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Blockbuster subscribers reporting problems

8 March 2007 17:10 by James "Dela" Delahunty | 42 comments

Blockbuster subscribers reporting problems It appears that some subscribers to Blockbuster's online DVD rental service are reporting problems with the service in recent weeks. In cases, customers are claiming to not have received movies from their queues for two weeks or more. One customer told Ars that after repeated fruitless calls to customer service, one rep told him the DVD rental system was shut down and the issue would be fixed shortly.

"We've been continually shipping product," a spokesperson originally told Ars. "If a customer feels like they are not getting a movie, they should follow up with our customer service. But in terms of product being allocated and shipped, there has been no interruption." However, users of many sites are complaining about similar problems.

"My experience is similar," said Mike, a customer from Texas. "I have the 3 at a time plan. I turned my three movies in to the store 8 days ago and they still haven't shipped me any new movies although I have about 30 available in my queue. The customer service reps keep giving me a story about a technical glitch. The only thing this company can do competently is charge my credit card for the monthly fee. I will be canceling my membership before my next renewal."

After the story was run on Arstechnica.com, a spokesperson contacted the site confirming this time, that some users are in fact, experiencing problems. "By and large these customers all have one thing in common," the spokesperson said. "They selected the 'Report a DVD Issue' button for a returned DVD which not yet cleared their rental queue, and this may have inadvertently caused a delay in receiving their next movie."

Blockbuster announced that it reached over 2 million subscribers for the service in January, but that figure is still way behind the 6 million subscribers that Netflix touts.

Source:
Arstechnica


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    Discuss this article!  There are more user comments available, read them here
    loxley32 (Junior Member) 10 March 2007 3:48 Send private message to this user   
    Georgeluv wrote "i realize how cheap netflix is but i am not going to pay 7 bucks a month to get one dvd a week that i realy dont even get to pick out." ---

    This never happens. You are the one that puts movies in your queue. You pick all the movies out.
    ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 10 March 2007 3:53 Send private message to this user   
    yup you pick the movies you want when they are in stock they ship them,if not you will be notified to update your que so if you made your list a week ago and something is not in they will let you know and send the next item on the list out.

    My only complaint is the Que system is a bit rough,you can change the numbers to rearrange them remove them or send them to the top of the que ,not useful when you are ditz who cant make his mind up >>
    mjack425 (Newbie) 10 March 2007 4:41 Send private message to this user   
    I've used them both,and neither have sent movies, on time after a few
    weeks, 3 at a time is a joke, you may get one, one day, two a few days later. They both suck. So does the Post Office. I rate them both F.
    georgeluv (Member) 11 March 2007 8:51 Send private message to this user   
    Originally posted by loxley32:
    Georgeluv wrote "i realize how cheap netflix is but i am not going to pay 7 bucks a month to get one dvd a week that i realy dont even get to pick out." ---

    This never happens. You are the one that puts movies in your queue. You pick all the movies out.
    i know this, but i watch movies based on how i feel. if i am feeling pissed off im not going to want to watch some chick flick. yes i picked the movie they sent me but i have no control over when they send which movie. how good is this service to me if i dont feel like watching the movie they send me at that paticular time? i guess id say that my movie taste is specific, and i am specific of when i want to watch certain types of movies. and i have hear horror stories about not getting your first pick for months, and im not talking about some random metalica dvd im talking big new releases.
    i also have a great desire to get the best new movies ASAP, if i wanna see a movie realy bad i aint going to be too happy about having to wait ANOTHER month or two after it comes to dvd to see it.

    Originally posted by ZIppyDSM:
    I have netflix I can get about 3-9 movies a week on the 3 at a time plan.
    mind you I ahve to be quick with the "watching" but ti can be done :P
    not worth it if i have to pay for the 3 at a time plan. 1 at a time SHOULD be enough, logical thinking would dictate that if it only takes "about one business day" to get my dvd it should only take that long for them to get them back. if i get the dvd spend 30 minutas "watching" it then send it back the same day (my post office is very close and doesnt send out outgoing mail till 4 something and my mail comes to my box around 3 so this can be done) then i should get a movie every 3 days. i should be able to get 10 movies. netflix by thier own admision designed the 1 out program for people that rent "5 or less" dvds per month. netflix also admits throtteling people based on how often they rent and what plan they have. they need to have a better system and be way more upfront about their polocies.

