Boomerang Rentals Game Rental

IF customer service with your online games rental is a priority for you then Boomerang Rentals is definitely worthy of consideration.

Boomerang Rentals are proof that some things get better with age - this site's been around but it's still punching way above its weight with its strong attention to customer satisfaction and a clutch of very competitively-priced games rental packages.

Great site design

One of the things we felt always detracted from the rental experience at Boomerang was it's slightly clunky design and a drop-down menu system that was awkward and didn't always work.

We're thrilled to see a new design in place which looks the business and seems to get slicker by the day.

All games now include user ratings along with detailed descriptions and some great in-game screen shots which are worth their weight in gold.

And it's not just the design that's got an overhaul: a traffic light system reflects the demand for each individual title.

A green light means your chances of getting the title first go are high, an amber light warns you not to get your hopes up, whilst a red light means you shouldn't send out invitations for a gaming party for that title just yet, as the chances of it turning up through the letterbox tomorrow are narrow.

Pleasingly fast turnaround of titles

Turnaround of Boomerang's games is pleasingly swift but the availability of in-demand titles could use attention, especially on the popular consoles like X-Box 360.

Having said that, Boomerang Rental's claim that during the first quarter of 2006, 91% of Boomerang Games Rental customers regularly receive games in their top three choices. Four years on, we'd be interested to see whether that figure still holds today.

For occasional gamers, Boomerang Rental's low-end Boomerang Value Package which limits you to two games rentals per month but won't crunch your wallet is a good option, while for those who want their games in a rush, the premium Boomerang Unlimited Priority package ensures that you are always front of the queue for popular titles (users of Boomerang's standard 2-disc package may have to wait).

3 game limit free trial

While the Boomerang games rental free trial at first appears to be generously long, at 21 days, the limit of just 3 games during this time is disappointing, if not slightly disingenuous. Either offer a 21-day trial or a 3-disc trial, but don't disguise the poorer one with the better one.

That said, a cycle of three games through the games rental system should be enough to allow anyone to get a reasonably good taste of what the Boomerang games rental service is like.

More rental packages for long-term members

There are more rental packages available when you've been a member for a few months.

After 3 consecutive months as a full paying customer on an Unlimited Two subscription or higher you can upgrade to an Unlimited 3 disc a month package for £18.99 a month and after 5 consecutive months you can trade up to Unlimited four for £25.99 a month.

The same applies to some priority deals: Priority 3 for £21.99 a month and Priority 4 for £29.99.

We guess the idea is that once you're hooked on game rental you'll trade up but it's a shame that these deals aren't available from the off.

Boomerang Game Rental gets two-thumbs up for:

Boomerang Rental's extra long trial period which gives a real taster of the kind of service you can expect - a service, we'd like to point out, that seems noticeably above some of their competitors.