DVD/CD Rot

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_rot

So I am resuming my process of copying nearly 500 cd's (25 years collecting) so I can put them on my computer and then digital media player.

Between brakes I am playing my dvd box sets of Babylon 5 on my newer players (XB1/PS3/etc)

All CD's and DVD's have been well kept in cases and away from direct light exposure and moisture and so on.

Now my DVD's are starting to fail..   Episodes are starting to skip or become unplayable despite being played once.  Imagine paying 40-60 dollars for each set and 2 or 3 discs are unplayable from each set.

As for CD's...yep a lot of them are showing the same signs mentioned in the article.

Question is, how good is customer service with these companies in replacing discs that have failed due to rot?

How many of those companies are even still in business?

ITDEFX said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_rot

So I am resuming my process of copying nearly 500 cd's (25 years collecting) so I can put them on my computer and then digital media player.

Between brakes I am playing my dvd box sets of Babylon 5 on my newer players (XB1/PS3/etc)

All CD's and DVD's have been well kept in cases and away from direct light exposure and moisture and so on.

Now my DVD's are starting to fail.. Episodes are starting to skip or become unplayable despite being played once. Imagine paying 40-60 dollars for each set and 2 or 3 discs are unplayable from each set.

As for CD's...yep a lot of them are showing the same signs mentioned in the article.

Question is, how good is customer service with these companies in replacing discs that have failed due to rot?

Click to expand...

1. This isn't a deal.

2. You didn't post the company, how old they are, or even the dvd/cd names, so how are we supposed to help? Unless you are saying Babylon 5 is the one that's failed? But then you mention CD's failing too so IDK

3. You paid $40-$60 a set and only watched them once? I mean that sucks that you are having issues but why did you buy them if you weren't gonna watch them?

4. IIRC you can buy all of Babylon 5 (except maybe Season 1?) new for under $15 apiece now, sucks if you have to rebuy them but at least it's not THAT huge of a hit.

5. I've never had problems with disc rot per se, but I've had unplayable discs before, and it's been my experience that if the refund window for the retailer is passed then you are SoL. Whenever I went to the company directly to complain about unplayable discs they simply told me to go to the store I bought it at and request an exchange. It's an unfortunate situation, and one that's made me think twice on buying full series collections that no sane human could watch in under 15/30 days (Smallville, Seinfeld, Star Trek, ect) but there you go. I never bought Babylon 5 so maybe you'll get lucky?

Many things can affect CDs/DVDs. Heat, moisture, sunlight...

It can also be that your primary player or DVD drive is going bad too. Regular use of it can wear it down within a year or two tops; periodic use can get maybe 3-5 or more years out of it...but those little lenses are doomed to fail eventually.

Discs fail sometimes due to a bad batch at the time of pressing.  I've had a few HD DVDs that have gone bad despite being kept in the cases, not exposed to sunlight, moisture, etc which is not uncommon as I looked into it.  If you google disc rot Babylon 5, you'll see that a number of people had issues with the first season rotting.

You do brakes?

Playing the discs by attaching them to your car wheels and spinning them against your brakes probably is your problem here.

Sorry to hear that. I doubt they can be replaced though. This is why I'm buying digital movies these days. Last blu-ray movie I purchased was The Dark Knight Trilogy set. 

Did you try cleaning the discs by any chance? I haven't had this problem yet though. 

Are you expecting some sort of lifetime warranty with a DVD?

I remember back in the DVD days, Universal used to run promotions where you buy a number of DVDs and mail in for some free DVD. Great deal or so you would think. A good number of those "free" DVDs no longer play due to DVD rot.

The latest case of rot that I heard of are certain Asian bluray titles made by Well-go. Luckily, the studio has a replacement program for anyone unfortunate to have one of these discs.

I am kinda turned off that AMAZON sometimes CD-R presses their music cd's..   I can see those failing sooner than later.