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Cracked Netflix Blu-Ray Disc Problem
Monday, 24 September 2007

Cracked NetFlix Blu-Ray DiscI recently started renting high definition movies on Blu-Ray and HD-DVD discs from Netflix. So far I’ve received 7 Blu-Ray discs from which 5 have been defective. All five of them have the exact same small crack at the edge of the disc. The crack is usually a little more than a quarter of an inch long, somewhere along the edge of the disc. Before noticing the crack, I thought I was merely having trouble playing the new discs. New technology, new headaches; I’m used to that. A friend mentioned to look closely around the edge of the disc for a small crack. The crack was so faint and small I hadn’t noticed it. Problem solved I thought. A couple clicks on Netflix’s well designed site and I would have my replacement disc in a mere day. No dice. The next disc was cracked as well.

I’ve been a paying customer for around 4 years now and I can only remember receiving one or maybe two bad discs during that time. I have phoned Netflix a couple times so far. I initially called to confirm whether other people where having this problem or if it was just me. I had receive 3 bad disc out of 4 at that point. The representative said they were unaware of anyone else having issues with the Blu-Ray discs. She offered me a discount on my next month’s service, which only made me feel cheated when I saw other people getting bigger discounts for 6 months. I called again when I recevied the forth defective disc. I wanted to verbally update them that I’ve 4 out of 5 now, and thought perhaps a different representative might have more information than the first. The second agent also stated they were unaware of any issues with cracked Blu-Ray discs. I questioned why I received a small discount on my next month’s service while I had read others had received a 6 month discounted service. To this the new rep offered me an extra movie a month for two months. I really like Netflix, so it’s hard to be mean, but a couple a free movies and a small 1 month discount versus 50% off for 6 months... (sigh, nice guys lose again).

It’s just a theory, but there appears there might be a problem with older discs. This could be related to the age of the disc in which all Netflix Blu-Ray discs will eventually have the problem, or perhaps just a batch of first generation discs that crack going through the mail or some sorting machine. I say this because I’ve seen others with the same problem but the problem seems to go away. Perhaps they rent older movies at first and then move to new releases? Perhaps the first discs they rent are some of the first Blu-Ray movies available? I’m not sure, but I’ll update this post with any new information I get. So far the defective (cracked disc) movies I’ve received are:

9/13/2007 – Casino Royale (Not recognized by player)
9/17/2007 – Casino Royale
9/18/2007 – Flags of Our Fathers (Would not play)
9/18/2007 – The Holiday
9/21/2007 – The Holiday
9/27/2007 – The Holiday
9/27/2007 – Planet Earth: Complete Collection: Disc 1
10/02/2007 – Happy Feet
10/02/2007 – Babel
10/04/2007 – Happy Feet (Played OK)
10/04/2007 – Babel (Played OK)
10/09/2007 – Babel (Played OK)
10/18//2007 – The Fountain (Freezes near end)

13 cracked out of 24 as of 2007-10-18

Cracked NetFlix Blu-Ray Disc Close-Up

2007-10-04 Update:

I received two more Blu-Ray discs today, and on a whim I tried playing them. I was surprised that they both played perfectly even though both had the same hair line crack at the edge of the disc. I let them run through while I was working in my office. I wasn’t in front of the screens the entire time, but I believe they each played fine with no freezes or sound problems.

I’m now curious if some of the other disc would have played okay even though the crack was present. I tested some of the disc in the past but not all of them. The first two discs I received that were cracked, I had tried in multiple players and even took them to a friend’s house to try. The disc were not recognized by the player at all in that case. I had tried a couple of the other discs I had received but not all of them. My experienced with the first two disc mislead me to believe that the present of the crack would indicated a defective disc. When updating this post in the future, I will note if the disc played or not.

The first thing that pops to mind about this new evidence is perhaps Babel and Happy Feet did not span the entire disc to where information would have fallen in the area where the disc was cracked.


feed27 Comments
Runfer
September 24, 2007

Interesting.

Dan Jones
September 25, 2007

I'm having the identical situation. Wonder if a beefier sleeve for Blu-Ray would help?

John G
September 25, 2007

Blu-Ray has a hard coating that makes them less flexable, hence more cracking. It's not Netflix problem. I had GamezNFlix, and their Blu-Ray movies have the same problem. Lots of them are cracked.

On the plus side, the coating makes them more scratch resistant. You'll notice in your pictures the discs don't look scratched!

Grant Brown
September 26, 2007

Dan: Have you paid attention to the age of the titles? I would like to find out why some people seem to have trouble while others do not.

