Have you had success returning blank CD (or DVD) media for credit or replacement?

December 26, 2009 7:26 AM

Have you had success returning blank CD (or DVD) media for credit or replacement?

So I have these relatively expensive blank "vinyl" cd's from Verbatim. It seems 25% of them are burning coasters which is very frustrating. I'm using the usually reliable Toast Titanium, burning far below the maximum speed, etc. There is a "Limited Lifetime Warranty", but I don't know how Verbatim might interpret that: blame my cd burner, etc.

posted by jeremias to Technology (6 answers total)

Yes. My vendor (SuperMediaStore) accepts returns on defective blank media for credit or replacement. I took advantage of this when I got a bad batch of DVD-Rs, and they were perfectly easy to deal with. I've also returned media to Costco, and of course Costco's very excellent return policies make that totally hassle-free.

I don't know how your vendor will approach this problem, but I suggest you talk to them. Talking to the manufacturer should be a last resort, not the first thing you think of.
posted by majick at 8:33 AM on December 26, 2009

I may be completely wrong on this, but AFAIK what ultimately matters most when burning optical media is a good optical drive/firmware/optical media combo. Verbatim is quality media (or used to be, at least), though it is possible you have got a bad batch... luckily I've never had that happen to me, so no experience with returning discs here.

The burning software itself isn't responsible for getting good (or bad) results. However, I don't think you should be burning the discs at too low a speed, they should be burnt near their rated maximum speed, ie, for 52x media burn at 40x or faster. FWIW, all of this I've learnt from the CD Freaks forums - now called MyCE, apparently.
posted by Bangaioh at 9:41 AM on December 26, 2009

Response by poster: Yeah, the coaster burning continues and have tried two different machines. I'll take a look at that forum, I've been going under the assumption that slower burns are more stable than faster, could easily be wrong though.

Gotta say at this point that I'm really not missing CDs as a music delivery format
posted by jeremias at 11:02 AM on December 26, 2009

Here it is. Try burning the discs at their rated speed, if the problems persist when using both machines (I'm assuming they have different ODDs) then I suppose you have indeed a faulty batch of discs.
posted by Bangaioh at 11:23 AM on December 26, 2009

Also, I've just noticed this review on Amazon where it is stated that the rated speed of your discs is 16x.
posted by Bangaioh at 11:39 AM on December 26, 2009

I have certain professional experience within the industry of burnable media (CDs and DVDs). If you have a batch that are crummy, before returning it to the store I would recommend checking the packaging for specific contact information.

It's really not uncommon for a surprising percentage of discs to fail. Almost all of this burnable media is made in various portions of Asia with incredibly lackadaisical quality control. Verbatim may subcontract out to any number of semi-autonomous distributors. Any contact information on your packaging would be not only more able to help but more appropriate, rather than forcing Verbatim - or worse yet any retail outlet - to eat the costs. Check there first and yes it's totally within your rights to ask for a replacement. As always, check the fine print.
posted by carlh at 1:49 PM on December 27, 2009