Blockbuster vs. Netflix

Re: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

I just switched from Blockbuster to Netflix. A few of my movies are already on "short wait" which is a little disappointing. Although, to be fair, I usually got new releases with my disc trade at blockbuster.

The online delivery is great if you have something connected to your TV (xbox, some Blu players etc.)

Re: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

I just cancelled netflix due to extremely long waits on new releases.. It could take up to 6 months to receive a movie at times. And I understand the longer that you are a customer the worse it gets. They usually treat their new customers like gold and their long standing customers like crap.

Re: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

I don't agree. I have been a netflix customer since the beginning and I always get my movies in a timely fashion. With that being said, I only move up new releases every once in a while. Most of the time, by the time a movie makes it to the top of my que, it has been out for while. I know at least 5 friends who have Netflix and none of them have ever waited 2 weeks, let along 6 months for anything. The only thing Netflix has ever done is to reduce my monthly premium. They have great customer service, I couldn't recommend them more.

Re: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

I just drive to my local Hollywood video store. I like to look around at the titles and then make my dession on what to rent. Plus I can get almost any DVD (no Blu Ray ) in the store for only 15 bucks a month. It's called MVP.

Re: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

I have been a member of Blockbuster online since it started and I have been very happy so far. We use the online service mostly for TV shows ( I can take my time watching) and trade in the mailers for movies at the store. That was the selling point for me. Here is what my subscription includes:
BLOCKBUSTER Total Access Premium
$16.99 / month (plus taxes)
2 at-a-time, Unlimited mailings
Unlimited in-store movie exchanges
+1 FREE bonus Movie or Game Rental E-Coupon / Month

They have since changed the subscriptions. I can't afford to change now. I am also considering using netflix (the $9.99 monthly charge) so I can do the streaming on my 360. Is the netflix streaming worth it?

Re: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

I have had BB ever since they got rid of their late fees. 3 at a time mail rental and 5 per month trade in. Mostly OK service. I have had to wait longer on new releases, but I do the in store trade in if I get tired of waiting.

I tried NetFlix streaming last week. It did not work well for me. I think my connection has not enough bandwidth. On line they say that they need 2,400Kps for DVD quality. My connection it 1,500Kps not including the other computers in the house using it. I ran it through the Xbox360 using component cables to my HD70 projector on a 110" screen. The picture was very blurry and I only had stereo for sound. I only watched 15 minutes before I couldn't take it anymore. It would probably look fine on a computer screen. Their selection for streaming was small. I wanted to compare it with a movie that I was fimilar with so I looked for Star Wars III and I couldn't find it. So I am staying with BB for now.

Re: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

Concerning the sound on downloaded Netflix movies - I recently read (sorry I can't remember the reference but it was someone competent reviewing the available systems and hardware) that the basic 2 channel stereo is the ONLY sound available on this download system and will be for the foreseeable future. He said if you had good download speed and wanted to spend the day in bed watching old movies on TV it was fine, but if you wanted to watch "Ironman" in your 7.1 front projector home theater - Forget It!

Re: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

I'm not too bothered by the video / audio of netflix online. I usually watch documentaries and older films anyway (Licensee to Drive anyone?). There was only 1 time I deemed the video to be unwatchable. The nice thing about the online is if I start watching something and it sucks, I just stop it and pick something else.

No going back to the store, or waiting for the next movie.

Re: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

I have been using Blockbuster for almost 3 years. My 3-at-a-time, unlimited in-store exchange was great. I could get a movie almost every day. But with 2 price increases and reducing in-store rentals to 5, I started to get fewer rentals for my money. It was still a great deal compared to Netflix because of the in-store exchanges and a policy of not "throttling" shipments vs Netflix' stated policy of giving preference to those who rent fewer movies.

About a year ago, I started noticing some slowdown in shipments despite the fact that shipments are now local. It has gradually gotten worse to the point that I am getting irritated with them. When I started, they were shipping a new DVD the same day they got one back. For the past two weeks, they have acknowledged getting DVDs back on Monday morning and not shipped the next one from my Q until Wednesday afternoon. I have had a couple of periods when they have received all 3 discs back and not yet shipped another one. So while they say they don't throttle, it seems that they have now begun to do that. And to make matters worse, it seems that they stock fewer copies because the percentage of titles in my Q that show as "available" has also reduced drastically. And when they say "Very Long Wait", they may as well say "Just Forget It". I've had those sit at the top of my Q for months.

I'm wondering if others have noticed this slowdown. If it gets any worse, I may have to give Netflix a try.

Re: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

Odd. I find BB to be cheaper, not more expensive, than NF. Of course, I don't bother w/ the in-store thing for BB, but I do like not paying extra for Blu-ray (and actually receive recent releases in a timely fashion to boot).

One problem w/ NF (at least in the past) is they put you on the fast track for your first month or two and then throttle you back, which becomes a big letdown. Maybe they don't do that as much nowadays...

_Man_

Re: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

I started with Netflix, and as others have echoed, had great service for the first month or so. Then things did slow down, but not to unacceptable levels. The reason I finally switched to Blockbuster [a few months ago] was because Netflix seemed to have a problem delivering playable Blu Ray discs.

