REDBOX Automated Rentals

[Pirate]

http://65.36.214.137/index.html

These things are outside of Wal-Marts, McDonalds, etc. It's $1 per rental for one day and they only carry new releases. You swipe your debit/credit card and out pops a DVD. You then bring the DVD back and throw it in the box. If you keep the DVD, they charge you $1 a night.

I just saw one at a grocery store and there was a line to use the machine. I think I'll stick with Netlfix and BB.

[limacharliewhiskey]

DVD Vending machines

We talked about this awhile ago. Most of us haven't seen one yet.

According to their site, there are locations in Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Denver, St. Louis, Houston, Twin Cities, Hartford, and Baltimore/Washington DC.

Has not yet hit the West Coast.

I still wonder how the machines can detect whether the correct movie has been returned. If I returned it with a black CD-R, how would the machine tell?

[Pirate]

Originally Posted by limacharliewhiskey

I still wonder how the machines can detect whether the correct movie has been returned. If I returned it with a black CD-R, how would the machine tell?

I'm sure each disc sleeve has a scan code and they come after you if they find a blank disc.

[limacharliewhiskey]

Originally Posted by piratehunter

I'm sure each disc sleeve has a scan code and they come after you if they find a blank disc.

Yeah, but if you put the blank CD into the sleeve, how would the machine be able to tell?

Looking on their website, though, they do have a toll-free number to call to report problems, so I'm sure someone would call it in, and then they can check the records for previous renters.

I'd probably try it out at least once if it came to my area.

[Monterey Jack]

My store got one of these about three or four months ago. It's been pretty popular with the customers.

[umainebearman]

I haven't seen this particular one but something similar. I don't remember if it was here in Savannah or in Jacksonville. If someone on this forum has the money they should buy one or 2 and get crackin' cause these things are going to make some people a good piece of change.

[SilentBob]

This seems more like a Soapbox discussion. So i shall move it there and what is this thing you call renting??? (rent free for over 6 years now)

[wmajero]

Originally Posted by piratehunter

I'm sure each disc sleeve has a scan code and they come after you if they find a blank disc.

The hard plastic case has a hole large enough to show the whole spindle area on the disc. There is a barcode surronding the hole on the disc. So if you put the dvd in the wrong case, it won't matter. The system is almost fool-proof. It's a great way to rent popular titles. Cheap, easy, convenient. I've done it several times.

[LeChuck]

How about if you call in and say that you rented one and got a blank CD as you sneakily take the DVD out and put your own blank CD in? Genius! ALthough I did not quite understand what majero meant so it probably wouldn't work. I saw one of these the other day and cannot remember where. It was either Boston or NY.

Originally Posted by limacharliewhiskey

Yeah, but if you put the blank CD into the sleeve, how would the machine be able to tell?

Looking on their website, though, they do have a toll-free number to call to report problems, so I'm sure someone would call it in, and then they can check the records for previous renters.

I'd probably try it out at least once if it came to my area.

[thomashton]

This is a good system. I have used it here in Northern Utah.

It is cheap, easy and convenient.

The only problem I have with it, is that on occassion you get a scratched up one and skips like crazy. There is no store clerk to give you a replacement disc.

[Pirate]

I used one today to rent "Dave Chappelle's Block Party." It was quick, easy and the DVD comes in a hard plastic case.

The only problem is that they seem to only have fullscreen copies.

Since I've never seen the film, I'm now going to rent the WS version. So basically I'm out a buck.

[wmajero]

Originally Posted by piratehunter

I used one today to rent "Dave Chappelle's Block Party." It was quick, easy and the DVD comes in a hard plastic case.

The only problem is that they seem to only have fullscreen copies.

Since I've never seen the film, I'm now going to rent the WS version. So basically I'm out a buck.

Really? The ones in Maryland are all widescreen over fullscreen.

[Pirate]

Originally Posted by wmajero

Really? The ones in Maryland are all widescreen over fullscreen.

As far as I could tell there were no options for WS. It could just be "Block Party," but it's not really worth trying again to find out, though.

[Pirate]

Here are some pics of the Red Box case:

[Bantam]

there's one of these in the neighborhood next to mine in DC. or was, haven't they been around for a while? I have a feeling the one near me was removed....

[limacharliewhiskey]

Resurrecting an old thread here. Redbox has finally come to my area, located in Albertson's grocery stores, but I never shop at Albertson's.

