Netflix vs. Blockbuster.  Two services, similar prices, similar offerings.  One has a retail store, one is only online.  Which offers the better experience?
There have been many articles over the past several months outlining this very thing.  F…

Netflix is definitely still a big contender, and depending on how quickly they grow this new section, they could easily dominate the market.

And yes I called their customer service center to complain. Their number was busy the majority of the times I tried to call and when I did get through the wait time was 22 minutes. The lady on the phone offered to send me a free in store rental coupon which I declined because that really offers me no solution to the true problem of the DVD’s shipping right away. I never use my in store coupons anyway because I don’t want to rent movies from the store because it’s a pain for me to return them on time. The only other thing she could offer me was a futal attempt to adjust my expectations. That kind of ticked me off.

To test to make sure that the people in the store are scanning my DVD’s that i’ve been returning i’ve been renting a movie in the store with the DVD return and just dropping the in store DVD in the return slot on the way out. That hasn’t helped.

So due to all this I intend on canceling my blockbuster account and going back to netflix not just because of these problems alone, but because i’ve had 3 DVD’s at the top of my que that haven’t shipped due to being on short wait availability. All these problems combined have caused blockbuster to be a much worse service for me than Netflix. Worst thing is I know that I could complain all day and all night to them and it would yield no result. Trust me I really really want what blockbuster says they’re offering. But they are promising something that they clearly are failing to deliver.

I decided to try Blockbuster online.

Over the years I’ve been a devoted hater of Blockbuster. They’ve always had Big Brother policies of keeping certain movies out of their stores (not necessarily porn, but anything rated NC17 and anything that self-appointed public censors complained about), which in my opinion is c-*-n-s-*-r-s-h-*-p. Their rental fees and late fees were incredible ripoffs. They had a so-what attitude in response to any complaints.

Even so, I suspected that Netflix was putting a good dent in Blockbuster’s bottom line, and the competition might have forced BB fix a few problems.

So I did a side by side comparison for nine months.

Over that time, Blockbuster improved its plan, Netflix didn’t. Yes, recommendations from both suck and so far, Blockbuster’s sucked the most. Yes, Netflix averages about a day faster on overall turnaround. But the additional instore rental option allows me to browse new movies and pick up anything I might want on the spur of the moment. And even if both services “throttle” (I’m certain they do) I doesn’t stop me from getting over 20 videos a month — 3 at a time — if I want.

In the end, I kept Blockbuster’s.

What I’d really like is for these two behemoths to keep battling away with each other, on fairly even footing. It will increase value to the customer. So I might just switch back to Netflix at a later date.

Blockbuster has recently debuted an integrated in-store/online service: Blockbuster Total Access (TM)

1) Sign up for Blockbuster Online
2) Choose movies for your Queue
3) Receive movies in the mail
4) Return via mail and receive next movies from your Queue
or
4) Return movies to your local store in exchange for free in-store rentals (any movie), and your next online Queue movies will be on the way as well!!
5) Try this for free for ONE MONTH via Blockbuster Friends and Family program (the general public only gets two weeks free)

GO TO:
http://www.blockbuster.com/bbfamily

Enter this code: 1516ta

Enjoy!!

Note: The program you will receive one month free is the “3 - Out” program (three movies from online out at a time + unlimited exchanges @ the store). This is regularly priced @ a low $17.99/month. If you don’t cancel the free trial within the trial period, this is the program you will be automatically renewed at. Believe me, it’s worth it!!

You can pass this benefit on to other friends or family. Just include the details above. Offer is valid for new subscribers only. If you have had the service before but the account is no longer active, just use a different email address and take advantage of this free trial for one month.

Offer Expires January 7, 2007

If you already have the service, I want to thank you for choosing Blockbuster Online! YOU ROCK!!

It’s good to know a Blockbuster Employee!

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE DON’T HESITATE TO ASK!

Happy Holidays

http://www.hackingnetflix.com/.....r_onl.html

I have not experienced any throttling with BB and the store returns is great to pick up new releases.

Kevin
Dallas Used Cars

Kevin
Dallas Used Cars