DVD brands that HAVE NOT had problems with Cathe's dvds?

RE: fingerprints

Yes, you're correct that finger prints and improper handling of DVDs do account for many problems. Another and even larger factor is a dirty lens on the DVD player. DVD players are new to many consumers and they can be frustrating at times.

I know at times it may seem that our DVDs have a lot of problems, but this is simply not true. You must remember that we probably sell more DVDs to online customers than anyone. Thus, the more DVDs a company sells, the more defects that will be reported. We also always do a presale for new products over 4 or 5 month period. This means that when we do release the presale DVDs, we’re shipping 5 months worth of sales over just a 3 day period. We expect to have problems with at least 50 to 100 DVDs when we have a presale release. This may seem like a large number, but it is actually a very small percentage of the total DVDs that were pre-ordered. Of these discs that have a reported problem, most will test fine once we receive them back. In fact over 90 percent of non-scratched disc we receive back test just fine. Of the discs that have a problem, most were damaged in shipping or came loose in their case and were severely scratched.

I think it is important to note that videos have many more problems than do DVDs. Back when we use to sell only videos our defect rate was many times higher than our DVD defect rate today. DVDs go through a very strict quality control procedure that makes its very unlikely that more than a few defective DVDs will go undetected.

I've seen threads that have said that maybe we used cheaper ingredients to make our DVDs . This is not only untrue, but it is also impossible to do. We don't replicate our DVDs ourselves, but use some of the top replicators in the country to make our DVDS. All of our DVDs are "stamped" and are not the lesser quality DVD-Rs. Stamped DVDs are made on a machine that cost between 2 and 3 million dollars. These machines are housed in an ultra clean lab and operated and maintained by highly skilled operators. If a company were to try to skimp on the materials used to make a stamped DVD, two things would happen: #1 The DVDs would have zero chance of working and #2 The 3 million dollar DVD machine would either be damaged or destroyed. No replicator would ever attempt to do something like this.

I know it is frustrating when a DVD does not work, but always try cleaning the disc and testing on another player with a different brand name and/or model. You can learn more about DVDs at :http://www.dvdreview.com/faq/dvdfaq.shtml
 
>The problems might be actually caused by how the consumer are
>handling their dvds/players IMHO.
>
>I would not worry about Cathe DVDs not working on any DVD
>player unless the player has been 'abused'/'overused' etc.
>
>I think it's unfair that Cathe is getting this bad rep about
>her DVDs. They just work fine for me and all of my family
>members. People need to question their stuff/actions before
>they can blame Cathe - my opinion. I only have five cheapo
>different brand dvd players that work fine in addition to
>about 10 different brand dvd players in my family.
>
Well, you are lucky. I do not abuse my discs or my DVD player, and all others discs play without the problems I've had on "High Step Training" and the long layer change pauses in Body Blast..even the Intensity Series DVD's and previous SNM DVD's. I think it is unfair of you to assume that those of us who are having problems with these DVD's (and others have had problems with these two series, but not previous DVD's)are causing them by our misuse of our DVD players.
 
Hey Chris,
Thanks again for the great info. And hang in there!
:)
Trevor
 
I have a sanyo, it was only 2 months old I paid $160 and not abused and I was unable to play the push and pull and supersets, along with alot of other people back in january who had the same problem. Cathe has had problems with some of her batches of dvds that come out. I take offense that people need to question there stuff and that we are misusing our dvds and players. I baby my dvds and dvd player like they were children because I can't afford to go buy more. I have never had any problems with dvds until I started buying Cathe's dvds. I love cathe but bad batches do come out everything isn't perfect. It's the luck of the draw on whether your dvd will work or not, most people aren't having problems but it does happen.
 
RE: some comments

A few myths I would like to correct here…and also a few comments

#1… The price paid for a DVD player has nothing to do on whether or not you will have a have a firmware issue when you play a DVD. As an example, when we filmed the High Step Circuit workout the studio’s CD player that we use was having problems playing one of our music CD’s that the our vendor provided. This same CD would play just fine on any other CD player we had previously tested on, including a $99 boom box and a car CD player. The studio player cost over $2000, yet it was the only player to have trouble playing the CD.

#2…How old a player is, also has nothing to do with whether or not you will have a have a firmware issue when you play a DVD. A new player is just as likely to have an issue as an older player. If you go to DVD review you can see numerous players listed that have problems playing some of the more popular DVD movies. This info can be found at http://www.dvdreview.com/faq/dvdfaq.shtml

#3 I’ve seen threads saying that we have redone the Body Blast series and now they’re silver instead of gold. The truth is we have only had one production run and all the disc are the same color.

