Yeah, I've pretty much nailed it down to that. Since they started dragging their feet on shipping after an in-store return, I've been reporting an issue with almost every disc. If I had returned it inside of the 3 day window, I make the rare "damaged" or "wrong disc" report.

And for those wondering...It's kind of shitty that they cancel the account without giving you any notice. They don't even refund the unused prorated monthly fee. And I'm not sure I want to go through the hassle of seeing if my in-store coupon still works....

Just for curiousity sake JPB07, about how many times did you report a disc problem due to the lateness of in store returns turnaround?

20? 30? 40? 50? Just wondering. I'm sure a lot of people were doing this during the fiasco early this year with the in store return "glitch".

I agree that you should get a prorated refund. I imagine the in store coupons should work.

I wonder if you can sign up for a new account with different email and different credit card?

I would say those doing it a couple dozen times are probably not going to get noticed. The times I would let things work like they should (no reports, just in-store returns), the system would still not work as it should...it was taking 48 hours for them to ship a disc out of the 70+ in the queue/40+ "available". Also, they changed how they ship about two months ago. They used to have it where if your returned/reported a disc by noon, a new disc would ship the next day. Now the cutoff is midnight. So even if you returned your discs right when they opened at 10am, you weren't going to see discs from BBO for 3-4 days. I am one of those that used to return by noon so that I would have a new BBO disc within a day or two. In the past month to ensure that the process worked as it always had, I reported them returned the night before I went to the store. Looking at it from their viewpoint, changing the cutoff time for new shipments probably shaved a quarter off of what customers such as myself could realisticly rent in any given month. I averaged about 6 discs a week and had the service for 20 months so on the low side, 50 reports is probably a fair guess. Of course, I'll probably still be getting shipments for months. I had discs that were sent last November not get here until last month.

For the 2nd straight time, BB has shipped me a movie other than the #1 movie in my queue despite it being available.

Happens all the time to me. Tonight, they skipped all the way down to the 29th title in my queue when there roughly 20 movies before it that were "available".

I've had them ship discs from the 40s when there were at least 20 of the top 30 that were "available". After a week I can't really say I miss the service...

Looks like I'm going to Netflix. I received a notice that a disc shipped on Tuesday afternoon (either from Cleveland or Mansfield) and I have still not received it almost a week later. I reported the disc as missing on Friday and still have yet to hear back from them. They were able to charge me my monthly fee last week though.

the new thing they do now is stretching the shipped date and expected arrival date to three or four days! that means you can't report it as having been returned even though you had it in your hand and returned it 2 days ago!

I like to check this thread now and then because I'm amazed to hear about the problems people are having. I've been with Blockbuster for like two years now and I honestly don't have any of the problems mentioned here. Example....I put Pan's Labyrinth 1st or 2nd on the queue on Monday, they checked in a return, and there was Pan's Labyrinth in my mailbox on Tuesday.
I can't imagine I'm the only one that's escaped all this trouble being talked about here.

I'm with John-In-VA on this 1..
I return my online movies on Tue 11am & I have had to report them as returned about midnight that night for the last few months...
but other than that its been perfect.. 1 2 3 always ship to me..

but last night I forgot to report them as returned & today they checked themselvs in & my next 3 are on there way to me...
Yea baby....

now if they F-up the current system buy Charging more $$ or limiting the # out..I will go back to the big N!!!

That is something that really pisses me off about Blockbuster. They will just keep sending you the same damn disc that you've reported as damaged. The first time this happened to me (several times with the same disc), I contacted customer service and they made sure that I received a new disc. But now I don't bother. If I receive a damaged disc, I just send it back and rent something else.

jpb07, you obviously deserved to have your account canceled.

How do you report the dvd as returned to the store? Do you just click the "I returned the DVD through the mail but it has not cleared my queue" option?

yep.. thats the only way...

I've been trying to get Nightwatch (1994) from blockbuster online and they kept sending me the wrong disc, Night Watch (2005). After receiving the wrong disc for the second time in a row, I emailed customer service and got a nice response within a few hours. They want me to allow them two weeks before they can correct the problem at their distribution center(s) and sent me two free movie/game coupons.

I just got the wrong disc in the mail again today. I've given up getting on Nightwatch (1994) via blockbuster and will it from Netflix. The only good thing about total access is that when you receive the wrong disc or it arrives damaged you can exchange it at your local store. I'm off to the local store to return two rentals and exchange the wrong disc and redeem one of the coupons for two more rentals.

BTW the local store keeps pushing these $1.99 coupons, why should I pay $1.99 plus tax when I can get free rentals via total access?

Blockbuster has a deal where you pay $6 and for 30 days, each day you rent a movie you can get a soda, popcorn, or candy up to a $1.99 value. Returning a Blockbuster Online movie and using it to rent a new movie counts as a rental.

That's a lot of Snickers bars...

Thanks for the heads up on that X. I saw that yesterday, and will definitely get in on it next time.

Question for anyone who can answer me.

I went in to the B&M to exchange yesterday, and noticed there is no mailers. Is it possible to get back to mailing, or after you swap in store is that it, B&M forever?

Reading a few post above me I think I got the answer.

Daniel-A: You always have the option, you can return to the store or mail it in yourself, its up to you. If you want, you can drop it in at the store and they'll check it in so your movies should ship faster too.

It also works on two liters of Coke, Diet Coke, Fanta, and Sprite as well as Powerade, Full Throttle, and Rockstar energy drinks. At least it does at my store; that seems like the best way to abuse it to me.

