Online DVD rental: BlockBuster vs Netflix

[tomdkat]

Ok, it seems Blockbuster wants to take Netflix on, straight up.

Which service do you think will be triumphant?

I'm a Netflix subcriber and I'll stick with it. I think Netflix has a selection edge of BlockBuster, at least right now.

Peace...

[Surf Monkey]

I haven't used either yet but I just subscribed to Netflix yesterday based on positive comments made by dozens of my friends. BlockBuster is not my brick & mortar choice so I won't be using them.

[ctoelle]

I have several friends who subscribe to Netflix and they love it. I will probably start using them soon too.

No way in hell will I give my money to Blockbuster video. I haven't been in one in over 15 years. If you don't carry unrated and NC-17 movies then you don't get my business.

[mlemmond]

I've been with Netflix for over a year now and I am very satisfied with them.

[ChrisV784]

Originally Posted by ctoelle

I have several friends who subscribe to Netflix and they love it. I will probably start using them soon too.

No way in hell will I give my money to Blockbuster video. I haven't been in one in over 15 years. If you don't carry unrated and NC-17 movies then you don't get my business.

i work at Blockbuster and we carry those. (No porn obviously) We get all the unrated movies. And if a movie comes out that's NC-17, we'll get it. (The Dreamers). It might be because it's a franchise store.

[Daniel Shock]

I've been with Netflix since the begining. Now that they have a distribution center in Indianapolis, my discs are turning around in one or two days. So, overall I'm happy.

I'll watch the Blockbuster service, though and see how it does and what the selection is like.

We'll see.

[moviezzz]

Originally Posted by ctoelle

No way in hell will I give my money to Blockbuster video. I haven't been in one in over 15 years. If you don't carry unrated and NC-17 movies then you don't get my business.

I don't see why this is an issue. In the past 12 years that the NC-17 has been in operation, only 60 films have received the rating (check out www.mpaa.org for the full list). Of those, around 20 films have received any kind of video release. The NC-17 rating is hardly used. So, the fact that a store doesn't carry 20 films isn't a reason to boycott them.

And most Blockbusters carry unrated versions of films.

The main reason to not like Blockbuster: having poor selection, just mainstream titles, high rental prices ($5 to rent a DVD that costs $12 to buy??). I haven't rented in a few years as well.

I don't see how they will be able to compete with Netflix.

[KSC2-303]

I don't rent movies, but I've been tempted to go to Netflix for a while, and might make the jump soon.

Blockbuster is just too expensive with a horrible selection. I tend to like "squirrely" movies, and they'd rather have 300 copies of Gothica than let's say, 2 copies of the unrated edition of Versus.

I also hate the idea that you have to rent multiple discs to rent a box set. Even though it's not available, I wanted to check out War and Remembrance. If it was available, that would be 13 rentals (6 discs for the first, 7 for the second if I remember correctly) times about 4 bucks.

Over 50 bucks to rent the series. For that much, I'd just as soon blind buy it.

Netflix has excellent selection from what I've seen. The only reason I haven't used them is I couldn't really justify paying $20+ a month for a server I'll use infrequently at best.

Wouldn't it be awesome if Netflix had an "import" section, so you could rent something like Shaun of the Dead months before U.S release?

EDIT: And like everyone here, the NC-17/Unrated policy at BB really has burnt the bridge to my business.

I find it funny in a way that they won't rent them do to "ethics" or "family values", but they'll carry 200 movies of the lastest teen sex comedy with dick and fart jokes abound.

[ChrisV784]

Originally Posted by KSC2-303

I don't rent movies, but I've been tempted to go to Netflix for a while, and might make the jump soon.

Blockbuster is just too expensive with a horrible selection. I tend to like "squirrely" movies, and they'd rather have 300 copies of Gothica than let's say, 2 copies of the unrated edition of Versus.

I also hate the idea that you have to rent multiple discs to rent a box set. Even though it's not available, I wanted to check out War and Remembrance. If it was available, that would be 13 rentals (6 discs for the first, 7 for the second if I remember correctly) times about 4 bucks.