    i guess i just dont deal with companies that say one thing and do another.
    borhan9 (AfterDawn Addict) 11 March 2007 11:02 Send private message to this user   
    This is why i actually go to the video store and get my movies.
    ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 11 March 2007 14:20 Send private message to this user   
    Quote:
    Originally posted by loxley32:
    Georgeluv wrote "i realize how cheap netflix is but i am not going to pay 7 bucks a month to get one dvd a week that i realy dont even get to pick out." ---

    This never happens. You are the one that puts movies in your queue. You pick all the movies out.
    i know this, but i watch movies based on how i feel. if i am feeling pissed off im not going to want to watch some chick flick. yes i picked the movie they sent me but i have no control over when they send which movie. how good is this service to me if i dont feel like watching the movie they send me at that paticular time? i guess id say that my movie taste is specific, and i am specific of when i want to watch certain types of movies. and i have hear horror stories about not getting your first pick for months, and im not talking about some random metalica dvd im talking big new releases.
    i also have a great desire to get the best new movies ASAP, if i wanna see a movie realy bad i aint going to be too happy about having to wait ANOTHER month or two after it comes to dvd to see it.

    [quote=ZIppyDSM]I have netflix I can get about 3-9 movies a week on the 3 at a time plan.
    mind you I ahve to be quick with the "watching" but ti can be done :P

    not worth it if i have to pay for the 3 at a time plan. 1 at a time SHOULD be enough, logical thinking would dictate that if it only takes "about one business day" to get my dvd it should only take that long for them to get them back. if i get the dvd spend 30 minutas "watching" it then send it back the same day (my post office is very close and doesnt send out outgoing mail till 4 something and my mail comes to my box around 3 so this can be done) then i should get a movie every 3 days. i should be able to get 10 movies. netflix by thier own admision designed the 1 out program for people that rent "5 or less" dvds per month. netflix also admits throtteling people based on how often they rent and what plan they have. they need to have a better system and be way more upfront about their polocies.

    i guess i just dont deal with companies that say one thing and do another.
    so what you are saying is you want the them to send stuff overnight and not charge you 20 more?

    ever get post cards? they take 2-6 days to arrive depending on where they start,so a 2-4 day wait is not bad if you like going to the store thats fine,but netflix is still the best online/mail rental system yet.
    Mr-Movies (Member) 12 March 2007 7:55 Send private message to this user   
    Netflix will sit on movies I just had them do it to me I have over 30 movies in my cue but I only received 2 of my 3 I haven't checked my que but most probably they are waiting for something coming back into their system. I wish they wouldn't do that and have complained about it to them many times but as long as it isn't more then a day or two max it's not the end of the world. If it goes longer then that I bit@h big time and they give me a 4th selection to make up for their idiocy. So Netflix is far from perfect but overall they are pretty good and definitely have WAY more movies to choose from. There WEB site is way better then BB and unlike Zippy the que doesn't bother me, once I learned a couple of tricks. Never use their email support, unless it fits there predetermined selections, it is the worst but if you contact them by phone you can get pretty good support.

    I'm not real moody so adjusting my cue a day or two before they send my next selections is not a problem for me. You just can't get sh*t going into the store unless again your talking new release or a popular chic flick.
    ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 12 March 2007 8:02 Send private message to this user   
    Mr-Movies

    I tweak my ques every other day >>
    LOL

    Block busters has become the new walmart a large cramped space filled with nothing!
    LoL
    handsom (Senior Member) 12 March 2007 8:35 Send private message to this user   
    I tweak my queue often as well; but my experience has been much better with netflix than blockbuster online. Blockbuster online picks a store that it *thinks* has yout movie in, about 70% of the time, it's right. The other 30%, your movie just gets delayed until the next morning, when they re-send the list. The trouble is, they don't necessarily send it to another store. When I was working there, they re-sent a request to us for a Pink Floyd DVD for three straight weeks; but the copy was missing, probably shoplifted. So, some poor sap had that at the top of his queue for almost a MONTH. From what I've heard, there's still no fix for this.

