tonyc3742

I'm betting a lot of folks who are Netflix subscribers are also trying out Blockbuster online.
I'm about 1/2 way through my 4 free weeks. With Netflix, I'm on the legacy 2-out, no-max plan, so with BB, for the same price, I get one more disk, 2 instore rentals, and they have that thing where they'll send you the next disk when the USPS processes the current one, I'm not sure how they're doing that, but it seems to be working. So with one add'l disk, and not having to wait till my return is checked in, even if BBO's shipping time is a little longer, I'm still ahead over Netflix.
Anyway--I haven't transferred my entire queue to BBO yet, so there's only 11 titles in it [most anime or 'cult'].
6 Available Now
2 Short Wait
1 Long Wait
2 Very Long Wait.
My netflix queue, with 152 titles, including the 11 that are on my BBO queue, has all "Now."
Assuming NF isn't lying, this is a huge discrepancy. And while if BBO has a disk in stock, and they ship it to me quickly, obviously if they don't have any inventory, it doesn't matter how quick they ship it if they don't have it to ship.
Has anyone else seen a lot of 'wait' statuses on your BBO queue, especially as compared to NF? Obviously if we stick with BBO, we'll add more stuff to the queue, but 5 out of 11 is not real good odds.

BigDan

I noticed more waits on Blockbuster online when I was trying out both services. More recently, I've gotten more waits on Netflix than I did originally, but Blockbuster still had more with waits.

The weird thing about Blockbuster waits, though, is that I was often shipped movies that were listed as having a wait status, so I don't know how accurate their wait estimates are.

And I was able to get a few new releases immediately from Blockbuster that I was unable to get through Netflix due to wait status.

Bill Geiger

Trying the 2 week trial on Blockbuster for which I signed up last night. My discs (3) have already shipped. Will let you know...

gr8fuldave

I've been very impressed with Blockbuster so far. I signed up when they did the "Shrek 2" free for signing up offer. My ship times are just a tad slower than netflix, but not really noticeable. I'm paying roughly .99 cents a month for the movies because I've been using the free rentals for games which cost 6.99 to rent without the coupons. They also send other coupons (20% off a used movie or game, cheap popcorn, etc) and have said they plan to start shipping from the local stores sometime in March/April.

Tony Dvdfan

I'm on another free 4 wk trial (moved recently, so i did the trial again )...more than half of my list has at least "short wait", with many at "long wait". The shipping is about a day or two longer than Netflix, but i do like the coupons i get emailed.
Not sure if i'll keep it or not, new releases do seem to be easier to get than on Netflix.

huh?

I switched all my business to Blockbuster. They are faster then Netflix in my area. I've never had an issue, and I believe that Blockbuster uses the arrival scan from the Post Office to trigger the next movie in your Q to go out. This works well. Very fast turnaround.

Bill Geiger

Received my 3 dvds today from Denver. Harold & Kumar, Village & Starship Troopers Superbit. Took only 3 days! So far so good.

tonyc3742

They charged you for it?
Had you tried them before?
Did you only get a 2 week trial, or 4 week?
I'd definitely complain about that.

The USPS arrival scan is pretty neat, that does expedite things. I think we'll stick with them, and cancel Netflix when my anniversary date rolls around. With three titles instead of just two, and the USPS scan, that should outweigh any slightly slower shipping [my NF's are shipping from Greensboro, in-state, most of my BBO's are going back to either OH or MD.]

Does anyone know if BBO will either show you or send you your entire rental history, like NF does?

Bill Geiger

In checking my confirmation email, it appears I am wrong. I could have sworn I signed up for the free trial (and I wondered why in the confirmation email it stated 9.99 <--stupid me). Oh well. At least the two free rentals will make up for my mistake and I get a $50 best buy card for free anyway.

Bill Geiger

And as far as the USPS scan goes, not the case on my end. 3 days and still not return to the Denver facility and still awaiting my next batch to even be processed.

