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blockbuster or netflix?

Discussion in 'All other topics' started by reza52789, Apr 15, 2005.

  1. reza52789

    reza52789 Member

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    which one is better? I went to a website (movierentalclub.com) and it compared the two and it seemed like netflix is cheaper at 11.99 but you only get 2 movies and blockbuster you get three. But I also heard blockbuster takes longer to get to you. Is this true? Does anyone have a preference?
     
    Last edited: Apr 15, 2005
  2. venomX05

    venomX05 Regular member

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    Hey reza52789,

    This should help you out. It has actually been debated several times on here:

    http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/181480
    http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/165749
    http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/162176
    http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/105717

    And this is just the beginning. I personally use Netflix. I think that BB sucks major balls! No offense to those who use it, but I don't think I would like to deal with a company that admitted to trying to rip off customers, so to speak.

    http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/6108.cfm
    http://www.mrcranky.com/movies/sincity/87.html

    So...to answer your last question. It all depends on how close you are to a distribution center, how many you take out, and how well your post office handles your um "mail." I am about 40miles away from mine, and I can get about 20-30 movies from Netflix a month. But there are a TON of factors involved with it. If I were to choose one, I would go with Netflix. But it is totally up to you. There is no best one! Just the ONE that YOU want to use.

    Hope this help!

    ;)
     
  3. S2K

    S2K Regular member

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    If I were you I would go with both for three months, then decide. I had both for six months. At first netflix seemed better, but they got slower and slower and BlockBuster online got faster and faster.

    Many Blockbuster online disavantages are gone. Theya ctually have better copies of movies now! A year ago one advantage of netflix was they had more 16:9, now Blockbuster has as many, and it is netflix that sends out "stripped" versions of movies on "grey" rental-only disks that are missing language tracks and features.

    If you do compare them wait three or four months. Netflix will be very good to you for two months and then downhill you go on speed of delivery and chance of getting new releases,.

    some people above have sour grapes against Blockbuster. Netflix has been just as abusive of its particular near monopoly, and given the same amount of time would generate the same amount of bad feelings so I would ingore that against eirer. Fro example peopel cite confusion over the new no late fees policy in ther stores. some stores that were franchises did not participate in the advertised promotion. Well anyone who knows chains knows, that this happnes ALL the time.

    Netflix has also been dishonest and lied to its custoemrs.
    1) for years it denied giving precidence to brand new and trial customer for new release films. Then almost two years ago it was proved on slashdot by comparing hwo loyal customers were treated badly compared to new customers (independent of how many films you rented per month).
    2) For years until about five months ago netflix denied throttling of customers. they said no such thing existed and blamed the post office. I work in a postal dependent business and I know this is BS (If you mail from a given loacation to another given location at none on Tuesday and it gets there on Thursday, the chance of it being there Thursday is not 75% or 80%, it is 95%, the chance of getting there friday is 4.9% and later is trivial.) yet Netflix blamed the post office when everyone know they had an algorythm in place.

    Without regard to the propriety of delaying shipment, they were certainly caught lying to their customers.

    3) customers who answered emails asking when they got disks had their shipments slowed! LOL.

    Anyway this is not a rant against Netflix, it is just to tell you that the anger against Blockbuster some have is ONLY becasue they have been in business longer.

    Again, I would try both for a few months
     
  4. Mr_Del

    Mr_Del Regular member

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    Venom you drug me into this with the BB sucks balls thing. They suck way more than that. First they come into my neck of the woods and buy out a place called Turtles. That was probaly the best record place ever. Could earn points to get free CDs and stuff. BB desicrated it. So all the Turtles where closed and BB moved in with thier outrageous rental prices. I prefered the mom and pop rental places.

    For years it was like this then a place called Hollywood video came in and put BB to shame. Hollywood was a dollar cheaper on rentals and all videos, except new releases, where for 5 days. Took BB about 4 years to catch on and they followed in Hollywoods steps but raised thier rentals by 50 cents. About a year later Hollywood decided to make all rentals 5 days. Again a few years later BB followed Hollywoods example and raised the rental fee another 50 cents. All this time the Hollywood rental price remained the same. So hollywood again gets smart. They decide to rent out video games. As slow as they are it took BB a few years to figure this one out as well. So again they followed Hollywoods example. And of course with higher rentals fees for games. From then to now I think Hollywood did increase Rental fees but only by 75 cents.

    Current date Hollywood beats BB again. They come up with some once A month payment and rent all you want. First it was on games then migrated to movies. At the time Netflix came into the picture. A few years later BB comes up with thier once a month payment and rent all you want from the store. Netflix started to show a bunch of promise. For some reason Hollywood has not followed Netflix example. But still it took years for BB to follow.

