kitkat

That happens to me all the time and seems to have no relation to how fast they'll ship things out, so I wouldn't worry about it. More then once when they've been extra slow updating my queue to show returns, they wind up showing the newly shipping movie as a forth disc out in the "At Home" section of my queue. (I'm on the three out plan.)

Sidenote: They've been really fast shipping stuff out to me for three weeks in a row now! I can't imagine it will last, but it sure is nice.

Digital Groove

I am with Blockbuster.com's rental service. I never got the email saying get 1 free rental a week. I am looking at blockbuster.com right now and I can't seem to find it. Can anyone help me out here!?!??!?

Mr. Cinema

log in, click on my account, and the e-weekly coupons should be at the top. they have the next 4 weeks listed, with the option to print the current coupon.

Digital Groove

What's odd, is I don't have that on mine. It just has the 2 monthly e-coupons, and the "print this coupon" in the first box. That's it.

It says I don't have a blockbuster store membership number. I'm thinking maybe this has something to do with the problem?

Mr. Cinema

Mine is a new acct. I don't have a store membership.

Some still get 2 coupons per month to use on a movie or game. Mine are only weekly movie coupons.

Grenadier

I think the 4 coupons thing is listed as a different plan, for the same price per month. Check under the spot where you change your plan in My Account.

Digital Groove

Ahh, thank you. I did find it. Currently the 3 movies out/2 rentals a month is only $14.99 for me. To get the one rental a week is $17.99. I'm very disappointed that it costs extra. When I saw the commerical I assumed it was the same exact price just you had the choice of which free e-coupon deal you wanted. I doubt I'll switch. ahh well.

fujishig

You're on a legacy plan, if you were to sign up again as a new customer, your 3 movies out/2 rentals would be 17.99...

tonyc3742

Yeah, it's not 'extra', that's the price point they want people on. But for some reason they're not just forcing us to upgrade, they're trying to tempt us.

Dave2000

Weird, check this.

They sent me an email about a month ago asking if I wanted to swtich from getting 2 coupons monthly to use either games or movies to getting a 4 coupons (one each week) but only use it on movies. I don't rent games much, so I switched to the one free rental a week. Next thing you know, I still have my monthly coupons to use either on Movies or Games AND the weekly coupons, so that adds up to 6 rentals a month.

I remembered that my monthly subscription is charged around the 24th, checked it just now, and it said I have TWO MONTHS free and my next charge isn't until April.

I've had my membership since last June after the whole Netflix switch to get 3 months for free and a new DVD to keep (Hitch). BBOnline has TAKEN CARE of me

EG Williams

Question to those that have switched over to the 4 non-game coupon system. Are the coupons applicable to "New Releases" as well as the regular older "favorites". I chose BBO because of those game rental coupons so I could try a game before shelling out $50.00 to buy it. UNfortunately, my local BBuster store is not getting as many new Xbox games for rental as they once did.

Thanks,
EG

Mr. Cinema

There are no restrictions. I've used the coupons on the newest releases several times.

Chew

I just switched back to Blockbuster a couple weeks ago.

About 6 discs that have been released say "Coming soon" in my queue. Two were released 9 days ago!

What's the deal? Anybody else have this happen?

fantasia

Haven't seen this mentioned anywhere yet -- I found this press release in the Blockbuster customer service area (search for "Throttling"):

BLOCKBUSTER ONLINE® DOESN’T THROTTLE CUSTOMERS!

DALLAS – March 2, 2006 -- In response to customer inquiries stemming from media reports about a competing service, BLOCKBUSTER Online® is emphasizing that its online DVD service does not "throttle."

Throttling, a practice that limits the number of movies shipped to heavy online DVD renters, has recently drawn media attention.

"BLOCKBUSTER Online does not throttle. When we say our service offers unlimited rentals, we mean it," said Shane Evangelist, senior vice president and general manager for BLOCKBUSTER Online. "We don’t prioritize our customers’ movie fulfillment based on how often they use our service, and we don’t limit the number of movies a subscriber receives each month. We want our customers to get the full entertainment value that comes from a subscription plan, whether that’s watching 20-plus movies a month or five." Evangelist added.

BLOCKBUSTER Online subscribers can choose from several rental plans, starting as low as $9.99, with the $17.99 three-movie-out plan being the most popular. Movies are sent directly to subscribers’ homes by mail to be viewed at their convenience with no due dates or extended viewing fees.

"Our goal at BLOCKBUSTER Online is to see that our subscribers get their highest ranked movie selections as often as possible," added Evangelist. "Additionally, our subscribers receive one free in-store movie rental each week, so they can watch the DVDs they received through the mail or easily satisfy last-minute movie impulses with a trip to the nearest Blockbuster store."

fujishig

On the one hand this could be the strike they need against Netflix. On the other hand, they have to make damned sure they really are not throttling... and I think a lot of us believe they are, at least to a certain extent.

Mr. Cinema

I've been using BB online for a month and have been very happy with the service. Especially the weekly free rental coupon, something Netflix can't offer.

The only problem I have is when my highest priority title gets skipped because they don't have a copy at my nearest distribution center and they move down the line until they find one that is. I've had Owning Mahowny in my #1 slot for 2 weeks and it's available now, yet it always gets skipped. Even if I erase the rest of my queue, it just sets there.

I do hope they eventually change this policy. I don't like deleting and adding titles just to get another one sent. Other than this, I'm like the service.

Vipper II

That was my biggest gripe over the 2 months I used Blockbuster; it was the main reason I chose to go back to Netflix. Some shipping issues also contributed - it shouldn't take me 5 days to receive a DVD that was sent from a center 50-60 miles away...more than once, for that matter.

Josh H

Or hopefully if they actually practice and publicize this Netflix will be forced to stop throttling.

kitkat

A few of us Netflixers have already noticed that we haven't been throttled for the last month, month and a half. I think it's been six seeks for me - I'm starting to lose track.

Thanks Blockbuster, or media reports, or whatever's responsible!

Cocosilk

Blockbuster's turn-over rate is very poor..despite living in the same city where the nearest DC is, it takes up to several weeks for a disc to be received and checked in by them..I have only been with them for one month, and it will only be one month because their service sucks.

I was with Netflix for three years and even though they throttled me, the turn-over rate was superb...the t/o rate was within one business day if mailed out by Thursday, and their nearest DC from me is in Ft. Lauderdale

fujishig

It takes up to several weeks? I hope that's an exaggeration, I've never experienced anything like that before.

tonyc3742

It might vary by DC, but I've been pretty pleased with BBOs' turnaround. I drop something in my mailbox on Monday or Tuesday and get its replacement Thurs or Friday, sometimes even a day earlier. Sometimes there's a delay of a day ortwo if the stuff at the top of my queue is on Wait, but overall it's been pretty quick.
I have had a few cases of a couple weeks with both BBO and NF, but I chalked it up to intermittent postal service delays.
My main complete, along with many others, is the relatively large percentage of titles on Wait status.

Dan1boy

Totally agree...I've noticed a difference.

John-In-VA

I've had Blockbuster for almost a year and it's been nearly flawless for me. Turnaround time is fantastic. Many times I send out a disc on a Monday and have a new one on Wednesday. I watch most new releases as soon as possible and have lots of older stuff to round out my list. Sometimes a new release takes awhile to be available, but generally I get them right away. For example, I have A History of Violence and The Squid and The Whale at my house right now.

kitkat

The Squid and The Whale? That's not aupposed to be out 'til 3/21.