$17.99 on blockbuster.com gets you unlimted rentals with 3 out at a time each month with 1 free in store rental each week. An in store DVD runs about $4.50 so just the cupons pay for it. $4.50 x 4 = $18. Seems like a good deal to me.

This really makes me think of whether its worth it or not, to go through them.

I've regularly had delays and I've still averaged about a buck-fifty a DVD rental from them. If that sounds like a good price to you, then yes.

i hate blockbuster stores and am slightly fearful of them as they surely have a Wanted sign for me (that one film i say i turned in and they say i didn't 8 years ago and never went back).

but this thead has me looking at the two online services of netflix and blockbuster... and blockbuster seems to have less movies in number, but better selection with my searches. more old films, more tv series that netflix doesn't carry.

but i keep hearing that netflix has better, so i'm torn.

oh, however, netflix seems to let you rent all the disc in a season of a series set as one thingy, whereas blockbuster breaks them up... is that right or does netflix have them listed as bulk and ship as individuals?

You can add them all at once as a convenience. The discs ship individually. You have to be careful with series on Netflix. Generally I have some movies up at the head of my queue and bump each disc of a series as needed, because if you have the series up top and Netflix decides to skip a slot or two (which almost never happens, but can), then you get things out of order.

And the only thing I've ever *not* found on Netflix is the Criterion release of Videodrome (they have Videodrome, but it's a lesser version), so I have to wonder what you're looking for.

[Edited on Feb 14, 2006 by malkav11]

i can't remember the exacts of what i searched as i was randomly putting in interests to compare, but one i remember was the drew carey show. netflix didn't even come up with one, blockbuster had seasons of it. there were a couple more that netflix didn't even have.

i'm torn between what appears better selection and my bad experiences with blockbuster!

I thought it was amusing that this has turned into a Blockbuster v. NetFlix argument, as opposed to a discussion of NetFlix and their supposed 'false advertising'. So I look at Blockbuster's site.

From Blockbuster's sign-up page.

From Blockbuster's terms and conditions.

So, basically, Netflix and Blockbuster do the exact same thing. Subtle differences: NetFlix is a relativly young corporation that created an innovative service and thereby a previously nonexistant market whereas Blockbuster is a giant corporation that's been around for years. Now, a lot of people around SG bitch and moan about any story containing either Microsoft or Wal-Mart in the headline, as they represent monolithich evil corporations. But when it comes to your home entertainment your socio-economic morals just cannot get in the fucking way. This is entertainment, goddammit. We cannot afford to fuck around with entertainment.

Here's a brief note from the Wiki entry on Blockbuster.

Now, I'm not inherintly anti-corporate, and I don't wear a tin-foil hat thinking all corporations are out to get us. I just think it's interesting that it seems like many smaller companies that seem to be very good at customer service(i.e. Google) wind up getting held to a higher standard than their corporate counterparts. Maybe that's a good thing, since the ability to influence a corporation is easier when it's smaller and an upstart corporation that can threaten a larger one could therby influnce their polices. But, it seems like all that happens is people rush to claim Google does evil just because they a corporate motto that is 'Dont' be Evil'. Evil's a hard thing to judge. It's easy to say NetFlix fucks you when you don't bother to look at how bad Blockbuster is busy fucking the entire movie-watching public...

Well, ChrisSick, in Blockbuster's ad they don't say 1 business day delivery (in most cases), they don't state delivery time at all. They then spell out their policy, and don't say one thing and then do another.

With this censorship thing, they say themselves that it is an accusation, and don't give any proof or examples. As someone already said earlier in the thread, theaters shoulder just as much 'blame' for NC-17 movies going the way of the dodo. The broad appeal of R over NC-17 isn't that hard to see. Studios are going to make what is going to make them money, that should be obvious to anyone who takes a look at the box office. Blockbuster isn't the end all be all of video rental any more. There are other places to go.

With talk of brick and mortar more often then not late fees is moot. Since the Blockbusters in my area don't have late fees anymore. You aren't forced to use the coupons, and if it is really that difficult to return them on time, then don't.

There is a difference between censorship and market pressure that is ever present in a free trade capitalist society.

Did you miss the part I quoted, where they say unlimited movies? Isn't that exactly what NetFlix got slapped with the first place? Stating that they offer unlimited deliveries but then it turns out they have an internal business policy that puts holds on people who have more than the average amount of rental in a given time period. Why? To maintain profitablity. Just like Blockbuster does. Just like any corporation dees.

My point wasn't Netflix is good, Blockbuster is bad. My point was that it often seems to me that people direct their outrage in the wrong places. I don't think NetFlix was trying to lie, be purposefully misleading or screw people over. I think they were doing exactly what Blockbuster and every corporation does, hype their product or service to get more people to pay for it. I believe we call it advertising.

Moreover my point was that maybe this little thread serves as a microcosim for consumer culture. Instead of people talking about the actual issue presented in the orginal articale and applying any critical thought to it, the entire thread degenerated into people telling stories about good/bad experiences with NetFlix versus good/bad experiences with Blockbuster. Too many people come with their indingnation pre-packaged and dying to let it out, somewhere, anywhere instead of taking two deep breaths and bothering to think about the information actually being presented to them. I don't think Blockbuster's solely responsible for in-house editing practices of movies, and of course all studios, theaters and rental outlets want a movie to have the widest possible audience, and therefore highest profits, it can. But there's a question about Blockbuster and their influence that is at least worth discussing, particuarlly if you're trying to be an intelligent consumer and decide which service to spend your money on.

Yeah, it definitely sounds good. Blockbuster is over twice that amount.
But how long are the delays, on average?

Keeping in mind that the majority of my rentals have been one day each way, the ones where they ship from somewhere else have tended to be a day processing then 2-3 days shipping. And keep in mind that they don't operate at all on the weekend. You can receive movies that have already been shipped on Saturday, but they won't register movies as returned or ship new ones.

I have also had one DVD lost in the mail (and they ask you to wait a week before reporting lost discs, to be sure) and one that took something like four days to get to me, turned out to be cracked in half, then took another 3 or 4 days to be replaced.

The above average price factors all that in.