Since switching to BB, I've since received a few unplayable Blu Ray discs from them too, so not sure that can be pinned solely on Netflix, although the problem did seem more frequent with them. One such disc did play when I took it into the store, so some of this may very well be the fault of my Wal-Mart Blu Ray player too. The big problem I am seeing with BB is that their catalog of older [or foreign/obscure] releases does not even begin to compare with that of Netflix. For example, I currently have "Bob Roberts" and "The Contender" listed as "very long waits." Bob Roberts? This is a 1992 release, and it didn't exactly set the world on fire back then. I believe BB is selling off too much of their catalog titles. Netflix wisely discontinued this practice some time ago.

So I may end up returning to Netflix and just dropping the Blu Ray portion for now. I will definitely miss the BB in-store exchanges, but without a decent catalog, that quickly becomes a moot feature, and it is offered at a serious premium compared to a similar Netflix account.

John

Re: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

Yeah, which is preferable really depends on the individual.

For myself, the primary reason I bothered to get back into renting was for Blu-ray since I can't afford to buy every BD that interests me, so that's why I went w/ BB. I do occasionally get a bad BD disc from BB, but probably not nearly as often as John though.

I must reiterate my opinion here that I think BDs are more prone to cracking than DVDs when placed under stress like w/ these flimsy mailers going thru our hardly handled-with-care postal system. I almost never received a cracked DVD that way (whether thru NF a long while back or thru BB now), but BDs are a completely different story. DVDs definitely do scratch more easily, but they also seem to remain more playable w/ scratches than BDs. I guess w/ so much more bits packed into the same space, any defects, however small, will more likely render a BD unplayable.

_Man_

Re: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

Exactly why I told them where they could cram it, and went to Netflix. They are a little slow getting new releases to me sometimes. I called them and told them if they didn't do better, I was gone from them too. I get them a little quicker now..........

Re: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

Man - What are some of your genre preferences? I'm willing to pay more for BB, but they're catalog appears very limited. Just curious as to what you're watching since I know you've been with them for awhile.

John

Re: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

I'm doing it mainly for Blu-ray releases from the past year -- particularly newer releases (and I rarely ever go to the theaters, so most day-and-date new releases will be new to me along w/ some old classics and many indie films). I don't stick w/ any particular genre, but since I do have kids (w/ their own preferences like Bedtime Stories, Twilight, Mamma Mia -- egads! ) and also do still prefer to buy movies (and don't mind buying blind when I think I'll like the film enough), my rentals do often include mediocre films that I'm curious about but know I probably won't want to own, eg. The Spirit, Da Vinci Code (not bad at all), JCVD (which I just watched and is actually "fun" and interesting enough for me to consider buying cheaply at some point).

Since BD prices are still on the high side, I also rent various critically acclaimed films on BD as they come out (unless I feel fairly certain I'll want to own them). For instance, I see that Doubt is on its way to me now (and I have The Reader next on the queue). I'm also starting to go thru some Criterion releases to see which ones I may want to buy -- just received El Norte today for instance, and I see that The Third Man and Man Who Fell to Earth are both listed as available as well.

So yeah, my rentals are waaaay varied, but I tend to keep more recent releases at the top on my queue since I wouldn't have bought them (yet) for whatever reasons, eg. price, uncertainty whether I want to own, etc. So far, I seem to get recent releases pretty quickly -- definitely waaaay better than my DVD experience w/ NF back several years ago (or what many people seem to get w/ BD from NF now).

_Man_

Re: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

Man- Thanks for your reply. My situation is almost identical to yours. No kids, but I hardly ever go to commercial theaters and my tastes vary widely. I already own close to 500 DVD's and about 20 Blu Ray discs, but I got tired of buying the Blu Ray's only to find that some weren't all that great. Most of the Blu Rays I had in my BB queue were on short to long waits, but I spent some time with it the other night and found plenty of available discs I hadn't seen. So I think it can work if I do my part and keep the queue full of available titles.

John

Re: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

I find that when BB lists "short wait", they usually mean it, so I haven't worried about that. Even "long wait" isn't necessarily that long. For instance, I think they had Doubt on "long wait" (for a few days maybe), but turns out I only needed to wait maybe a 2-3 days after it got to the top of my queue and got it sent to me when I returned my next rental -- they sent something else a bit lower on my queue during that time of course. That seems to happen often enough for me so far -- though it does seem like maybe there are more "long waits" lately than before. Maybe this is partly due to the rental/viewing habits of their typical BD customers -- maybe we're just not as likely to hold onto titles all week long (or longer).

Couple other things. I noticed that catalog and obscure titles, even when it's a new release to BD format, is definitely a lot more likely to be "available" right off the bat than popular new day-and-date releases. Also, I noticed that it helps to manage your queue (and your returns) so that you have your desired new release title at the top of your queue heading into release day, eg. put it up top on Monday for a Tuesday release and try to have your returned title arrive on Tuesday.

Hope that helps...

