I just cancelled our membership to Blockbuster Online. We signed up several months ago because it seemed like a good deal and it allowed us to watch videos that simply aren’t in stock at the local stores. I greatly enjoyed watching the original Star Trek series with Kiki. At first everything was fine. But then Blockbuster began consistently sending us discs that were #5-8 in our queue even when #1-5 were all available. I understand that they practice something that is called “throttling” on high volume renters, but I did not think that 1-2 discs per week should qualify us as high volume. The other thing that really bugged me was their handling of discs that had waits on them. We were members for 5 months and we never reached the top of the “Short Wait” queue. How long is short?
All of this would not have bugged me so much, except that we were members at netflix back in 2004. I had none of these problems with netflix. The reason that we chose to go with Blockbuster this time was the in-store rentals that were included with the membership. Netflix can’t offer that. Unfortunately even that incentive has been removed since they’ll be closing our neighborhood Blockbuster store by the end of this month. There were apparently problems with the lease.
This means that Blockbuster will be completely losing our business. Unfortunately they’re so huge I doubt they’ll notice.
When I filled out the cancellation form, there was a large white box for comments. They even had text claiming how important my comments were to them. I obliged by explaining exactly why we were leaving. Then I hit submit and the system barked at me because my comment was too long. Yeah. They really care to hear what I have to say. We’ve been Blockbuster customers for 10 years, but no more.
Blockbuster used to be our go-to place, but we’ve stopped going there ever since an obnoxious incident where we found that if you don’t use your Blockbuster card for a year, your account gets cancelled.
We’ve since switched to Hollywood Video.
Blockbuster used to be our go-to place, but we’ve stopped going there ever since an obnoxious incident where we found that if you don’t use your Blockbuster card for a year, your account gets cancelled.
We’ve since switched to Hollywood Video.
I’ve tried Blockbuster Online not once, but twice, and both times they failed to work as well or as quickly as Netflix. Now that we’ve got the Netflix hub in SLC, they suffer even more in comparison.
I’ve tried Blockbuster Online not once, but twice, and both times they failed to work as well or as quickly as Netflix. Now that we’ve got the Netflix hub in SLC, they suffer even more in comparison.
I’ve heard nothing but complaints about Blockbuster Online. We’ve had Netflix for a couple years and average 1 – 2 DVDs a week without any problem. I’ve always gotten the next in my list and have had it arrive within 1 – 2 days.
The in-store rental option wasn’t worth the extra frustration that Blockbuster seemed to come with.
I’ve heard nothing but complaints about Blockbuster Online. We’ve had Netflix for a couple years and average 1 – 2 DVDs a week without any problem. I’ve always gotten the next in my list and have had it arrive within 1 – 2 days.
The in-store rental option wasn’t worth the extra frustration that Blockbuster seemed to come with.
My wife and I are on Netflix and our worst problem is that they sent us a movie twice. Turnaround for getting new ones is about two days and we don’t watch them that fast, so it’s a non-issue. 🙂
By comparison, I think I’ve had an issue with Blockbuster every time I’ve rented with them. More than once they’ve made a promotional offer and then failed to honor it for me, or noted some silly obscure clause that made it not worth redeeming.
My wife and I are on Netflix and our worst problem is that they sent us a movie twice. Turnaround for getting new ones is about two days and we don’t watch them that fast, so it’s a non-issue. 🙂
By comparison, I think I’ve had an issue with Blockbuster every time I’ve rented with them. More than once they’ve made a promotional offer and then failed to honor it for me, or noted some silly obscure clause that made it not worth redeeming.
We signed up for Blockbuster a few years ago, when one showed up here in the mountains. It was smaller than the ones in town (Abq.) but at 30 miles closer, we decided to give it a try. Gave up after a couple of visits. Went back to using our mom-n-pop shop. Now, 5 years later, the Blockbuster has closed down and mom-n-pop is still going strong. Cool!
We signed up for Blockbuster a few years ago, when one showed up here in the mountains. It was smaller than the ones in town (Abq.) but at 30 miles closer, we decided to give it a try. Gave up after a couple of visits. Went back to using our mom-n-pop shop. Now, 5 years later, the Blockbuster has closed down and mom-n-pop is still going strong. Cool!
Thanks for the info everyone
All this negative stuff about Blockbuster is good to know. I’ve been a Netflix customer for almost a year now, and I really enjoy it–especially since I can get movies that are never stocked in Blockbuster, like anime, old cartoons from my childhood, and every DVD of television shows. I love Netflix, but I was debating trying out Blockbuster Online because the in-store exchange sounded sweet. However, I wasn’t sure if their selection would be equal. Hearing how they’ve treated everyone, I think I’ll pass on even attempting it.
We still have a Blockbuster Store near us. If I get really desperate waiting for my Netflix movies I run over there. That doesn’t happen much, though.
