They must be getting pretty hungry by now then.

Sounds like a good idea for them. Not a renter, but did try out their free trial out of curiosity back in the day and it was actually pretty good.

Seems like a GREAT idea for us. However BB must REALLY be struggling at this point. Apparently each store will be sent a laptop too allow customers to not only sign up for BBOnlone but to cancel their NetFlix accounts on, lol.

They may not necessarily be struggling. Maybe all they want to do is kill Netflix.

bingo

Called today... Guy at local BB said November 1st...

Seems kinda odd to start a new system on a Wednesday... but... weirder things have happened...

Yes. I don't get how that's gonna work. Do they watch over your shoulder as you do it? Do you get something extra when you do it? Can't you just sign up to continue Netflix again when you get home? Why won't the laptop be able to go to any other sites, such as IMDB or dvdprofiler, that might help you select a movie?

So when is Blockbuster going to officially notifiy their online customers of this new program? It seems like everyone has a different story. My local store stated they would mail the online rentals back for me but said nothing about an "instant return."
Are they going to have a scanner at the store for the online rentals?

I was initially tipped off that the program was to start today, but I just signed up online for the 1-month trial, and the rep never mentioned the policy change. I'm looking forward to this though...

When they switched from 2 games/dvds a month to 4 dvds a month, no one let me know. I never rent games. I found out by an ad inside the store while getting my free rentals. At least they gave me a 6-month $16 special for not letting me know.

In addition to having their online service (3 rentals) I also have BB's in-store "Movie Pass." When this new policy goes into effect, how many in-store rentals will I be allowed to have out at a time?

wow, this whole thing seems complicated!

I'll wait until next month to see how you guys are adjusting b4 cancelling my Netflix account. This whole new business model is kinda brilliant (in theory)...let's see how it plays out.

no special scanner.

it will be checked in at the reg just like any other return.
if returned before 1230 pm it will release your next dvd from the Q.
if after, it will show on the next business day.

i thought it wou;d be a good idea to tell people now but
this is Blockbuster, after all

you guys are making it complicated.
just return your online envlope to the register,
hand it to the csr along with any movie on the shelf.

that movie will be free.
the envlope acts as a coupon for a free rental.
this must be done on the smae transaction.

this will not effect your online in any way.

if you use the free rental for a movie in your Q
you must remove it from the Q because it will still be there.

in a couple days the next movie in the Q will arrive.

the free rental still follows the same rules as any other in store rental.

not hard.

Agreed....

The only question I still have is WHEN?!? :hscratch:

we were told nov 2

My local store has been offering the "Total Access" plan for almost a month now. It's pretty simple (as some people have figured out). Rather than dropping your online returns in the mail, simply being them to the counter of your local store - along with the corresponding number of rentals off the shelf that you want. Hand them your card and the movies, then go home to enjoy "free rental goodness".

Rinse. Repeat.

One thing I noticed is that they seemed to have some inventory tracking issues when the system was first offered in our area. Even if you turn online rentals in at your store, they don't officially clear from your queue until they arrive at a warehouse. You get credit for the return, but the movie is still displayed in your queue for a while. With the local mail service, the following was not unusual:

Return three online rentals to the store - take three rentals home. Receive the next three online rentals within a couple of days (this is triggered by the in-store return). Divvy the movies up between me, the wife, and our toddler. Watch those movies, then return them to the store within two or three days. Get three more free in-store rentals. Within a couple of days, receive three more movies via the mail. Etc., etc., etc.

At one time, on the three-at-a-time plan, my online queue showed that I had fourteen movies out (Cheers to slow inbound processing times at the closest distribution center!). They seemed to have fixed this quirk now, so it's pretty much back to three "out" at at time from Blockbuster Online.

Do we still get the monthly in-store coupons? I'd hate to lost my 2 "free video game rentals" per month.

I heard you still get one monthly coupon, mainly for the people who don't want to take back the online rentals to the store for free rentals so they can at least get something extra.

As far as the in-store coupons, I was coerced into dropping the two game/movie rentals each month for the four movie-only rentals each one (one per week). Even though the Total Access program has been active in my area for a month, I'm still getting the once-a-week movie coupons. Between those and the "free" rentals for the online returns to the store, I probably don't ever need to pay for an in-store rental ...

This new in-store return option may lure new customers but if you're a movie fan, Nexflix is still the best option. BB Online simply does not have the inventory to match Netflix. BB Online boasts over 50,000 titles but how many of those dvds do they actually HAVE? Over half the titles in my queue are listed as "coming soon" which means it's not in stock and who knows when it will be. I rarely have this problem with Netflix. Netflix also ships and returns much faster than BB. BB Online caters to those who want the major new releases but if you are looking for cult or obscure titles look elsewhere.

i agree about the coming soon thing.

biggest complaint i hear is coming soon or long and short wait

I'd somewhat agree, but Netflix seems to have a frustrating policy of only having one release of a particular movie while BB will get most all of a title's releases. If there's an inferior, earlier version then Netflix will probably have that version and that version only.

Totally agree...I'm still on the fence here! aaargh!

I've been loving Netflix for the past year since they got their sh*t together but it annoys me that they don't carry very many SE's of older catalog titles (ex. Black Rain SE, Roadhouse SE, Dog Day Afternoon SE etc.) while Blockbuster does. These aren't films I'm necessarily interested in buying, just watching once.

My BB still doesn't know anything about it, slightly nervous they're not a part of this. Does it matter if it's franchise or corporate?