PacMan2006

I am thinking of joining one of these deals. I at first did Netflix and it was fine but they started shipping slowly after a while. Then I had less time to movies and I had to bail out.

Now, with lower prices I am thinking of joining one of these deals (both are the same price pretty much.) Blockbuster states they have a library of 25, 000 titles, which is the same as Netflix. It looks like you can rent video games, too. Also says you can get 2 in store free movies or games a month. So the deal, in that sense, sounds actually better than Netflix. I'm not sure where the dvd's ship from--do they ship from actual local Blockbusters near where you live? I was thinking if this is so, then there's probably even a better chance your movies will get to you quicker than what Netflix could do.

Either way, what has been people experience with Blockbuster's deal so far?

cwellock

I quit Netflix when they raised their prices in June, and thought I'd try Blockbuster, since I got a free trial month, and it was AWFUL! They only have a few distribution centers- one was in Flushing NY (which was closer to me) but all my discs came from Charlotte, NC. It would take a MINIMUM of 3 days each way for mailing, and was often worse. I would mail 3 discs back to them on a Friday, and one would be credited on Monday, one on Tuesday, and the last one on Wednesday.

And they would ship from my list in no order at all, even though my top movie was listed as in stock.

The 2 free rentals from the store was nice, but not worth the rest of the hassle.

I quit after my free month was up, and will probable re-join Netflix after the holidays, since they've lowered their price to $17.99/month.

Hokeyboy

I'm using Blockbuster, mainly because they get a distribution center right here in Miami. I get my discs in *one day*. I can understand the issue with people who live further away, but for me it's awfully convenient.

Plus I got sick to death of Netflix waiting 30 years for my selections to be available.

And I

matome

I'm currently trying the free two week trial with Blockbuster. Same experience as cwellock.

My thoughts:

Pros: Ability to choose newer versions of DVD's (only incentive for me to try it out)


Cons:
- Sent the old version of the disc I wanted (Escape From New York SE). Finally got the correct disc a week later.
- Three day delivery TO THE SAME CITY (I live in NYC and the dist. center is in Flushing)
- Random confirmation emails. I only received one during a whole 3-disc cycle.

Stick with Netflix.

nightmaster

They certainly don't ship from your local stores, but I have a feeling they're going to try that route soon. In any case I'm getting a turnaround of one cycle per week. To me, thats acceptable, but anything less than that would not be. As Matome said, to their credit they give you multiple choices of discs that have been re-released and their superbit versions. They also carry an extensive lineup of music discs if you like live concerts on disc.

DonnachaOne

I'm on the two week trial.

Slow as hell.

Limited selection.

Won't be signing up.

OldBoy

why is this thread here???????

Deftones

From what I understand, Blockbuster doesn't even hold a candle to the niche titles that Netflix seems to rent.

Hokeyboy

Well, remember that, when it comes to online rentals, Netflix has a 6.5 year headstart on Blockbuster. They do have niche titles, over time they'll cater to the offbeat moviefans.

John-In-VA

Moving to..........some other forum.

Big Worms

Blockbuster is terrible. They don't have any of the movies available. There shippments take a lot longer even though there is a DC in my city. I had Netflix before and they had every movie I wanted to rent available. I only switched to Blockbuster because of the lower price, but after this month is over with I am switching back to Netflix.

Galileo01

I tried them too and they were taking three days to get to me. I live in MD and they were shipping from either North or South Carolina (can't remember which). With Netflix I get them in two days at the most and their distribution center is less than 30 miles from me.

Deftones

But Blockbuster rents movies as a business!

Big Worms

Did I miss something here. So does Netflix.

Hokeyboy

OldBoy

why is this still here...

Big Worms

What's funny is that at one point Blockbuster said that the online rental was just a small piece of the market and that Netflix can have it. Times have changed.

FantasticVSDoom

Well at first it was great, pretty fast ...But now its really slow. It takes 3 days at least for me to get movies and I am maybe 10-15 mins away from Flushing, hell it would take longer for me to go to the closest Blockbuster than to actually go to the distrubution center in Queens. I may try Netflix now that it lowered its prices. Eventhough they are slow, its still cheaper this way to rent movies than going to the actual store, and a hell of a lot more convenient.

Soapstreet

Here is what you do with Blockbuster.

Order your 3 movies.
5 Days after they have shipped, even if you put them in the mail today, you can go under "My Account", click on "Report DVD issues" Click the bullet next to one of the movies you had,And then click the bullet next to "I have already returned this movie but it has not cleared my queue".
It will take you to a screen saying we are sorry for the inconvienence bla bla bla....and at the bottom it will have a button to click for them to automatically send you the next movie in your queue even though they have not received the one you just mailed.

Repeat this for the remaining 2 movies.

This makes it so much faster!!!! And it works everytime!

badger1997

I've had very few issues with Blockbuster online. I just dropped some movies in the mail Sunday night and by Wednesday afternoon I had my next three movies. It's very quick and now that the free in-store rental coupons are good for video game rentals, it's been a hell of a deal for me.

The only problem I've had is that they have jumbled my list now and then. Especially happens if I choose to break up a set and they always get listed in the wrong order and switched around for no apparent reason. Need to keep an eye on that, but for the price it's a hell of a deal.

Cygnet74

i've tried both and am sticking with netflix. for me, netflix is faster and has more of the titles i'm interested in than blockbuster.