No "Throttling" for Blockbusters Customers

[OldStuff]

I admit I do not rent many of the newer, popular films. I rent many older 40, 50 & 60 films, even some silent pre-30s. I rent old TV documentaries and multi-part series…BUT, living in New Hampshire NF sent my last two DVDs from Jose, CA and Anchorage, Alaska. Now with BB all films have been coming from MA only 50 miles away and I have been getting most of them the day after BB says they ship. Even without the freebee from the local BB store they are doing a better job than NF. Couple that with quick returns at the store or even by mail and NF slips to a very poor second.

[jimbz1108]

hi guys been awhile since i posted here
yes i am an employee at a blockbuster time for some of your questions to get answered

first off anyone who might be havingmailing problems after you check in movies at the stores:
1st question to ask your store when you go are they a private owned BB or are they a corp BB this makes a diff because corp owned BB stores have the online connection to check in for the websites privates dont.
2nd noticed this twice in my store from hiring a new employee
he was scanning the barcode for checkin off the top of the mailer(the cover flap with your own adress on it) take those off dont even bring them to the store with them on it that barcode doesnt work for checking in, it will work for a free rental in the store but it wont check it in for the website.
one other point for you current NF members the BB stores are only taking
the NF flaps till the 21st of december so use them up fast.

on a personal note not talking from a store point of view, i have had both NF and BB online progrms both have about the same turn around time both que hop from top to mid to bottom, both are same prices, they both also slow down service after about 3 months of use. personally i will keep BB just for the store trading ability even if i only get 12 a month from online i still get 12 form the store making 24 atleast a month if the speed increases great even more if not i still will average 3-5 a week then double once i return to store. no brainer to me.

also i noticed someone posted get the older ones off the net and trade for the new ones in store. seems to work the best for me

thanks for your time guys i hope i helped.

[NightTran]

nice to have a BB emp working here

[jimbz1108]

thanks i prob shouldn't have put that in there incase they hunt me down on here and fire me

[NightTran]

if you dont say where you at and name who know

[xdjoynerx]

i was really looking forward to switching to blockbuster, but i am having second thoughts now.

also, after reading this thread, i recall reading a month ago on their site that they do not throttle. that statement is no longer in their FAQ.

combined with what the employee above said, it looks like blockbuster has secretly resorted to throttling too, despite this press release and what their site has said (i'm sure they made no effort to inform current customers about this either...)

i'm pretty split on wanting to even give blockbuster a chance now.

i suppose i will give the 2 week trial a go, but that wont be a good indication of future service if what the employee above says is true.....

[NightTran]

so does NF and believe me NF is T alot more then BB

[Aegmorgil]

I noticed that things were very fast at first with BB, sort of like when you're a new member, you know? Now, things have slowed down pretty good. I'm still getting more movies with the free in-stores, but my new movies don't ship for two or lately as large as 3 days after turning them in! Technically, they would return, clear and reship quicker if I mailed them. But, again, I'm getting the free rental so I guess it evens out.

I was wondering where the trick was here... At first I couldn't see it.

I'll have to check on ownership, too, like our BB friend above said. Maybe my store just bogged down on empoyees checking them in, too. Maybe...

[photo_angel2004]

Well I gave BB online a second chance I want to cancle but BB has the new gimmick of no longer stocking most movies in the store so if you want something older then 1 month old you have to use their online service. I think BB is on their way of being out of business.

The instore pass was a better deal no way to throttle there.

Online SUCKS you get what they want to send you and NOT what you want even when what you want is avalible, they pick which one is next your list means NOTHING!

The instore pass is now useless do to the fact most of the movie are not there anymore.

Some of the new releases are not listed online at all.


The 2 week free trial is really 8 days not 2 weeks.

When you take all 3 back to block buster you get one right away and the next 5 days later and I am still waiting on the 3rd.

They ARE throttleing again and forceing those with the instore pass to get the online pass in addition to the instore pass due to the fact that most movies are not instore anymore. And a lot of new releases are not online.

So its not $25.00 a month for instore
So its not $18.00 a month for online
Its now $43.00 and a long wait for those ordered online and agrivating when they dont send the movies you want. If you dont have 40 or more in your queue they dont send $hit out for a long while and if you do have more then 40 they pick #38 to send instead of #1 they dont care, all they want is more money more money more money.

Blockbuster keeps this up they wont be for much longer!
I used to love BB I am starting to HATE theM.

Holleywood video is looking nicer and nicer each week that passes.

[jm1647]

@jimbz1108 - the FAQ does state to bring the mailer to the store sealed like you were going to mail it back, so the flap with the persons mailing address should be removed. BB I don't think does good enuff training/indoctrination to employees for the TA and now the NF swap in (although no trouble with the store I go to).

A mix of old and new movies on my BB and NF online accounts works great for me, and right now they both can be swapped in at a BB B&M store. There are plenty of movies in my local store that I want to watch. At around an average cost right now of about $.50 per movie, I'm happier than a pig in poop.

No membership is a lifetime commitment, they can be dropped after a month and restarted at any time. So NF, BB, HV and any other service can be used individually or in any combination any time ya want.
I hope the online rental battle continues forever . I'm waiting to see what NF does to try to compete with the BB TA if they can do anything at all.

[jimbz1108]

as far as the faq most customers dont read any of the faq. as far as what Photo Angel says about movies not being in stock as a BB employeee we are getting almost double the amount of store rentals since the rollout of Total Access and i am in a much higher traffic store then most stores around. jm1647 is proby a customer at my store and we dont even know it he is from jersey too . Just last week i had a customer come up to me and asked if we were in trouble of giong out of business cause we had so many of the new releases still on the shelves on a friday night. I simply told her no we are fine they just added 50% more rentals to our store because of all the free online rentals. Now some of the more abscure movies such as "Feed","Quick and the undead" we only got a few copies of but thats mainly because of projected rental targets on those titles (side note if you havent seen feed its a must !!) very odd movie

well enough of my rambling just a touch more insider info for ya btw take advantage of previously played games in your local stores 25% off till end of next week (21st i think is last day).

[jm1647]

jm1647 is proby a customer at my store and we dont even know it he is from jersey too .

I hadda add a profile name in my NF account to get the free swaps at BB 2 different family member names on the accounts, they should be here tomorrow ready for a swap. And I just luv stuff that is frrrrrrreeeeeeeee

If ya see an older woman that looks like Miss Marples avatar without a hat in your store, it's me

[NightTran]

I hadda add a profile name in my NF account to get the free swaps at BB 2 different family member names on the accounts, they should be here tomorrow ready for a swap. And I just luv stuff that is frrrrrrreeeeeeeee

If ya see an older woman that looks like Miss Marples avatar without a hat in your store, it's me

I think I will believe that

[jm1647]

I think I will believe that

[jamoskeag3]

If you are having a problem with BB, call and complain. Works for me every time.