Originally posted by: wyvrn
That's exactly why I quit the service. I think that movies on demand, downloaded to your home computer, are the next big step. The only pain with renting is having to drive the movies back to the store.
Not only do I hate taking the movies back to the store, I hate doing it
repeatedly. In this little redneck town, there are only two or three places that I've found to rent movies. (One of them is just a small room, like a waiting room, full of ridiculously old movies that simply holds over the people who don't go straight into the warehouse sized XXX section in the back.) There's a Blockbuster not too far from my house, and one on the other side of town. Ugh.. so many complaints.
First of all, like most Blockbusters that I've seen, the general selection sucks. Basically, unless it came out before 1990, or is a new release, or it shows on cable twelve times a day, they don't have it. This is also highly inclusive of video games. The past three times I went to block buster it was a specific trip to rent a specific video game. First time: Mario Party 5. Didn't have it. Second time: Zelda: Wind Waker. All checked out. (This was released a while back, it's not a 'new' game.) Last time: Mario Kart DD. All checked out.
Second, (and this was the point that I had in mind when I started this post) I would say that out of the last six movie (DVD) rentals that I've checked out from Blockbuster, five of them became unwatchable at one point or another due to damage on the disc. One or two I was able to run through my Disc Doctor here at home to make them satisfactory. The rest I had to drive back to Blockbuster, holding back my stabbing spree as I watch the idiotic employees furrow their brows in confusion as I explain to them that the disc is a torn up piece of crap and I would like a better copy.
Two weeks after our first registration/signup at Block Buster, my wife and I went back to rent some movies for a night at home. Lo and behold, somehow we had been 'lost' in the system. We had to stand there and re register. But anyway, long story short, I've been burned at Block Buster practically every time I've been there. I hate the place. I'll support Netflix until either it goes down, or until they take the prices up to $29.95 a month. That's the highest I'll go to have DVD rentals delivered to my home, but even then I would only maintain a subscription if I had some good television series to watch through them. (Currently on season 3 of the X-Files.)