#4 The biggest myth I would like to correct is that The Body Blast series has had a lot of problems. This simply is not true. Yes, there will be some people (less than 3 percent) that have some issues. These issues are usually just in playing the Workout Blender or the Premixes. There is absolutely nothing we can do to make these advanced features work on every player out there. The only thing we can do is not to offer these features. This would solve the problem of the 3% who have some problems, but the 97% would be deprived of a feature that many of them really like.
I know when you read a forum and you see 20 or 30 people having some type of a problem, it seems like the entire DVD batch is bad and evil Step N Motion will not admit it. The truth is we have sold nearly 20,000 Body Blast DVDs and 20 to 30 is actually a very small percentage of the total orders. You will always hear from those who have a problem, but not from those who don’t. The Intensity series has a similar reported defect rate as the Body Blast series, but for some reason almost nobody says anything about this on the various forums.
We test every DVD we get back from consumers with a reported problem. So far we have had only seen 2 DVDs from the Body Blast series that were defective (this excludes disc that were physically damaged in shipping). The Body Blast videos, as do all videos, have a defect rate many time that of the DVDs.

#5 Cathe Bashing…You will notice that anytime we release new product, the threads about Cathe DVD problems or other negative comments magically appear within hours of our announcement. Unfortunately, the more successful Cathe becomes the more the more she will become a target.
 
RE: some comments

I love Cathe's workouts please don't think of this as bashing, she is wonderful! I am a consumer who is very confused, I have never before experienced the issues I have with my Cathe DVD's, I have 3 dvd players of different cost and age, one is new . The second player is 1 1/2 years old the third is 3 years old and I also use my sons xbox (3 years old). When I first received my Body Blast series I thought it was strange to have to fast forward through the pause cards, I waited and waited and it has to be fast forwarded, I read that others had to do this so I thought no biggie it is my players (3) my xbox did not have to pause at this point. I thought "my fault I should have a better player", these are just cheaper players (even if 1 is new and has no problems with any other DVD's ect.) Then right in the middle of KPC in the Kung fu fighting section my pixels ran rampant (I was very careful with my DVD this was the first time it was played and fastforwarded through that area there were no scratches on my dvd and it was shipped securely in it case, I then played them on my sons xbox and that part was fine but on the xbox other parts were problematic, a couple of the premixes ect. but after reading the threads again I thought it is my player my problem, I love Cathe and don't want to not be able to work out to Cathe so I will just deal with it. ) Since there were no reported problems (that I had read) with The Intensity Series I ordered them and preorederd the Beginner/Intermediate and High Step Advanced DVD's(I have not had any problems with the 3 new ones that have less options, except for the pause that we were told to expect, the layer change) but when I put in Cardio and Weights in my newer player the first time it was great the second time I tried it I got to the menu to play program or premixes and when I selected play program it just quit playing I got error in disc, I took out the disc and tried several others even just cd's and it has never played again. It is past the store warranty and I am sending it to the manufacturer. I went to Radio Shack and told them my delima and they sold me a cleaner and a little machine to put the dvd's through to cover scratches if they get any ect. Here is my delima, I am willing to replace players, buy cleaners, anything to make these work I am in no way a basher or someone trying to start something, just a really confused consumer these are two different groups of DVD's and if no one else here seems to be having these issues, is it just me and my three players and an xbox? I certainly have not abused my 4 players or DVD's, I am meticulous with my equiptment. I know that I can Return my one player to the manufacturer and wait to get a new one, put all dvd's in the cleaning machine, try them again on my other 3 options, then if they still do not work send them back to get others that hopefully will work. I guess what I am saying is WHY is it this hard? IS IT JUST ME? I got so upset the other day I just simply put in my allstep VHS Tape and used it for a couple of days, then I see the new post of other users having the same issues as me, I know you feel they are few but how many people are just dealing with it like I have.
 
RE: some comments

There seems to be a lot of issues going on here. First, the KPC problem is probably not a problem at all. There is a layer change during Kung Fu Fighting and on many players you will have a 1 to 3 second freeze-stutter. This is normal.
I know DVD players can sometimes be frustrating, but VCR's have many more moving parts and also have numerous problems. As for your DVD player it sounds like it just died. The lasers on on a DVD player will not last forever, but at least new players are pretty cheap nowdays.
As for pauses and freezes during the premixes, this will happen on some players...but this is only a problem on "some" players and on most players you will not have a problem. This is probably the biggest complaint we get about our DVDs, but there is nothing that we can do on our end to fix the the problem.This is a firmware issue. 9 out of 10 players will not have a problem playing our premixes, but yes some will. This is the problem in offering advanced features on a DVD and the only alternative is to simply not offer them.We add a lot of features to our DVds that other companies don't, so even if you can't enjoy the premixes...you still will be able to watch the normal program.
 