Okay new :question:

I just started the free month. 3 (Flags of our Fathers, Because I said so, Freedom Writers) movies were sent out to me. Yesterday I returned 2 in store and got 2 others (Apocalypto, Babel). I logged into the site before my post after X, and saw that my original 3 still show checked out. After reading the thread here, I clicked report problem on one of the 2 I returned (thought that may be how to show it as returned in store, but it wasn't). When I got back to the main screen it now shows they sent out a 4th movie (The Protector).

I'm using the generic trial, which I believe is 3 out at a time. Was them sending a 4th movie, caused by clicking the error button? And can I just go about exchanging the movies in store and keep the 4 out?

No. Your queue shows 4 out because BBO has not received your returned 3 dvds yet. As soon as they are received, your queue will show 1 shipped.

my online account is working right again...
when I return a movie.. the system will send out my next movie that night or the next morning... all by itself...

I don't get it. I have 3 (Apocalypto, Freedom Writers, Babel) right now. And now my online account shows they have sent 2 more (Letters from Iwo Jima disc 1, The Protector). Either they are lying/wrong about sending the 2 others, or I'm gonna have 5 out.

The way they do it, they still show your original 3 as checked out until they actually receive it back. So by returning to the store, basically, the website knows that your original 3 are en route so they can send out more. When they physically arrive at their destination, they will delete themselves from the queue. So you may see up to 6 at a time out in the website, but you won't ever have more than 3 at your house.

Hope that made sense.

I'm guessing it is as much sense as I'll get. I just don't see why they would say they sent 2 more out when I still have 3 out. Guess it is just their system. Still liking the service. :up:

Update: I do in fact have 4 out, now. I received The Protector, while I still had Apocalypto, Babel, and Freedom Writers. I think the in store exchange went awry.

Blockbuster online $9.99 per month for 3 months with Amex card
 

https://bb2.offermatica.com/amex?promo_code=statement
You do NOT have to be a new customer to use this offer.

You don't do it. It's pointless because the next DVDs in your queue should ship within 24 hours. If you start using that option, which is obviously for people returning DVDs in the mail, then you risk getting banned. And there is nothing to gain from it, so what is the point? If the next items in your queue aren't being shipped within 24 hours of returning discs to a B&M, then contact customer service.

Yeah, I was trying to figure out how people were doing it since there is no option for store returns. You'd think with the technology available, they could take the items off your queue as soon as they scan into the local blockbuster...

I can easily imagine that their system is set up so that when something is taken off your queue it's really taken off your queue. That means they fully accepted your return, you don't owe it to them anymore, and anything that happens to it subsequent to that is not your fault.

When you return a DVD in the store in the sealed envelope they have no idea what's inside.

I was surprised to find out that my store just collects the envelopes and puts them in a mailbox at the end of the day. I thought their reason for having the store rental part of the program would be to collect all the returns and stick them in a single UPS box and ship them back at a very low cost, far less than USPS single-envelope rates.

Keep in mind that not all the returns go back to the same place. Maybe they don't trust the BB stores to box them up and send them off correctly.

Also, count me in as one of the people who have 3-out memberships and have had as many as 6 at my home at once.

That's true. But at least in my area the vast majority go to one regional distribution center.

You'd think Blockbuster could use the labor they have in place in the store to separate those from any other return address and batch the ones going to the regional distribution center together for mailing.

I believe what he is getting confused about is that he is counting his in-store rentals as part of his movies out. When you get three movies in the mail, and return 2 in-store to get 2 more movies, those 2 movies DO NOT COUNT as part of your total. They follow normal store return policies and if you do not return them by the due date, you will incur late charges.

Now that I understand. Strange, but understood, at least. However the clerk when I swapped said I had an extra 7 days on top of the the normal 2 day rental. Not sure if it was because they were in the wrong box or what, though.

The 7 days extra is a "grace period", as I was told. Thereafter, if it's still not back, they will charge your account for the cost of the DVD. If you return it after that, I think they credit you back that cost, minus a restocking fee.

Yeah, basically add 7 days to whatever the due date is... I think they also changed the due date to be by closing hours of the day it's due, not by noon anymore.

My local blockbuster also calls me a few days before the real (7 day later) due date is and leaves a message saying the exact date I have to return the movies/games to not incur the last fee.

What's odd (and a little fishy) is that, at least for videogames, they send a postcard in the mail. Last time, I got the postcard four days AFTER the date it said I had to return the item buy to not get charged. What's the point of that?

You guys are great. Thanks for all the info. Should be able to knock out 15-30 movies in this free month. :up:

Anyone having issues with shipping right now? I'm on the 4-out-at-a-time plan and as of right now, I've only had 3 discs ship to me this month. My queue has been showing only one title shipped since Friday and no other activity at all.

Same problem here. They received a movie from me on Wednesday and two more on Thursday. Nothing has been shipped back to me since. All of the movies in my queue are available.

No titles have shipped as of right now for me. I've e-mailed them about this and got the standard free rental coupon. If no titles ship within the next day, I think I'm going to cancel my account. My turn-around time has gotten slower and slower over the past few months.

I'm on my first paid month this month, and their lack of adding HD/BD titles quickly is really starting to get on my nerves. They'll have them listed with their release date, then when that date rolls around (well, usually late night the Monday before) it just changes to "coming soon". So now I've got a queue stacked with "coming soon" titles, some of which have been "coming soon" since my trial started!

On the upside, I certainly like the in store check in feature.