Blockbuster Online

MrCodeDude

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
13,674
1
76
I signed up for Blockbuster Online because it was free for the first month and boy am I disappointed with the service.

Here is my current "Shipped Movies"
Movie Title Rating Ship Date Estimated Arrival
1 Usual Suspects [Special Edition] R 05/05/2005 05/09/2005
2 National Treasure [WS] PG 05/05/2005 05/07/2005
3 After the Sunset [WS] PG13 05/07/2005 05/10/2005

I returned two movies on May 3rd, but they did not process them and ship out another movie until the 5th. Thus, 1 day of delay. They ship out my movies on the 5th. They are shipping out from the same city that I live in (San Jose, CA), so it should only take one day for the movie to get to my house. (I've had stuff sent from Southern California and Oregon and it only takes one business day via regular USPS mail to arrive.)

If they sent out the movie on the 5th, one day would be the 6th (Friday), the second would be the 7th (Saturday) and then the third would be the 9th (Monday). That is a three day wait/shipping time. National Treasure was "expected" to arrive on the 7th, but it didn't come, so I can only assume it will arrive on the 9th.

So, you have one day of delay for BlockBuster to process the movies. Then four days (because of Sunday) of delay for BlockBuster to ship the movies. That is a total of five days. Logically, that is every 5 days you get a new movie, right?

No, you only have the movie for one day and then have to wait 4-5 days to get the next batch. There are approximately 30 days in a month. Divide by 4.5 and you get ~7. That means you can essentially rent 7 batches of movies in one month (assuming you keep the three movies for one day only), so really, it's not that bad of a deal, right?

Wrong again. I have (not counting the movies that are in transit to me) 8 movies in queue. Only 4 of them are Available Now, while two are Short Wait and two are Long Wait. Short Wait = Less than 2 Weeks Waiting. Long Wait = 2-4 Weeks Waiting.

So what I'll have to do is fill my queue with movies I kind of want to see until the Long Wait ones arrive in 2-4 weeks. For $15/month, I can at max get 21 DVDs which I can keep for less than one day. (Arrive one day, send out the next day)

Am I just being anal or is this unacceptable? Is NetFlix any better? My local mom/pop store does 2 Movies for $2.76 every Tuesday/Wednesday, that would mean 10 movies for $15. However, I would get to keep most of those movies for the total of 3-5 days.
 

DeviousTrap

Diamond Member
Jul 19, 2002
4,841
0
71
I was thinking about canceling two weeks ago, for the same reason, but when I went to the cancel screen it offered me a free month. I accepted, I'll give them another chance to see if they improve or not.
 

TheShiz

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
3,846
0
0
yes netflix is better. but the 2 free in store rentals (which can be used for games) make blockbuster still a good deal I think.
 

ktehmok

Diamond Member
Aug 4, 2001
4,326
0
76
Blockbuster is a little cheaper. That with the 2 free in-store rentals is a plus. I can't really comment or your dissatifaction with the shipping delays. It's the USPS, I wouldn't set my watch by their performance anyday.

Haven't used Netflix in years so I can't comment on their service.

Edit: If you want "new release" movies, your best bet is to use the coupons. Online rental is more for getting your favorite older movies.
 

anno

Golden Member
May 1, 2003
1,907
0
0
Originally posted by: TheShiz
yes netflix is better. but the 2 free in store rentals (which can be used for games) make blockbuster still a good deal I think.

makes the deal for me.. we use those free rentals for games.. which'd cost me 14.00 otherwise.. so I have no complaints. they send me more movies faster than I get around to returning theirs. :p

 

MrCodeDude

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
13,674
1
76
Originally posted by: ktehmok
Blockbuster is a little cheaper. That with the 2 free in-store rentals is a plus. I can't really comment or your dissatifaction with the shipping delays. It's the USPS, I wouldn't set my watch by their performance anyday.

Haven't used Netflix in years so I can't comment on their service.

Edit: If you want "new release" movies, your best bet is to use the coupons. Online rental is more for getting your favorite older movies.
The ones that are "Waiting" are older movies. :(
 

Paulson

Elite Member
Feb 27, 2001
10,689
0
0
www.ifixidevices.com
Eh, if you know how to play it you get them in a timely fashion... just make sure you have available now movies at the top of your queue and you'll get them right away... kind of sucks but yes, that's the way I make it work
 

lokiju

Lifer
May 29, 2003
18,526
5
0
I just signed up for Intelliflix.net two weeks ago and they seem OK so far, I like that they have Games, Pron and Movies to choose from.