No "Throttling" for Blockbusters Customers

[volfann]

Unless BB tries to increase their fees I don't see how we can lose with this new program. Just hope I can find enough movies worth watching so I can take full advantage of the situation.

[jamoskeag3]

I wonder what this will do to Netflix.
Since they dont have retail stores, the only way they can compete it seems to me is thru price or offering more dvds at same price.

[codajohn]

I think you're right @jam. The one true advantage BB has is their retail stores. This is going to take some creativity on NF part to stay competitive. They better hurry or they're going to go under in a very short period of time.
Anyone know what BB and NF stock did since the unveiling?

[jm1647]

Hmm, I don't know what Netflix can do, except maybe triple the amount of DVD's for your plan you can have out at 1 time and ship the next one within a day of when you say you shipped it back instead of waiting to receive it in the mail.

There are plenty of old movies I would watch and then there are the TV series I missed like CSI and 24 and and probably a bunch of others.

I'm gonna take the one I got earlier today back tonight and get another ffffrrrreeeeee one at the store and Monday probably get another free one using the weekly coupon that is still showing, or 2 if the one scheduled for the 7th arrives, I can watch it and turn it back at the store before it closes.

[katzdvd]

"Question
Once I return a BLOCKBUSTER Online® DVD in the store, how long will it take for my next DVD to arrive?

Answer Print Answer Email Answer

Once the store checks in your Online rental, the next available DVD from your Queue will be shipped within the next business day.

While reviewing your Queue, you may notice that DVDs exchanged or checked in at the store will remain in your "Shipped Movies" list until received by the Return Center. This does not prevent additional DVDs from being shipped; it's simply our way of tracking when a DVD is physically received by the Return Center."

I have been watching my queue, & they have not yet shipped the next available movie for me.

jm/volfann, have they shipped the next ones in your queue?

[jamoskeag3]

They dont ship Sat and Sun, do they?

[jm1647]

I have been watching my queue, & they have not yet shipped the next available movie for me.

jm/volfann, have they shipped the next ones in your queue?

Yup, I returned 2 on Thursday to a store, 2 showed up as shipped on Friday( (I had 5 DVD's showing as out in my online queue from BB online and I'm on the 3@time plan), with ETA's of the 6th and 7th. I received the one with an ETA of the 6th today and already turned it in to a store and got another DVD.

BB and NF state they do not ship on the weekends.

[vah234]

this really will not hurt netflix any and it is the stupidest idea, except for blockbuster, because they offer false response to the throttling issue because must people use the online service to get the movies that are not carried by the blockbuster brick and mortar stores----if movies are availbe at the storefronts then all you do is join the blockbuster movie pass program to get as many movies as you want per month, this is as close to unlimited rentals as one can get, but why would you go to the stores---the reason for online was because of storefront locations in ones' area or the lack of and the ease of getting movies delivered to your home. bb messed up by using the term unlimited rentals monthly when they knew from the onset of this program that even with best response from bb and usps your max rental number per month would never exceed 16-20 and on average most subscribers would only get 8-10 rentals per month if lucky----but dont expect the lawmakers of this country to address these type problems because of who/what company/financial backbones are behind them----prime example is bill gates and microsoft---how soon we forget

[jamoskeag3]

vah,
I hear you, but i think you are missing the points, IMHO.
With neww BB program,
1. you can use BOTH retail store and on line movie selections,
2. plus, you get a movie to watch from BB retail while waiting for on line selection to come in.
3. Even before change, netflix was throttling, and bb was not. Thats why i switched out of netflix to bb. That plus the coupons

IMHO, the only place netflix can now compete is in rural areas with no BB retail access. Since the vast majority of people in this country live near a big enuf city to have access to BB retail, id say netflix competitive niche is small indeed.
Anyhow, it'll be interesting to see how netflix reacts to this.

[jm1647]

The BB movie pass is only good for the store you get it at as far as I know (never had MP). With the online Total Access you can go to any store to use the coupon and swap movies. I have always gone to the store that was closest to me but now I might venture out a mile or 2 further to see what the other stores are carrying now. And when I go to a store all I do is get a movie, and don't buy any popcorn, candy or DVDs

[MikeyBK]

Correct John, I had BBs instore MoviePass (2 at-a-time) and it was only good at the stroe you purchased it from.

[vah234]

thats not true ive been with bb for 2yrs now and the only time they delivered in an appropriate manner was after complaints and even to the point where i was given 6 rentals at a time for a short period to compensate for my complaints.prime ex. is i live within 12 miles of distribution center and have informed them over and over that it only takes one day to recieve most of my selections but you have to wait three days to use the problem section to tell them that i have returned a movie but it has not cleared my queue. therefore no matter what you do you will be very lucky if you can recieve more than 3 movies in a 6 day period and weekends make it very difficult to get the 20 + movies a month plus as i stated before i use the online system to get movies that are not availible at the stores so why would i go to bb store to return movies

[katzdvd]

therefore no matter what you do you will be very lucky if you can recieve more than 3 movies in a 6 day period and weekends make it very difficult to get the 20 + movies a month plus

Time will tell... I keep my own log of all movies received from online, & a separate log for the in store coupon "freebies". It will only take a month or so of logging to see how it all plays out.

[jm1647]

therefore no matter what you do you will be very lucky if you can recieve more than 3 movies in a 6 day period and weekends make it very difficult to get the 20 + movies a month plus as i stated before i use the online system to get movies that are not availible at the stores so why would i go to bb store to return movies

It will be a way to get your online available movies shipped quicker. From the online FAQ

"Once the store checks in your Online rental, the next available DVD from your Queue will be shipped within the next business day."

They don't ship on the weekend.

I returned 2 movies to a store on Thursday, BB shipped 2 Friday, I received 1 on Satruday and the BB ETA for it was Monday and the other is Tuesday. Return your online movies to the store and get a free DVD from the store if you want one or wait on the USPS.
This is a definite way to see if BB is throttling.

[MikeyBK]

So in essence, what I am thinking will happen when I go back to BB, is...

On Tuesday I return 3 online movies to the store, and get three in-store DVDs, then on Weds they send the next three in my queue, I get all three by Fri-Sat, watch them all over the weekend and return them by Sun-Mon night and get three instore DVDs, then on Mon or Tues BB online sends the next three in my queue because by then they should have cleared the one I returned on Tuesday of the prior week, right?

Looks like potentially 12 per week, no?
Oh yeah, also the free coupon for another instore DVD....