    As for netflix, I've had good experience, but it depends on how close you are to them. Our turnaround time is generally that I put my dvd in the mailbox in the evening, three mailing days later, I have the next one. That's one-two for them to receive, one to process(Because we know they can't just "know" to send out your next one until they scan them all), another to put it in the mail, and one for me to receive it. That's pretty speedy, they've got it down to an art; but you can only do so much when you're working with the mail.

    I'm very pleased with it, but 'moodiness' isn't a problem for me. I own over 800 dvds, so if I'm not in 'the mood' for 'Blade', I can just delve into my collection and pull out 'The Meaning of Life'. Although, I'm generally a 95% comedy sort of guy, so if Blade is sitting in my queue, I either rented it for my wife; or I've been really craving it lately. So I may be a special case.

    I'm not a big fan of rental stores anymore, because I worked there a long time, I've seen the mistakes and errors; and how the customer can get messed over, either due to employee error, or sometimes employee theft. I don't want to deal with that, it's not worth it to me. Netflix and Gamefly err on my side, and I like that, even if they do take longer. Blockbuster online and rental stores err on the side of 'screw you patron'; I'm not really down for that.

    Professional Grade Glass Etching - Get your favorite Game/Movie/Anime logos etched into glass, PM me for info.
    Dunker (Senior Member) 12 March 2007 14:24 Send private message to this user   
    People are telling me they have unreal problems with Blockbuster's site, especially under Firefox. A queue will take a couple minutes to load with 90-100% CPU utilization (a DoS), and it'll often crash the browser. If I subscribed to an online service, this would be enough of a reason to consider Netflix. Although Netflix apparently is back to their old ways (throttling their shipments like you wouldn't believe) at least their website is functional.

    -Do you believe you own your computer and shouldn't be told what you can run and do? Then say *NO* to Microsoft Vista!
    -Since half the questions here involve media problems, here ya go: Only use Verbatim or Taiyo-Yuden discs (get your TYs from Rima.com, not Supermediastore or meritline). Forget the rest, no matter what "brand" they sell under. Always burn at 4x speed regardless of the speed rating of this discs or your drive. If you have burn problems with these then you have to update your drive's firmware. For double-layer discs, only use Verbatim DVD+R DL and burn them at 2.4x speed.
    kiddk1 (Junior Member) 17 March 2007 17:01 Send private message to this user   
    correct, i just cancelled, movies were in my que for over 2 weeks
    loxley32 (Junior Member) 17 March 2007 17:20 Send private message to this user   
    I use Firefox and Blockbuster.com and I have never had any problem with getting movies from my queue. 9 out 10 times I get the next movie in the exact order that I list them. I've never waited more than 3 days before the next movie arrived in my mailbox. I know 3 other people that have Blockbuster.com and they have the same experience with the company that I have - it is all positive. They all use Blockbuster for the same reason I do - the fact that you can return the sleeves back to the store for a free in-store rental, plus the monthly coupon to rent a game. As a matter of fact, I never had problems with Netflix, either. I swapped to Blockbuster because of the in-store bonuses.
    FredBun (Senior Member) 17 March 2007 19:51 Send private message to this user   
    Can someone explain what you mean by throttling means?
    raster44 (Newbie) 17 March 2007 19:53 Send private message to this user   
    Quote:
    georgeluv (Member) 9 March 2007 9:36
    "the postal service has a tendancy to steal the dvds and they are smart enough to do it when the dvd is being "returned" so all the fault gets slapped on the customer, and the customer has to go jump through a bunch of hoops to get all the bullshit sorted out. id pay 7 bucks just to NOT have to deal with that."

    Do you have proof of that idiotic statement? A postal service employee stealing a DVD worth twenty dollars? Losing a job paying $60,000+ a year for a $20 DVD! Please! You don't even subscribe to the BlockBuster so how can you make assumptions about the service.

    My experience has been great regarding BlockBusters service. I have three rentals + another three rentals from the store + my free rental a month. I average about 24 rentals a month for the $18 so it works out to about $0.75 each. Service is about two days turn-around when I turn them in at the store and get what's in my queue usually. Very pleased with service.
    handsom (Senior Member) 18 March 2007 6:31 Send private message to this user   
    Well; it would be simple for the post office to recognize a return, vs an initial send-out to customers. But I frankly don't think they'd care even if they were stealing them. Post offices tend to have a lot of cameras... Everywhere, not just the front. And your mailman just isn't that interested in procuring Naruto volume 4. lol.