Over 50 bucks to rent the series. For that much, I'd just as soon blind buy it.

Netflix has excellent selection from what I've seen. The only reason I haven't used them is I couldn't really justify paying $20+ a month for a server I'll use infrequently at best.

Wouldn't it be awesome if Netflix had an "import" section, so you could rent something like Shaun of the Dead months before U.S release?

EDIT: And like everyone here, the NC-17/Unrated policy at BB really has burnt the bridge to my business.

I find it funny in a way that they won't rent them do to "ethics" or "family values", but they'll carry 200 movies of the lastest teen sex comedy with dick and fart jokes abound.

again....i work at a Blockbuster and we carry the unrated movies and NC-17 movie worth getting, we'll rent as well. i work at a franchise (every other one in my area is corporate.) and we also get all the unrated versions of movies, along with most smaller titles. Sure, we don't get as many copies, but we still get them in.

[comedian]

I don't rent online- partially because with a 2 year old we never know when we might get 2 hours to sit down and relaxe and partially because I never know what I want to watch (I'm picky).

We did sign up for Blockbuster's in store version of this- $19.99 a month and you can keep 3 movies for as long as you want, return them and get more. We did it since on average we were spending more than $20 a month on rentals. The advantage then for me is I can walk in and pick what I want at whimsy.

The disadvantage is that the selection of independent movies, older movies and TV is lacking at Blockbuster brick and mortar.

[limacharliewhiskey]

Rented from Netflix for 2.5 years, quit when the hassle of lost discs and slow delivery times outweighed the benefits of online rental. Probably won't rejoin in the future.

Won't rent from Blockbuster, as I imagine it will have the same problems as Netflix and Wal-Mart.

If I join an online service again, it'll be a smaller company that is local to me, like Qwikfliks, where delivery times should be quick as long as they have the variety and selection of titles that satisfy my viewing needs.

[mtcarmel00]

I don't rent online. I've been scared off by some friends complaining about lost disc charges when they get lost in the mail. If I had to rent online, I would choose Netflix.

[irussel]

I've been using Netflix for at least 2 years now. They don't charge you for lost discs, but they will suspend your account if you lose 6. If you lose that many, you've prob got an issue with a local postal worker swiping them. Netflix knows this, and they do look into those cases from what i hear. I've only had a prob with 2 discs so far that never reached me, no other probs. Its great being able to hang on to a disc for months until you feel like watching it... The discs are sent back to my same town now, so its only a 2 day turnaround to get a new one. As far as selection, i've got around 300 in my queue...i won't be running out any time soon.

irussel

[COliv1977]

I've never rented from Blockbuster but I have rented from Netflix and I was not very happy. I rented from them for a few weeks and every DVD I bought was damaged. I finally just cancelled my acount. I must've seen 10 movies and they were all damaged

[videoworx]

I think if Blockbuster does business (ie. ships discs) on Saturday (Netflix does not), they might do some damage (Assuming the prices are similar). Otherwise, no reason to switch - Netflix is just fine 99 percent of the time.

[odisn]

I'll stick with Netflix since I have had no problems with them. I've never had a disc that would not play, I've only had one lost disc in ~5 years, and my distribution center is so close that I can drop one in the box for return and receive my next disc in 2-3 business days.

The poster who said that all he ever got was damaged discs must have lived in either a really bad distribution area or else his player is a bit too sensitive. I have seen several discs with a few scratches, but never one that would not play at all.

[JeffHanawalt]

I've been a member of Netflix for over 2 years now,
and I've received only 2 titles that wouldn't play because
of physical damage. I got replacements of the same titles
with no problem. I've had no problems at all with getting or
returning DVDs. I'm very happy with Netflix, and I don't need
another option with regular rentals.

