Is Blockbuster Online Any Good?
CommentsBLOCKBUSTER is a UK high street giant but they're prone to being dwarfed online by arch-rival Lovefilm.
We've been covering the Blockbuster online service from when it was just a pixelated twinkle in the company's eye and know it inside and out.
Here's the potted version: the good, the bad and the ugly.
The Good
There's a lot to like about Blockbuster DVD rental.
- Fast, reliable service: It's very rare we hear a complaint about Blockbuster online. Their DVD and games arrive speedily by first-class post and lost or damaged discs are dealt with swiftly and fairly. Can't say fairer.
- In-store extras: Blockbuster online's big USP is their high street chain. The 'Xtra' plans - essentially pre-paying to pick up a disc in-store - offer a simple solution to the big problem of online DVD rental (the waiting around) if you're near to a Blockbuster store.
- Great choice of well-priced deals: Blockbuster online is competitively priced and often cheaper than rivals with special offers like ChooseDVDrental's £12.99 for life deal. Perhaps more importantly they have a huge choice of deals. Being able to chop and change means you pay just for the DVDs or games that you're actually using, much more cost-effective.
- Good site features: DVDs are easy to find and account management is simple on Blockbuster online's site. There are also nice extras such as Movie Mix - a tool that controls the order you're sent certain genres so that, for example, you'll never be without a comedy - are creeping in too.
- Exclusives: Blockbuster online use their high street clout to regularly get much-hyped titles two weeks before anyone else. If, like us, you hate to wait this is invaluable.
- Top pick for new releases: Partly because their 'top ticket' service means you get a title right away (i.e. not just put it on your list and cross your fingers) and partly because they've got access to extra stock in their stores Blockbuster online is our top pick for DVD rental new releases.
- Picking up the slack at Lovefilm and OutNow: Films released by big studio Universal Pictures including Inglorious Bastards and Kickass are not available from Lovefilm and OutNow but you can get them with Blockbuster online dvd rental.
The Bad
- No free trials: Disappointingly, Blockbuster online no longer give out free trials. You can test the service for £1 for two weeks but, if you're definitely going to sign up, you can save more by opting to get the first month half price instead.
- Not the cheapest: As mentioned above, the price differences between online DVD rental deals are a matter of pence but, even so, Blockbuster online isn't the cheapest.
- No online streaming: Unlike Lovefilm, Blockbuster doesn't offer films online, via internet-enabled TVs or on the PS3. Boo hiss.
- Trouble brewing overseas: Though they've now formally cut ties with Blockbuster US the heavy debts of Blockbuster in America and the decline of high street DVD rental in general could still be an indicator of trouble stored over here in the future.
and The Ugly
There's nothing really wrong with Blockbuster's website (which is why we didn't put it in 'bad' - heaven forbid we'd try and shoehorn something like this in) but...
Like many of the company's rental stores, the Blockbuster online website is simply falling a bit behind the times. It's a little clunky, a little unintuitive at times. All in all, just a bit ugly.
So: is Blockbuster online any good?
With many spotless years of DVD rental behind them and more innovation on the way, Blockbuster online are far from beat yet.
Comments
I agree with chris D, I brought something from Blockbuster online and it never arrived, after about 15 days of waiting I finally phoned them. They said to fill out a lost in post form that they'd email me. I never got the email so I phoned again and finally got the email, signed it and sent it back. Now I'm waiting for them to send the game out again. Chances of me getting it are slim. Shocking service man.
Having now been a Blockbuster Online customer for several months, I share your positive opinion regarding features such as Top Ticket, e-coupons for free or discounted in-store rentals (even though I no longer use the latter, as I am no longer close enough to a store, following BB's recent closures), large numbers of copies of latest releases and the availability of Universal films. I also like the Marketplace, where they sell ex-rental stock at lower prices.
Movie Mix is a good idea, but has two problems: (i) the filtering options are not sophisticated enough to deliver consistently predictable results (e.g. no 'EITHER / OR' or 'BUT NOT' option); (ii) ditto for Blockbuster's movie categegorisation system; (iii) more often than not, the allocation is ignored in favour of speed (no option to indicate which is preferred).
This, however, is a minor gripe. My main reason for writing this comment is your description of Blockbuster's service as fast and reliable, which does not reflect my customer experience. Let me explain my wording. In the nearly six months that I have been using the service (2-discs, unlimited package), four discs failed to arrive at all and another one was eventually delivered three months after it was sent. More often than not, Blockbuster takes longer than 24 hours to send out a new disc after acknowledging receipt (there are on average ten to 12 titles on my list), and once they sent nothing for a week (they did, however, give me a two-week credit when I complained). The instances of First Class delivery taking between two and four days, instead of the advertised one, are so numerous that I have stopped counting them, and one disc arrived three months after it was sent.
Now, not all of this is within Blockbuster's control and the Royal Mail is probably partially (or even largely) to blame. I suspect that commercial considerations rule out mitigating measures such as allowing 'lost in post' reports sooner than fours days after dispatch (advice by Royal Mail is cited as the reason for this period) or using alternative carriers. However, from the customer's perspective, the compound effect is that the customer's experience is not that of a 'fast and reliable' service.
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