This Korean film, The Classic, is one of my favourite Korean films. Therefore, I have been looking for it everywhere in Malaysia. However, I have been unable to find it until today. I went to the nearby Carrefour to purchase a new DVD player to replace the busted one at home. Then, I went to one of the little shops outside selling DVDs to see what shows they had and lo and behold, they had a copy of the film.
The first thing that I checked was to make sure that the DVDs had the original seal of authenticity. This entailed checking the front for the hologram sticker and the back for the original certificate of authenticity issued by the board. Satisfied that it had all the marks of originality and it was fully sealed, I picked it up and gave it to the shop attendant who happily gave me a 10% discount off the retail price.
Then, the store attendant asked me if I would like to have it tested. I said yes and he proceeded to rip open the packaging and play the DVD for me. Satisfied with the film, I asked him again, “is this an original DVD?” and he replied that it was. So, he then placed it in a plastic bag and gave it to me. I then paid him the money and left.
After getting home, I wanted to play the film in the new DVD player that I had just bought as well. So, I took out the DVD from the plastic bag and immediately noticed something wrong. The cover image on the DVD cover was a different one from the one that I had originally picked. It was still the same film, just a different cover. Also, it had the look of being printed on a high quality colour printer on A4 paper. Furthermore, the authenticity seal and certificate was missing.
Then, looking at the actual DVD disc itself, revealed that it was a DVD-R with a sticker label on it, that was also printed with a high quality colour printer. Man, was I pissed. I had paid for an original DVD but I ended up getting a pirated one instead. So, I immediately drove back to the store and confronted the shop attendant.
I told him that I would like my money back and that he sold me a pirated DVD. He proclaimed innocence and told me that it was not pirated. Then, I took out the DVD and pointed out that it was a DVD-R with a printed sticker cover on it. That was when he realised that I was not going to be cheated. So, he relented and told me that he will give me a refund.
Then, he opened up the cash register to show me that there was no more change in it and the only cash he had was a RM50 note. So, he asked me if I had change for RM50. I was not about to hand over even more money to someone who is a cheat. I had no way to know if this RM50 was a fake note or otherwise. So, I told him to go change it in the bank down stairs.
The shop attendant then left the store and went off somewhere. After waiting for a few minutes, he came back with a bunch of change and refunded me my money. Happy that I had gotten my refund, I decided to leave it at that. I understand that everyone has to make money and some people have to resort to these unscrupulous means to do so, as long as they don’t do it to me.
Anyway, this is a lesson and I have learned from it. I will always triple check my purchases in the future to ensure that the thing that I chose is the actual thing that I received. I hope that this will also serve as a lesson to others on some of the tricks employed by these pirated DVD sellers. They are now masquerading as original DVDs sold at original prices!
Sybreon Ones Nought 