_Man_

Re: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

I've tried both and I am sticking with Netflix. Besides the convenience factor and Instant Watch (which keeps adding decent titles - Wall*E was added last week, and I love seeing stuff like "Splinter" that I would have never thought to rent), they seem to have a nice policy of, every once in a while, sending you an extra disc from your queue. This has happened two or three times. In fact they just sent out The Day The Earth Stood Still as a third disc, and I am on a 2-at-a-time plan.

Re: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

They do? I never experienced this with Netflix, although the overall service was excellent, and I agree with you about the value of their streaming option. Without B&M stores, however, they need to figure out how to deliver new releases a bit faster if they want to be clearly superior to Blockbuster.

John

Re: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

Wow! Just noticed Netflix has "adjusted" their Blu Ray pricing, and just when I was considering a possible return to them. I would gladly pay it if they guaranteed timely delivery of titles. If they are committing to a more robust Blu Ray investment, and thus the price increase, it would have been a good idea to release a statement to that effect.

From the Netflix web site:

Does Netflix carry Blu-ray movies?
Yes, we carry Blu-ray movies and are adding more as they are released by the studios. Anytime after signup you can add Blu-ray access to your account for an additional monthly charge. The Blu-ray access charge varies by plan:

• 1 DVD out at-a-time (limit 2 per month)
  – additional $1 a month
• 1 DVD out at-a-time (exchange each DVD as often as you want)
  – additional $2 a month
• 2 DVDs out at-a-time (exchange each DVD as often as you want)
  – additional $3 a month
• 3 DVDs out at-a-time (exchange each DVD as often as you want)
  – additional $4 a month

Click to browse our Blu-ray movies.



John

Re: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

I couldn't resist posting this recent email conversation between myself and a Blockbuster representative. Read from bottom to top, and note that the rep actually advises me to cancel my subscription, rather than rectify what should be a very simple billing issue. How's this for
customer [no] service???

===============================

Hello John,

Thank you for contacting Blockbuster Customer Care.

I understand that you may want to change your plan from Total Access-1 at a time with unlimited rents and unlimited in-store exchanges for $21.99 to a plan which is amounted to $16.99.

Since you want an immediate change in your plan, I suggest that you may cancel your account and once it go inactive, you may then apply the plan which you prefer. Please keep in mind that upon reactivation you will be billed again for the price of the new plan. You may reactivate by clicking on the "My Account" link at the top of the page. Within the "Subscription Plan" section, click on the "Re-subscribe" link. You will be prompted with a list of our current membership plans to choose from, then click "Continue."


We'd love to keep you as a customer. If you'd like to reactivate your account, we have a couple other plans you may be interested in:

• Online Only-3 at a time - Unlimited Online DVD's up to 3 at-a-time for $16.99 plus taxes
• Total Access-2 at a time - Unlimited DVDs, with up to 2 DVDs out at a time, plus 3 in-store exchanges per month for $16.99 plus taxes

Lastly, please re-prioritize your queue and keep 15 or more "Available" titles at the top of your queue at all times to ensure prompt DVD shipments.

Thank you for taking the time to write to us.


Always here to help,

--Name Omitted--
Blockbuster Customer Care

Follow us on Twitter for news, special deals and info on upcoming releases.http://twitter.com/blockbuster_com

Customer (John Phillips)	05/26/2009 10:12 AM
Hello; This is the second email I have sent regarding this issue. The first was never acknowledged or responded to. About a week ago, I decided to upgrade my plan to the $21.99 level. Upon further consideration, I decided [within minutes] to choose the $16.99 plan instead. I was not allowed to make this change and received a message saying that changes to billing plans are only permitted once per billing cycle. This does not appear to be disclosed on the actual billing plans page, or in your online help on the topic. Since I never received any benefit from the $21.99 plan, I would like to change to the $16.99 plan immediately. Please resolve this matter and notify me of such as soon as possible. If I do not receive confirmation by Thursday, 5/28/2009, I will have no choice but to cancel the subscription altogether. Thank You John Phillips

Re: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

They sent me the 2008 Day The Earth Stood Still, even though I still had discs 2 and 3 of the Sarah Conner Chronicles. There was even a notice in my queue acknowledging that they had sent the extra disc. This has happened at least twice. Not sure why, but usually has something to do with a movie not being available at my distribution center in Richmond VA.

 NetFlix is the source I use for my movies-but if I want to watch a movie I've read about that I or my psychologist think I might enjoy,or if I just want to watch a movie with a friend,and I don't have anything at home from NetFlix,we'll go to my local Blockbuster and I'll go for their Any Movie for $3 for 3 Nights deal-otherwise,I'm always going to stick to NetFlix. I had an account with Blockbuster Total Access twice,and their selection is no different from your local Blockbuster. I don't recommend Blockbuster Total Access to anybody. But many people prefer Blockbuster Total Access because if their particular Blockbuster store participates in the program,they can return the DVD to the store and get a free rental.

 I definitely prefer NetFlix over my local Blockbuster and Blockbuster Total Access. But if I do go to Blockbuster,I miss the movies being put in separate boxes from the display boxes. I especially miss the instructions on what to do if you have problems playing the DVD,given the fact that I find the instructions on what to do if the DVD isn't playing on the NetFlix DVD sleeves pretty weird.