This happened to me a couple weeks ago .. I wrote to CS support and they immediately sent me 2 coupons for free in store game of dvd retails .. I believe it was a glitch in the system and not throttling .. it hasn't happened at all Since

@jonthomasdesigns: Game OR dvd .. not of : )

Yes I never ever considered going to Blockbuster. Ihave been using netflix since it's inception and have been very happy. Sure some times they lose a disk and they take care of it right away.

@jonthomasdesigns: Awww. And here I am waiting on the game of dvd special edition to come out for the ps3. Is the only way to play this game of dvd through in store retails? I'd sure like a copy that I could take home. :P

They do this to me on a regular basis. My problem is that a couple of years ago I complained about their service when they tried to change the way my subscription worked and I seem to be locked into an old-style account now. I'm not about to complain too much otherwise my account will get looked at too carefully and "fixed." I won't depress you with how good my grandfathered plan is especially compared to how crappy and expensive they are now. But its good.

This happened to me last week. I signed up for the trial membership and returned my first mailed movie to the local blockbuster store. I dropped the movie off at Blockbuster on Sunday. On Tuesday I received notice that the movie was received, on Thursday I called because they still hadn't shipped my next selection. The Indian call center woman claimed it was an error and all returns to a store post within 24 hours. They sent me a coupon for a free rental. If it happens again, I'll cancel and go to Netflix.

I think I'm one of the few to be satisfied with Blockbuster's deal, though I know full well that poor overall business performance is part of the reason people are wary of Blockbuster.

When I started (I'm fairly sure it still applies), the in-store exchange price was comparable to or lower than Netflix's unlimited rentals/month deal. I didn't have a problem with their in-store rental exchange program except for the fact that it added to the number of DVDs I had waiting at home for me to watch.

I would suggest trying their non-in-store rental plan. I haven't had any problems with it and find that the website/mailing side's customer service is really efficient (way more than some dude in a store who doesn't care about scanning your envelope as returned).

Not trying to stick up for them, but just saying that I've been satisfied with their out-of-store crew. That, and I hate the non-chalant/smug attitude of my nearest Blockbuster's manager. I bet he's not even a real film snob...

It was similar stuff like this that caused me to cancel my blockbuster by mail membership. It used to be that if I sent a movie in on Monday, Blockbuster would check it in Tuesday, send me the next one also on Tuesday and my new movie would arrive on Wednesday. Then it became magically slower, they would still get their movies from me in one day, but it would take 2-3 days for them to send me out the next one and 2 mailing days for it to arrive to me. I had dropped off in the store before and had great success doing so (dropped one at the store Monday at lunch and had the next movie in my queue on Tuesday). But then the store drop off started doing the same thing.

After a few weeks of waiting 5+ days per movie I canceled my membership. I think I'll join netflix, but so far redbox has been cheaper and a better fit.

@Shaftoe: Last week netflix shut off my account for 4 days because i said a movie was lost .. I have reported a few movies lost but i always returned them when they showed up .. I guess none of them are perfect : )

I was a Blockbuster loyalist until last month, mostly because I liked how the in-store returns meant that I could practically get unlimited movies. (Plus, I'd joined right when it began, so I was grandfathered into their best monthly plans.) But the new policy of not mailing movies until the in-store was returned was the breaking point for me, along with rates that kept going up and up despite my charter member status. Also, have you noticed that the website has very few new releases?

I thought that I couldn't get a Netflix account because I'd had one years ago, forgot to return a movie, and never cancelled the account even when switching credit card numbers. (Yes, I was stupid and naive.) I finally set up a trial membership last month, got the previous mess sorted out, and have been very happy since then. So much faster! Better selection! And I LOVE the new feature that lets me add movies to my queue and watch them instantly on my TiVo.

WHY do people use Blockbuster? Their selection SUCKS, their service SUCKS.

@jonthomasdesigns: I've never had them shut my service off, and I've reported lost movies here and there. Are you reporting a lot of lost dvds?

@John Henschen: "but it's good". Nothing about blockbuster is good.

@Chadams28: If you're going to do their non-in-store rental plan, why not just use Netflix? Blockbuster's selection sucks.

I'll still stick with Blockbuster. Right now, it's the better deal for me. (I am lucky to have one of the early plans.) Plus, Netflix only let me have 500 movies in my queue, and I haven't found Blockbuster's limit yet. (And when a season of a TV show can be 3-4 discs, it adds up.)

