I subscribe to one of Blockbuster's Total Access Premium subscriptions. I don't even know if it's offered to new subscribers anymore, but basically I am allowed three unlimited online movies at a time which may be exchanged for unlimited rentals from a store. It sounds great but I pay a hefty fee for this wonderful service. Being unemployed, I consider this to be one of my sacrifices.
Normally, after I turn in my online rental in the store, the next movie in my queue would get shipped out. I love this feature because I can get hard to find or girlie movies online and Apollo can exchange them for man movies at the store.
However, without a word to their customers, Blockbuster changed their policy today. I only learned of the changes when I saw something strange going on in my queue and I called a local store to ask questions. I was informed the corporate office isn't planning on notifying customers and is letting the representatives at the store answer any questions customers may have. Classy! Reminds me of my last job...
Anyway, as of today, when I exchange an online movie at the store the next movie in my queue doesn't ship. Instead, the movie I received from the store is added to my Titles Shipped! This means the next movie in my queue doesn't move up at all and now I get half the rentals for the same bloated price. BTW, my Blockbuster rental rates nearly doubled about a year ago.
Blockbuster is stating they're doing this so the in-store rentals won't have a due date. However, if I remember correctly, some time ago they promised "no late rental fee's" but side-stepped this by charging a "restocking fee." Either way, they get their money, eh? We'll see how they work out this no due date gibberish.
It looks like I'm going to have to check out Netflix or Blockbuster's lower plans. Or even consider not renting movies at all. Hmm, actually Blockbuster is really doing a good job at making me rethink my finances. Maybe the smart thing is to relinquish my three+ year long subscription. Yes, I think that's what I'll have to do. Thank you Blockbuster for opening my eyes!
Yay to Blockbuster for shooting themselves in the foot! Good thing they hired attorney's today to discuss how they're supposedly not going to file Chapter 11!
5 comments:
use netflix, i switched to netflix over a year ago and I totally love it. Plus it has a decent slection of films you can watch online too and that's unlimited if you have a memebership with netflix.
Blockbuster does offer the exact same rental plans as netflix. They are the same price and you still get the easy to navigate web page.
i stopped by subscription to blockbuster about 2 years ago. we opted for getting HBO instead. also, our library has a great selection of shows/movies on DVD, and i've found that for some shows, like house, i can buy the season, watch it, then resell on amazon. cost? less than the rental would have been!
Blockbuster has already screwed its customers at least once in the past. They had to settle a class action suit and give people one free rental or something.
Actually, Blockbuster doesn't offer the same exact rental plans as Netflix. They cost more.
Plus, Blockbuster and Netflix offer two totally different things.
Blockbuster has in store trade-ins that count as part of your videos out.
Netflix has streaming and downloadable videos, available concurrently with the three videos out at a time so you get more for less money.
Post a Comment