Official Online DVD Rental Stores Thread (1 Viewer)

[TreyP]

Hell, DVDbarn sucks. After I realized I wouldn't be able to rent AVIA (it says on order), I tried to rent something else. I picked 5 other movies, and only one was available. The next closest was the animal at 7-10 days. If I cancel without actually using the service, do you think I'll still get charged? I've noticed they leave you no way to contact them.

 

[TreyP]

Well, I noticed numberslate also has AVIA. But before I join Numberslate, can someone who already has a membership with them, do me a favor and log in to see if AVIA is available to rent from them?

Thanks

 

[ScottH]

TreyP,

I put AVIA in my NumberSlate queue, and (very strangely), there's no text next to it. Usually it says 'Available', 'Checked Out', 'Long Wait', or 'Release Date: XX/XX/XXXX'. For AVIA, no text at all. I would take this to mean that it's probably not available.

Scott

 

[TreyP]

Yea, probably not. I think I'm just gonna quit being a cheap arse and buy it from Brian.

 

[ScottH]

I was actually gonna suggest buying it. It is well worth it, especially if you're like me and you're constantly making changes and tweaks to your system. I think I paid $50 for it and it was worth every penny.

 

[Brian G]

I've been with Netflix again now for almost 2 months and I have 58 titles in my rental list and 2/3 of them are in the short/long/very long wait status.
Also a major problem is their "Released To Ship" status. now it's bad enough that only a 1/3 of my movies are available, so I move the availables to the top priority and they just end up
putting them in a "released to ship" hold cycle, and after they finally ship only then do I have` to wait for them in the mail. What I'm trying to convey is that I'm actually not getting what I'm paying for because if my available titles are in the "Movies You Have Out" box while stating "Released To Ship" for 2 days then I don't have those movies out, instead netflix is sitting on them, haven't shipped, just sitting on them and trying to say I have them out! It's misleading and false and not at all what they're subscription plan states, I think it's time to file a complaint against them with the Better Business Bureau. They are pulling a fast one on people by hindering the titles that are supossed to be out.
Also it is impossible to really know when they actually shipped your title out to you since there is not actual postmark on their prepaid lables, I've had a few titles take twice as many mailing days as normal, so I really don't believe all of their "We Shipped Your Title" e-mails.
Third and finally I've had some titles take twice as many mailing days to get back to them then normally , I don't trust them, I believe they are using various methods to try to limit your rental numbers. When I talk to them they always say "well we are not a 24hr facility", so what, you are advertising a service and you are not meeting your obligations, perhaps you should be a 24hr service facility, either that or change your ads to reflect your true service.
This company and others need to be investigated for unfair business practices and misleading ads. I don't think enough people have complained they just quit and go else where, but in the meantime we are not getting the 3,4,5, or 8 out at a time that we are suppossed to be paying for.

 

[PS Nystrom]

The quality of Netflix service has improved enough recently for me to mention the fact here. 'Released to Ship' titles never last more than a day in the holding pattern, especially when the titles are listed as being available now. One thing I learned was not to put my 'Short Wait' titles at the top of my queue. When a disc is returned, these short wait discs are put in 'Released to Ship' hell, and while waiting does get results, it usually takes a little too long for my taste.
Discs used to always take two days to be delivered or checked back in - now it's usually only one. I don't know who's doing their job more efficiently - the Post Office or Netflix - either way I'm happy with the results.
One last , and that's for the 'Suggested Viewing' feature. Finally, after rating 800+ DVDs (man, what a loser) I'm started to get some good recommendations.
Pieter

 

[Samuel Des]

whats the best service for people who live in chicago?

I am in the same boat. Does anyone have experience? I am truly tempted.

 

[Norm]

I'm not that happy with Numberslate. I'm thinking of switching, any new places? I hate Netflix it takes forever for their DVDs to reach FL.

 

[felix_suwarno]

well

netflix has improved a lot. it used to take 3 to 4 days for the disc to arrive. now it takes 2 days. the address has changed from CA to MI. "oohh thats why it is so fast these days".

they even return my virtua fighter 4 disc which was accidentally sent "back" to them.

 

[Norm]

I just joined again, to see if its any better.

 

[mike martin]

norm,

I'll be eagerly awaiting any info you have after resubscribing. I quit four or five months back after frustrations too numerous to mention (mostly dealing with insuferable waits); but have heard rumors that they have opened more distribution centers. If it's better I'd love to hear in what way.

Mike

 

[John Telleria]

My 2 cents on Netflix...

While I have seen an improvement in turnaround times with the new distribution centers, availability is still a big problem with recent releases. It's been especially bad the past several weeks. Up until recently, I was usually able to get at least one recent release every week. Now, unless I get lucky and get a new release the day it's released, it's a Long Wait or Very Long Wait. I currently have 11 or 12 recent releases at the top of my queue showing as Long Wait or Very Long Wait, including Mullholland Drive, Beautiful Mind, Orange County, Vanilla Sky and Monster's Ball. I keep watch on my queue almost daily and haven't seen any of these titles become available. So I've been catching up on The Sopranos Seasons 1 and 2 dvd's. No availability problems with Sopranos. Hopefully that keeps up when Season 3 becomes available in August! But I would like to see Netflix get more copies of the recent movies. You'd think they could afford more copies with their recent IPO. I remember reading somewhere recently that Blockbuster may be starting their own online dvd rental service in the near future. If Blockbuster can offer unlimited online rentals for $20/month with better availability than Netflix, I'll seriously consider switching.

 

[Norm]

As a member of both Number Slate and Netflix for the last almost two months. Number Slate has really screwed up, I am canceling my membership. All my DVD's have stopped shipping for some unknown reason. I have to call them all time to get them to release DVD's after waiting days and nothing ships. Its time to bail out!

PS Netflix is faster than Number Slate because of the new drop-off centers.

Anyone know where I can rent Stargate SG1 the series, that's the only reason why I was waiting on Number Slate?

 

[Jeff Gross]

Anyone know where I can rent Stargate SG1 the series

NetFlix has Season 1 Vol 1. They have the other discs in Season 1 and 2 are "Save" so hopefully they'll be getting them soon.

 

[Norm]

Ok, thanx

 

[KevinRB]

I've had Number Slate for a couple months now. Unlike most poeple, I have been really impressed with their turnaround time. The usually ship out the next DVD the same day they recieved the one I sent back, and it only takes about three days to arrive.

However, I may switch soon because of their poor movie availability. I currently have 180 movies in my queue, but only 15 are listed as in stock. I think it's also questionable if they even have discs for all the movies they list. I've had some pretty obscure movies at the top of my list, and they always get passed over. I find it hard to believe they are actually out all the time...

 

[Michael Kizer]

I decided to try out Number Slate this past weekend... the 2 DVD/$13.95 per month option. First two weeks are free so I figured why not.

Anyway, I've placed about 30 titles on my list and all most all of them are flagged as "checked out", some have a blank status, and only one of them says "In Stock". So I moved the that one to the top of the list and I'll wait and see how long it is before it actually ships... So far, two days (albeit on the weekend) and it is still there...

 

[Gary Rhine]

Are you saying $7 per DVD?

 

[Michael Kizer]

No, actually it means that you can have up to two DVDs out at any given time, but you can rent as many per month as you wish... Of course this is impacted by the time it takes for the mail to return and send you new DVDs, as well as how fast the company can respond to your requests. I can't really say how well this works since I haven't received any DVDs yet, nor seen any sign that the one they have in stock has been shipped yet... sigh...