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Blockbuster online

When I heard that Blockbuster was getting into the online video rental business, my first thought was “it’s about time.” Now that I’ve tried it, I think they should have waited a little longer to build up their warehouse network. With online rentals, one of the most important factors, possibly even more important than selection or availability of titles, is delivery time. When you order a video online, you don’t want to wait too long to get it. I think two days is the limit. Slow delivery severely limits the maximum number of videos you can rent in a month, reducing the value of the monthly subscription. Blockbuster has a decent selection and the web site functions well — no worse than its competitors — but their delivery time to my home was terrible.

I signed up for their free trial and ordered three videos Sunday night (Hellboy, My Neighbor Totoro, and The Company). The very next day, Monday, I received an email stating that all three of my videos had shipped. Then I received my first selection on Wednesday, my second DVD on Thursday, and I didn’t receive the third one until Friday! How could that have happened? I’m guessing that they came from three different warehouses and none of them were very close to my house. I suppose if you are closer to one of their warehouses you might get better service. But if I’m right and these DVDs came from different warehouses then you might have the same problem since you can’t be close to all of them.

With Netflix, on the other hand, I always had my rentals by the second day and sometimes the very next day after I ordered them. Wal-Mart’s delivery time for me was also better than Blockbuster’s but not as consistently good as Netflix. You’d think that Blockbuster would put their best effort forward for free trial users to convince them to become paying members. Even with the offer of two free in-store rentals a month in addition to online rental for $20, the slow delivery time makes this a bad deal.

All three services are virtually identical and they each offer a free trial. I recommend you try all of them to find out which one has the best delivery time to your area before you become a paying member.

Comments

  1. Brian on 2004-10-16 09:56:09 wrote: You thing that was bad? They took two days for one movie, five days for the second and the last they never could deliver, even after a second request. After cancelling, I just recieved emails that say they are charging my credit card $21.75 for three movies, including the one I never recieved. Can’t wait till Monday to give them an earfull!! Brian

  2. Betty S. on 2004-10-31 14:55:10 wrote: I too am unhappy with Blockbuster Online Rental. When questioning regarding the actual date of the end of the trail period (after the fact) I was continually told that my email did not process correctly. I was then given instructions on what to do. So far I have sent twelve emails and ONLY get the exact response. HHmmm. Is there a problem here or am I just getting the run around, OR BOTH? 31 October 2004

  3. Arleene Sample on 2005-01-23 06:24:47 wrote: Glad I didn’t cancel Netflix. Blockbuster is getting the boot! Horrible delivery time!

  4. Jeff on 2008-08-28 20:26:02 wrote: Blockbuster’s title availability is a JOKE. Their selection is actually just a bit better than Netflix in terms of obscure movies. BUT, that don’t mean a thing if the titles you seek require 3 months to obtain. I signed up 6 weeks ago and am canceling my membership after the first paid month. Out of 20 titles that I initially chose in my queue, presently 2 are “available”. All the others have a “short wait”, “long wait”, or “very long wait” in terms of their available status. That’s completely ridiculous and incredibly frustrating. Their in store prices are also an insult to fair rental prices as well. Who the heck needs to keep a movie 4-5 days to watch it? The price for a DVD rental should NEVER exceed 3.00 with a 1.50 late fee per day maximum. Period. Netflix is better than Blockbuster as a whole, but they are lame in terms of consistent delivery time. They also are poor with respect to consistent title coverage of obscure films and TV series. Damaged discs that arrive in the mail in perfect packaging is also a common occurrence. The same is true with Blockbuster. The first movie they sent me was broken! In other words both these companies need to let someone other than Ray Charles examine the discs prior to them being mailed out to their customers. RANT OVER, but, very well deserved.