    Seriously though; I would blame error on the stores 10 over 1 in any 'missing return' situation... It's so disorganized, and the employees have to work so hard to rush those out in ridiculous amounts of time; not to mention that after working in one of those stores, I will say they harbor some of the most dishonest people I've ever met. Sure, some of them are really friendly; but I think in my two years there, I met one honest person there. I actually turned in an employee for stealing, had him on tape; and they refused to take action. That sort of thing happens a lot.

    So don't blame the postal service, it's rarely them, it's the store employees being disorganized and/or dishonest. One of those two is the company's fault; the other is an individual person's fault. Unfortunately as a customer trusting the company, you can't filter out either of them, which is why I won't do business there.

    Professional Grade Glass Etching - Get your favorite Game/Movie/Anime logos etched into glass, PM me for info.
    Dunker (Senior Member) 20 March 2007 14:04 Send private message to this user   
    Originally posted by FredBun:
    Can someone explain what you mean by throttling means?
    "Throttling" means intentionally delaying shipments so the number of movies you get in a month is less than what you could be getting. If you live in, say, Pennsylvania, Netflix would send shipments from California, since postage costs the same anywhere. Or they'd simply delay sending out shipments or processing returns. They were sued over this. But even today, people tell me that it's rare to get more than about a dozen movies in a month, at least not much more.

    "Frequent Netflix renters sent to back of the line"
    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11262292/
    "Judge approves Netflix ‘throttling’ settlement"
    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12584258/

    -Do you believe you own your computer and shouldn't be told what you can run and do? Then say *NO* to Microsoft Vista!
    -Since half the questions here involve media problems, here ya go: Only use Verbatim or Taiyo-Yuden discs (get your TYs from Rima.com, not Supermediastore or meritline). Forget the rest, no matter what "brand" they sell under. Always burn at 4x speed regardless of the speed rating of this discs or your drive. If you have burn problems with these then you have to update your drive's firmware. For double-layer discs, only use Verbatim DVD+R DL and burn them at 2.4x speed.
    ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 20 March 2007 14:33 Send private message to this user   
    I hope Moive gallery has a better online setup...BB's online looks horrid and is poorly detailed...



    FIGHT THE M.A.F.I.A.A.
    FredBun (Senior Member) 20 March 2007 21:18 Send private message to this user   
    Dunker I've read everything, Unbelievable, them no good dirty bastards. I joined them when they first started, the first two years everything was really fast, after that it slowed down considerbly, I would watch my movies and send them out the very next day always, no wonder they slowed me down, well it was thier loss cause after the second year I dropped them like a hot potato.
    crof27 (Newbie) 22 March 2007 7:24 Send private message to this user   
    im a member of a similiar company in the uk n i had roughly the same probs but when i complained about the service and told them i wanted to close my account with them they sent me 9 films on my " queue " at once with the condition that if it happened again they would give me 3 months free rental as long as i didnt terminate my agreement with them. so it helps to play your trump card when needed.
    OneTiger (Junior Member) 22 March 2007 7:57 Send private message to this user   
    Originally posted by loxley32:
    I have tried both Netflix and Blockbuster. I went went Blockbuster because of the free in-store rentals when you return your mailers to the store. That gives me 3 movies from the store for free plus the 3 movies they are mailing. That's a good deal, especially when you count the free coupon I can use each month to rent a game or movie from the store.
    I have NEVER had any delays from Blockbuster. They actually seem to be a little faster than the service I was getting with Netflix - which wasn't bad service. Blockbuster just offers more for the money. If a movie is going to have a delay they will clearly say so by labeling it "short wait" or "long wait". I think this is standard for both companies.
    I agree. I've not had any issues with BB online...so far. Other than the odd pricing plans it's a great deal. But only if you return the movies to the store in time. Otherwise they more than make thier money back in late charges :-P I'm in an outlying area so BB is faster because it comes from a local store rather than a warehouse in a far off city like w/ netflix. I had no issues w/ netflix when I had them. As long as I'm quick with my "watching" 17 bucks a month for 15 or so free movies is an excellent deal if you ask me!
    RNR1995 (Inactive) 22 March 2007 12:31 Send private message to this user   
    I use both and watch movies every night I feel like it
    the 71" Samsung DLP makes it all worth it
    Both companies are slow sometimes
    jackjr12 (Newbie) 24 March 2007 5:19 Send private message to this user   
    I'm sorry to say that I've had no problems with Blockbuster. Using the mail in and the drop of in the store systems, I'm getting movies, movies, and more movies.
    Adnihilo (Junior Member) 21 August 2007 7:12 Send private message to this user   
    "Total Access Premium" is nothing but a Total Scam 'n fraud perpetrated on consumers across America by Blockbuster's lying Corporate Weasels in their Xtian Bushland state of TexAss.

