I am currently a Netflix subscriber contemplating a switch to Blockbuster Online and I am curious if anyone has had any experience with them. I like the idea of being able to bring movies in directly to the store to get new movies (I am often stuck without movies on the weekends). I’m looking for info on the turnaround and the availability of movies. Currently, I get a movie two days after I mail it. I’d sacrifice one day for the ability to bring the movies in but no more than that.
P.S. I’m not sure if this belongs here or in Café so I just took a guess.
I switched from Blockbuster to Netflix about a year ago because Blockbuster’s turnaround was six days, they sent the wrong disk (in the right sleeve) about one out of every ten disks, about one out of ten of the disks were scratched to the point of being unplayable, and the wait times were unreasonably long for popular titles.
I have found that Netflix has a better selection, a consistent two day turnaround, wait times are brief (if any wait at all), they have never sent the wrong disk, and only twice in a year have they sent a damaged, unplayable disk (and they dispatched a replacement immediately upon notification).
The in-store disk exchange that Blockbuster offers sounds great until you realize that it only works if they have a title you want in the store.
I had net flicks first. When I moved back to MA I gave blockbuster a try. It was good until I hit a point were I couldn’t find anything I was interested in the local store. After that, I went back to net flicks because they have a larger selection of independant stuff and their selection/recomendation system is far superior to Blockbusters.
If you have a long list of older movies you need to catch up on, Blockbuster can be better because the in store rentals. Once your caught up netflicks seems better to me.
Unrelated has anyone found a decent mail order rental service for porn?
I don’t get the premise of having to pay every month whether you want something or not.
And pre-paying for stuff you aren’t sure you’ll order is just wrong.
You should only be charged for what you get.
Subscriptions are a rip-off for the consumer. On average you lose, or else they would never be offered instead of the traditional-for-centuries buy-when-you-want and pay-as-you-go.
Heh. Everyone has their opinions. I consider Netflix to be one of the best services out there, and well worth the subscription price every month. I like the convenience of never having to worry about paying - it just comes off my credit card every month. I like the huge selection and never having to go to a physical store. Far from a rip-off for me.
You’re paying for access to the library of movies, and it’s a much larger library than the typical mom & pop rental store. If you watch many frequently, you may end up paying less per disk than a rental plan that charges by the disk and day. If you watch few or infrequently, or have a good rental store nearby, Netflix is not the most economical plan for you.
Thanks for all of the feedback. I pay for the service because it’s cost effective for me. I get more movies than I did before and I pay less for them (this was originally was because of late fees so I’m not sure if it still would hold true). The huge selection is also worth it. I think I will stick with Netflix for the time being and just go to blockbuster or our local video store if I need movies on the weekend and pay extra.
Agreed. If I rented from Blockbuster store, I’d pay far more than the $18/month. We generally go through our 4 discs / week (sometimes, we’re a little slow), so figure 12-16 rentals / month. Unless BB rents at $1.50 and I never have a late fee if I can’t get to a movie right away (or want to watch a disc of an old TV series in multiple installments), it is in no way a rip-off.
[As an early Netflix adopter, I’m grandfathered into the 4 discs at a time plan, while newer subscribers only get 3 for the same price - just in case anyone is paying that close attention to my post.]
Umm… do you guys seriously want one? I consider myself one of the “dirtier” guys I know (do a search with my username and “poop” I’m sure you’ll find more than a thread or two), and I think this is pretty disgusting. I mean, somebody else was doing exactly what you were doing with it, and then taking the disk out and shipping it out. Probably right away, without washing their hands, so they can get the next “Anal Avengers XC” in the next two days.
Well conviently you can wash DVD’s with soap and water. Yes I am serious if there is a service out there that works well I’m somewhat interested.
I subscribed to intelliflix for a month or two in concept there were everything I wanted. They have an account option that allows you to select from movies, games and adult films. In practice they were an awful service that consistantly failed to send movies in a timely manner and not once sent them to me in anything resembling the order I selected.
Here’s my recent musings on Blockbuster Online vs. Netflix Bottom line, we just switched from Netflix to Blockbuster Online and so far we’re glad we did. Faster turnaround, less damaged discs, and the return-in-the-store is great for us, since we have two stores within 1 block here.
Depending on your viewing habits and how long it takes each service to get to you in particular, it could be a toss-up. For us, BBV is better. So far. I’ll get back to you in six months.
We’ve had Netflix for quite awhile now. As a frequent renter we started getting our shipments throttled by Netflix. So, we tried Blockbuster for a few months.
It was awful. At it’s worst, Netflix was better than Blockbuster at it’s best.
Discs would arrive broken. The wrong discs would arrive. They’d stop sending discs and I had no idea why. Everything I added to the queue was “available now.” It took me a couple weeks to realize when they say “available now” it means “not really, keep adding discs until something really is available now.” Both my Netflix and Blockbuster shipping facilities were the same zipcode but Blockbuster always took longer to arrive even when the discs were supposedly sent the same day. They were terrible with TV series. I’d keep ordering season three disc one and what I’d keep getting was season one disc one. Over and over and over. That was the final straw for me. After I’d sent them back the same disc three or four times and notified them it was the wrong disc and each time they turned around and sent me back the exact same disc that was enough.
Ok, I’ll have to be the one that comes out and says it: I HATE NETFLIX!!! The LackLuster Online service was at least good for the first trial month. After that I canceled it. I enjoyed the fact that in one weekend I could watch a few movies without having to wait for the mail. I do agree on the selection, but it was more than made up for in convenience and customer service.
In 6 months of Netflix, I had a total of 8 wrong DVDs shipped in the right sleeves, 1 wrong DVD and sleeve (which was supposed to be a replacement for one of the previous 8), 6 scratched beyong playable discs, and my own personal favorite: 1 DVD shipped to me within the last 30 days. That’s right, I paid for the entire month to get just one DVD shipped to me on day 22. I immediately watched it and sent it back that day, and never got another. Their service is only good if you don’t mind waiting forever or you want to rent the 3+ at a time. I tell everyone I know to save their money and actually rent from Blockbuster or just borrow it from someone they know.
I’ve been using Netflix since ~1998 and I haven’t had as man problems as you, Shecky. I’ve had maybe 6 unplayable in that entire time, and it’s exceeding rare I get the wrong disk - hasn’t been 8, that is for sure. As we only can watch DVDs over the weekend for the most part, that disks I mail Monday are replaced by Wednesday / Thursday suits our needs to a ‘T’.
I guess I balance you out. I reccommend Netflix to anyone with a DVD player and $18/month. I enjoy their service and plan to continue using it as long as service levels I am getting remain constant.
Just want to point out that one should not use the number of discs that are physically damaged (i.e. cracked) when received as a measure of which service to use, as both are packaged pretty much the same way. Unless you think they are knowingly sending them out that way.
