Online Rental Places

bobman1235

Anyone here ever try any of the online rental companies, IE Netflix or Blockbuster Online?

I'm tempted to try blockbuster online. 15 bucks a month for 3 movies at a time, PLUS two in-store rentals. That's almost the cost of the two in-store rentals by themselves! I haven't heard good reviews, but for some reason it's still tempting.

izafar

I have tried both. I have found Netflix to be fluctuating alot between very good service to very horrible service. I then moved to Blockbuster and so far the service has been average, i-e it hasnt been as quick as Netflix but hasnt been bad either. The fact that they offer in-store rentals and their plans are cheaper then Netflix, will keep me with them for now.

Spawndn72

I use net-flix and love it. I have never had a problem and I usually get my new movie about 2-3 days after mailing in the old movie. For example, if I mail my movie on a Monday, I usually have the new movie by Thursday. Sometimes I get it on Wednesday. I will say that I live only about 30 miles from the Tampa service center so that probably has alot to do with it.

gmorris

I currently use Blockbuster Online, and love it. It's great. I mean come on, the mail man brings DVD's to my house! There are guys here at work using Nexflix & Blockbuster, and the service is the same for everyone. The time it takes to get new DVD's is largely dependant upon how close you live to the service center, like Spawndn72 said.

Pull the trigger and sign up with either service you like, you won't regret it.

avelanchefan

I use netflix, I will never go any where else. netflix started it, Cockbusters...ahem Block...will never see money from me again no matter how cheap they go. I don't know how many times my local store tried to rip me off over fake late charges, 4 dollar new release rentals, and terrible customer service. I am glad to see Netflix put a dent in their business.

(This is in no way knocking the fine people here that use Blockbuster)

Ricardo

Blockbuster here; so far has been great; I use the two monthly coupons for video games, which keeps the kids happy also....and that "No More Late Fees" is awesome.....

bobman1235

Sweet, thanks guys, I'm signing up tomorrow.

Skynut

bobman1235 wrote:

Sweet, thanks guys, I'm signing up tomorrow.

For which one?

Skynut

I was using net flix and I was watching way too many movies and not doing anything else around the house.
Tall grass, tall piles of dishes, tall piles of dog cr@p.
I felt obligated to watch the movie and get it back so I could get the new one.

bobman1235

Skynut wrote:

For which one?

Blockbuster, because a) it's slightly cheaper and b) the two free store rentals per month.

For 15 bucks a month, if I get three movies a month, it's worth it. I watch about two a week, so I'm sure I'll get my money's worth.

disneyjoe7

Nexflix does it right IMHO

jet2001

I use blockbuster and have been really happy with the service...and the two free rentals are nice. I've even rented some games with those coupons.

gmorris

bobman1235 wrote:

Blockbuster, because a) it's slightly cheaper and b) the two free store rentals per month.

For 15 bucks a month, if I get three movies a month, it's worth it. I watch about two a week, so I'm sure I'll get my money's worth.

With tax, my monthly bill comes out to $16.01. I have the fee automatically withdrawn right from my checking account. Awesome.

Right now I have ~45 movies in my que. It's so great, I don't even have to think about it, and movies show up at my house.

About once a month, I'll go in and add all the new releases that I want to see from the previous month. Takes about 10 minutes, once per month. You can't get any easier than that.

bobman1235

I'm almost more excited about seeing movies I've "always wanted to see" but can eithe rnever find or never remember to get at the store. I just signed up, and my queue already has 20 movies in it. Psyched.

Sami

I have used Netflix since 2000. I recently moved into a house and got a roommate. He ordered Blockbuster. Now we have 7 rentals at a time (4 from Nflix, 3 from Blockbuster). Based on both deals I would choose Netflix, it's just better service.

gmorris

Sami wrote:

I have used Netflix since 2000. I recently moved into a house and got a roommate. He ordered Blockbuster. Now we have 7 rentals at a time (4 from Nflix, 3 from Blockbuster). Based on both deals I would choose Netflix, it's just better service.

The service you receive from either company is dependant on where you live. I get my DVD's from the Cleveland service center. They seem to be very good. If I mail a DVD back to them on Monday, I'll have a new one by Thursday, sometimes even Wednesday.

I don't think it is fair to say one company is better than the other. If Netflix is better then Bbuster in your area, then yes, that is a fair comparison.

Sami

gmorris wrote:

The service you receive from either company is dependant on where you live.

I have had the service in 4 different location, granted only in DFW area. In the beginning it was slow as they were coming from California but when they started having local distribution centers it really got into speed. I wasn't talking about the disc turnaround, just the overall service. Not that there are any major complaints from the Blockbuster service but Netflix has a slight edge. YMMW of course as it is dependent on location and personal preferences.