There is a Redbox competitor called The New Release (www.thenewrelease.com) which I noticed at my local Ralph's grocery store, and I finally tried it for the first time this past weekend. $1/day for rentals, and the first rental was free.

I figured I had nothing to lose, so I tried it. Selection actually looks pretty good, movie titles going back 6-7 months. Some of the new releases were out of stock, obviously. About 20-25 pages of selections, with about 10 movies per page, so about 200-250 movies to choose from, far more than I was expecting.

Picked up Yellow, the Roselyn Sanchez dancer/stripper movie. Swiped my credit card through, and then the disc popped out of the machine. It actually took about 60-90 seconds for the disc to come out, so there are some mechanical parts moving around inside this rental kiosk. Disc comes out in a thin rectagular, but strong heavy plastic, container.

Therie aren't any distinct markings on the black plastic contaner which housed the disc, so I was curious as to how the disc would be identified when I returned it. Only the movie disc had an added sticker near the center spindle hole that may have been used for the kiosk machine to identify the disc. I didn't have to reswipe my credit card again when I returned it.

Very cool machine, I may be using this more often in the future, as there is a certain convenience factor of it being located where I regularly shop. And $1/day for a rental is hard to beat. Cheapest mom-and-pop rental shop is $2/day.

I remember seeing another rental-type kiosk at my local Vons grocery store. Don't remember if it was The New Release or Redbox or something else. I'll take a closer look next time I shop there.

[Monterey Jack]

The Redbox machine at my work is a Godsend. There's the occasional title that only (ugh) Blockbuster will carry (Halloween, ect.), but for about 85% of new releases, I can rent for a buck a night. Even on the rare occasions I've forgotten to return a disc the following day, hell, that's still cheaper than most rental stores. And I have yet to rent a single title in fullscreen. To date, only Surf's Up has had any sort of playing problems (some minor skips that stopped about after 15 seconds). At these prices and with the convenience of being able to pick up a title before I leave from work and returning it when I walk in the next day, I've been renting at a steady slip I haven't maintained in years. Yeah, there's plenty of direct-to-DVD crap clogging space in the machine, but who cares?

In short, Redbox =

[limacharliewhiskey]

Rented another movie from The New Release machine, and I ran across a problem that I didn't anticipate, nor had I expected to, since any other DVD rental service wouldn't have the same problem: waiting to return a DVD when other people are using the machine.

The machine in my local Ralphs grocery store had rarely been busy in the past, so when I tried to return a DVD over the weekend when it was busy, I didn't realize how agonizing and painful it could be to return a DVD to this machine.

There were 2 groups of people waiting to use the machine, while one other family was already using it and slowly browsing through the display to figure out what they wanted to pick. Took them about 5 minutes to pick something, and then the next family took another 5 minutes to do their selection.

It was painfully agonizing to wait 10 minutes just to return my DVD, while other people were taking forever to pick a movie.

I did finally ask one couple if I could just return my movie, which is a 1 minute process to return the disc into the slot and have the machine recognize it, assuring them that I wouldn't be picking up another movie.

With any other rental store, they have a drop-off box/basket with no waiting, and with online places like Netflix or Blockbuster, you can drop off the disc in the mailbox. With these rental kiosks, the return slot is the same as for those picking up new movies, and this can be a painful waiting process if this rental kiosk is popular.

After going through this over the weekend, just to return a movie, I discovered the one major negative that left me thinking of this as a bad experience, and I don't know how often I would use it again in the future.

The rental box at my local Vons has disappeared when I last visited. I don't know which rental company it was, but they've moved on.

[billnye97]

Originally Posted by limacharliewhiskey

Rented another movie from The New Release machine, and I ran across a problem that I didn't anticipate, nor had I expected to, since any other DVD rental service wouldn't have the same problem: waiting to return a DVD when other people are using the machine.

The machine in my local Ralphs grocery store had rarely been busy in the past, so when I tried to return a DVD over the weekend when it was busy, I didn't realize how agonizing and painful it could be to return a DVD to this machine.

There were 2 groups of people waiting to use the machine, while one other family was already using it and slowly browsing through the display to figure out what they wanted to pick. Took them about 5 minutes to pick something, and then the next family took another 5 minutes to do their selection.

It was painfully agonizing to wait 10 minutes just to return my DVD, while other people were taking forever to pick a movie.

