RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise)

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RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 7/12/2005 3:42:37 PM

Groovy Mule

Posts: 1089
Joined: 26/11/2005

Am quite pleased with Screenselect - decent service and very good selection - have always been sent titles in my top priority column.

Used to be with Webflix (now merged with LoveFilm) and their services went from very good to me sending discs back, hearing nothing for a week and having to phone them up to get them to send me discs again. I think of the 7 months I was with them they ended up refunding about 3 months bcause of failings in their service.

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Post #: 31

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 22/12/2005 3:16:30 PM

Achtung Englander

Posts: 895
Joined: 6/12/2005

am on SS myself. Their DVD priority service is meaningless. As someone pointed out I don't think they have enough new titles as non of my priority DVDs get shipped.

However saying that I do like their website - so much more professional than the god - aweful Blockbuster and turn-around is pretty decent as well. I get through about 9 - 12 discs a month on the 3 disc scheme. Not bad as it averages between �1 - �2 a month per disc

one other complaint would be that some of the dics do jump. No fault of SS but I wish people would respect rental DVDs as they would their own because other people have to watch them next....

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Post #: 32

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 26/12/2005 9:53:42 PM

bigbigtom

Posts: 4
Joined: 26/12/2005
From: leamington spa

i've actually been really happy with lovefilm - have been using them probably for about nine months now and haven't really had any problems. it does seem to go through odd periods where they send you stuff from really low on the list, and suddenly your next four discs will all be from the top, but i tend to keep my list full of stuff which i want to watch anyway so it's not a problem. a disc was lost in the post to me once, and when reported they just sent another one out no troubles. oh oh, and i really like their newsletter, it is quite interesting and well-written (and i won a ton of studio ghibli dvds in one of their competitions once) with often a lot of recommendations embedded into the articles.

two thumbs up - although from reading elsewhere, people have had different experiences!!

< Message edited by bigbigtom -- 26/12/2005 9:56:04 PM >

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Post #: 33

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 3/1/2006 2:12:11 PM

redeyes

Posts: 95
Joined: 30/10/2005
From: Wrexham NR-Wales

At the moment I am with LoveFilm, and have been for I'd say about 7 months, in the begining, they were faultless, I always had four films that I wanted to watch at home at any time, and the generaly sent me films from the top 10 of my list. However latley they have really gone to shit, now, the past two weeks have been X-Mas/New Year, So I am willing to accept that with post delays and day offs for the staff things obviously fall apart through no fault of their own, but it has been going on much longer than that, I'd say about a month and a half. They are always really slow sending out discs, usualy the discs are from the bottom ten of my list, and the worse thing is, there are about 15 new releases in my list, and I haven't seen a damn one yet, I think they may have placed me on the list of someone who rents too often and so have began to limit my rental send out. So I'm thinking of switching to Blockbuster, now I used this when I was at Uni for about 4 months and was really impressed, however because I was in Uni, I didn't watch huge ammounts of films and I was only on the 2 disc at time plan, now I'm home, and very bored most days, so I'm looking at the 5 disc plan. But what I want to know is, how good are they at sending out new release films, as this is VERY important to me, I'm a huge film buff, so I have seend alot of movies in my time, but rarely get to go to the cinema, so I'm always having to wait for DVD release. Plus, do they also operate a policy of, if you rent too many you go on the dreaded list? Love Film offered me a special 8 rentals at a time for �40, but I'm thinking that I would surely go instantly on the list, so what the hell is the bloody point of that for gods sake!!!!!!!!!!!! Any help would be appreciated, also if you know of any other online rental services which send out new releases quickly and have no limit rules, could you please tell me about them? thanks!

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Post #: 34

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 3/1/2006 5:07:40 PM

BobaJango

Posts: 7667
Joined: 31/12/2005
From: Mulder's basement

Play.co.uk
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HMV.co.uk

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Post #: 35

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 6/1/2006 10:42:40 PM

alan999

Posts: 318
Joined: 31/12/2005
From: England

I've always been really happy with Lovefilm. Fast delivery, huge selection, good value.

Also, I nearly always get a selection within the top 3 of my rental list. Not always, but hey, that's why I have a list of at 30 titles I like.