So....given that I have been with Nextflix previously.... Netflix still has the edge so far.

heffalump

so far bb online has been berry berry good to me. 12 online rentals in Jan. plus 4 coupons for in store DVD/Games 2 for Jan, 2 for Feb.

they are shipping from about 30 miles away. turnaround has been about three days most of the time. never had netflix, but I see myself not going to B&M rental places anymore.

Venom

i think the dvd status might be bull, in a few ways. when BBV first opened their online rental i wanted to see if they would carry dvds that i know due to "policy" BBV B&M wouldn't carry. first search, Salo. it came up... very long wait. very long wait seems code for never gonna happen. to avoid confusion, if Salo were commonly available, i think they would rent it, the very long wait refers to it being out of print.

for regular movies, something on short wait changes to Now very quickly. it's been pretty easy to get new release, esp with the 2 rental coupons in some cases.


been really pleased with BBVO. when i first joined return address was NC, then NY, and now PA. however, the USPS scanning thing seems iffy. on occasion i've got shipping confirmation emails the next day, but often it takes 2 or 3 days. seems to be kinks in the system.

tonyc3742

Yeah, the USPS thing isn't 100% consistent, but I've noticed it work most of the time.
One other thing I like, which NF used to do but doesn't anymore, is that if the 'Should Arrive By' date is passed and you haven't rec'd the disk yet, you can report it as late and get them to send the next title. Certainly that is ripe for abuse, and that policy will probably change before too long, but it's a nice little feature as long as it lasts.

I have seen various promotions; 2 weeks free, 4 weeks free, 9.99 first month, and in-store free dvd with signup, etc. I missed the 50$ Best Buy gift card, that would have been nice, how'd you get that?

A couple places for improvement: Their website isn't totally stable. More than once I've run a normal search and gotten 'Error', rather than a 404 or 'Title does not exist'.

Also, I wish the 'series' function was a little more complete. I've got a lot of anime series on my queue, and while some of them are not obvious, others are [if they say Vol 1 Vol 2, that's a good sign.] But they're not recognized as a 'series', so I have to search and add each title individually.

They were responsive to my 'Please get this title' email; I believe they got the titles that I requested, but I don't recall for sure. But at least they heard and responded to the email.

They may have changed it, Salo doesn't come up on my search at all.

Venom

you're right. it nolonger comes up through search. i checked and it's still in my queue.

http://www.blockbuster.com/catalog/D...layBoxArt=true

there's the direct link, however no option to add it atm.

Boot

So there used to be an option to add it ass to mouth?

conscience

I had a dvd listed on my queue as "Very Long Wait" and I put it at the top of my Queue and it shipped out the next day as they received a returned dvd.

I like BB a whole lot better as they actually get to me faster and when I return them, they only have to go about 100 miles (usually received next day and taken off my account if I send in the morning).

D-Ball

I had 47 Ronin, which has been OOP for a few years, in my queue, and it shipped after a few weeks.

Chew

I decided to switch over, full time, to Blockbuster due to what Netflix has been doing to me the last month. I had three boxsets in my queue at Blockbuster, all released tomorrow. They all went from "Coming Soon" to "Very Long Wait" between yesterday and this morning. I'm used to checking in titles with Netflix on Mondays to get the new releases. When are you supposed to with Blockbuster if the status changes while it's not even a business day?

Kyle Harris

It's funny about Blockbuster Queue. I ordered Bride of Re-Animator in early January and it jumps from "Very Long Wait" to "Available Now" and then back to "Very Long Wait" (now it's at "Long Wait"). The bad part is, when it was "Available Now", I had a DVD already sent (but I never got it). I never received "Ready To Wear" (just out of curiosity because it's a Robert Altman film) so I had to file a complaint that I never received it (they did send the next DVD on the list after almost 1 week).

