out of the question and if the buyer wants a refund it definitely can qualify as damaged or INAD.  (I didn't make a fuss on the set mentioned above because I didn't feel like it after I found out that scratched disc still read okay.)

[chapeau-noir]

After 30 days.  They didn't notice this before?

[lepke1979]

---

@chapeau-noir wrote:

After 30 days.  They didn't notice this before?

---

It's probably not the case because they didn't mention why they took so long. But there's a chance it's legit.

About ten years ago I had one case where I bought a music CD as a gift about 1.5 months before Christmas and found it was damaged inside when they opened it. Amazon thankfully was OK with exchanging it passed the return window.

[pburn]

---

@chapeau-noir wrote:

After 30 days.  They didn't notice this before?

---

I ordered a DVD from eBay that I received on March 2, 2022. I have yet to removed the wrapping on the sealed DVD and watch it. It takes a special mood to sit down and enjoy 2-1/2 hours of the best production of Madama Butterfly ever recorded.

[pburn]

---

@chapeau-noir wrote:

After 30 days.  They didn't notice this before?

---

(Too late to edit previous post.)

The OP stated the sale was for a set and that the customer said it was the last DVD that was scratched. Not everyone is interested in watching Big Valley episodes every day for a month. LOL!

Doesn't surprise me a bit that the customer took more than 30 days to notice the damaged disk--which doesn't mean the OP has to accept the return. S/he can wait until the customer files with PayPal or his/her credit card issuer and process the refund then--plus another $20.