Blockbuster continues to frustrate me: 4th time still wasn't the charm
Written: Mar 28 '09 (Updated Mar 28 '09)
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I've tried Blockbuster online again, and again found it wanting. When last I reviewed it in 2006, Blockbuster had introduced "Total Access" that allowed in-store exchange for DVDs received by mail. Quickly, it started taking two days for discs returned to stores to clear the queue. That is, if I returned a disc to a store on Monday, it would not show as being received until Wednesday.
Since then, Blockbuster has limited the number of in-store exchanges. For the three-at-a-time plan, the number is five. Now a disc exchanged in the store is immediately registered as returned, but the one picked up in the store is now counted against your x at a time. For getting the most DVDs, this is still useful for returning a by-mail disc to a store on Saturday and the exchanged one to the store on Sunday.
Of course, making trips to a brick-and-mortar store and waiting in line on two weekend days undermines one major reason for subscribing to an online/mail DVD service that delivers DVDs to one's mailbox. And it is a strain for me to find movies in the store that I want. (I realize that not everyone has seen as many movies as I have and that many customers are more content than I am with current Hollywood DVD releases!)
For the latest rates for various plans, it is better to get information at "How it works" at blockbuster.com (0r, similarly, from netflix.com).
Briefly, the basics are that for a monthly charge to one's credit card, one may order x DVDs at a time (currently $19.99+tax for three discs at a time). There are no late fees. When one DVD is received back, another one from the queue of movies that one sets up is shipped (that this is often not one's next choice at Blockbuster, I'll get into!).
The unreinforced mailers are flimsy. The return-mailer is part of the mailer.
Rather than post another epinion on how it works (or is 'spozed to work), I decided to write about why I have chosen to go with Netflix instead of Blockbuster. I have tried to consider priorities differing from my own, as well.
Inventory and availability of inventory
Both Blockbuster and Netflix have tens of thousands of titles listed. The overlap of (virtual?) inventory is high, but not total. That is, I have received a few DVDs from Blockbuster that Netflix does not have and a few from Netflix that Blockbuster does not have. (For a non-member, it is impossible to discern whether either has a particular title, because only when a member adds a title to her/his queue does "coming soon" or "available now" or "long wait" or "short wait" or (way too often for what I want!) "very long wait" appear.
Having recently had a month- long overlap in providers, I could directly test the availability of what I wanted. Almost all of the titles that were marked "short wait" or "very long wait" at Blockbuster were "available now" at Netflix. This was not an idle boast, because I received them overnight from Netflix. Moreover, some of the titles Blockbuster claimed were "coming soon" to their inventory were available from Netflix, while none of those marked "coming soon" at Netflix were available online from Blockbuster.
Most irritatingly of all, a movie (Chris and Don) that was listed as "Available [release date]" on the release date (when it was at the top of my Blockbuster queue) shifted to "Unavailable." Most Criterion DVDs are also "unavailable." Blockbuster does not carry movies rated "NC-17" or recent releases that are unrated. (I have seen and heard allegations that Blockbuster editions of some R-rated films are censored, but have seen no evidence of this claim.)
(Netflix is a clear winner in this regard.)
Getting what I select
Not only are substantially fewer DVDs listed as "available now" at Blockbuster, but even those that are so advertised frequently do not get shipped. If a title is marked as "available now" and first in my Netflix queue, I am certain to receive it next. If a title is marked as "available now" and first in my Blockbuster queue, there is about a 60% chance it will be sent next.
There are many movies that I want to see, but I like to be able to decide the order of what I am going to get. Netflix makes this possible, Blockbuster does not. Sometimes Blockbuster will reach down through some supposedly "available now" titles to send one that was marked "Short wait" lower in the queue, e.g., the sixth of those in my queue that are reportedly "available. "I have never had anything at the top of my Netflix queue marked "available" that was not the next DVD shipped.
(The superiority of Netflix in this regard is total.)
Next-day delivery of the next DVD
I imagine that this varies depending on where one lives. I suspect that Blockbuster might have an edge in Dallas, which seems to be the location of its largest inventory.
Almost always, if I got DVDs to return into the closest mailbox by its posted pickup time, the DVDs were registered as received the next day by Netflix. Almost a third of my returns to Blockbuster were not registered the next day.
Moreover, on Mondays of each of the last three weeks, Blockbuster did not ship as many discs as it should. The last week, after I had returned three discs on Saturday night, so I had no discs out, one was sent on Monday, another on Tuesday, and the third on Wednesday. (I should have had three shipped on Monday.) This is "throttling," and I am suspicious about the number of failures to acknowledge receipt the day after mailing.
Both providers shipped something the same day as they notified me of receipt (except for Saturdays). Although I do not have exact records, I would estimate that I received discs from Netflix the next day 95+% of the time and from Blockbuster 70% of the time. (There are no postmarks to enable checking whether the discs that took longer were sent on the day that the supplier e-mailed that they were sent.) At least 5% of my Blockbuster rentals took more than two days to receive, not counting the 15+%. that were not sent out the weekday receipt was acknowledged.
(Winner: Netflix)
Watching instantly
One can download movies, usuall for $9.99 from Blockbuster. Netflix subscribers can watch streaming videos of many movies. Early on, the streams started and stopped, but lately, the flow of Netflix movies I've watched online has been smooth. And widescreen.
(Winner: Netflix)
Customer Service
It is somewhat more difficult to find how to contact Netflix about account matters than it is for Blockbuster. I have received prompt responses that solve the problem I raised from both. I also had a problem (the store claiming I had exhausted my five exchanges, contrary both to my memory — which was unusually good, since the four discs were the four discs of the first season of "Mad Men" — and what my account information online recorded. I tried again and got my fifth exchange on the last day of the billing month.
Both have easy-to-find means to report damaged or lost DVDs, and both send out replacements (or, at the subscriber's choice, next-in-the-queue ones) immediately, not waiting to receive ones reported as damaged back first.
I received the wrong disc (bonus discs of two-disc sets) from each. The Netflix mistake had more of a reason (the manufacturer stamped both discs "Disc 2"!). Both rectified the error promptly.
(a de facto tie with a very slight edge for Netflix in this regard)
Other matters
Although I mostly blame the postal system for broken DVDs, I am not completely convinced that Blockbuster did not send out broken copies of some obscure DVDs rather than admit that they had no playable copies and dropping the title from their listings. The only DVD that I can remember receiving that was too scratched to be playable also was a Blockbuster disc.
One advantage for Blockbuster is that it has a one-month window for returning DVDs when one cancels or goes on vacation (compared to one week from Netflix).
Price is the same.
Conclusion
Even though I can easily list a hundred movies I want to see that are available on DVD at any time, I do sometimes want to see a particular one (especially if I want to review it for some epinions write-off or to see someone's body of work in chronological order), I was frustrated at the unpredictability of what I would receive next from Blockbuster. For someone wanting the latest Hollywood releases, this frustration may be lessened by the in-store Blockbuster pickups per month, since the brick-and-mortar stores stock many copies of new Hollywood DVD releases.
The greater speed and reliability of getting (next) DVDs from Netflix has led me to continue to choose Netflix as online-mailing provider of DVD rentals.
Recommended:
No
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Chris and Don
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About the Author
Member: Stephen Murray
Location: San Francisco
Reviews written: 3316
Trusted by: 698 members
About Me: San Franciscan originally from rural southern Minnesota
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