I did finally ask one couple if I could just return my movie, which is a 1 minute process to return the disc into the slot and have the machine recognize it, assuring them that I wouldn't be picking up another movie.

With any other rental store, they have a drop-off box/basket with no waiting, and with online places like Netflix or Blockbuster, you can drop off the disc in the mailbox. With these rental kiosks, the return slot is the same as for those picking up new movies, and this can be a painful waiting process if this rental kiosk is popular.

After going through this over the weekend, just to return a movie, I discovered the one major negative that left me thinking of this as a bad experience, and I don't know how often I would use it again in the future.

The rental box at my local Vons has disappeared when I last visited. I don't know which rental company it was, but they've moved on.

Good points. I've never encountered another soul using the Redbox by my work. But they must because some titles are unavailable. It would be nice if they had a display on the side for returns only so while the family is deciding you could just pop your return and be done with it.

[Monterey Jack]

I have to put up with this on occassion, and I usually just ask politely if I can return my disc if the person currently browsing looks like they're going to be there a while. Tends to work more often than not.

[limacharliewhiskey]

Originally Posted by billnye97

Good points. I've never encountered another soul using the Redbox by my work. But they must because some titles are unavailable. It would be nice if they had a display on the side for returns only so while the family is deciding you could just pop your return and be done with it.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking, or having a second screen for simply browsing for people trying to figure out what to get, while others can process their orders.

That's one major flaw I noticed, is that no one else can browse the selection list until the other person is done (unless you're rude and stand over the shoulder of the other person ).

One things that these rental kiosks remind me of are some failed attempts by fast food places to put in touchscreen ordering menus. Instead of it speading up the ordering process, it really slowed it down, as people would click through multiple screens to choose their selections, instead of having one big menu on one screen. Each fast food place (Arby's and Taco Bells locally tried them out for a few months) removed it soon after.

These rental boxes are the same, with about 25-30 pages of movies to browse through. I've noticed that in the past, when I saw just one person using it, I didn't feel like waiting even 5 minutes to use it.

If I'm the only person using it, it's cool and convenient. But with 2 or 3 people waiting to use it, it's an excrutiating wait. At least at a rental store, you can browse through the selections a little longer if there is a wait to pay for things, which is what I usually do.

I usually have a good idea of what I want to rent, at least 2 or 3 choices, even before I go to the store, but most other people usually don't, and they take even longer if there's a couple trying to decide what to rent between the two of them.

[iluvalex]

Sounds like your trying to solve a minute inconvenience with major changes. I'm with Monterey Jack on this. Just ask politely to drop it off.

I myself have yet to approach the machine with anybody there. It's all in timing I guess.

Warning: But I did run across this. It does take about 45 seconds for the machine to process a drop off. I walked up to the machine the other day and a DVD was sitting there in the slot. Obviously the people must of thought that once the machine sucks the DVD in, all is done. For some reason it did not accept and spit the DVD out. I walked it into the store clerk.

[Monterey Jack]

Originally Posted by iluvalex

Warning: But I did run across this. It does take about 45 seconds for the machine to process a drop off. I walked up to the machine the other day and a DVD was sitting there in the slot. Obviously the people must of thought that once the machine sucks the DVD in, all is done. For some reason it did not accept and spit the DVD out. I walked it into the store clerk.

Why didn't you just put it in the machine yourself?

[Mikado]

Originally Posted by Monterey Jack

Why didn't you just put it in the machine yourself?

Probably because the person put the wrong disc in the plastic holder so it won't take it. That's happened to me before. After I tried several times to return it for them.

[Mikado]

Is Redbox still doing the free rental code on Monday's? I didn't get a code texted to me this week.

[iluvalex]

Originally Posted by Monterey Jack

Why didn't you just put it in the machine yourself?

As Mikado suggested, something was wrong. I tried twice and it spit it back out.

Is Redbox still doing the free rental code on Monday's? I didn't get a code texted to me this week.

I am not aware of this, but our local McDonald's are promoting buying a large drink and getting a DVD rental for free. And this maybe just select stores... I assume.

[billnye97]

I always stand there and make sure that the disc is accepted before I walk away. I still like the whole setup (thankfully winter is almost over here in Cleveland, which makes the whole process miserable). I also find it convient that it tied my email to the credit card that I use so I don't have to punch it in again.
On a side note has anyone used the online setup of ordering a dvd then going and picking it up at the kiosk? I have yet to try it myself.