Why Can't We All Get Along; or Buyer Beware

Son of a gun. Have any of you heard of or come across "Region 2" formatting when it comes to Videos?

If so...steer F-A-R away from this scoundrel.

So. I was really happy to have found "Rich Man, Poor Man". Happier still when it arrived last week.

But, alas! When I went to play it, my DVD would not be recognized by my player. It turns out that this DVD series is formatted for European players which are NOT compatible with any in the USA or Canada. And, yes, there it was in my Account; down below, somewhere on the photo of the DVD cover: Region 2.

Well. Even if I had thought to check, WHO the heck knows what "Region 2" means...unless you happen to want to dig deep and google the darn term.

But now YOU know.

Of course, there was a paper that came with the DVD. Who reads those? They're usually receipts for what you ordered and I always keep them in case I want to return any order. Only problem is that THIS one stated (I read it after I dug it out of the trash) that, in effect, buyer beware, this product could only be viewed with compatible Region 2 player AND if product was opened, well, good luck trying for a refund!

Are you kidding me!

I was aghast. And sad. And more determined than ever to own "Rich Man, Poor Man".

I clicked on the "Rich Man, Poor Man" image and up popped a few "used for sale". (Hmm, I wonder why?). But right alongside was another logo, "Want to sell yours?", or something to that effect. Okay then, why not? So I went through all that was needed to sell my treasure.

But that didn't solve my problem; what to do about getting another "Rich Man, Poor Man" DVD.

This series is not readily available. But I gave it another search and voila! I found a site that sold it, formatted to our players.

It was a bit more expensive than my original purchase but I was on a roll. Click. I bought it and now I own it.

It came in the mail today. It is not 1/2 as nice as my original. Not even 1/4 so.

The case is flimsy. This disks, says Brent, are "burnt" and the labels of far of lesser quality than what he could have put together. He was visibly upset.

But they do play; Brent checked immediately. Only the Menu isn't there and the "Opening" is so different than the original. But it does play. I just have to remember where I "stop" before I decide to "play" again.

Oh. Why do I know that the Opening sequence ( I don't know how else to describe this) is different than the original? Because you CAN view "Region 2" DVD's on your computer. You have to reformat it ( easy to do), but you CAN view it. I checked yesterday. Ahhh!

And so I have decided to "pull" my original "Rich Man, Poor Man" from Amazon and not re-sell. It's not going to sell anyway, unless I lower the price; there are at least 1/2 dozen there already.

NO. I'm keeping my original. Annie, Frank and Clare watch movies on their computers. You kiddos are welcome to borrow any time you want. And maybe, maybe, there will come a time when technology will allow for reformatting a DVD on the computer so that Dad can "burn" the series for me. And I can put the disks in my cooler package.

Or maybe not. Maybe I'll just wait a few months and put my DVD's up for sale again. I won't be able to claim, "In Excellent condition. Not LIKE new, BUT new! Never viewed. Good luck viewing this on your player". Instead, I'll be honest and say, "Like new. Excellent condition. Viewed."

An aside: Brent commiserated with me on all of this. Even HE had never heard of "Region 2" DVDs. (And that's saying something) "And", he further commiserated, "who would have thought to check?".

Having brought all of this to his attention, though, he thanked me today for having done so. Come to find he has "downloaded and burnt" movies but, gee, sometimes they haven't worked. Why? Because, at a closer glance.... they were...

REGION 2!