Well, if you saw my prior article trashing Netflix and their poor customer service and inadequate inventory, then you know I went looking for alternatives. I settled on Blockbuster's online rental service soon after dropping Netflix. Having gone into the local brick and mortar Blockbuster store, I had chatted a bit with the clerk there (hehe, he said "Clerk", reminding me of another funny movie I should rent again soon, Clerks!) and had gotten a tip that if I wanted to try out the service I should sign up via an instore promotion that would save me half-price for the first month.
I took that tip, got a starter kit discount and went online and started up.
The service and interface is very similar to Netflix's. It's not exactly the same, but close enough to find it very intuitive. One note -- I experienced problems in signing up for the service originally because the service doesn't like to use spaces in your username or elsewhere in the name field on the signup form. Once I corrected that issue, I was signed up very quickly.
Once I put a few discs into the system I watched to see how Blockbuster's system would react and what their inventory situation seemed to be.
A few discs I put in returned a "short wait" situation as soon as I put them in, but then I was rewarded with a message the next day telling me that I was going to see that title in the mail in just a few days. Guessing only, but I believe that because I'm a new customer within Blockbuster's system and didn't have any "score" built up, or had a very good score already based on being a new customer, I think I probably was bumped to the head of the que for my "short wait" title. Either way, I recieved the title in 2 days and turned it around very quickly. Within 2 days of shipping it back, I got the notification that it had been received and another title in my que would be on the way.
My second disc choice became a bit of an adventure, one that still hasn't ended. My wife wanted to see the old Northern Exposure series (TV series). I asked for Season 1, Disc 1, and got an e-mail notification that it was on the way. When I got the mailer, I found that the disc that was in the sleeve was the wrong one. Instead of Season 1, Disc 1 (which the sleeve identified), I was looking at Season 2, Disc 1. Apparently a prior renter had mixed up the sleeves and the folks back at Blockbuster's warehouse hadn't found the problem.
I went online, notified Blockbuster of the problem and was happy to find that Blockbuster's system beat Netflix in that area. With Netflix, the one time I had a problem with a bad disc that I recall, I wasn't able to say don't bother to ship me a new copy of the disc. They insisted on shipping a new one, which put a serious delay in my que and kept me from getting newer films on my list later, leading to very long waits for a title I had asked for. Blockbuster offered a choice to basically ignore the problem and just send me the next title in my que if one was available. I selected that option, and though I didn't have anything else that was ready to ship out yet, I wasn't stuck without credit for the open "slot" for the next two weeks as I had been with Netflix.
The saga gets a bit more adventurous because I wound up having another slot available over the last week. I figured what the heck, lets try for Northern Exposure, Season 1, Disc 1 again, and while I'm at it, lets try for Season 1, Disc 2 also. Within a day I got a note saying I was getting this week's new release (Polar Express) because I had a slot open, and was also getting N.E., S1D2 which was available. N.E. S1D1 was still "short wait", apparently still not received back from last prior renter.
I got both of the shipped discs without problems in shipping, and without mix-ups in the envelope contents, but did find a serious problem with N.E., S1D2. It seems that a prior renter dug two scratch marks into the disc on one of the reflective surfaces. N.E.'s discs for both season 1 and season 2 are double sided, so a scratch in the reflective surface means you will miss half of the episodes or other material that is on the disc when you try to play them discs that are damaged. Not fun.
I wish I could simply visit the local store to rent Northern Exposure, but unfortunately it's not a title they stock, so going to Blockbuster online, or perhaps Netflix again (if I try them again in the future) may be my only option, short of acquiring the title via Peerflix or off of eBay. Peerflix shows it as a popular title currently, or at least one that I'd be waiting through about 8 other people's fulfilments for, so that may not be the best option. And given that I only really wanted to rent it for my wife anyway, it's probably better to just wait for a good copy via rental.
In anycase, thus far Blockbuster's mailing's, in just over a week of trying them, have been quick, they are processing stuff in my que as I would hope and expect, and I'm finding the return times are as fast (for me) as they were for Netflix, so I can generally get what I want in any given week. That may change in the future, but so far, I'm happy.
Oh, one other advantage to Blockbuster, they provide a few coupons online that can be printed and used within their brick and mortar stores. So you will get discounts or free rentals from the local stores just for being a by mail customer. Not bad at all.
Feel free to offer your own experiences and opinions of Blockbuster below.