[irussel]

Yeah, many dvd's that i get from Netflix show some mileage from being handled by so many people...but my Samsung dvd player has no problems with any of them. On the other hand, i've seen some early model dvd players have trouble with dvd's that have a single fingerprint. If your player is several years old and you have this problem, you might wanna see if there is a firmware update or look into a new player w/ a larger buffer.

irussel

[clemato]

Where to beguine:

1. Blockbuster is evil. I worked there and won't support their business.

2. I don't rent online

3. I rent about one DVD a month

4. I only rent what I know I'm not gonna buy or catch on HBO.

5. If I ever did, though, NetFlix gets it cause my best friend uses that and loves it!

[SephirothClone]

I don't rent online, nor do I use my credit card online at all. But give me about a year to warm up and I'll be sure to join NetFlix.

[Lon]

Netflix hands down. I won't switch to Blockbuster because they are supposed to be the first name in home video rental and they are just NOW getting on board with online rentals? Netflix has been around for a few years now and has gotten it right from the start so they deserve my business.

I signed up early on so I still have the two unlimited DVDs at a time each month for $15. If I cancel and decide to rejoin later I won't get that package because Netflix doesn't offer it anymore. And with a distribution center in Indianapolis I have a day turn-around time. I've only had two lost discs, both from returning them but Netflix may have received them at a later date. I waited the six days they suggest and the DVDs didn't arrive. I've also had one disc (The Scorpion King) not play very well. It kept skipping. I sent it back, waited a few weeks and ordered it again and it was fine.

1. my girlfriend rented the dreamers from blockbuster and it was rated r version.

2. blockbuster is the worst corporation in the world. all they care about is money. i remember every month when i worked there they'd run a list of stuff that hadn't rented and they would take those movies, smash them up with a hammer and through them in the dumpster. classics, only becuase someone hadn't rented them in the last month. that made me so mad.

[PolloDiablo]

Originally Posted by Renton

2. blockbuster is the worst corporation in the world. all they care about is money. i remember every month when i worked there they'd run a list of stuff that hadn't rented and they would take those movies, smash them up with a hammer and through them in the dumpster. classics, only becuase someone hadn't rented them in the last month. that made me so mad.

I've had to do this on more than a few occasions and it's definitely a depressing task. Even so, I don't really see how you can hold Blockbuster entirely responsible for that when much of the blame really rests on the customers, I mean yes there should be titles that we are required to keep regardless of whether or not they rent (I almost cried when we got rid of Chinatown & La Dolce Vita recently), but realistically they have to do something to make room for the hundreds of newer and more popular movies that come in (and to be fair, they only destroy VHS, I've never seen a DVD destroyed). If the customers showed interest in the classics then they wouldn't get destroyed and we would get more in stock, but I'm sure that since you were an employee you can attest to the fact that about 90% of the people who rent there go straight for the newest piece of shit on the wall, I mean our most popular rentals lately have been Hidalgo, Whole Ten Yards, & 13 Going on 30, if you want to blame someone then blame the customers, they create the demand, Blockbuster only gives them what they want. The customers complaining because we don't have enough copies of some crap like Whole Ten Yards far outweigh the number of customers that complain about our selection of classics, I'd be willing to say that in the year that I've worked at Blockbuster I've only received maybe 5-10 complaints about our lack of classics, yet I hear soccer moms scream about us being out of Hidalgo ten times a day. I do my part to rescue movies when I can but I've almost given up on it because realistically no one even gives a shit, most people wouldn't know quality if it sat on their face and the times that I do recommend older movies to people they usually look at me like I'm insane "ohhh... but that's so old" & "but it's in black & white" seem to be the consensus among the average Blockbuster customer.

[moviezzz]

Originally Posted by Renton

2. blockbuster is the worst corporation in the world. all they care about is money. .

Actually, they are owned by Viacom who also own Paramount, CBS, MTV, Showtime, Sundance Channel etc.

Originally Posted by Renton

i remember every month when i worked there they'd run a list of stuff that hadn't rented and they would take those movies, smash them up with a hammer and through them in the dumpster. classics, only becuase someone hadn't rented them in the last month. that made me so mad.

Are you serious? Your store didn't have a previously viewed bin? What sort of idiots ran your store? You should have sold them rather than destroyed them.