    BB reminds me of John Kery. Completely unoriginal. Lets all the others do the work first and then tries only if the other company had success andd tries to take credit for the idea. But then makes the fees higher than the other company. AOL is the same way. The ONLY thig BB did first was open its doors. It just copies creations from other places. So now you know why BB BLOWS (insert comment here).

    I use Netflix now. Although it does have slight Cons

    -Del
     
  5. S2K

    S2K Regular member

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    Del you talk as though Netflix invented retnal by mail. they certainly didn't. So by your logic everything you said agains tBlockbuster could be applied to Netflix.

    Sure more and more people complain about Netflix just as people used to complain against Blockbuster. Fact is competition is good. With Amazon coming in it will get even better.
     
  6. Mr_Del

    Mr_Del Regular member

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    Yes it is true there where other rent by mail things. For some reason Netflix was the one that caught on and became well known. Some of the ones before Netflix are either gone or Sucked into something else. I was not implying they started it just threw the name out since it is known and apart of the Thread title. So Netflix did copy someone but they did do something different or they would not be as big as they are now.

    I am not a Netflix supporter all the way. There are many areas that need improvement. If a company comes out that is better then I will most likely go to that company. I am waiting to see how Amazon does this. There are a couple things I dislike about Netflix. They claim they didnt get your disk back when you know good and well they did. They send the wrong disk if the one you wanted is out. I found ways to combat this. They reailized I was on to them and I havent had a problem since.

    I sent all 3 movies back in a priority mail pakage Return reciept. 2 Days later only one movie showed up as returned. The others still didnt show up the next day. Gave them a call and they simply said we can't help if we have not gotten them. I informed them that I sent all three together and got the return reciept proving it. 15 minutes later the other 2 movies showed up as returned. No more problems. Been like the trial period days since then.

    I chose Netflix over BB because they lie even worse. You know that so called no more late fee deal? Well they are now being sued by mulitple people who where forced into buying the movies that where suposed to be "keep as long as you want". I bet and hope BB loses. Not to mention the history I told about above.
     
  7. S2K

    S2K Regular member

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    "Ichose Netflix over BB because they lie even worse. You know that so called no more late fee deal? Well they are now being sued by mulitple people who where forced into buying the movies"

    I worked in a hardware store in college. What you are citing is actually common if not universal practice in any rental. If you rented from us and did not return it in a month you bought it.
     
  8. Mr_Del

    Mr_Del Regular member

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    http://money.cnn.com/2005/02/18/news/midcaps/blockbuster_suit/index.htm?cnn=yes

    And this is good reading too: http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=410388

    Seems they are ripping off the people not in the "no late fee" program. Once again raising rates on the rentals. BB is like the Radio shack of video rental. Prices are so high planes can hit them when they fly by and for some strange reason people can't wake up and see this. BB even attempts a hostile take over of Hollywood. That is funny. We all know what would have happened there. Just like when Iomega hostile took over Syquest. They shut em down.

    I have a BB and a hollywood as well as a mom and pop place all the same distance from my home. I would much rather go to the Mom and POP or hollywood to be treated better and pay reasonable prices on the rentals. Its almost $6.50 a rental at BB $4.50 at hollywood and $3 at Mom and POP. The M&P of cource does not have a large selection. Hollywood even has a bigger selection in the non-new releases area. They also have more games (in number) but probaly the same titles.

    I have never liked BB from the first time I saw them and if this is the beginning of their end then its time to celebrate. Only time will tell if it is. I remember way back then, they would brag about haveing over 10,000 movies. But not titles. Their stupid misleading adds. One would think the 10,000 would mean there are over 10,000 different movies in the store. WRONG. At least when Hollywood makes a bold move and advertises it the words "See inside for details" is always found at the bottom of the add, in plain sight. BB just post "No more late fees" all over the place and the signs say nothing else. One would think they could keep the movie foever and not worry about it. But NO, late fees are now known as fines. Same thing different name. That is what the lawsuit is about. They claim no late fees when infact there are. I hope BB loses and some dent is made in there greedy ass.

    Oh and one more thing. I bet this no late fee policy applies to thier version of netflix. Check this out. When Net flix says keep as long as you want they mean keep as long as you want. They only string attached is that if you cancell Netflix service with a movie out then you will be charged for that movie.

    So what does this all have to do with the topic. Everything. Thier history will predict thier future. They way thier customers are treated in store are most likely the way they will be treated in online rentals.

    -Del
     

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