The whole situation started with the Media Play in St. Cloud, Minnesota going out of business. Their prices are usually way too high for me to even imagine myself shopping there, but since they were having a storewide liquidation, I thought I’d check it out while I was in town visiting my girlfriend, Kristin.
While I was there I found a few dvd sets that I wanted including the Spider-Man – The New Animated Series dvd set. At the checkout the cashier made sure to tell me that they would not be accepting returns and that if any of the items I was buying were to be found defective I should contact the manufacturer to correct the problem. Really, I didn’t think it would be a problem because I was only buying dvds, which I’ve never once found to be defective.
After I opened up the Spider-Man dvd set, I noticed that there were two copies of disc #1 in the case instead of a disc #1 and disc #2. I thought this was maybe just a labeling error. It wasn’t. I really had two copies of disc #1 and I couldn’t return it to Media Play, even for a refund. So I contacted the manufacturer—Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The following is the email that was sent to them:
From: Gebhardt, Rick
Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2005 10:25 PM
To: sphe_customer_service@spe.sony.com
Subject: Spider-Man Animated Series DVD problem
I recently bought the Spider-Man: The New Animated Series DVD set (UPC: 043396010680) and upon opening it I found that instead of having a disc one and disc two that there were instead two copies of disc one. When I contacted the store I bought it from (MediaPlay), they told me to contact the manufacturer. After scouring Sony Pictures website, this is the email that I thought would best be able to suit my needs. If you can help me, that would be appreciated. If not, could you forward this email and my contact information to someone who could help me? Thank you.
Rick
From: SPHE_Customer_Service@spe.sony.comI couldn’t believe it. They wouldn’t replace a defective item. Media Play also wouldn’t (they told me explicitly), so I was stuck between two sources that didn’t want to replace an inexpensive ($21.99 retail) dvd set. I figured I might as well try to reason with Sony, so I sent the following email:
Sent: Thursday, December 22, 2005 10:55 AM
To: Gebhardt, Rick
Subject: Re: Spider-Man Animated Series DVD problem
Dear Valued Consumer:
Thank you for your email. We appreciate your interest in Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) Products.
There are no known issues with this Title. It is Company Policy to instruct consumers to return all defective/replacement DVDs to the place of purchase with original receipt and follow the return/exchange policy of that retail outlet. We do not replace defective products directly. It is the policy of all of our retailers to replace defective product. Hopefully, you have not missed the window of time your retailer requires for return. We regret there is nothing that SPHE can do to assist you further.
We apologize for this inconvenience and thank you for your continued patronage and taking the time to contact us.
Regards,
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Consumer Relations
From: Gebhardt, RickThe next email I received was absolutely no help because all it did was tell me that my email would be answered later. That was fine by me, as long as I eventually received an answer. For completeness sake, here is the email:
Sent: Friday, December 23, 2005 11:11 AM
To: SPHE_Customer_Service@spe.sony.com
Subject: RE: Spider-Man Animated Series DVD problem
Thank you for your response. I tried taking this dvd back to MediaPlay in St. Cloud, Minnesota where I bought it, but they are not accepting returns since they are going out of business. It is because of this that they directed me to contact the manufacturer. They said that the manufacturer would take care of this problem. I understand your position about having the retail outlets replace the defective item, but MediaPlay is not performing returns or exchanges. Could you please take care of this somehow? Thank you.
Rick
From: SPHE_Customer_Service@spe.sony.comSo I waited… and waited. I didn’t receive a response on the 27th. Heck, a week past that date I hadn’t heard a peep from them. So I tried to email again, hoping that maybe all they did was lose my email since they had been quick to respond to my first email. I sent the following:
Sent: Friday, December 23, 2005 1:25 PM
To: Gebhardt, Rick
Subject: SPHE Customer Service is out of the office.
I will be out of the office starting Fri 12/23/2005 and will not return until Tue 12/27/2005.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) Consumer Relations is closed for the long Holiday weekend. We will respond to your email when we return on Tuesday, December 27, 2005. Happy Holidays.
From: Gebhardt, RickToday is the 8th of January and I haven’t heard from them. Frankly, I got sick of waiting and went to my local Best Buy with the dvd set. I know that usually I rag on Best Buy for their crappy support and shady rebate tactics, but for once they managed to play the nice guy and help me out.
Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2006 12:46 PM
To: SPHE_Customer_Service@spe.sony.com
Subject: RE: Spider-Man Animated Series DVD problem
Dear Consumer Relations,
I sent you an email on the 23rd of December and have not yet received a response from you. The text of that email is below. Your response would be very much appreciated. Thank you.
Email text from 12/23/05:
Thank you for your response. I tried taking this dvd back to MediaPlay in St. Cloud, Minnesota where I bought it, but they are not accepting returns since they are going out of business. It is because of this that they directed me to contact the manufacturer. They said that the manufacturer would take care of this problem. I understand your position about having the retail outlets replace the defective item, but MediaPlay is not performing returns or exchanges. Could you please take care of this somehow? Thank you.
Rick
I explained my situation to the return clerk, who also could not understand why Sony would not replace it. In an act of kindness (yes, Best Buy can be kind at times), the clerk filed an exchange for me. I opened the new set there to make sure there was a disc #2, which there was, and was then free to go about my business.
My problem was finally solved, but not by the company who should have been solving it. Sony, this is two strikes against you. First you mess up my computer with a rootkit infected cd and now you hose me on a defective dvd set. I don’t think I’m going to give you a chance to even possibly get a third strike. It’s time to take my business elsewhere.
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