- Fast turnaround of titles
- Free 0800 customer support
- Includes movie trailers to most titles
- Now with 65000+ titles (including Blu Ray)
- 30 day OutNow free trial (Warning: difficult to cancel)
- Now with 182 Blu Ray movies to rent
|
Review of OutNow DVD Rental
WARNING: Though the company's reputation has improved dramatically in recent months, the OutNow/MyMovieStream service should still be approached with caution, especially for free triallers.
OUTNOW has been criticised in the past but it's back with a vengeance.
Those of you with long memories might remember the company when it was MyMovieStream, a service that proved so ill-fated that it was re-branded as OutNow, which again ran into trouble leading to recent staff changes at the top and (hopefully) a much improved overall service.
OutNow now boasts a large collection of titles, a swish new site and just a good selection of Blu ray titles (but they're still behind Lovefilm, Blockbuster and Cinema Paradiso).
Prices and packages are reasonable but if you want to save between £1 - £2 per month, you could try Lidl DVD Rental, which is also powered by OutNow.
Both LoveFilm and Blockbuster are similarly priced to OutNow. Blockbuster offer the added bonus of additional free in-store rentals on some plans too, which is not an option with online-only OutNow.
Out of the doldrums?
OutNow DVD Rental is well constructed, well designed and jam-packed with a shelf-busting 65000+ catalogue of titles (this equals LoveFilm and includes practically every DVD released in the UK).
We've suggested that OutNow has fallen into the doldrums in the past with a poor reputation on customer service and being slow off the mark when it comes to postage.
However, OutNow seem to be improving of late.
They've changed their envelopes to sort out their Royal Mail problems and general DVD turnaround is very fast with movies being processed on the same day as receipt.
A reassuring sign that OutNow is taking customer service seriously though, is their new freephone 0800 number for customer support, which they display prominently on the OutNow site. That's something we haven't seen any other DVD rental site do.
High-demand system
We are especially impressed by some of the small innovations employed my OutNow DVD Rental, in particular the special sleeves in which high-demand rental DVD's are sent out, reminding you to watch those ones first.
Of course there is no obligation to do so, but that little reminder is undoubtedly what keeps OutNow delivery of high-demand titles so fast.
While OutNow allows you to send back DVD's in dribs and drabs, you will be prioritised higher for rental DVD's in high demand by sending back the maximum amount of DVD's from your last delivery in one OutNow DVD Rental return mailer.
Victim of its own success?
OutNow's expansive range of DVD rental subscription offers is also impressive, including a series of 2 'limited discs per month' packages which we have found are always great value for money and suit busier people who don't have time to watch films every night of the week.
For students, slackers, dole-dossers or retired millionaires with 50" plasma TVs above the jacuzzi, there are plenty of unlimited DVD rental packages to choose from too, all at competitive prices.
We hope the recent spate of bad reports (in some cases quite disturbing reports) about this service are just a temporary glitch in the machine but our experience here suggests that when a once excellent company dramatically starts racking up negative criticism, something is usually afoot. Either that, or OutNow has become a victim of its own success, with more users stretching a system not quite up to the task.
OutNow get two-thumbs up for:
OutNow's inclusion of trailers for many of their movies, which makes browsing for DVD rental titles an absolute pleasure. The OutNow team also get a pat on the back for their Socialist-inspired idea of sending out high-demand DVDs in special priority sleeves, so you (and other renters) are reminded not to sit on it too long.
Free trial details
Actual User Ratings
|