I will remind the wavers of the Netflix forever flag that when Blockbuster does go under, Netflix's prices will rise again.

@Shaftoe: I quit nexflix because of the totally unreasonable wait times on some movies. When short wait means more than a month, they have a problem. No to mention the disks constantly showing up scratched and ruined because people have no respect for other people's property.

@catskyfire: Netflix has always had reasonable prices. Even the price rasing has been minimal. AND they offer free streaming.

Also, NetFlix supports Indie movie makers/movies. Blockbuster sucks.

There were some of us in our office who split a membership three ways for a couple of months (a few years ago) and there was a lag in processing returns after we'd mail them back in. So we discovered an option (which may not be there any more) that allowed us to indicate that we had returned a movie (as early as 3 days after receiving it) which allowed us, if we monitored their system for them, to force the queue to send the next movie regardless of how slow it was responding.

@catskyfire:

I had one of the early plans also but went back to Netflix since they have a faster turnaround time. Blockbuster changing their in-store rental policy nullified their advantage in my opinion.

They started throttling soon after they launched BB Online. On the 3 DVDs/month plan, I was able to get 18-20/month in the beginning. Six months later, I was lucky to get 12. It used to take 2 days max to see a returned movie cleared off your cue, then it started to take 4 or 5 days, usually at the end of the month.

Co-incidence?

'tard

Ive been a member since October 2004 which was shortly after Blockbuster Online went out of Beta. Aside from a $2 rate increase to $19.99 about a year later, I have not had any other rate increases or decreases in level of service, which includes still getting 2 free game rentals (which was removed as an option a while ago) and still being on the unlimited 3 out by mail/unlimited in store returns plan that was added for a higher price to new members. Not to mention not charging extra for Blu Ray movies which is a nice benefit over Netflix as well.

I am a Blockbuster employee. Movies not clearing your online account after you dropped them off at the store is *not* a result of throttling - it is a result of a upgrade gone sour. I've received several complaints regarding this and have spoken with both my district manager and regional manager - they are aware of this and have escalated the issue to the website developers. If the problem is not already taken care of, it will be shortly. In the meantime, please call Blockbuster Online Support and tell them the situation - they will clear your account and send you the next movie. On behalf of Blockbuster, sorry about this inconvenience.

I was on the BlockBuster plan a while back. Their envelopes suck. I had missing movies for 2 weeks straight, then I canceled my membership and went to Redbox. Luckly they didn't question the missing movies and resent them right away. Some of the the missing movies showed up a week later and I kept them.

I thought Netflix used to throttle my movies too. If I returned my movies right away within one day of watching them, the next movies in my queue didn't arrive for another 5 days or so. There was a processing center in town and I know it don't take more than 1 day for the movie to get returned. For my monthly average, I couldn't get more than 12 movies a month with the 3 movies out at a time plan.

Netflix used to throttle me a few years ago, but they haven't done it for some time. How does BB think they can get away with it if their competitor doesn't?

What I did was switch to BB, then after getting throttled by them and the loss of the free in store exchange, switching back to Netflix. Now they don't throttle so here I stay.

Blue Ray people complain about a $4 premium per month at Netflix, but as least at Netflix you actually get your movies. Seems like if you want Blue Ray $1 a week is worth it.

Netflix does this to me too sometimes. I have weeks where I get a DVD, watch it and return it the same day. I always find they take an extra day or two when I'm quick with my returns.

@jonthomasdesigns: I used to have Blockbuster T.A. & Netflix, three at-a-time plans for both, and over the course of three months, this is how it broke down:

Netflix: 81 Movies received
Blockbuster: A puny 49 movies received

Note that when each movie was delivered, it was always taken to the dropbox for same-day pickup later that evening. Netflix had a two-day turnaround (one day to send back, then another to receive a new one). Blockbuster on the other hand was able to turn it around in FOUR days at the quickest, and I live in downtown Chicago. Sometimes it would take five or six days after sending movies back before they would show up as received.

I'm 100% sure that this is intentional. The more movies I rented, the slower they got.

Btw, if you're wondering what I was doing with them, I had all my DVDs stolen from a storage unit, and I was using these to make backups. It's legal since I originally purchased the titles... I think.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind whatsoever that Blockbuster throttles.

I had them for about a year after feeling that Netflix was throttling me. How naive I was!