Obviously not everyone seems to share my good experience looking at the other posts but I've never had any problems

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Post #: 36

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 6/1/2006 10:44:55 PM

Hobbitonlass

Posts: 11495
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Westeros

Back with Lovefilm as a mate very kindly passed a gift voucher on to me which meant I could have 2 months free :D

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Post #: 37

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 10/1/2006 10:06:46 AM

toonDave

Posts: 2
Joined: 9/1/2006

I've been trying the Amazon postal rental at 3 DVDs a month. It's not bad service. My only prob with it is that the DVDs are sometimes heavily scratched and jump frames:(

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Post #: 38

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 10/1/2006 11:02:03 AM

elab49

Posts: 51544
Joined: 1/10/2005

By god Tesco has gone into go slow. Is anyone else having problems? Is it Screenselect wide?

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Post #: 39

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 11/1/2006 10:12:09 AM

sharkboy

Posts: 6023
Joined: 26/9/2005
From: Belfast

ScreenSelect has been particularly slow of late, so I'm guessing that the problem is being felt by all the subsidiaries.

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Post #: 40

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 11/1/2006 3:38:06 PM

Megalo-who?

Posts: 1687
Joined: 30/9/2005

They must be, because I am having a really shitty time with Blockbuster, in fact I have been for a while. It's gone from them never sending me anything new, to nothing at all. I'm serious, they are sending me nothing, out of a mixed bag of 25 films.

Do they even stock some of the titles they claim to have, I've tried to rent some old Woody Allen and Coen Brothers films, and nothing is happening. This is making me increasingly angry, and there is no point in emailing as they never respond. Bastards, should I go elsewhere?

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Post #: 41

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 5/2/2006 4:57:39 PM

DanielFullard

Posts: 1025
Joined: 19/10/2005
From: Durham, England

ScreenSelect was brilliant when I used to subscribe and I will be again in the Summer. I just don't have the time to get through the DVD's at a fast enough pace in Uni term time

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Post #: 42

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 7/2/2006 9:40:26 PM

elab49

Posts: 51544
Joined: 1/10/2005

I don't think Screenselect have anything to do with Blockbusters. And my Blockbusters account is as speedy as usual - I barely have a couple of pages of current releases and I always get immediate turnaround.

Whereas with Tesco - I have a couple of hundred including a ton of obscure stuff and some from the general interest side and I can still be waiting more than 2 days to have orders filled on occasion. 3 were returned today and, again, one slot not filled. And they should have been there yesterday - I think SS manipulate the delays to make them not look as bad by dodgy recording of when the DVDs get back as well.

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Post #: 43

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 11/2/2006 4:36:10 PM

rich

Posts: 4130
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Neo Kobe

I recommend Screenselect

Edit - hang on I said this 3 times now, why is the same thread

< Message edited by Rich -- 11/2/2006 4:37:10 PM >

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Post #: 44

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 13/2/2006 7:32:32 PM

cales76

Posts: 37
Joined: 7/10/2005
From: Scotland

Hi! I m with Lovefilm and it works pretty good. For a while they were not sending out new dvds on the day that they received the returned ones which was annoying, but that has not happened in along time. Good selection of films and the website is well laid out.

If anyone is interested I have started to use this website for finding the best deal for dvds to buy. Some of the sites I havent heard of but it makes life easier than hunting them down yourself!
www.find-dvd.co.uk

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Post #: 45

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 20/2/2006 1:09:54 PM

Bucky

Posts: 2
Joined: 30/9/2005

Blockbuster have a fast turn around, but queue order is meaningless.

If you have some obscure film on the list that noone else wants to see, they will send it out, even if it is at number 60 in your queue, and you only added it 2 days ago.

This means that if you like a mixture of new releases and art house, you very rarely get to see new releases, even if they have been in your queue for a long time. I tend to add films to the queue as soon as they are appear as cinema trailers so it is unlikely many people are "before" me in the waiting list.

Some films are clearly missing in action - I have had Breakfast at Tiffany's and Room With A View at numbers 1 & 2 in my queue for over 7 months now, neither of which could be considered an heavily in demand film.

It's disappointing to hear other services have problems, I'm in the market for a new service, one that actually pays some vague attention to queue order.

I watch 3 films a week, but would pay MORE than 15 quid a month if any service offered better queue management.

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Post #: 46

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 21/2/2006 12:03:31 PM

elab49

Posts: 51544
Joined: 1/10/2005

I'd disagree as mine is the opposite - I can't remember the last time I got a film released in the last 6 months from Screenselect/Tesco. Blockbusters, I normally get them within 3 weeks (having just sent back The Island and Four Brothers, neither of which I bothered seeing on release.