One of the only reasons I go into my local Blockbuster is to buy used tapes. They get rid of all sorts of rare tapes that go for hundreds of dollars on Ebay.

[dogmaratt]

Originally Posted by Renton

blockbuster is the worst corporation in the world. all they care about is money.

Hate to play devils advocate, but that's what businesses are in business for. Money.

[deltau922]

Blockbuster Movie Pass all the way for me. I don't have to wait for the mail, and Blockbuster isn't closed on Sundays and every single quasi-holiday. I'm usually in and out of the store in about three minutes. I have a newborn right now and so i don't know when I'm going to have time to watch either, which is why the Movie Pass is perfect. I just keep the DVD til I watch it. Having two movies at a time is perfect, especially if my wife and I want to rent different stuff.

[theta]

Blockbuster is going to die, frankly. I don't mean the online service, I mean the company itself. People prefer to buy DVDs, which are a lot easier to damage than tapes, thus jacking up the costs of rental discs. Your local mom-and-pop may be floating on renting porn, but they also undercut Blockbastard virtually by default; they have the highest cost to rent in the industry.

If you look at the history of the company, it's been passed around like a joint at a Dead concert. It's a company that people wonder why anyone wants to sell it, and then they buy it and realize why. Viacom is just the sucker who's gotten stuck with the roach; they can't offload it on ANYBODY.

The ONLY reason they have lasted this long was they jammed a store into every single location they could during the mid-90s, thus making it conveinent for people. They stayed out of online rentals because they thought it was a fad and Netflix was going to die.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by theta

Blockbuster is going to die, frankly.

Interesting comments. I started a thread in the Soapbox on this very issue.

Peace...

[limacharliewhiskey]

Originally Posted by theta

Blockbuster is going to die, frankly. I don't mean the online service, I mean the company itself. People prefer to buy DVDs, which are a lot easier to damage than tapes, thus jacking up the costs of rental discs. Your local mom-and-pop may be floating on renting porn, but they also undercut Blockbastard virtually by default; they have the highest cost to rent in the industry.

I don't think the company will die, but its future growth potential is limited. I think what may happen is that if your local area has 3 or 4 Blockbuster stores, 1 or 2 underperforming stores may close.

As long as it is cheaper to rent a movie than own it, Blockbuster will continue to exist. And as long as there are more poor people than rich people, which is not likely to change anytime soon, Blockbuster will get its fair share of business.

Many people watch movies only once, renting DVDs is an ideal situation for them, especially if they want to watch new releases each week.

Buying 2 or 3 new DVDs each week is an expensive habit to maintain for most people. Maybe you can afford it, but I don't know many people who can sustain that over a year. Most renters want to see the newest releases each week. Once the week is over, they're interested in next week's releases. And so on and so on. Why else does Blockbuster have 100+ copies of new releases each week? That is what their customers demand, so they provide it for them.

[JNeiman20]

I've been a Netflix member for over 2 years now, starting with a $20, 3 at a time/unlimited per month rental plan, and now I'm at the just over $30, 5 at a time/unlimited per month rental plan. I have watched nearly a thousand DVDs through Netflix in that time, and the amount of money I have saved by not renting from a rental store is enormous.

Here's a rough calculation for you: average cost of a DVD rental at a store is $4. Netflix charges a little over $20 after tax for 3 DVDs at a time, unlimited per month. Even if you only watch 2 movies a week, mail them out the next day, and have a 2 to 3 day turn around, you would average 9 DVDs a month, which is around $36 from a standard rental store. Right there, as an average DVD/movie watcher, you have saved $16 a month, which is a cheap DVD purchase in and of itself (or close to two tickets to a theatrical release, depending on your area).

For myself, I watch 5 or more DVDs from Netflix a week, have never had more than a 2 day turn around anywhere I've been (even when I have lived 400 miles from the distribution center), and only despite my prediliction for independent, rare, and classic films, I have rarely run into a released DVD I want to rent that Netflix doesn't carry.

