The Verbatim is easily best.
I would have to hear from about your father-in-law. He may have bought fake Verbatim, be referring to old CMC discs, or new 'Life Series' (not quality Verbatim/MCC media). Maybe even his storage is at fault.
Maxell is terrible. It's just a brand for CMC, and true Maxell media hasn't existed for a decade now.
Philips is also CMC, same junk.
A no-name like Aone may use Umedisc from China. In the past, they used fake TY media. Avoid brands like that!
Again, see this:
http://www.digitalfaq.com/reviews/dvd-media.htm