Nathan
October 05, 2007

I can't say I'm glad to hear others are having this problem also, but at least I now have some proof of the problem if blockbuster tries charging me for the discs. I have had blockbuster and/or netflix services for many years and have never had a broken disc until I started receiving bluray discs. Unfortunately the discs I'm receiving are cracked completely in half or from the outside edge to the center. If I called blockbuster they would probably the me to stfu and quit whining about it since I don't think customer service is their forte.

Nathan
October 08, 2007
http://jigbot.com

Had this problem today with Planet Earth disc 2. Stopped playing near the end. I wonder if it could have anything to do with the fact that the blu-rays seem to have rounded edges when compared to DVDs? (Unless I'm just seeing things.)

Grant Brown
October 09, 2007

Nathan: I have no idea. I would really like to get to the bottom of it though. Was that your first cracked blu-ray disc?

Hugh
October 10, 2007

We just had the exact same problem, (also with Casino Royale, co-incidentally), and we're now 2 for 2 disks with a crack that looks exactly like your picture. I just got off the phone with Netflix, and the lady was telling me that they had 'no reports' of this problem on their website. I don't know if I'll be told that the next time this happens or not. I really was trying to call to try to get them to start looking at the problem, but I don't think it got through.

TB
October 10, 2007

I had a similar situation with a regular DVD last month. I ended up renting the same movie three times due to a fractured disc. Netflix could improve there packaging to prevent this type of problem, but there's no guarantee that the USPS isn't going to stomp, smash, bend or shove the disc into a mailbox.

otto24
October 10, 2007

Yup, same thing happened with me with "Vacancy". It couldn't have been the age of the disc, since I got it the day after the movie was released on disc. I had to have been the first renter.

joker
November 05, 2007

I just had 2 "Vacancy" discs in a row from netflix cracked exactly like the picture. Wouldn't play. It's good to see other people are having the same problem. I thought I was having some really horrible luck. I have rented over 20 blu ray discs without problems until now. Must be certain discs with some kind of manufacturing problem.

TomBishop
November 24, 2007

I had the same thing happen to me. I've rented 12 BluRay discs, and 7 have been cracked. The CSR I spoke with did indicate they are aware of the problem, but have no plans to ship BR movies with any more protection than the zero protection their thin paper sleeves offer. Netflix could solve this problem by using cardboard/padded mailers, but it's cheaper for them to reship movies. Until enough people make enough noise about this issue, they will not fix this problem.

I was given an extra movie for my next billing cycle, and a credit for my current month when I reminded them that I could file a dispute with my credit card for the current cycle, as I wasn't receiving the service I paid for. Don't let them placate you with lip service, politely DEMAND what you think is fair and be prepared to cancel the service if they don't provide a solution. They are obligated to provide the service they charged for, and since there's no dollar value set for each individual rental, you are entitled a FULL refund if they cannot provide this service.

PLEASE use a Sharpie and writed CRACKED or DAMAGED on the paper sleeve when you send these back, because their warehouse crew could easily ship it to another person. If people start getting discs already marked damaged by other customers, Netflix can't hide from that.

TomBishop
November 24, 2007

RE: John G: ...
Blu-Ray has a hard coating that makes them less flexable, hence more cracking. It's not Netflix problem.
_____________________________

Actually, it is a Netflix problem. They are aware that the discs are easily damaged, and they haven't pulled them from their site. They should not offer BluRay discs until they can introduce another style of envelope that offers protection for the discs. They are a publicly traded company, and their obligation to their stockholders is more important than the consumer that uses their product/service.

Jean
January 23, 2008

January 22nd, 2008. The last 6 BluRay movies I received were identically cracked. Annoying, I signed in on Netflix because I wanted to access their BluRay selection. I thought I should contact Netflix to report the problem so the whole library wouldn't be ruined. They don't really encourage relationship with the customer, do they. I was surprised to see on this blog that this issue has been going on for the last 6 months and has not been addressed. I'm not too sure what I think about Netflix now. I'm sure if some big shot blogger would start making some noise about is suddenly they would start looking for solutions...

Neil Hunt
January 23, 2008

I'm an insider, and we are aware of the challenges. BD breakage isn't catastrophic, although all these reports make it sound horrible. I certainly recognize that it's a significant negative for the individuals who receive such broken discs, of course.

Nancy
January 25, 2008

While I haven't had the cracking problem, the last 2 discs I received ... Perfect Stranger and The Lake House ... were unplayable. Perfect Stranger had what appeared to be swirling striations of color on the disc. It loaded, but wouldn't play at all. The Lake House had 3 huge scratches and froze constantly. I did as suggested and wrote Damaged! on the sleeve. and pointed out the reasons.

