netflix vs. blockbuster online

[BlahBlahYouToo]

which do you think is better? which plan do you have, and how much do you pay per month?

i have BBO (now $12.99/mo.), unlimited online per month (1 out at a time), 2 in-store exchanges per month.
i like that you can exchange in store and that they carry blu-ray.
i like that BBO usually takes 2, sometimes 3 days to get to my house.

i'm thinking about making the switch since they upped the rates from $9.99 but i know nothing about netflix, how good their service and selection is.

you guys aren't including a lot of pertinent information such as your plan and your price.
please include:
1. your plan - how many out a month, how many out each time
e.g. unlimited per month, 3 at a time
2. your price, e.g. $14.99 per month
3. (optional) any other perks, e.g. 2 in store exchanges

 

[MajorMullet]

I have Netflix, it's the only one I've used. The in store exchanges sound very interesting though. My wife and I have been thinking about switching so I'm interested to see what everyone thinks as well.

 

[Jugernot]

With netflix, I get movies in 2 days versus the 4-5 days it takes a coworker to get movies from BBO. Though I do like the fact that you can exchange at the store, though late fees apply then.

 

[Queasy]

I like Blockbuster because I'm getting better value for my money with the in-store exchanges. I'm pissed that they've changed where you could exchange a movie for a game for free though. Now it is just discounted to $4.95.

I wasn't shocked at all when they got rid of the unlimited in-store exchanges though. That was ripe for abuse. I was talking with a Blockbuster store employee yesterday about it and he said that stores were losing up to 50% of their revenue because of the unlimited free exchanges.

I've had Netflix in the past.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: Jugernot
With netflix, I get movies in 2 days versus the 4-5 days it takes a coworker to get movies from BBO. Though I do like the fact that you can exchange at the store, though late fees apply then.

You have 5 or 7 days (I forget which) to return the movie AFTER the due date before they charge you late fees.

 

[steppinthrax]

I use Redbox.

www.redbox.com

$1.00 a night. It's better then going with some plan where you find one month there's no movies to rent and you just wasted your money.

Blockbuster is just rip off bullshit (the store). I don't know why they are still in business.

 

[nageov3t]

I use netflix and I've never had a reason to think about using anything else.

great selection, and the only time it's ever taken more than 2 days to get a movie to my house (or from the mailbox back to the warehouse) is when they've had to ship it from out of state, which I think has only happened twice.

I couldn't even tell you if there's a blockbuster anywhere near my house, and the netflix "watch it now" thing is great when I've got time to waste at work or when there's nothing on TV (because optimum on-demand fricken' sucks hardcore)

 

[torpid]

I've used both. Blockbuster took longer, had inferior selection, and a crappy website. That was several years ago, though.

 

[dyna]

I recently signed up with netflix. If you go to the netflix site you don't get to see much unless you actually signup. There is quite a bit of functionality they don't show the unregistered user. They have a great feature if you have multiple people in your household so that they can have their own movie queue's. I have found a lot of movies, I didn't think about from their suggestions they give you when you add a movie to your queue.

The biggest annoyance to me is that they do not do a great job of informing you of the newer releases. Probably because of popularity they make them obscure.

 

[Turkey22]

I've been a member of both and they are both bad in that after a while if you have a quick turnaround on your movies your priority is dropped like a stone and you can never get new movies again. That being said when bb added the instore exchanges it removed that problem. If you do not do exchanges their prices are the same but I think netflix is slightly faster.

 

[ghostman]

I've been thinking about the Netflix and BB as well. Not knowing their turnaround, I'm not sure which of their plans are most suitable for me. How many DVDs/month is typical on each plan (not counting in-store exchanges for BB or online viewing time)?

 

[Caminetto]

I'm done with Blockbuster.
They have doubled the price in the last 6 months.
They are slow to mail.
On returns, if you don't get to the store by early afternoon on Tuesdays you won't be able to get the hottest releases for a month.
You get no credit for returning movies the next day while the kiddies keep them for a week so their pals can see them, creating the wait for new ones.
Blockbuster's CEO was quoted as saying he would be glad to lose customers (like myself) who watch too many movies (6 a week). What the hell kind of statement is that?

Screw them!

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

updated

 

[Inspector Jihad]

what about gameznflix or whatever...anyone ever use that?

 

[DangerAardvark]

Netflix
$13.99 a month, 2 movies at a time, unlimited. Takes 2 business days on average to come in. 14 Hrs "Watch Instantly" online. Watch instantly is pretty much the shit. So awesome to watch a whole season of 30 Rock episode by episode at your leisure.

 

[Deeko]

I HAD blockbuster over the summer, when they had unlimited in store exchange, which was excellent (by the way - its 14 days, or 9 for new releases, before you get a late fee, and even then its only like $2). When they got rid of that, I canceled, and apparently they just jacked up the price even more. Nowadays, I'd say go Netflix.

 

[JackBurton]

Netflix! I love it! And let me tell you, NOT going into a video store is perk enough for me. And the turn around times are great! No complaints here. Oh, I have the 3 out at one time deal, I forget how much I pay a month though.

 

[dr150]

BB was the sh!t when they had unlimited in store exchanges. I thoroughly took advantage of that.

Their suscriber base exponentially went up with this system...which led to ques for online movies. No big deal as you could always go in-store for the latest releases. But their huge new suscriber base also led to new releases being off the shelf by Tuesday afternoons.

Now that millions are with BB, that means better availability with Netflix (whom I'm currently with and stay with until those motherfvckers THROTTLE me like they did to me years ago).

 

[Queasy]

I'll give everyone a tip about Blockbuster and in-store exchanges. The 5 exchange limit is only per store, not for your account. You can go to another store near you (if you have one) and do another five exchanges there.

I've got 2 BBs near my house and another 2 near my job so I can do unlimited exchanges if I wanted to (though I haven't done anymore than two stores).

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

BBQ was actually slower but when they had the free in-store exchange, it made it possible for me to rent up to 12 DVDs a week. Netflix was faster in that I got my stuff in 1 day while BBQ took 2 days 80% of the time. I preffered Netflix though.

 

[0roo0roo]

netflix all the way. every improvement blockbuster has made has been forced by netflix. i remember the bad old days when blockbuster ruled the market, it was sh*t on the consumer all the way. they've always been corporate scum that have never cared about movies at all. just greed. i will never give them a dime again.

 

[wyvrn]

I used Netflix for about a year a few years ago. I switched to BB when I worked at Corporate (don't anymore). Right now I still have BB online. I usually get movies pretty quick, but I am also in Dallas where they have their corp. headquarters and a large distribution center. With the in-store exchanges, BB is a better deal.

I am VERY interested in watching movies online, but I understand Netflix only has 6000 titles filled mostly with TV series. It's a nice start, but I wouldn't switch until they had more selection. Right now I am happy where I am.

edit: John Antioco (former CEO) is gone and has been replaced by Carl Icahn. The business model really started changing when he came on board. They are trying to keep the company profitable, but the only problem is they are behind Netflix in the online watching business model. Overall, BB has higher revenues. But they are going to have to quickly develop their online model, or buy someone like cinemanow, if they are going to compete 5 years from now.

 

[Jadow]

I switched from Netflix to BB and loved it for about 6 months, but BB went and F'ed it all up, so now I am a subscriber to neither.

 

[ultimatebob]

Netflix user here! I don't have a Blockbuster near me, so the whole "but you can return them to the store!" argument is pretty much moot for me.

 

[pcslookout]

Blockbuster because they now ship faster.