Is there a way to replace a single DVD from a television series?

January 4, 2007 11:28 PM

This is a longshot, but is there any way to replace just a single disc of a DVD set from a television series?

My sister borrowed the first season of Carnivale from me and managed to lose the second disc. I'd like to replace it, obviously, but I'm certainly not interested in re-buying the entire six-disc set.

One other option, I suppose, is trying to find another friend with the series so I could burn a copy of the second disc, but I don't actually know anyone that owns it (as far as I know). As I said, it's a longshot, but any help would be appreciated.

posted by The God Complex to shopping (17 comments total)

Try local video rental/discount stores. They often sell the discs separately.
posted by cillit bang at 11:41 PM on January 4, 2007

One other option, I suppose, is trying to find another friend with the series so I could burn a copy of the second disc, but I don't actually know anyone that owns it (as far as I know).

NetFlix has it, and also has a 2-week free trial. I'm just sayin'...

However, you might try contacting the DVD publisher first. I have had record labels replace entire CDs when the booklet was ruined by water. It'd be worth a try, in my opinion.
posted by kindall at 1:01 AM on January 5, 2007

I contacted, as an annecdote, the DVD publisher and the creators of 2 shows asking if it was possible to replace single discs and never got a response from anyone, so that route seemed fruitless.
posted by dflemingdotorg at 3:59 AM on January 5, 2007

Have you tried contacting the publisher? Whoever makes the Muppet Show disc sent a replacement when our toddler broke one of them.
posted by rolypolyman at 4:54 AM on January 5, 2007

How did you contact them, rolypolyman and kindall? I'll give it a shot, despite the words of warning from dflemingdotorg.

Try local video rental/discount stores. They often sell the discs separately

I forgot to mention it, but I have been on the lookout for a few months now. The problem is that the first season has been out on DVD for quite awhile now and most places aren't even renting the DVDs at this point (and those that are only have a single copy of the season).
posted by The God Complex at 5:58 AM on January 5, 2007

Your public library might have the series in their lending library.

There comes a time when you should consider the time you invest trying to solve a problem as valuable. That said, you can buy the set, new, from Amazon's "new and used" section for $47.00 plus shipping.
posted by Dave Faris at 6:23 AM on January 5, 2007

Previously discussed here (but for audio box sets)
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 6:33 AM on January 5, 2007

How did you contact them...?

From HBO's store: Call us anytime at 866-316-4814. We are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (except Christmas Day).
posted by mediareport at 7:56 AM on January 5, 2007

whenever i buy some of my TV series off ebay, i regularly see single dvd's posted for just about every season; so i would try ebay first--might pay a little more than you want but you should be able to find it
posted by uncballzer at 7:58 AM on January 5, 2007

Are you against renting and copying that disc?
posted by absalom at 8:11 AM on January 5, 2007

Man, I did this too, twice-accidentally sent back one disc from a box set that belonged to a friend to Netflix (instead of the actual Netflix DVD) and once Netflix has it, it's gone-you can't get it back. So now I have two boxed sets that I need to give back to my friend, both missing a disc. I did order them again from Netflix and burn a copy of the missing disc. The problem is, I'm not sure my friend will be thrilled to have one bootleg disc on each set, so I may but new sets off Ebay and then give her the altered one. Regardless, it's a total pain in the ass.
posted by purenitrous at 9:21 AM on January 5, 2007

Time to look for torrents, I believe. This is one of those arguments for a fair use.
posted by klangklangston at 9:46 AM on January 5, 2007

I once attempted to get another West Wing 2nd season disc 2 after it somehow became unplayable after a year, about two complete plays, and no abnormal damage. The CSR I talked to at the distribution company said that they would not replace it. So, I nth the rental/torrent fair use ideas.
posted by Kwine at 1:23 PM on January 5, 2007

This is kinda sketch but if you "lose" a disc from Netflix, they don't do anything (such as make you pay for it.) A few years ago I actually did lose a disc, reported it on the website and was informed that it wasn't a problem.
posted by tatiana wishbone at 1:28 PM on January 5, 2007

I think your sister just bought you a new boxed-set.
posted by mimo at 4:00 PM on January 5, 2007

the HBO line may be for their order fulfillment customer service line rather than the actual publisher line. i believe Warner Home Video manufactures most HBO product. You might try contacting WHV directly.

As for the music side, I get these requests on occasion (people saying they bought box sets with missing discs, or that their jacket got damaged).. Most times its relatively easy to track down another copy and make a customer happy.
posted by softlord at 6:42 PM on January 5, 2007

I bought a boxed set of a show, and one of the disks was in twice, another one missing. I will have to take some of the advice here. Of course, the copy option has occured to us, but then, that's not why we purchased, rather than downloaded, in the first place.

I 100% agree with those speaking up for fair use. If they want their copyright-on-steroids schemes, they ought to give us consumers something in return. Like, replacement-at-cost when things get damaged, or formats change. (why, yes. I have a cabinet full of VHS movies. How'd you guess?)
posted by Goofyy at 7:02 AM on January 8, 2007