Blockbuster online now Sucks

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

I have been with them for about a year. The service has down hill from the beginning. At first it was great because you rented the on line then you returned it in the store for a free movie. Now there prices have gone up by about 40% and there shipping out the next day has gone out the window, They do not ship out on Saturday and now have very limited shipping on Mondays. So if you return a movie at the store on a Friday , they will not ship you out a new movie until Tuesday, That means you hopefully will get it on a Wednesday or Thursday. They are trying to make it so you can only get one shipment per week. I have had it with BB and am going to be giving them the Axe soon.

I just went back to Netflix and they now offer instant movies from your PC. Some not many are new releases but at least there shipping out is faster than BB.

[Steamboat Bill Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Steamboat Bill]

I have actually been very happy with Blockbuster and have zero experience with NetFlix.

Is there any way to import your movie rental history or ratings?

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

Glad to hear this as I had thought about switching to BB since they have a store just down the street. The problem I have is I forget to return movies and get hit with a late fee large enough I should have just bought the movie outright. Thus it was a waste to rent movies.

As it is I'll get a movie from Netflix and it might be a week or longer before I ge around to watching it. Doesn't matter since I don't have to worry about late fee's. So far I haven't had any issues with their shipping. Send it out one day and another is in my mailbox in approx 2 to 3 days.

BB almost had me with their in store returns and picking up another movie but, if they limit their shipping by that much I think I'll just stand pat.

[gophish Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close gophish]

We have Netflix and are very happy with their service. We send a movie back and many times get a new one in 2 days.

[starlifter Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close starlifter]

Blockbuster also was unlimited rental returns to the store for another movie. Now they limit it to five a month. They also had a free movie rental coupon a month online to use, it has been done away with.

Stepson is a BB store manager. My understanding is there is a new CEO and he does not like the mail rental program. Is trying to get people to quit it since they are losing money with the program. They originally started it to compete with Netflix and attempt to put an end to them. Since it has not worked and they are losing money with the program, he is trying to do away with it as people drop the program.

I have also heard that they are doing a test program on the East Coast somewhere, that brings back the late charges after a day and charges 99 cents if not back after a day.

I am switching back to Netflix.

[kenrabs Member Find all posts View Profile Close kenrabs]

I've been happy with BB. I'm grandfathered so I can still do the unlimited returns for free rentals and get a weekly coupon which I haven't used since they stated the in store returns. I have been getting quick shipping and haven't notice it being slow on weekends. I left Netfix because of slow shipping a couple years ago. Glad they seem to have cleaned up their act.

[starlifter Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close starlifter]

We were told that we were grandfathered also, since we had been with them since the beginning. We have come to find out that meant that we would have the unlimited returns for longer than most. They finally took our "unlimited" away and the coupon. Now we are told if we want unlimited it would go up approx $7 a month.

[pcgirl54 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close pcgirl54]

Belonged to Netflix for 3 years and love it. I don't want to drop off movies at the store so BB mail program did not appeal to me. I was a longtime BB brick and mortar customer until I joined Netflix. I add movies to queue that have not been released yet. TiVo and Netflix are two things that I enjoy.

If I mail out movies on a Saturday I get the new releases in my queue by Thursday. We mostly watch movies on a weekend. We also take them with us on vacation and mail them back from the local PO. No more waiting in the store to see if the movie we wanted was in stock or the drive to bring it back or late fees if our son forgot to drop it off.

[starlifter Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close starlifter]

DALLAS (AP) - Blockbuster Inc. (BBI) (BBI), which has been losing money on online movie orders, is boosting prices of its DVD-by-mail service for new customers and some existing ones by up to 40 percent.

The movie-rental giant began notifying customers of the increases - and some price cuts - early Thursday. The hikes of $2 to $10 will take effect next week.

Blockbuster declined to say how many of its 3.1 million online subscribers are facing rate increases.

Blockbuster lost half a million online customers in the July-September quarter. Chief Executive James W. Keyes said last month that many of those subscribers were costing his company more than they were worth.

The company spent heavily to advertise the online service, and it lost money when customers took their movies back to stores for free exchanges.

The most popular plan lets customers keep three DVDs at any time and exchange up to five DVDs per month at a local Blockbuster store for a free rental. That plan will rise from $17.99 to $19.99 per month for new customers and some existing ones beginning Dec. 27, the company said.

The top-of-the-line plan, in which customers can keep three DVDs out and get unlimited free in-store exchanges, will go from $24.99 to $34.99 per month, a 40 percent increase.

A basic plan that lets subscribers keep one DVD but doesn't entitle them to free in-store exchanges will drop from $4.99 to $3.99 per month.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

DALLAS (AP) - Blockbuster Inc. (BBI) (BBI), which has been losing money on online movie orders, is boosting prices of its DVD-by-mail service for new customers and some existing ones by up to 40 percent.

The movie-rental giant began notifying customers of the increases - and some price cuts - early Thursday. The hikes of $2 to $10 will take effect next week.

Blockbuster declined to say how many of its 3.1 million online subscribers are facing rate increases.

Blockbuster lost half a million online customers in the July-September quarter. Chief Executive James W. Keyes said last month that many of those subscribers were costing his company more than they were worth.


The company spent heavily to advertise the online service, and it lost money when customers took their movies back to stores for free exchanges.

The most popular plan lets customers keep three DVDs at any time and exchange up to five DVDs per month at a local Blockbuster store for a free rental. That plan will rise from $17.99 to $19.99 per month for new customers and some existing ones beginning Dec. 27, the company said.

The top-of-the-line plan, in which customers can keep three DVDs out and get unlimited free in-store exchanges, will go from $24.99 to $34.99 per month, a 40 percent increase.

A basic plan that lets subscribers keep one DVD but doesn't entitle them to free in-store exchanges will drop from $4.99 to $3.99 per month.

I got an email yesterday that my current plan of 2 at a time with unlimited in store went up from $14.99 to $16.99. I currently have 53 movies in my que. Out of those 53 movies only 10 are available. The good movies or new ones are not.

[kbletzer Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kbletzer]

We have been with Netflix for about 2 years because for a time we were living in NH and out in the middle of nowhere.
We have been very happy with the service and the fees. We have had one increase very small about 1.00. The movies arrive very fast.

I don't know much about the BB service but with Netflix we pay about 18.00 per month and get 3 movies at a time and most weeks we get 2 deliveries. Sometimes we have to wait a bit for a new release but no biggie.

I seem to remember when we did the research Netflix was a better deal.

[dioxide45 Member Find all posts View Profile Close dioxide45]

I don't know why BB has to even offer in store free rental exchange. This was not an option when we belonged to them a year or so ago. We has three at a time and received two in store rental coupons free. If the in store exchange is costing so much money, why do they continue to offer it? Just go back to the way it was and complete with Netflix that way. Netflix doesn't have an in store option since they don't have brink and mortar stores.
I guess it is a big selling point, but obviously it isn't selling if they are loosing so many customers. As the old saying goes "keep it simple stupid".