Netflix’s :(14-day Free Trial)Is the oldest and largest online movie rental service, launching its subscription service in 1999.
I have been a Netflix.com customer since June of 2006. I have the two-at-a-time (unlimited) plan for 14.02 a month, which is with tax. The other plans available are:
One at-a-time (2 -a- month) for $4.99,
one at-a-time (Unlimited) for $8.99,
Three at-a-time (Unlimited) for $16.99,
Four at-a-time (Unlimited) for $23.99,
Five at-a-time (Unlimited) for $29.99,
Eight at-a-time (Unlimited) for $47.99.
They have a big selection of movies, all the older movie I wanted to see were there (90,000 DVD titles plus a growing library of over 5,000 full-length movies and television episodes that are available for instant watching on their PCs).
I do not really bother looking at the “recommendations” so I don’t know how good they are. To get good recommendations you have to rate the movies you have already watched.
In the last few months, netflix.com has made its website easier to navigate and put movies in your queue. Before when you clicked the add button it would take you to your queue page so you had to back track to find where you were. Now a second window in the main window opens up saying the movie has been added, along with other movies that have the same actors in it or the same directors and so on. Just close that second window and your still where you were.
The DVD’s seem to be in good shape, there has only been one that was messed up. However, I could still watch it. You can request a new one if It’s unwatchable.
I get between 8 and 11 movies a month; I’ll say an average of nine so that works out to 1.78 per rental. That’s not bad. One month I only got six due to bad weather around my state, so I guess I can’t blame them. The speed of DVD arriving will depend on how close to a shipping center you are. Which are in big cities, so if you live in a small town you will more then likely average 8 to 11 like me. Any more then that is gravy. I have been collecting the ads that are on the flap that you tear off the envelope when opening it. They are mostly for new movies coming out or new TV shows. Every now and then they will be for some kind of electronics.
You can sign up to pick recommendations for people, and win prizes if you are good at it. I am not sure of the details I just scanned through it.
You have to have a credit or debt card to pay for it (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover). Sorry, no checks or money orders. Billing is done automatically; mine is withdrawn on the eighth of every month. I started my membership on the 15th of a month so I assume that they bill everyone at the beginning of the month.
If you are wondering how they stop people from stealing their DVD’s it is simple. If you “lose” more then ten DVDs they cancel your account.
I do not know how their customer service people are I have not had a reason to deal with them. To me that is a good thing. A final note, you can get DVDs or Blue Ray format, and soon (June 2007) you will be able to watch the movies on to your PC through the website. DVD’s are also for sale on the website for as low as 5.99 with a 100% guarantee.
Queue is a word I have never heard so I looked it up,
Queue: 1: a pigtail 2: a line, as of persons waiting to be served.
That is A new wrinkle in my brain.
BlockBusterOnline :(14-day Free Trial)
A perk that Netflix’s does not have is instead of mailing the DVD back you can take them to a participating Block Buster Store for a free DVD or Game rental. You have to have a membership with the store to do that, and follow the store rental policies. The free movie does not count towards as one of your movies being mail, so you should still get three or however many your plan has.
I was not expecting to pay anything right then but blockbuster charged my debt card $10.98. There was nothing on the sign up page that said they were charging me, I found out days later when I was checking my account balance for something else. That was not cool.
Don’t think just because a Block Buster store is listed on the website as a participating store, that it is, It may not even be open. I thought the one in my town was open and the website had it listed as open. After I printed my e-coupon to use, I found the store had been closed since Oct. 2006. From the outside, passing by it looked open so I assumed it was. I assumed wrong. So, now all my e-coupons are worthless, along with being able to use the movie envelopes for free rentals. (Make sure you have a Block Buster Store before you signup)
The same day I signed up, I filled my queue up so they could start sending movies right away. I waited and waited, for a week and a half for the first set of movies come in the mail. And, there was only two. I sent them back in two days, still waiting for the third movie from the first set. Almost two weeks go by until I got any more movies. Again, only two arrived and one of them is the one that should have been in the first set.
At this point, there was five days until I had to cancel or pay for another month. By now, I knew I was not going continue my subscription. You must cancel at least one day before your next bill date, to insure that your card does not get charged. That is what I did. Canceled on the 24th (when my next bill date would have been on the 25th ). Those movies arrived much quicker then the rest.
When the second set of movies took so long I had emailed customer service about the one movie not getting here and that the Block Buster Store here wasn’t open and they should take it off the website. I also asked if they were going to offer me anything for the inconvenience. I felt and still feel that they should be up to date when it comes to the stores on the website. I would not have even wasted my time if I knew that the Block Buster Store here was closed. They responded with nonsense, acting like I didn’t just tell them I was not happy. The store here that closed is still on the website as open for business. The next time I emailed customer service was to find out when I needed to cancel by so I would not get charged, in the response to that I got offered some of the other plans at a discounted price for three months. But at the speed they were coming it was not worth it.
When you cancel they have a spot to write feedback. In the space provided, I typed what I had to say (not filling the box). There seemed to be more room to write but when I clicked submit it said to keep it under 150 characters. Then why do they give you room to write a novel but limit you to 150 characters? I guess they don’t really care why you are canceling.
To sum it up, if you have a Block Buster Store that is open, this could be a great deal. You may get your movies faster then I did. So, it is up to you is you want to try it.
Check list: local participating Block Buster Store []
Money on your debt card or a credit card []
Intelliflix: (Risk-Free Trial) Launched in 2004 (formerly DVDBarn), at intellifix you can rent both Video Games and Movies. Mature Movies are available, however age verification is required. Parental controls are also available. After reading what some subscribers have to say about Intelliflix, I really did not want to try them.
Intelliflix website interface is similar netflix’s interface (not nearly as good). You can view and modify your personal details and account status in the “your account” section.
The “Browse” link will take you to a selection window with movie names (cover picture), there are 6 titles per row. Rows are stacked and categorized: new releases, comedy movies, drama movies and games. There is a column for advanced movie categories, almost 2 dozen of them. Advance categories include: coming soon, AFI top 100 films and Mature-adult films. In the same row on the bottom it shows video game categories and platforms.
Click on any icon and it will take you to a movie synopsis page as well as user and editor reviews. Clicking on a category will take you to an alphabetically sorted list of titles for that category, a brief description, it’s star ratings and titles availability. You can also use the search field on the top of every browse page.
Wait time between shipments varies, an average of six days (depends on where you live). Though, my average is better than most, according to some reviews I have read. I never contacted customer service, though those that have say it takes forever to get a response, if you get one at all.
Gameznflix :(14-day Free Trial) Subscriber to Gameznflix can rent both Games ( for: XBOX 360, XBOX, PS3, PS2, PS1, Wii & GameCube) and Movies.
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