Disc to Digital at Walmart is the pits. I've had it.

I have never once walked into a Walmart with the goal being 'Disc to Digital', and walked out happy. Never. Not a single time. The last time took 8 trips to Walmart on a single order. Today I walked away disappointed once again.

My at home Disc to Digital couldn't identify two DVDs: Charade and Bean. Both were double feature discs and had another movie on the disc as well. This may have been why they couldn't be ID'd. I take them into Walmart to pay the 5.00 instead of the 2.50 I'd pay to do it at home. So I'm already willing to pay twice as much to have it done. I tell the guy I want 'Disc to Digital'. He looks at my DVDs and says, "aren't these already digital?". When I told him I wanted Vudu he said, "Oh, that's something different altogether." (These people don't even know the name of the service they are selling!!). He asked if I made the list at home. I told him I did not. He said he couldn't help me if I didn't make a list first. Finally he agreed to help. He got an error saying 'pending confirmation'. I suggested he cancel it out and try again. He said, "What would be the point in trying again? I think you should just go home and make the list."

I went home and tried to make the list, and couldn't. The search field wouldn't search for anything. I typed in 'Charade' and hit enter. Nothing. I typed in 'Bean' and hit enter. Nothing. I call Vudu customer service and DeeDee tells me that if they aren't coming up, then they aren't available titles. I informed her that this was NOT true as both titles did come up as eligible in the at home Disc to Digital. She also tells me that making the list isn't necessary. I tell her how the guy in the store said it was.

Walmart owns Vudu. Walmart is the parent company. Yet whenever there is a problem in Walmart, they have no frakkin' clue what to do. I call Vudu, and Vudu passes the buck to Walmart saying that Walmart is responsible for training their employees and that Walmart tech support must fix the problem. It's just passing the buck....IT'S THE SAME COMPANY !!

The last time I had an issue in Walmart, the Walmart employee told me to go home and do it with At Home Disc to Digital. I kindly explained to her that I don't have a Blu-Ray drive in my computer and thus I can only do Disc to Digital at home for DVDs, not Blu-Ray titles. Her response: "Why don't you just buy a blu-ray drive, convert the movies, and then return it?"

The system is broken.

[MattO]

Re: Disc to Digital at Walmart is the pits. I've had it.

6 of my 7 or so in-store D2D experiences have been pretty smooth, but I recognize that it has a lot to do with the specific employees you wind up with.

The reality is that a tiny number (read: financially insignificant) of people are using the in-store service so you're not going to see an improvement with training, education, etc. It's just not going to happen. I'm not sure that the service will exist much longer.

While the in-home program has as many holes as it does, or since many of us have a few scratched up discs, it's best to learn some best practices when doing the in-store version:

* Absolutely create your list before going in. It saves many steps and eliminates points at which an untrained employee could stumble. It sounds like you were simply having some browser errors creating your list at home. I type in both of those movies and I see matches. If you're not getting prompted with common movie names as you type, your browser or the page is misbehaving. Switch to another browser and try again. I'm seen my browser get into a funky state where that pop-up doesn't appear. Often, a refresh does the trick.

* Most of us live within range of a few Walmarts. Try a different one. I have three near home or work. One has a couple of well-trained people around mid-day while another has some good people in the evenings.

* Be forgiving of the employee's problems with terminology. It's just not a familiar program. What really counts is that they can pick up that binder and follow the instructions quickly. Some of my successful transactions have been by employees who were doing it their first time, but they were generally sharp people and got through it quickly. It helps if you know the steps yourself and can offer some guidance.

* If it's just not working, it's possible it's a Vudu issue. This forum will have some posts referring to it in that case. Don't assume it's the employee. But, if it appears to be the employee, ask when someone who has done it before will be around.

[mysbca]

Re: Disc to Digital at Walmart is the pits. I've had it.

My at home Disc to Digital couldn't identify two DVDs: Charade and Bean.

Bean is available as a free HDX selection when you add a payment type to your Vudu account. If main account already has payment type added. You can add a payment type to a secondary Vudu account linked to your main UV account.

[Guest]

Re: Disc to Digital at Walmart is the pits. I've had it.

I have never once walked into a Walmart with the goal being 'Disc to Digital', and walked out happy. Never. Not a single time. The last time took 8 trips to Walmart on a single order. Today I walked away disappointed once again.

My at home Disc to Digital couldn't identify two DVDs: Charade and Bean. Both were double feature discs and had another movie on the disc as well. This may have been why they couldn't be ID'd. I take them into Walmart to pay the 5.00 instead of the 2.50 I'd pay to do it at home. So I'm already willing to pay twice as much to have it done. I tell the guy I want 'Disc to Digital'. He looks at my DVDs and says, "aren't these already digital?". When I told him I wanted Vudu he said, "Oh, that's something different altogether." (These people don't even know the name of the service they are selling!!). He asked if I made the list at home. I told him I did not. He said he couldn't help me if I didn't make a list first. Finally he agreed to help. He got an error saying 'pending confirmation'. I suggested he cancel it out and try again. He said, "What would be the point in trying again? I think you should just go home and make the list."

I went home and tried to make the list, and couldn't. The search field wouldn't search for anything. I typed in 'Charade' and hit enter. Nothing. I typed in 'Bean' and hit enter. Nothing. I call Vudu customer service and DeeDee tells me that if they aren't coming up, then they aren't available titles. I informed her that this was NOT true as both titles did come up as eligible in the at home Disc to Digital. She also tells me that making the list isn't necessary. I tell her how the guy in the store said it was.

Walmart owns Vudu. Walmart is the parent company. Yet whenever there is a problem in Walmart, they have no frakkin' clue what to do. I call Vudu, and Vudu passes the buck to Walmart saying that Walmart is responsible for training their employees and that Walmart tech support must fix the problem. It's just passing the buck....IT'S THE SAME COMPANY !!

The last time I had an issue in Walmart, the Walmart employee told me to go home and do it with At Home Disc to Digital. I kindly explained to her that I don't have a Blu-Ray drive in my computer and thus I can only do Disc to Digital at home for DVDs, not Blu-Ray titles. Her response: "Why don't you just buy a blu-ray drive, convert the movies, and then return it?"

The system is broken.

It could be an issue you can't fix on your side. Send me a PM with your account email address included. It may help to clear it out completely from our end.

[rdodolak]

Re: Disc to Digital at Walmart is the pits. I've had it.

* Be forgiving of the employee's problems with terminology. It's just not a familiar program. What really counts is that they can pick up that binder and follow the instructions quickly. Some of my successful transactions have been by employees who were doing it their first time, but they were generally sharp people and got through it quickly. It helps if you know the steps yourself and can offer some guidance.

An employee should be familiar with their job; no excuses. I can understand they might be new to the program but they at least they need to make an effort to try. People can be awfully forgiving if you give it your best. Those comments, if true, by the employee are unexcusable. There is no excuse to making excuses for not being familiar with your roles and responsibilties.

[Joefiore1976]

Re: Disc to Digital at Walmart is the pits. I've had it.

I just wanted to take a moment to publicly thank Daniel for his help. It was very much appreciated.