What in gods name are cd and dvd makers thinking

[London Geezer]

There are issues with that system. Loose discs get lost or misfiled. They can get scratched or covered in fingerprints. For the store there are space and tracking issues to deal with. Can you image a big store with 100,000+ units in stock having to open all the cases and safely store the 1-4 discs inside the boxes? That's why it's easier and simpler to keep them all together on the shelf.

Well. Let my just say that for me as a consumer the system has never been any problem. If it can keep theft away and I don't get any redundant packaging, then I'm all fine. Storage space isn't much of an issue. Discs don't take much space. They got them all under the cash desk and they are usually quicker at finding the right disc than the average customer is at getting the right amount of money out of his wallet. So I don't see any problems with this system at all.

The problem is not the system. It's just that sometimes there are right d**ks at the counter. The ones that hold discs by their flat sides (instead of the borders and hole in the middle), obviously leaving fingerprints of their ugly dirty hands all over them. I've never had a problem myself, but the danger of damaging the discs is potentially much higher than having the case sealed.

 

[Basic]

I must agree with Humus. I've never had any problem with the discs, and I've never seen anyone behind the desk holding the disc in a bad way. (Or seen any fingerprints on the disc when I come home.) And in fact, I've been saved from a trip back to the store when the clerk spoted and showed me a manufacturing error on a disc. (It was the last one of that disc they had in store, so I came home empty handed. But that's better than to come home with a broken record.)

The only bad thing is if it's an old, low turnover CD that's been in the store for a long time. Because then the case might have got scratches that could have been avoided with plastic wrapping. If it's in a generic case, you could often ask for a new case though.

 

[London Geezer]

Yeah well i never had a problem... but it's like going shopping for food and buying, i don't know, a rack of lamb (don't ask, i couldn't think of anything else...) which is not wrapped, and is handled by someone who is not YOU.

See what i mean... it's a psychological thing. I go get my new shiny DVD (or whatever else) and i want to be the first one to open it and touch it and do stuff with it. Call me possessive...

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

Well. Let my just say that for me as a consumer the system has never been any problem. If it can keep theft away and I don't get any redundant packaging, then I'm all fine. Storage space isn't much of an issue. Discs don't take much space. They got them all under the cash desk and they are usually quicker at finding the right disc than the average customer is at getting the right amount of money out of his wallet. So I don't see any problems with this system at all.

Well I've seen the expense and (mis)handling that goes on from the retailer side. The ones that don't run such a system are the large stores that would rather keep all their storage space are part of the store shelves so they can stock more, and keep their staff taking money rather than fetching/packing/unpacking discs. When you get a delivery of hundreds, if not thousands of discs every week, it's a major headache to open and refile them all.

And as I said above, as a consumer, I've experienced damaged discs where they've been mishandled because they haven't been stored in the packaging the manufacturer designed for them.

Don't forget, storing discs separately is not done for the consumer's benefit, it's for the retailers benefit (to prevent theft). However, there comes a point where security tags are cheaper than dealing with a large volume of CD/DVDs in that fashion.

 

[Basic]

I guess that to a large degree it's up to how much the clerks in our respective area cares about doing their job well. And it seems we're luckier in that respect.

Given how well it works here, I wouldn't want it any other way. But I can understand that with careless clerks, it's better to have them wrapped.

 

[Humus]

When you get a delivery of hundreds, if not thousands of discs every week, it's a major headache to open and refile them all.

Well, I would be surpriced if this is done manually at the store. I haven't worked in any CD store, so I don't know, but I would expect stores to get discs delivered separate from the boxes. At least from local CD companies. Maybe different on imported CDs.

 

[London Geezer]

What's so wrong in MagneticTags+Wrap??

I mean you can't be THAT lazy to actually prefere your disc being handled around just cause it takes you 6 seconds more to cut the wrapping!

 

[Humus]

Well, if theft increases the price for my discs, then I see a clear point of it. Redundant wrapping also bothers me. It takes time to get through, and while it may not be significant it does disturb anyway. Personally I'd like less wrapping on stuff in general. It's not just CDs, but pretty much every product you buy comes wrapped in layer on layer of wrapping. Thought it was bad enough here, but in Canada is gotta have been even worse. Buy some chewing gums, and every gum is wrapped in its own paper, and the package is wrapped in paper, foil and plastics, and to carry it I get a plastic bag, and then I of course need a bag to put my bag in ...

 

[London Geezer]

Well, if theft increases the price for my discs, then I see a clear point of it. Redundant wrapping also bothers me. It takes time to get through, and while it may not be significant it does disturb anyway. Personally I'd like less wrapping on stuff in general. It's not just CDs, but pretty much every product you buy comes wrapped in layer on layer of wrapping. Thought it was bad enough here, but in Canada is gotta have been even worse. Buy some chewing gums, and every gum is wrapped in its own paper, and the package is wrapped in paper, foil and plastics, and to carry it I get a plastic bag, and then I of course need a bag to put my bag in ...

Yeah it's a whole big wrap. Funny enough, i just had a chicken ceasar wrap for lunch...

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

When you get a delivery of hundreds, if not thousands of discs every week, it's a major headache to open and refile them all.

Well, I would be surpriced if this is done manually at the store. I haven't worked in any CD store, so I don't know, but I would expect stores to get discs delivered separate from the boxes. At least from local CD companies. Maybe different on imported CDs.

Nope, it doesn't work that way. The packaging that comes from the pressing plant and distributer *is* the box. The stores have to open them up and file them if they don't want to keep them out on the shopfloor. Often in the smaller stores, you'll instead get a few open boxes on the shelves, and when you take them to the counter they swap it with an unopened one from behind the counter. In big stores where you have no real storage (because all your space is store shelves and your main storage is in offsite warehouses), you can't do that, so it all stays out in the store with decent packaging.