Online DVD Rentals Make A Great Gift!
Written: Apr 22 '03 (Updated Jun 27 '03)
|
| Full Review |
My nephew is at Texas Tech in his first year. He’s a bit homesick so I’ve been trying to send him little goodies to remind him we’re thinking about him. One night while chatting online I mentioned how much I like my online DVD rental store (currently RentDVDHere). He said it sounded like a great idea so I started searching for an online place that would allow me to give the gift of membership. If you're wondering why I didn't sign him up for NETFLIX it's because they are TERRIBLE and I wanted to give my nephew a great experience!
I tried several but they were restrictive—the movies had to be shipped to the billing address. I stumbled upon DVD Avenue and decided to give it a try (see the rates below for gift subscriptions).
I gave him 3 months and in that time he was able to get 12 movies back and forth (they’re located in Maryland)—not all were new releases but he was happy and that made me happy so it worked out great. He chose not to stay with them after his gift period because as a starving student he couldn’t afford it, but he did say if I was looking for something to get him for Christmas next year he’d appreciate getting this again. He thought it was a great value and something to look forward to getting in the mail.
It was easy—I purchased the plan and they e-mailed him with the information. He was given a log-in and password which he could change to his liking later.
REGISTRATION
Super-simple—provide them with your shipping address, billing address, credit card and pick a plan—that’s it and you’re hooked! Now that you’re a member you can start browsing and filling your queue. Your queue holds the movies you’d like to see. Not keeping your queue filled can result in you not getting a movie because not all movies you add to your queue will be available. It’s recommended that you keep 10 in there at all times, but you really may want to consider 20. There are many titles—new releases and hot movies—that you’ll wait a considerable time for.
Adding movies is easy. Search by title, director, actor, etc., and then you’ll be presented with detailed information about the movie. Things such as run time, date of release, rating, a brief synopsis, user rating, etc. If you decide to add it to your queue click on the “RENT” button. This puts it into your queue; it doesn’t guarantee you instant access.
THE SITE
Simple in design, it’s very functional. The three most important features are found on nearly every page: Queue, history, and shipping status. These are the most used functions so having them readily available is a plus. Shipping status lets you know if they’ve received the DVDs you’ve mailed back and if another is on the way. Your queue is your wish list, and your history lets you know what you’ve already seen. One feature that would be great would be to mark movies as “already seen” or “never want to see” so you could skip all the movies in the searches that you’re not interested in seeing or have already seen.
WHAT THEY OFFER
The usual fare—new releases, classics, comedy, children’s, gay and lesbian, and “mature”. This last category leads you to a screen where you promise to be 18. I didn’t venture in so I can’t report on the availability there. What makes them different though is they rent PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games! These are considered DVDs in your rental plan! They have a great selection of games for the PS2, I don’t know much about the PS so I can’t comment. Games are added to the queue just like movies and mailed as them become available.
RENTAL PLANS
Their current plan choices are:
2 DVD's out at the time for $14.95/month
3 DVD's out at the time for $19.95/month
4 DVD's out at the time for $24.95/month
6 DVD's out at the time for $34.95/month
8 DVD's out at the time for $44.95/month
You can keep the DVD's for any length of time and there are no late fees, the only difference in is the number of DVD's you are allowed to keep on hand at anyone time.
THEY TRY
They do stock some quantities of the hot movies and they promise to work with you if you’re having trouble getting new releases, however, they just can’t stock enough of the new releases for the demand—expect to wait for the newest movies.
GIFT CERTIFICATES
You can give the gift of 2 DVDs out at a time—in the case of a gift membership, it’s based on the length of time, but the same rules apply—no late fees and keep them as long as your membership is active.
$10.95 1 month membership 27% OFF!
$21.95 2 month membership 27% OFF!
$31.95 3 month membership 29% OFF!
$41.95 4 month membership 30% OFF!
$50.00 5 month membership 30% OFF!
$61.95 6 month membership 30% OFF!
$134.99 12 month membership 25% OFF!
There are a lot of restrictions on gift memberships such as your recipient must have a valid credit card even though the giver will pay the entire amount. If you’re thinking about giving a gift read up on the policies first.
SHIPPING
The DVDs are mailed to you in envelopes that become the return envelope which comes with prepaid shipping—be careful opening them! Once you’re done with the movie slip it back into the envelope and seal it. You can keep any DVD as long as your plan is active. Once cancelled, you’re given a specified amount of time to return them all or you’ll be charged for the price of the DVD.
PAYMENT
They accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express & Discover. You must be at least 18 years of age to become a member.
MISCELLANEOUS
You can cancel at any time, but you won’t be refunded for any unused portions of the month. I did contact their customer service when I accidentally signed myself up for the service instead of my nephew—they were kind and polite and cancelled it immediately. It was my mistake, the directions were clear, I just kept hitting enter….bad habit!
Should you receive a defective DVD they send a replacement immediately—a nice touch! Some make you wait until the original one is returned.`
What would make them better? To be BBBonline certified…oh well, can’t have everything!
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
About the Author
Member: Mom
Location: USA
Reviews written: 253
Trusted by: 190 members
|
