Do We Really Love Film?

By Anna Konig Staff Writer Monday, 2 July 2007

When you think of renting DVDs online you probably think of one name only: it starts with a Love and ends with a Film. Anna König looks at whether it pays to shop around a little first.

LoveFilm.com – with its shelf-busting range of titles and blanket advertising - has become a by-word for online DVD rental so you’d be forgiven for thinking they are the only player on the market.

In fact, LoveFilm.com is just one of some 29 different DVD rental companies vying for a share in the UK DVD ‘rentals by post’ market.

And now, DVD Rental comparison site ChooseDVDRental.co.uk is urging consumers to research their choice of DVD rental provider before signing up to the first service that catches their eye with a television advert.

“There are so many services to choose from, giving the consumer a massive range of choices about who to go with,” says Lyndsey Burton, founder of ChooseDVDRental.co.uk.

“While Lovefilm.com is superb – and it does have a gigantic selection of films – people should look beyond the numbers and the advertising to think about what their actual viewing habits are like. They could land up making huge savings, or finding a much better service more suited to their needs.”

So what is important when picking an online DVD rental company?

We all have different priorities; whether it be number and range of titles, number of copies of recent releases, value for money, or good customer service.

Size matters?

Most online DVD rental services have at least 40,000 titles to choose from, with Love Film.com topping the list at 65,000 and Amazon bringing up the rear with 40,000.
Other sites worth noting are WHSmiths with 57,500, Tesco and Easycinema, with 52,000 titles each, and Blockbuster with a very respectable 50,000.

However is the number of DVD titles really that important?

With an average high street video store boasting just 2,500 titles on its shelf, and with us still being able to find something we want to watch after a 10 minute browse, is LoveFilm.com’s 65,000 a little excessive?

Even if you watch a film a night, you’ll not get through their catalogue until the year 2185.

“What most people find important is not how many titles are available, but how easy it is to get a copy of your first choice,” explains Burton.

“This is all down to how many copies of each title a service has in stock. The more copies they have, the faster you’ll see it pop through your letterbox.”

So, boasting a copy of a little-known B-movie from 1985 is all very well and good, but if you can’t immediately rent a popular title like Borat, things are going to get a little frustrating.

Blockbuster’s online DVD Rental service comes up trumps in this department. It has far more copies of new releases than any other major company – decreasing waiting times significantly.

It’s all about the money

With most DVD rental companies running pretty much neck-and-neck in many departments, price is probably the determining factor in most consumers’ final choice.

“Price is really determined by how many films you plan to watch at once,” explains Burton.

“Most people have eyes bigger than their tummies when it comes to determining how many films they’ll be able to watch in a week. Unless you are an insomniac, unemployed or have no friends, you’ll probably watch no more than 4 films a week, so its often better to go for a ‘one disc at a time’ package.”

Amazon – the book giants who also offer an excellent DVD rental service - charges a pocket-friendly £5.99 for this service. However it is worth noting that with this package you can only rent 3 DVDs a month – so maybe one to avoid for heavy users.

Easycinema and Tesco offer 1 disc at a time, for one month for £7.97 – however Easycinema do limit you to 4 DVDs a month.

With LoveFilm.com charging £9.99 a month for 1 disc at a time, you can see that it pays to shop around if your wallet is, shall we say, slimmer than you’d like it to be.

How about a free lunch?

If you are uncertain about which service to use, almost all companies now offer a free trial.

LoveFilm.com’s offer sounds fantastic, offering two weeks of totally free rentals.

But it’s WHSmith (who actually use a rebranded version of LoveFilm.com) who are the outright winners in this category, offering an amazing 30 days to get acquainted with their service free of cost.

Blockbuster and Tesco also offer a 14 day free trial, but Stelio’s notorious ‘nothing-for-nothing’ policy probably drives Easycinema’s paltry and, frankly useless, 7 days free.

Find your way

Love Film.com may not be the easiest on the pocket, but their site – where all your browsing and selecting will take place - is supremely easy to use as well as being pleasingly easy on the eye.

It is simple to navigate, and has a number of unique and quirky features (like a ‘Queue Voyeur’ – to see what other people are renting) that merit its reputation of having the best film information content.

Amazon’s web design is just as fantastic, and as easy to use as its popular online book shop. After signing up, you simply browse the normal retail DVD selection, and select ‘Rent Now’ instead of ‘Buy Now’. All the usual Amazon ratings and reviews are in place, to aid your selection! There is also a reliable ‘availability indicator’ for each title.

You’ve been served

If price and choice of titles is important when you’re choosing who to go with, how you’re treated after you’ve committed yourself is even more important.

Unfortunately – as with all large companies – customer satisfaction with LoveFilm.com is far from rosy. Of course, this is more often than not a vocal minority made louder through sheer volume of their users.

Tales of dirty discs, foreign customer-service call centres and long waiting times are all worryingly common.

As they are both powered by Love Film.com, Tesco and WHSmith share the same reputation for poor customer service.

Blockbuster, on the other hand, were recently ranked ‘Top DVD Rental Company of 2006’ by the popular WebUser magazine.

“We’re yet to hear a bad word said about Blockbuster’s service from our users,” says Burton.

Amazon too can proudly boast an army of satisfied customers who rave about the speedy dispatch service, great customer service and high quality disc condition.

And sneaking up from beneath the radar is giant-slayer MyMovieStream – a small, but highly customer focussed service – that promises the kind of title turnaround and service that the big players can only dream of.

“We’re hearing great things about MyMovieStream,” says Burton.

“I hope they’re able to keep up that exemplary kind of service as they continue to grow. All too often good customer service is traded off against higher marketing budgets.

“Unfortunately you won’t be seeing any cinema adverts for the likes of MyMovieStream, which is why comparison sites like like ChooseDVDRental.co.uk are fantastic, as they allow potential rental customers to enter their rental preferences, before being presented with impartial recommendations.”

Now that sounds a lot more sensible than going with the only name you know!

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