    Blockbuster has been throttling, or holding back DVDs returned 'n scanned into the store for a full 6 days now. These TexAss corporate weasels are pulling a massive fraud on consumers by falsely advertising unlimited rentals on their total access BS..

    I returned 2 of only 3 of the movies they were supposed to send on the same day to the store that were scanned into the system early Wed. Aug. 15. They finally shipped out 2 new movies 6 days later on Aug. 21st and STILL held back the 3rd movie....

    Everything was peachy of course during the 2 week trial, but the very day that was up on Aug 10, they started to throttle usage down.

    Both blockbuster 'n netflix are falsely advertising unlimited movies as a promotional gimmick that even the 'deregulated' FTA has warned them about.

    Plus there's a TexAss tax of a $1.38 they collect from members all over the country. I for one refuse to support a corrupt Xtian Bushland state like Texass..

    Off to Hollywood Video's in store membership that's 5 bucks less than Blockbuster for the same thing...

    Sign me - A Lost Vegas Blockbuster Ex-Customer as of Today, August, 21, 2007
    FredBun (Senior Member) 21 August 2007 9:16 Send private message to this user   
    I just got an account alert in my e-mail from blockbuster, they now want to stop usage of unlimited on-line returns back to the store to only 3 per month, if you want unlimited you have to now pay $25 a instead of $17 a month, now I am really pissed, they had a nice thing going and now they blew it with me, has anybody else got this e-mail from them?
    Adnihilo (Junior Member) 21 August 2007 10:40 Send private message to this user   
    Quote:
    I just got an account alert in my e-mail from blockbuster, they now want to stop usage of unlimited on-line returns back to the store to only 3 per month, if you want unlimited you have to now pay $25 a instead of $17 a month, now I am really pissed, they had a nice thing going and now they blew it with me, has anybody else got this e-mail from them?
    That's the ironic part - I'm in total access 'premium' presented as unlimited and now even distinguished as 'unlimited' by costing 7 bucks more than total access 'limited' at 18/month. Total Access Premium is fraudulently advertised as a promotional gimmick to suck in infrequent users only. Nothing the store manager presented about 'DVD turnaround time' was true. They intentionally limit the number of DVDs by throttling Total Access premium members, yet they raise the price 30% or 7 bucks.

    I left the in-store monthly blockbuster program because they just raised 2 movies at a time plan 5 more bucks for a total increase of 10 bucks in 2 years from 20/month, or a whopping 50% increase in just 2 years. Almost as bad as Cox basic cable that went up from 39 to 48 in 2 years but nothing like power here in Las Vegas that's gone up 80% since the start of the 21st century.

    The concept behind any all you can eat or use service is that the number of people that do not eat/rent their money's worth are enough to offset the the smaller percentage of people that do. If they want to advertise unlimited, the FTA needs to force them to provide unlimited DVDs to members or stop advertising it as a promotional gimmick.

    You can read more about that increase that took affect a week after I'd signed up on Aug. 3rd here on Blockbuster’s Not So Total Access
    Adnihilo (Junior Member) 21 August 2007 10:45 Send private message to this user   

    You can read more about that increase that took affect a week after I'd signed up on Aug. 3rd here on Blockbuster’s Not So Total Access
    This time w/out the extra forward slash at Blockbuster’s Not So Total Access
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