RE: some comments

I have had no problems with my dvds. I have a sony 5 disc and a Toshiba 5 disc. I have to say that in certain light it's hard to see smudges on the dvd. If you have sweaty hands when you remove the disc (as I often do), it is very easy to leave a smudge. I am extremely careful with my dvds, but its easy to smude the edges. I am not saying that no one has received a faulty disc, but I think you need to really make sure you that you check your disc in a bright light. This may sound foolish, but it took me awhile to figure this out, so I am maybe a little more stupid than others. But its worth checking out.:)
 
RE: some comments

I mean this sincerely when I say THANK YOU for all the very informative and useful information on DVD technology and players you're posting here. I don't have a DVD player in the room where I workout, and I'm going to buy one because I will not miss out on purchasing Cathe's two new series (the latest one and the Hardcore!!). I really do appreciate all the information. We have a Sony DVD player in our family room, and have had no problems with it playing movies on DVD. I need a combo upstairs though, because the TV upstairs is too old to have enough jacks to accomodate both the VCR and the DVD player, although I think you can work around that somehow. I'm still trying to decide which would be the best route for me, and the information you have posted is very helpful. Thanks again!

Carol
:)
 
RE: some comments

Thanks for taking the time to respond and explain, I will return my vcr and put these DVD's through my cleaner/scratch fixer machine and try them again. I appreciate that you explained this to me in a very nice way after I vented. I feel that your customer service is very caring, Thank you! As I said before I really like Cathe's style and want nothing more than to be able to throw in a DVD daily and workout!
sherry
 
RE: some comments

I see no "Cathe bashing" on these forums. Unless you consider legitimate concerns as "bashing" or wish to shut down such comments.
 
RE: some comments

>I see no "Cathe bashing" on these forums. Unless you
>consider legitimate concerns as "bashing" or wish to shut down
>such comments.


Going from Forum to Forum and making it sound like there is a real problem with the Body Blast Series is a form of 'bashing'.
 
RE: DVD brands that HAVE NOT had problems with Cathe's ...

I have an Xwave DVD player that I received for free from Earthlink. I've never had a problem playing any DVDs, including Cathe's, on it.
 
RE: DVD brands that HAVE NOT had problems with Cathe's ...

We have a Sony 5-disc and two Toshibas (one is a vcr/dvd combo) and all of my Cathes work great- no problems whatsoever.

Elizabeth
 
RE: some comments

>Going from Forum to Forum and making it sound like there is a
>real problem with the Body Blast Series is a form of
>'bashing'.

:-(
 
Bashing

It's very important when producing a product to distance yourself from the criticism that may arise.

I know that as a software engineer, I've dealt with situations where people get frustrated with the end product because of misunderstandings, or changes in requirements, and it's understandable.

I believe Cathe & SNM are doing good faith business, and are really trying to put out great product.

I also believe that the people raising the issue about faulty DVDS are genuninely concerned, and not trying to start something close to a new presale. It is very normal for consumers to look at the problems other consumers have had (or they themselves have had) and worry/exprss those worries about whether these issues will arise again.

I think it's best if the questions are just answered... there's no reason to take offense at them. Mostly I think people just want to be reassured that if they do have problems with the dvds, that they can get some kind of recourse without having to jump through hoops.

Leela
 
I have a Toshiba combination VCR/DVD player and have not had any problems with any of Cathe's DVDs. I have most of them.
 
RE: Bashing

We certainly don’t have a problem with consumers asking questions about a problem they ‘re having with a particular product they have purchased from us. And by no means are we saying that a person who posts a thread about a DVD problem is bashing in anyway. In fact we want to hear from you and will help in anyway we can. Thousands of our customers have received help from us and know this to be true. What we’re referring to are a few people, some of which use multiple identities, who use every opportunity to take a positive thread about Cathe or our company and turn it Negative. We’re not talking about a few threads, but in some cases hundreds by the same people. This is “bashing” not legitimate criticism and it is damaging every fitness forum on the web.In the past we have remained more or less quiet about this, but this will no longer be the case.
 
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