As for lost/broken DVDs, you can bet with the number I've rented I have run into those issues on occasion. I'm a college student, so I change addresses at least once a year, if not more, but I have only experienced a loss of about 4 DVDs in the time I've been with Netflix. When shipping DVDs in the mail, breaks and scratches are bound to happen, but again I have had few problems, and only once has Netflix been unable to send a replacement copy of the disc within the standard day or two turn around.

I have found Netflix to be a superior company in general, with customer service and response time being well above average. The only people I have known who have had issues with Netflix are the same people who don't understand that the universe doesn't rotate around them.

[limacharliewhiskey]

Originally Posted by JNeiman20

I've been a Netflix member for over 2 years now, starting with a $20, 3 at a time/unlimited per month rental plan, and now I'm at the just over $30, 5 at a time/unlimited per month rental plan. I have watched nearly a thousand DVDs through Netflix in that time, and the amount of money I have saved by not renting from a rental store is enormous.

So would you try Blockbuster's online service that copies that the Netflix business model? We already know the benefits (and problems) with online DVD renting. Would you switch to Blockbuster if you experienced any problems with Netflix? Blockbuster is claiming to have a 25,000+ title inventory available for their online service.

I forgot which way I voted in this poll, but I might give this online Blockbuster service a try. The 2 free in-store rentals is an added bonus in case DVDs are in the mail but don't arrive on time for the weekend.

I might finally get to watch the remainder of the Evangelion series, where I watched volumes 1-3 through Netflix, but was never able to get volumes 4-8 because they were never in stock.

[JNeiman20]

I got so worked up in explaining why I wouldn't switch from Netflix to Blockbuster I forgot to actually say it.

I have family and friends who have worked for Blockbuster at both the store (both franchise and corporate operated) and the corporate level, and every last one of them has left as soon as possible. My own personal experiences with Blockbuster combined with what I have learned from the inside information I have received about the entire corporation has made me resolve to never conduct any business with Blockbuster again mainly for my own financial well being, but also based on principle.

As I said before, I have never had any reason to want to go with a company other than Netflix, and I highly doubt Blockbuster could make an offer that would rival that of Netflix. Even if they undercut Netflix price by nearly $10, the kind of DVDs I rent are mainly rare, independent, or just generally difficult to find anywhere other than amazon.com or other online sellers. I get most of my big hit/Hollywood movie fills by watching friend's DVDs or going to the theatre. Netflix aims to please customers such as myself as well as those people interested in merely the big Hollywood flicks, and I have a very strong feeling that Blockbuster will not support movie watchers such as myself very well through their service; from what I have seen, Netflix is willing to stock DVDs that may not show high rentals early on but will be rented at a consistent basis over time, whereas Blockbuster as a company has always shown their overall vision to be very much in the here-and-now versus big picture oriented.

I do recognize that I may be proven wrong on this, but the only way Blockbuster could win me over is if they manage to do a better job than Netflix by a huge degree; I would much rather do business with a company that specializes in internet rentals over a company that has decided to add that division on to their original format.

[theta]

I'm not saying video rental will die, period, but I think the combination of NetFlix taking away the suburban business and smaller video stores undercutting their rental fees is going to pretty much pull the pin on the grenade they stuffed up their own ass. NetFlix takes away the richer customers because it's cheaper, there are no late fees, you don't have to worry as much about returning the discs, and you can just toss it on the credit card. The independent stores take away the poorer customers; if you have a choice between a place charging $3 and one charging $5, which do you choose?

The neighborhood I'm living in now, thriving, very close to Tufts University, prime location...and there is not a Blockbuster in sight.

That's not true, actually, there is one. It just went out of business two weeks before I moved there.

[Trifocal3]

I switched from Netflix after the price hike to http://www.rent-a-flic.com, their cust service is way better, and it is only $16.95 per month. Shipping is around the same as NF, but they do have a cool feature called the wish list...if you don't see the movie you want, you just tell them and they get it for you. I tried it with an anime film, and they notified me the next day that they were shipping it out! Thats when I knew I was sticking around.