piracy detection?

[cellio]

I bought a used DVD through Amazon, and I'm a little suspicious that what I got was a bootleg. I'd like to do a little detective work before asking the seller about it, because I'm only suspicious and it could be completely legitimate and why stir up trouble unnecessarily? But my Google-fu is failing me. What I want to find is a photo of the DVD label for the published DVD. Anyone have any ideas?

Comments

[blackpaladin.livejournal.com]

Scan in the front and back covers of the DVD case liner and send them to me, and I'll see what I can do; I know enough people in Tekko who know what to look for.

[cellio]

Thanks!

I was just about to do this when I realized I should test the disc itself -- does it have everything the Amazon entry claims it has? No, in fact, it does not -- no commentary tracks, no theatrical trailer, and the image itself didn't look so hot. That gave me enough of a clue to do an image search for the VHS edition. Bingo! Not only is it a bootleg, but it's an incomplete bootleg from tape! The seller will be hearing about this.

[tangerinpenguin.livejournal.com]

I'm not convinced the seller should be the only one hearing about it (of course, I'm biased)

[cellio]

Oh trust me; he won't be. First I want my money back; then I'm going to both leave feedback and (if I can find an address) send email to Amazon about it.

In the (Amazon-brokered) email to the seller I asked for a full refund "and return postage if you want the disc back". If return postage is not forthcoming, I can think of a couple better places to send it. Of course I've kept the shipping materials with return address.

One annoying aspect is that I specifically chose this seller (not the lowest price but part of the "within the noise" clump) based on feedback. More specifically, I bypassed the guys with 90-95% feedback from thousands of ratings (that's still a lot of dissatisfied customers, and all had recent red bits) to choose someone with only a few ratings and 100% positive. I figured that kind of seller would be more motivated to make sure things go smoothly, because one negative rating can bring you down into the 80s. I'm still not sure if it was my reasoning or my luck that was faulty.

[tangerinpenguin.livejournal.com]

I believe this is the best match for your situation:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=537868

In addition to the formal Guarantee process, there's are "contact us" buttons on the right for email and phone customer service.

[cellio]

Thanks for the pointers!

Because there is a lifetime limit on number of claims (not total value of claims), I have to decide whether to "spend" one on a small claim or just write it off (and save that slot for something bigger later). I hope the seller will be motivated to issue a refund on his own so I don't have to make that choice.

(I understand that Amazon wants to protect itself from claim-happy people. I do kind of wish that long-time, repeat customers could build up some "grace points" against deals gone bad. Oh well.)

[cloudwatcher.livejournal.com]

I think this would qualify as fraud, not just a bad transaction, and I'm certain that Amazon would want to hear about it. When you email them, request that they don't count it against your claim limit.

[cellio]

As it turns out, I don't have to make the decision -- the seller gave me a refund (and said he didn't know it was a bootleg and thanks for bringing it to his attention).