Russ says he rented a movie from Redbox and ended up with a blank disc. He also says he can’t get an answer from Redbox on what to do next.

I rented three DVDs for my kids at a San Antonio, TX location, then drove back home with them to Austin. When I took one of them out of its case, I noticed that it was a just a blank CD-R. The previous renter had taken the I.D. label from the original DVD and messily placed it on the CD-R.

I don’t want to return the DVD/CD-R because 1) either the next renter will get screwed like I did or, 2) RedBox will think that I did it. I’ve been trying to contact RedBox for days now. First, their phone system was completely down. Then, they had me on hold for 20 minutes before I hung up. I’ve sent an e-mail, but haven’t heard anything.

Meanwhile, the $1 a day fee is stacking up. I can see this becoming a problem for RedBox if they don’t have the wherewithal to deal with this quickly and effectively.

The Redbox website offers a phone number, email address, and webmail form for customers, but since those aren’t working out for Russ, I’ve asked Redbox’s PR spokesman to give some advice. If he responds I’ll post an update here.

Update: Redbox’s customer care team has responded, but it’s just corporate speak:

It’s extremely rare that something like this occurs and we are committed to resolving all customer issues. Redbox has reached out to Russ and we hope to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

In other words, you’ve got Redbox’s customer service contact info (see link above), so use it if you have a problem.

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