They keep decreasing the benefits and increasing the price. They had 3 at a time just like Netflix, but they charged more. But then, they let you exchange your envelope in the store for a rental. That made me switch to BB. But then they make it only 5 exchanges a month unless you pay even more. Now, they do not send another envelope in the mail until you return the movie back to the store. So I now can have only three movies at a time again. I like having the option of both. Too many times, movies have long waits on them on-line and the store does not have everything.
Argh!
Posted by BandoCommando (Member # 7746) on :
Agreed. I dropped BB back when they limited it to 5 exchanges/month while raising the price. Besides, I was running out of good movies to get with the in-store trade-ins.
Posted by maui babe (Member # 1894) on :
I was out with my daughter this weekend and we drove past the Blockbuster store in Kahului. I wondered aloud if anyone even went there any more - I haven't been in since I started Netflix in 2004. I suppose somebody must be patronizing it, because it's still there, but I don't know who.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
quote:Originally posted by maui babe: I was out with my daughter this weekend and we drove past the Blockbuster store in Kahului. I wondered aloud if anyone even went there any more - I haven't been in since I started Netflix in 2004. I suppose somebody must be patronizing it, because it's still there, but I don't know who.
A while back I was in a brick and mortar video rental place (a Family Video, though--not a Blockbuster) because I was jonsing for the next disc in a series that I was Netflixing, and it really felt like I was stepping a few years back in time somehow.
Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
Blockbuster is a fairlyevil company, anyway. Ditch 'em.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
Piracy + netflix hit the video rental business model with about the same ferocity that craigslist + blogs hit the newspaper business model.
tl;dr - ditch dat crap
Posted by Trent Destian (Member # 11653) on :
There's only one reason I'm still with BB and that's for the browse factor. I'm a browser by nature. This is how I've managed to find many great books and movies and I'm not sure I'm ready to give that up for the fear of missing out on a movie I don't know to search for on a database.
But I've also begun to chafe under the new policies. If they force me I'll just switch to Netflix and just pop into my local BB to browse for a movie to add to my netflix queue.
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
I only use Family Video for the hot new releases that I don't want to wait for. Netflix gets the vast majority of my movie business.
The last time I stepped into a Blockbuster was because they were clearing out a bunch of previously viewed movies for $5 or less each. I've never rented from them.
Posted by brojack17 (Member # 9189) on :
I just switched back to Netflix. Does anyone have the box for watching movies on your TV? Is it worth it?
Posted by MattP (Member # 10495) on :
quote:I just switched back to Netflix. Does anyone have the box for watching movies on your TV? Is it worth it?
I have an Xbox 360 which provides the same functionality. If I didn't have that I'd probably buy the box. My primary use for Netflix streaming is kid shows and nostalgic stuff. There aren't a lot of new releases on there, though there are a number of good documentaries as well as several TV series.
Posted by Traceria (Member # 11820) on :
quote:Originally posted by Trent Destian: There's only one reason I'm still with BB and that's for the browse factor. I'm a browser by nature. This is how I've managed to find many great books and movies and I'm not sure I'm ready to give that up for the fear of missing out on a movie I don't know to search for on a database.
But I've also begun to chafe under the new policies. If they force me I'll just switch to Netflix and just pop into my local BB to browse for a movie to add to my netflix queue.
Same here. Browsing is just default, but I've been considering the same thing, switching to Netflix. At this point, my BB queue is so long I'd have to do a side-by-side to get it all onto Netflix, but it's looking like it'd be worth that little bit of effort.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
I haven't gone to a Blockbuster for years. The only video store I ever go to is Hollywood, and that's only when I want an older movie that I can't get at Redbox.
Posted by Herblay (Member # 11834) on :
I tried BlockBuster first. Sometimes an "available" movie would be top of my queue for months --- and I'd never get it. Selections were randomly drawn. I tried it again recently to the same result.
Netflix ALWAYS queues from the top. And sometimes they throw me an extra movie if the top ones aren't available. They turnaround movies MUCH faster. And their computers update faster. They have a broader selection. And they have information on the movies, when Blockbuster doesn't have images or descriptions for obscure titles.
Posted by Amanecer (Member # 4068) on :
The Blockbusters around me are beating the Redbox pricing schedule- $1 a day or like $3 for 5 nights. I think it's fantastic. I don't like Redbox anymore as 2 of the 3 movies I've ever gotten from it were scratched and wouldn't play correctly, but I loved the pricing idea so this is perfect. Somebody at the store told me they were testing this pricing in the Dallas market, so I'm not sure if it's everywhere.