I still have my membership card, though I haven’t been there in a long while.
I always thought that the “No Late Fees” policy was too little, too late anyway. Netflix was already going strong by the time they came out with it. And they mucked up the roll out of the policy in 2004 by being less than forthcoming about the exact rules, turning what should have been a major boon into a PR disaster - the Blockbusters where I lived at the time had huge ass signs proclaiming “No Late Fees” but no fine print whatsoever explaining that you would be charged the full price of the movie if you didn’t bring it back in 30 days.
Never bothered me though. I always returned my movies on time.
On a tangent, what happened to the Blockbuster mail service? I was living overseas when it went TU. I always thought it had a compelling case … same service as Netflix, but if you were really desperate for a movie, like, right now, you could swap yours out at a nearby store. Personally, I stayed with Netflix because it was their idea, and I have bizarre loyalties like that. However, I was surprised (and a bit pleased) to find that Blockbuster failed.
The Blockbuster near me never participated in the “No late fees” program anyway, which was always annoying. Or would have been annoying, if I ever got videos at Blockbuster.
I still have a blockbuster online sub. Basically the only reason I still have it is that I get a free game coupon every month, grandfathered in from being and early adopter. Half the retail locations around me have closed in the last few years, so the in-store exchange isn’t the advantage it once was. My father picked up a Roku a few months ago to go along with his Netflix 1 disc subscription. No extra cost beyond buying the box, thousands of selections, very impressive. He basically does almost all on demand now. He might mail in one dvd a month. When I saw the blockbuster on demand feature updated on my Tivo I was pretty excited. Then I found out that my blockbuster online subscription dosen’t mean jack to the blockbuster on demand service. They think I’m going to pay additionally per on demand movie.
I haven’t checked to see if they are going to try to charge late fees to the in-store exchanges for the blockbuster online rentals, but that would do it for me. I’ve already started looking at netflix capable blu-ray players.
As of right now, the in-store exchanges are not going to be charged any late fees, because they have no due-dates…they just hold your next mailer until the exchanged movie gets back, so it’s not like you’re gonna keep that movie for months.
And if you’re a gamer, don’t hold me to this because I’m not some corporate guy who decides stuff, just a grunt in a polo, but I think they’re unrolling games through online within the next month or so…
And hey, while I in no way represent the will of Blockbuster co. or any of it’s executive officers, etc, etc, like I said, I’m a grunt in a polo, so I can answer any questions in a forthright and honest manner. So…mini Ask the Blockbuster 4-Star CSR thread, why not.
I just rented a movie last night and had the NEW rules explained to me. Don’t laugh. I don’t watch enough movies to join NetFlix, and Mom wanted to see “Inglourious Basterds.”
The biggest change, and for me the most inconvenient, is the dismissal of the 7-day “grace period.” Even on 2-day rentals, I could keep the movie a week with no reprisals. I liked that. Not necessary but a nice convenience if I couldn’t get the movie back within the designated rental period. Of course, their “no late fees” gimmick was always just that – a gimmick. You didn’t pay a late fee, you just bought the DVD. Now, with the grace period gone, the “you bought it” feature is just a slower process, at $1 per day after the rental period until you own it. There are other features, something about returning an overdue movie and getting store credit, but my eyes glazed over at that point because it will never happen to me.
We chose them instead of Netflix when we signed up several years ago for the very reason you mention - it was a point in Blockbuster’s favor, and except for that the services seemed hard to distinguish. They still do, although I admit I haven’t seriously looked into switching; we appear to be grandfathered in at a very competitive rate compared to what I saw advertised in a brick-and-mortar store the other week. If Netflix’s new subscriber rates are at all comparable to Blockbuster’s, then staying put is clearly the thing to do for now.