Ron-P

How are either of these at sending out new releases the day they street? Can you reserve a title early before it's available? I like to hit the rental shop on Tuesdays to get the new releases of the week.

Sami

At Netflix you have two queues, one for already release (your rental queue) and one for those not out yet. Once getting close to be released they are put at the end of your rental queue. You need to manually put them at the top. I'd rate the service it 3/5 for getting new releases but I can wait so it doesn't bother me.

Ricardo

With Blockbuster you can get upcoming releases right in your queue; I've been lucky a couple of times and I have watched new movies 3 or 4 days after they are released. Though most of the times you get them the next week...you need to be very lucky so that they receive one of your DVD's right on time to ship a new release...

Sami

That's pretty much the same as Netflix then.

jet2001

Sami- that's strange that you weren't getting swift service from Blockbuster in the DFW area. I have a turnaround time of one business day(or 48 real hours). I'd drop the movies off in the mail, one day wait, and the next day new movies show up...which I think is outstanding.

But I also have nothing to compare it to...never tried netflix.

Sami

jet2001 wrote:

Sami- that's strange that you weren't getting swift service from Blockbuster in the DFW area. I have a turnaround time of one business day(or 48 real hours).

It's not really the turnaround time, just the little other things that I find better with Netflix. Selection, user interface etc. If store rentals were important to me I would probably switch to Blockbuster but if that isn't important I think Netflix is a better plan (especially since I have the 4 disc plan). I don't think there is much difference to say you will go wrong either way you choose.

stereo55

Blockbuster here ... not bad , been fairly happy with them . My first free month was a nice 22 movies :eek: . Since then , things have pretty good with about 10-12 a month on average . The sad part is , its hard to find something to order after awhile .
I live 80 miles from the mailing point so things get here fairly quick .
Ive yet to try Netflix .

bobman1235

First three movies I've gotten, ONE of them was correct. One was COMPLETELY wrong - some TV series I had never heard of. The other was disc 2 - the special features only - of the movie I had wanted.

Color me skeptical. Good thing I'm in a two-week free trial period.

gmorris

bobman1235 wrote:

First three movies I've gotten, ONE of them was correct. One was COMPLETELY wrong - some TV series I had never heard of. The other was disc 2 - the special features only - of the movie I had wanted.

Color me skeptical. Good thing I'm in a two-week free trial period.

That's a pisser. I wouldn't judge the experience by these two mix ups. I've been using B. Buster online since about February of this year, and in that time I've had only 2 mistakes sent to me.

disneyjoe7

bobman1235 wrote:

First three movies I've gotten, ONE of them was correct. One was COMPLETELY wrong - some TV series I had never heard of. The other was disc 2 - the special features only - of the movie I had wanted.

Color me skeptical. Good thing I'm in a two-week free trial period.

Bob,

I agree that sucks, for the record I'm using Netflix and never had a disk that didn't play or was wrong.

bobman1235

gmorris wrote:

That's a pisser. I wouldn't judge the experience by these two mix ups. I've been using B. Buster online since about February of this year, and in that time I've had only 2 mistakes sent to me.

Meh, I'm not considering it a huge deal - mistakes happen, and they immediately sent out new movies from my queue when I reported the issue. The movies have been getting to me the DAY after I get the email that they're sent, which is great.

Just funny that of the first three, I already had two wrong. WHoops.

Sami

That's one of the issues I have noticed with Blockbuster, the movies are not always the ones you ordered. Sometimes this happens with Netflix as well but I have only had it happen 3 or 4 times in 5 years and I watch a lot of movies. My roommate has gotten wrong movie 5 times already in a few months. Usually movies with similar names to the ones he ordered so most likely negligence.

Ricardo

Wow...I guess I've been lucky with Blockbuster; never had a wrong movie; the only issue I've had is a couple of broken DVD's; reported and they shipped replacements the same day....

AsSiMiLaTeD

I've been with Blockbuster almost a year now. I've had two issues - one wrong DVD and one broken DVD - both were addressed immediately and replacements sent out same day. TAT here is 2 days, I send movies back on Monday, get new ones Wednesday, send those back Thursday, get new ones Saturday - I get two sets of movies a week usually. Plus with BB I get the two in store rentals each month, good for those times when a new release comes out that I really want to see then.

I've also used Netflix and had no big issues there either. I agree that their site is layed out better and I like their system a bit better. Ultimately chose BB because it's cheaper and I get the two rentals per month in store, plus they usually throw in another coupon of some type.