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Post #: 47

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 21/2/2006 12:36:16 PM

Bucky

Posts: 2
Joined: 30/9/2005

How many films are in your queue?

The Island and Four Brothers have been in my queue since their cinema release and are currently relatively high- places 12 and 18 respectively.

Having said that, I have just seen Land of the Dead which is a new release, and 2 weeks ago War of the Worlds, which I think was released on DVD this year.

There is no way I could regularly get to see a new release within 3 weeks of adding it. Checking my queue today for example and I see that they are sending me the Hong Kong film 2046 which was 48th in my list.

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Post #: 48

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 21/2/2006 1:47:43 PM

The Seed

Posts: 105
Joined: 11/10/2005

I have been with Blockbuster for about five months now, and, as seems to be the case with most people here, it started out really good but has gradually deteriorated.

At the start I was getting the titles near the top of my list very quickly (I got Batman Begins the very day it was released!).

But over the months it's gradually been getting worse and worse. I'm on the 3 DVD deal, and I'm lucky these days if get one out of three that's in my top 10. In the latest batch to be sent out I got numbers 7, 12, and 16. I don't remember the last time I got one of my top choices.

Now I have a query that I wander if anyone here could help me with. What would happen if I were to narrow my list down to say 10 titles? I know it would mean I would not get titles sent out right away or as frequently, but would it not also mean I have a better chance of getting the ones I really want as soon as they become available? Or would it just mean I'll be waiting a very long time for anything at all to be sent?

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Post #: 49

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 21/2/2006 10:05:32 PM

elab49

Posts: 51544
Joined: 1/10/2005

Well, I am glad it looks like I am lucky on at least one of my rental sites.

On blockbuster I have a queue of about 35 but around 10-15 haven't been released.

On Tesco about 170 but only 10 in the highest priority.

And they sit there and they sit there.

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Post #: 50

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 14/3/2006 4:40:20 PM

Dark Knight

Posts: 1711
Joined: 2/10/2005
From: Sedgley

Screenselect for me - I have been with them for months and have never had any cause for complaint about their customer service.

Discs arrive promptly and neatly packaged, and the one time a disc got lost in the post, they sent out another without complaint the day after received my email about it.

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Post #: 51

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 23/3/2006 8:49:15 AM

elab49

Posts: 51544
Joined: 1/10/2005

Has anyone else's SS, specifically Tesco, gone a little dolally? They seem to have sent me 4 DVDs for some reason!

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Post #: 52

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 23/3/2006 12:20:12 PM

Megalo-who?

Posts: 1687
Joined: 30/9/2005

Started with screenselect yesterday, have 20 titles in my list, and so far they haven't even selected the anything to be processed. Whats going on?

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Post #: 53

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 23/3/2006 12:40:55 PM

elab49

Posts: 51544
Joined: 1/10/2005

I think they recommend you get at least 70 in the list to have a chance of finding one they have in? Plus - I find them very slow to get around to sending you titles anyway.

< Message edited by elab49 -- 23/3/2006 12:41:22 PM >

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Films watched 2012

What are your top 10/25 films of 2012? Vote in the forum Annual Poll now! Deadline is Sunday.

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Post #: 54

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 23/3/2006 1:11:21 PM

Megalo-who?

Posts: 1687
Joined: 30/9/2005

Well I just sent them an angry email comparing them to Blockbuster, and straight away they allocated In Her Shoes.

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Post #: 55

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 23/3/2006 2:08:56 PM

elab49

Posts: 51544
Joined: 1/10/2005

Curiously, the last 2 times I've complained I've had an allocation suspiciously quickly thereafter as well!

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Films watched 2012

What are your top 10/25 films of 2012? Vote in the forum Annual Poll now! Deadline is Sunday.

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Post #: 56

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 23/3/2006 3:38:22 PM

Megalo-who?

Posts: 1687
Joined: 30/9/2005

Yeah, you need to kick these fuckers up the arse. I pay for something and expect service. Quickly I was allocated Into The Blue aswell.

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Post #: 57

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 6/4/2006 1:52:32 PM

elab49

Posts: 51544
Joined: 1/10/2005

Well after telling me it was a glitch - 4 DVDs again!

Tesco - Anyone else?

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Films watched 2012

What are your top 10/25 films of 2012? Vote in the forum Annual Poll now! Deadline is Sunday.

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Post #: 58

RE: Best Online Rental Shops (Please advise) - 22/4/2006 9:12:46 PM

sushiandrice