I HAVE Finally Found THE Online DVD Rental Store For Me! And it's NOT Netflix!
Written: Apr 04 '03 (Updated Apr 20 '03)
|
| Full Review |
No Late Fees -- No Due Dates -- No Driving ...
~~~~See Update Below~~~
I hated Netflix.com , so why would I try another online DVD rental store? Simple, I love movies and I like ‘shopping’ for them at home. When confronted with a video store full of choices, I stand there racking my brains trying to remember what I have seen, what I wanted to see, and most importantly, what I DIDN’T want to see!
Netflix was great in the beginning but was just tiresome in the end. Trying to get new releases became a full time job. I then discovered MovieLink.com , which I love and use regularly, but they don’t have a large enough selection yet. That led me to DVDOvernight.com —in theory this would be my top pick, but alas, nothing is perfect.
So, my search continued and today I joined RentDVDHere.com. I hate the name, but it’s located in my backyard so moving the movies from them to me should be a snap—one of my chief complaints about Netflix.
THE SITE
The website appears professional but finding the customer service information was difficult. I finally located an e-mail address and by searching the URL at WHOIS I found the telephone number. The site is bare bones—which is great for people who don’t have a fast internet connection. The majority of the listings are text-only until you go to the specific homepage for the movie. There you’ll find a brief summary of the film and a screen shot of the DVD cover. No rating system or user input on this site. There is a list of recommended movies (under Recommendations) but it doesn’t say who’s recommending them.
RENTAL PLANS & HOW IT WORKS
(1) Register and select a plan—see below; (2) Add DVD titles to your queue; (3) Movies will arrive in your mailbox; (5) Watch them and keep them as long as your account is active; (4) Mail them back in the prepaid envelope and they’ll send you another one.
RentDVDHere.com is offering 5 rental plans (3 are currently available for a free trial). The plans are:
1D - rent 1 DVD ($9.95 / month) FREE TRIAL
2D - rent 2 DVDs ($14.95 / month) FREE TRIAL
3D - rent 3 DVDs ($19.95 / month) FREE TRIAL
4D - rent 4 DVDs ($24.95 / month)
6D - rent 6 DVDs ($34.95 / month)
With each plan you can have out the maximum allowed for your plan and when a DVD is returned, they ship the next one to you from your rental queue.
Choosing the movies to put into your rental queue is easy—browse through the categories, select a movie, click on “Rent”, and it’s added to your queue. Once in the queue you have the opportunity to mark the order in which you’d prefer they arrive. This is just a preference; there are many movies that are so popular there will be a wait. A drawback here is that isn’t anything that tells you an approximation of the wait time.
The have a wide range of movies including independent films, foreign, and “mature”. Unfortunately, the mature movies do not require any kind of verification or password to access. Checking out their policy page I found, “You must certify that you are at least 18 years old. We do not provide services to people under 18 years old.” I guess that’s how they cover themselves.
MEMBERSHIP
You can change your membership at anytime, but doing so will mean if you downgrade before your billing date you’ll lose some rentals. This is common with all of the rental places—if you cancel before your billing period your membership ends immediately as well. Something to remember if you downgrade or cancel. Canceling is easy—no phone calls or hard sell—simply access your account and chose “Cancel”.
PAYMENT
You pay with Visa or MasterCard and are authorizing them to deduct the amount specified monthly. All this is done using a secured server.
SHIPPING
Expect it to take 2-4 business days for your DVDs to reach you (keep in mind that orders received on Sundays and holidays are processed the following business day) by the good old Unites States Postal Service. If more than 5 days has passed they ask you to notify them. I’ve not had this happen yet. If one should go missing, an e-mail to support@rentdvdhere.com is supposed to take care of the problem. If you lose the return mailer, e-mail them and they’ll send you a replacement.
DISK QUALITY
They test all DVDs before shipping them out; however, if you receive a defective DVD you’ll need to e-mail them at the address above. Once received, they’ll mail a replacement. (I think this is one place where they could improve—they should mail the replacement immediately upon being notified of the problem).
AVAILABILITY
My biggest problem when trying to find an online rental store is the wait for new releases. The quandary I’m in is that during the free trial you aren’t allowed to get New Releases—they consider anything 2 months or newer to be in this category. The rental queue clearly defines which movies fall into that category so you’re able to identify the movies you won’t be able to receive until you become a paying customer, however, until I’m a ‘regular’ customer I won’t know how quickly I’ll be able to get new releases.
MY EXPERIENCE
I figured since the trial was FREE I’d give them a shot. Filling my rental queue was easy, even with the limitations of the free trial. I received a confirmation e-mail upon registering and another when my movies were shipped (the day after I filled my queue). I received my first 3 movies within 2 days. All three were movies I was unable to get on DVDOvernight.com so that’s a plus. I’ll keep updating this review as the service unfolds. Granted, they don’t have the whiz bang features of Netflix’s site, but they also don’t have some of the gotten-too-big-for-our-britches problems that Netflix has as well. Long ago you could check out Netflix and what they had to offer without joining—now you’re inundated with pop-up ads all over the net and sent to a screen to sign up for the free trial without being able to check out the pricing plans in advance. When Netflix first started, getting movies back and forth was easy and new releases were obtainable--not any more. I’m looking for a start-up that understands customer service—we’ll see if RentDVDHere.com fulfills my wishes.
ASSOCIATED REVIEWS:
MovieLink http://www.epinions.com/content_90304712324
Netflix http://www.epinions.com/content_67897888388
DVDOvernight http://www.epinions.com/content_94819421828
UPDATE: I've rated them one star higher! The selection has been fabulous, turn-around time unreal (see my note above), and the available of NEW RELEASES is outstanding! I just hope they don't get so popular they end up like Netflix!
UPDATE 4/18/03
I LOVE this place! I sent three movies back on Monday and today (Friday) I have three new ones for the weekend! The service has been fabulous! I know when they recieve them from me and they've always sent out new ones the next day--no lag time! The DVDs are arriving in perfect condition, and none have gotten lost on either the trip here or back. I am so glad I ditched Netflix and kept shopping!
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
About the Author
Member: Mom
Location: USA
Reviews written: 253
Trusted by: 190 members
|