I have ordered replacement titles - if those don't work, Netflix will be receiving my irate telephone call too.

I have been with Netflix for years and have never had any damage problems until I started renting Blu-Ray titles.

Mojo
February 05, 2008

Same problem here now 3/5 .. I wish I had seen this site before I went through the pain of sending my PS3 back to Sony for them to replace the Blu Ray laser .. turns out it was probably the cracks on the BD disks as I found the same cracks. Netflix has to address this or I smell a class action lawsuit coming.

Rich
February 20, 2008

Just a comment about the cracks: CDs read from the inside out -- the beginning is near the hole. If DVDs work the same (I think they do) then a crack near the outside edge might not matter if the movie isn't long enough to get out that far. Trouble is -- if the movie IS that long you'll only have trouble near the end which is REALLY BAD!

keepitsimpleengineer
March 01, 2008

Rich...
DVDs do write from the inside out, but DVD films are in multiple video files, which are not necessarily stored in write order, and most films are on dual layer, wherein there are two possible files near the edge.
I haven't seen these cracks in Netflix's BluRay DVD, because I cannot get them to mail me any. So I've added Blockbuster who will, although reluctantly.

Brad
March 12, 2008

I have had the same problem. Almost all of the blu-ray discs I get from Netflix are cracked near the edge. I now check every blu-ray disc before I attempt to play it, and I'd estimate 3 of 5 arrive damaged. Glad to know others are having the same problem. Netflix will need to fix this very soon.

Me
March 14, 2008

I'm 0/3 so far. I have not received a single blueray disk from Netflix that ISN'T cracked EXACTLY like your picture.

Miguel
April 07, 2008

I've rented 9 Blu Rays from Netflix and so far 5 of them have been unplayable.

I also have noticed that if I mail the bad disk back to Netflix as soon as I report it, I sometimes get the SAME disk back from Netflix a few days later ... confirmed by putting a mark on the disk before I send it to them.

To help netflix with their problem, I now write in black magic marker on the playing surface side "defective disk" and put the month and year. That should keep things straight :-)

WAKEMKR
April 18, 2008

We just started with Netflix soley for the BD option. Of the 15 disks sent to us 11 were cracked. I called today b/c our "free trial" was worthless as we spent all our time returning broken disks. The Rep claimed surprise about the issue and told me that it is a US Postal Service problem and that I should complain to them. Seems to me if 75% of what you send through the mail is damaged it has more to do with your packaging than a rouge mailperson tossing BDs around. Wouldn't a better shipping package be cheaper than replacing thousands of broken BDs and lost customers?

Bryan
April 24, 2008

4 of my first 6 Blu-ray movies from Netflix arrived with a seemingly identical crack on the outer edge of each disk. The damaged area is difficult to find. Like you, at first I thought it was my hardware (PS3). I've found that quite a few netflix subscribers online STILL have the same issue. I just got off the phone with netflix customer support. The representative claimed it was damaged during shipping and discounted me 25% off next months' bill. Looking at this posting original date, this problem has continued for a full year. And honestly, by the netflix representive's tone and reaction to my claims, i think her comment on "damaged during shipping" was BS.

Robert
April 30, 2008

I have received two titles from Netflix.

The Wild Bunch played fine, no problems whatsoever.

The Last Waltz was a different story. At first, it wouldn't load at all, saying it was an incompatible region number. Eventually it loaded, but it skipped the middle chunk of the film. I asked for a new one, and received it a few days later. Again, I was getting the incompatible region number, so I decided to troubleshoot the player. I updated the firmware, afterwards, the Last Waltz disc simply gave me the message "Can't Play." After searching, I found this blog, and then examined this second disc. Sure enough, the tell-tale crack is there.

Ugh.

Cory
May 02, 2008

Just so you know, I've now had problems now with 3 out of 4 BD movies for Netflix. Fantastic 4:RSS, AVP:Req, and Spidy 3. All have the same small crack in almost the exact same place on the outer side of the disk. Surely that kind of consistency indicates some sort of problem at the Netflix facility, wouldn't ya think? All of us from different parts of the country (presumably) with the exact same problem? If it was really damaged in shipment wouldn't the damage be in different spots on the disk, large or smaller, etc? Why can't I stop asking questions?

Al
May 02, 2008

Has anyone in Los Angeles had this same problem with a cracked B/R disc? Has anyone ever had the same problem with a newly purchased (sealed) B/R disc (not a pre-played rental disc)?

Is it the disc or the shipping that is the problem, or both?

Al


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Last Updated ( Thursday, 18 October 2007 )
 
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