When I did the whole Netflix vs. Blockbuster vs. Walmart online trial thing, I found that Netflix sent me 12 DVDs in 2 weeks, Blockbuster sent me 14 (plus the free in-store coupon rental) in two weeks, and Walmart sent me 12 DVDs in one month (obviously, the slowest). I'm located in Brooklyn and Netflix and Blockbuster has shipping located in Flushing, Queens. Walmart has a shipping area in upstate New York somewhere so it takes slower for me.

I went with Blockbuster starting early January and I'm disappointed (so far). Things slowed down to 10 DVDs this month (12 if I include the in-store rental). I'm thinking of going with the other online rental places if I don't see at least 3 more DVDs coming in the next few days (before I cancel the paid membership). Somehow, I think after you go with a paid membership, they slack off (sometimes my Queue of "Available Now" never moves for 2 or 3 days and they only send 1 DVD out).

Anyone who has a Netflix paid membership: Do they also slack off after you decide to continue with their service? Just want to know. Thanks in advance!

conscience

I had Ray in my queue and it went to "Available Now" yesterday (last night). I had returned a disc on Saturday and I got on the site just a little while ago and it has been shipped to me. It comes out Tuesday.

I have had it in my queue ever since I could search for it and put it in there. I guess they do have some sort of list that tells them which people put it in the queue first, but I am sure they received more copies of say RAY over copies of a tv box set.

I have already done BBO's 2 week free, so when I started again on the 22nd I couldn't receive the 2 weeks free again, so I just went ahead and did the whole month. Since the 22nd, I have had seven rental come to my house. That's seven dvds in 8 days. Once they sent a title to me and I already had three in my shipped queue. Hopefully they do that more often.

Kyle Harris

Here's an update on Bride of Re-Animator:

I received in the mail today, the common Artisan Pan & Scan version. Damn! Blockbuster really screwed up as bad as Walmart! There's two versions and I, of course, wanted the rare version with the extras (not the one you can get from the store for $5). I, of course, filled out the complaint and the status to get the real version is back to "Very Long Wait"!!!

I have until February 3rd to drop their service so I'll cancel BB tomorrow.
I received a heck of a lot more DVDs during their 2 week free trial than actually paying $14.99 for their one month membership!

Btw, has anyone noticed on DVD box sets, Netflix has more per rental? For example, the Battlestar Galactica Complete Saga set, Netflix has 10 DVDs while Blockbusters has 6 DVDs (the actual # of DVDs in the set is 6 -double sided). Does Netflix have some sets specially made for rental just so that you have to rent more DVDs in order to complete the series?

Chew

I don't know the true reason behind it, but most flippers seem to be this way. If nothing else, I'm sure it's done so that those who check in returns can verify the correct disc is in there quickly without having to read the small print on the ring.

As for Blockbuster screwing up: I requested das Boot Superbit. In the four attempts to send it to me (I reported "wrong disc" and they sent a replacement), I never got Superbit disc 2. Two copies of Standard edition disc 2 and six copies of Superbit disc 1.

Ketamine

This was discussed on the other thread, but netflix admits that they give priority to those people that rent fewer movies. They say this is to provide equal service to the infrequent renter with those that get a lot of movies, but the real reason is they are trying to save on postage. They do this by holding you next movie a day or two before they send it if you are a high volume renter. After I complained in a couple of emails, my last 8 movies have shipped on the same day that they got my previous rental. So to specifically answer your question, their service likely will go down for you if you rent a lot of movies.

Ketamine

Can you be a little more specific what you mean here?

Boot

After reading all these posts here, Netflix is really starting to piss me off. Don't announce "unlimited dvds" and then enact a policy that attempts to limit the amount of dvds someone can rent. That's fucking bullshit.

I guess I'm not a high rate renter because I've never had them hold a dvd from shipping. New disks have always shipped out the same day returns have been checked in. However, I'm starting to become convinced that returns are held before they are listed as returns. Otherwise, the mail route to Netflix is slower than the mail route to anywhere else. If you think about it, it's the perfect ploy. All they have to say (which they do say) is that they have no control over the mail service.