Watch What You Want When You Want It...Or can you?
Written: Aug 15 '01
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The Bottom Line
Only use this if you know exactly what titles you want hours in advance. Don't try to use this service at peak rental times like Fridays or Holidays.
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This epinion will focus on Blockbuster Online Rentals while I go through the motions of selecting, renting, waiting for confirmation and retrieving my video.
Brick & Mortar
Once upon a time
Remember Video Library? Blockbuster bought them out approximately a decade ago. At Video Library the shelves were stocked with VHS boxes with no tapes in them (I guess they were extremely worried about theft). Upon selecting your movie or movies of choice a clerk would quickly disappear into the back and bring you the actual tapes you wanted to rent. The rental process was as quick as your selection. It was easy to select videos because they were arranged by category: Horror, Mystery, Drama, Comedy, Action/Adventure et cetera. Enter Blockbuster.
At brick and mortar Blockbuster locations all the movies and their boxes have always been out in the open. This made the video rental process a little quicker. Like their acquisition, they too, had all their movies and games arranged by category. . . until recently.
The Twenty First Century
This summer I have noticed that there is no Mystery section at any of my local Blockbusters anymore. Many categories have been collapsed into the Drama section alphabetically. I admit, at times I like to browse, but I usually want to browse for a particular type of movie: Action, Mystery, Romance, Sci Fi et cetera. I find this new movement irritating because I can't just run in and grab a few mysteries. I have to stand there and browse unless I am searching for a particular title. I typically only browse a category if I don't have a particular title in mind. This has been inconvenient at best. I don't have the patience for it.
Fortunately, the clerks are friendly and helpful (unlike Randall from the movie Clerks which I should have rented tonight). They were more than willing to help me search but they could not do anything without a specific movie title. One explained that there will soon be a new way to locate movies or categories of movies. (Remember when they used to have those huge binders with movies categorized by actors, directors, titles and genre. Those aren't there anymore.) Hollywood Video still has such categories but Blockbusters are more prolific in my area. Plus I dig using the little key-chain card. I decided it was worth the effort to rent movies online.
Online
Customer Service
Before rentals were available online (according to their site this feature is only available in certain parts of California and Texas right now) I had good experiences with Blockbuster online. Specifically, I was trying to find some very old mysteries such as the "Thin Man" series and other movies from the 1930's & 1940's and sent an e-mail asking about them. Customer service was promptly able to tell me whether they carried such movies any more and which stores had them. This was more than 2 years ago to my recollection -- before I started shopping online or was aware of IMDB. So, I already knew before attempting to rent a movie that Customer Service for Blockbuster Online is pretty good.
Selection
As one would assume the selection process goes much quicker when you have a specific title in mind as opposed to a specific category. The best feature about Blockbuster's Search Engine is that you can search the nearest store. However, you still cannot browse the store by category. You have to have some specifics in mind: New Release, Director, Actor, Title are some examples. Unlike the brick & mortar stores you can select a category and get a list of all their Mysteries or Action Movies.
On the other hand. You can search by category (and era) and then determine whether the movie is at your nearest store. (If you know the title you can use the "Search My Store" function.) Upon locating a desired flick a list of similar movies will pop up next to the movie's synopsis. This is great if you are looking for a bunch of Sam Raimi movies for example. However, if you are looking for a selection of movies based upon Agatha Christie novels (using her name as keywords) it may not generate anything. If you do locate the flick you want the site does tell you whether it is available at your local Blockbuster and more importantly if it is for rent at all. In short, the selection
and search process is average. I'd suggest going to the Internet Movie
Database first to find a list of titles you want and then coming back to Blockbuster for rentals.
Checkout
This is similar as the "Online Cart" found at most all e-tailers. First
you have to set up your profile. Although it doesn't request your
address it is essential to tell the site where prefer to pick up your movies. This will list few stores so that you can select where to pick up your rentals. I like this feature because if my choices aren't available at one location I can select another one. Fortunately, Blockbuster Online provides the ability for a patron to cancel the
rental as long as it is within the expiration window (before the 2
hours pass). The rental process is simple to use.
Alas & Alack, after two hours it appears one my selections is no longer available. I anticipated only picking up my free video, Galaxy Quest. When I got to the Online Rental line I had to stand in line behind a gentleman who was only paying late fees. The clerk apologized for not being able to find my other video, Jingle All the Way. I must admit I was a bit disappointed. It was the fourth movie I attempted to select -- they didn't have Scarface or Dog Day Afternoon either. I would have been more disappointed if I had been really jonesing to see a Christmas
flick in August. When I returned home there was another e-mail notification summarizing the billed charges, $0.
Limitations
Time:
You do need to give the brick and mortar store, via the site, at least 2 hours notice but no more than 24 hours notice to have your movies ready for you. This sounds reasonable. Most stores have a reshelving fee. It appears that blockbuster will only cancel your order. This service is not a time saver!
Stuff:
You cannot rent equipment through the site. If you need that extra VCR
or Playstation you will have to show up and rent it separately. This eliminates any time benefit that ordering online may have provided. Second, not all movies are available in all formats (DVD or VHS) at participating stores. Third, they notify you when your order is ready.
This means you may be in for a surprise if there is a busy shift.
Speed
With that I will segue in to the issue of speed. The main advantage I see with this site is the ability to select movies at my leisure -- and quickly if I know what I want -- and pick them up quickly -- because there is a special line for online orders. Blockbuster fares poorly here. The selection process seems to take up as much time, if not more, as going to the actual building. But the speed of selection is solely a function of the patron. However, if you're at work and want to watch videos tonight you can't just place an order, hop in your car and assume your movies are waiting for you. There is still an approximately two hour wait. Then you have to factor in whether the clerk can find the video or game. Speed is not a reason to use this service.
Price
The first rental is free! Otherwise it costs the same amount as going into a live store to rent movies or games.
The Difference
There are a few key differences between Blockbuster Online and other services such as NetFlix. Blockbuster does not deliver. Blockbuster
videos and games have to be returned within 5 days. Blockbuster has
late fees. The advantage that Blockbuster rentals have is that you
do not have to pay anything to subscribe. Second, NetFlix only offers DVD titles so people with a penchant for old movies that aren't classics won't fare much better here. Certainly, no one lacking a DVD
player would have a reason to use NetFlix. If seeing a particular movie NOW NOW NOW is your mantra then going to a brick and mortar video store is for you. You will have to wait for your turn to receive your DVD. If you have a list of movies you want to eventually want to see NetFlix is good. If you have a list of movies you want to see today but won't be able to make it to the video store for a few hours then Blockbuster is a better bet.
All good things ...
I'm in a test market for Blockbuster Online. My guess is they haven't
decided whether to roll this out nationally. (I've taken two surveys about my rental today.) If they do then they need to be able to guarantee that a movie is in the selected store. Second, they should shorten the minimum window from 2 hours otherwise the service doesn't really help the customer save time, a major reason for shopping online. The site is laid out like the stores are. On a scale of 1 to 10 I give it a 5 -- I don't like how the stores are laid out.Third, the price is right. They should not raise the price. I don't see how they could lower it. Finally, the only benefit this service has to offer is not having to physically browse shelves. I doubt I will find it very useful because I spontaneously pick films based upon genre. If you're like me, either go to a brick & mortar store or wait for Hollywood Video to come up with a competing service.
Recommended:
No
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About the Author
Location: Southern California
Reviews written: 15
Trusted by: 4 members
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