Thanks for the info everyone
All this negative stuff about Blockbuster is good to know. I’ve been a Netflix customer for almost a year now, and I really enjoy it–especially since I can get movies that are never stocked in Blockbuster, like anime, old cartoons from my childhood, and every DVD of television shows. I love Netflix, but I was debating trying out Blockbuster Online because the in-store exchange sounded sweet. However, I wasn’t sure if their selection would be equal. Hearing how they’ve treated everyone, I think I’ll pass on even attempting it.
We still have a Blockbuster Store near us. If I get really desperate waiting for my Netflix movies I run over there. That doesn’t happen much, though.
Yep. They won’t miss you, and it looks like you won’t particularly miss them.
Maybe if enough people have the same problem, though, they’ll finally realize that they’re really not doing something right. If they’re lucky it’ll happen before too much of the market is soured on them.
Yep. They won’t miss you, and it looks like you won’t particularly miss them.
Maybe if enough people have the same problem, though, they’ll finally realize that they’re really not doing something right. If they’re lucky it’ll happen before too much of the market is soured on them.
Soon after moving to Salt Lake we discovered Hollywood Video had more anime and chinese kung fu and obscure movies than Blockbuster ever did.
Been with Hollywood Video ever since.
Last time we went there they noticed we hadn’t been in for a while and gave us a rent one get one free if we came back the next week.
nice.
One question though, if they are getting rid of all their videos will they have to change their name to: Hollywood DVD?
Soon after moving to Salt Lake we discovered Hollywood Video had more anime and chinese kung fu and obscure movies than Blockbuster ever did.
Been with Hollywood Video ever since.
Last time we went there they noticed we hadn’t been in for a while and gave us a rent one get one free if we came back the next week.
nice.
One question though, if they are getting rid of all their videos will they have to change their name to: Hollywood DVD?
Netflix
Sandra – I love netflix….my “long waits” are usually a few days I have about 200 movies on my “list” and can change the order at whim – they have never sent me a disk out of order from my wish list. I can put movies on my “list” that are not released yet and when they are released I can bump them up to my 1st place and get them really quickly. Ive had one disk arrive too scratched up to use, and one arrive cracked from the mail – they send replacements FAST. We do not watch them fast enough – they arrive too quick. We have kept one video for like 6 weeks – because my daughter became addicted to it and wanted to watch it over and over. (and I loved that there were no additional charges for holding it longer.)
Jennie
Netflix
Sandra – I love netflix….my “long waits” are usually a few days I have about 200 movies on my “list” and can change the order at whim – they have never sent me a disk out of order from my wish list. I can put movies on my “list” that are not released yet and when they are released I can bump them up to my 1st place and get them really quickly. Ive had one disk arrive too scratched up to use, and one arrive cracked from the mail – they send replacements FAST. We do not watch them fast enough – they arrive too quick. We have kept one video for like 6 weeks – because my daughter became addicted to it and wanted to watch it over and over. (and I loved that there were no additional charges for holding it longer.)
Jennie
I kind of feel obligated to argue the other side here. Nothing Sandra says is incorrect, but for those of us who are not as concerned with the order our movies come in, those problems aren’t really big enough to be real issues. The “trade an online rental for a free in-store” is the nice thing for us and cuts down on the turnaround time, too. We have a large store right near us, and often trade our movies for stuff for the kids.
All the complaints are valid, but if, like me, you don’t care too much, it works.
I kind of feel obligated to argue the other side here. Nothing Sandra says is incorrect, but for those of us who are not as concerned with the order our movies come in, those problems aren’t really big enough to be real issues. The “trade an online rental for a free in-store” is the nice thing for us and cuts down on the turnaround time, too. We have a large store right near us, and often trade our movies for stuff for the kids.
All the complaints are valid, but if, like me, you don’t care too much, it works.
I would agree, accept that there’s a big difference between “what order they arrive in” and “whether or not they arrive at all.” We’ve been waiting THREE MONTHS for anything from the top five on our list, and none of it has come.
Given the cost of membership during that period, we likely would have been more satisfied just buying the DVDs we wanted to see and then selling them on eBay at a loss when we’re done.
I would agree, accept that there’s a big difference between “what order they arrive in” and “whether or not they arrive at all.” We’ve been waiting THREE MONTHS for anything from the top five on our list, and none of it has come.
Given the cost of membership during that period, we likely would have been more satisfied just buying the DVDs we wanted to see and then selling them on eBay at a loss when we’re done.
I’m so glad you mentioned all of this. We’ve seriously been planning to sign up for Blockbuster Online but I hadn’t gotten around to it. I liked the idea of being able to order online or pick up DVDs at the store (especially since my one gripe about Netflix when we were members was that some of the DVDs came too scratched to play and then we had to wait several days to get them replaced). If the local store is really closing (thanks for THAT news) there goes our reason for signing up.
Julie
I’m so glad you mentioned all of this. We’ve seriously been planning to sign up for Blockbuster Online but I hadn’t gotten around to it. I liked the idea of being able to order online or pick up DVDs at the store (especially since my one gripe about Netflix when we were members was that some of the DVDs came too scratched to play and then we had to wait several days to get them replaced). If the local store is really closing (thanks for THAT news) there goes our reason for signing up.
Julie