Re: Redbox rentals? Seem to be a great deal.
Here's a follow-up - I returned the movie yesterday to the same machine (it was working this time). This morning I was greeted with an email receipt charging me for the extra day's rental. I somewhat expected this, and figured I would have to call the 1-800 number again to get my dollar back. Before I had a chance to do so, however, I received an email refund receipt crediting the dollar back. Good customer service!
Will_B - Blockbuster hasn't been "sleeping easy" for several years now. This is just another way that they have been beaten at their own game. The process is basically the same (go to the retail location, pick out your movie and return it the next day) but this method improved on two of the most important parts of the process - price and convenience. Its more convenient in that the machines are located in grocery stores, Wal-Marts, etc. where you can shop for food and other things at the same time. There's no need to drive to a second location to rent a movie. Price-wise, what can you say, its only a dollar. They've actually got NetFlix beat here too. NetFlix is a great value, but only if you take advantage of it. For the occasional renter that may only rent a couple of times a month, why spend $20 when you can spend $2 or $3?
If Netflix was to offer similar machines that offered a quick, non-mail, exchange for "subscribers" and $1 rentals for non-subscribers, they would have the perfect formula. That would really be something...
