What do I have to do to get a DVD replacement over here?
On August 4th, I bought the Bandai AnimeLegends Escaflowne set at my local Best Buy.
On August 7th, I realize that most of the disks have flaws in them. I write Bandai's Customer Service with the following response:
To Whom It May Concern:
I recently purchased the "Anime Legends" DVD edition of the Escaflowne series. Years ago, I had originally purchased the series in clamshell VHS sets, but because I still enjoyed the series so many years later, I decided that it was imperative that I purchase the "Anime Legends" copies of the DVDs, which were highly affordable--even on my limited budget.
I was surprised to discover that the numerous flaws in these DVDs. Episodes would play in almost twice their speed; some episodes simply wouldn't play at all. As affordable as this product was, I would not pay $35 dollars for DVDs of this caliber; these flaws made it difficult, if not impossible to enjoy the series the way I did when I watched them on VHS, all those years ago.
As a result of the flaws on these DVDs, I will no longer be purchasing any Bandai products. I hope that in the future, you work to produce a product that is both affordable AND high-quality.
Sincerely,
[My Name Here]
On August 9th, they reply with the following message:
Dear Customer,
I’m sorry to hear that you have purchased a defective product…
Would you like a replacement for the Escaflowne Anime Legends discs?
Regards,
By then, I discovered that Bandai knew about the defective disks, but for some reason, they were still sitting on shelves. I craft the following reply and send it to Bandai only a few minutes later, on August 9th:
To Whom It May Concern:Yes, I would like a replacement set.My phone number is XXX.XXX.XXX.My address is:[My Name Here][My Address Here]
Please let me know if you require any further information.Regards,[My Name Here]
Yesterday, August 23rd, I had not heard from Bandai since; my DVDs did not come in the mail, and the customer service representatives did not bother gracing me with a reply. So, I call customer service. I get their voice mail. I call them again. I get their voice mail. I call again, I get the voice mail. And after about a half dozen times calling customer service during their office hours at various different times, I give up and leave a message with my contact information and my problem.
They didn't bother returning my call.
I'm going to call them again tomorrow, but I find Bandai's entire charade absolutely outrageous. They knowingly provide a product that is defective, then instead of recalling the defective product, make it an absolute pain in the neck to have it replaced.
When I purchased the AnimeLegends Escaflowne Set, I was also pondering purchasing the Earth Girl Arjuna DVD set. But after all this hassle, I doubt that I'm ever going to buy Bandai DVDs again.
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