I had 3 out at a time and would almost never have a DVD more than two days. In other words, I was a heavy user. Everything was fine for about 6 months or so, then I noticed short delays every now and then. Things got progressively worst as I went along, capping in one FULL week passing without a single DVD being shipped, even though I had at least one open spot every day and 3, THREE! open spots Wed-Fri. I complained multiple times and would often receive coupons for free in-store rentals. But eventually, this started to defeat the purpose of DVD rental-by-mail and they lost me when I went back to Netflix. I like Blockbuster's site and selection better, plus that you can get free in-store rentals, but when they constantly mess up for (or worse yet, screw over) their customers, they lose any appeal.

I returned a few in-store rentals and my queue did not update for a few days as well.

I have dealt with both Blockbuster and Netflix, and I switched from Netflix to Blockbuster because Netflix was throttling movies. The biggest advantage Blockbuster has over Netflix, is that if you go to the store on Tuesday when the movie comes out, you are guaranteed to get a new rental, there is no way to throttle you. Granted, my rentals take 1 day to get shipped. With Blockbuster changing their system to prevent people from renting more movies, I will probably switch it up again.

Haha...I can see a class action lawsuit forming in some lawyer's mind right now.

@Shaftoe: I switched from Netflix to Blockbuster because it became obvious I was being throttled (a week-long turnaround for a movie). This got really frustrating when I received a broken DVD twice in a row for the same movie. I switched to Blockbuster because of the in-store trades, back when you still got an unlimited number of them. But I got tired of them because they didn't stick to your queue order, sometimes getting a movie 6 spots down from the top. Sometimes a movie that I didn't feel like watching, so it'd lay on the table for a couple weeks. And finding something to trade it in for was a bit of a chore. I finally realized I wasn't getting my money's worth and switched back to Netflix after I tried online viewing with my sister's account. I've been happy ever since.

@nakedscience: Seriously. Half the time I wouldn't even bother to take the time to browse, just flop the disc on the counter so I'd get the next one in my queue. Now that I'm back on Netflix, I watch a lot more movies online than I do with the dvds in the mail anyway. Since it seems many of them never become unavailable online, it's like having a gigantic video library. Not bad for a minimum of $9 a month.

Yes. Netflix.

The final gasps of a dying giant.

uhhh.... not only does your "alternative", Netflix, do this ever more aggressively, as you reported several times:

[consumerist.com]

but, they actually had a major class action lawsuit over it:

[www.acmetech.com]

and, that class action led to one of the worst settlements - ever:

[consumerist.com]

@catskyfire: Only 500? I don't plan my movie view that far in advance. Renting TV shows through the mail is a pain, but Netflix has some of them available online, which is zero waiting.

They all do this, but Blockbuster is the worst about it. Sign up for Netflix, that is what I did.

@Ouze: Do they still throttle though? They definitely did that to me in 2005 when I used Netflix exclusively for about 6 months. But I moved and Netflix wasn't as convenient for me and haven't used it since.

@Ouze: What a good memory! Thanks again for linking your references.

It appears that throttling will be a standard practice with no consequence. : (

I actually subscribed to both in the past(netflix first, then moved to BB) but canceled when BB decided to hike up its rates and put a cap on in-store returns at the same time.

@diasdiem: ikr, what a fucking complaint.

@Ouze: I used to rent a LOT, and was never really throttled. And they've always been pretty honest about it (at least now).

And they have online viewing, which Blockbuster doesn't have. And they have a MUCH larger selection than Blockbuster does.

Left for the same reason. Now use Redbox for 1/5 of the cost.

@nakedscience: People still go to Lackluster because for those who don't live in overlapping markets, it's unfortunately the only game in town. Mom and Pop rentals no longer exist, and Hollywood Video is shadow of its former self.

I used to live where there was a Video Update, and they had reasonable prices, factual information on renting ("2 days" means 48 hours, not "next day until midnight"), VU doesn't censor movies, and it carries a good foreign film selection, among other things. Sadly, there isn't one where I live now or I'd still be a customer.

@Ouze: Netflix did, but not anymore(at least to me).

And even if BB didn't they still seem to have less selection and less new title availability.

There is at least some consequence, it appears to be a large reason the Netflix is doing better.

Allow me to rant. I got the Blockbuster movies-in-the-mail thing a couple years ago, back when it was a pretty sweet deal. Two at a time mail-ins, with unlimited in-store exchanges for about $16 a month plus a coupon for a free rental once a month. The in-store exchanges meant that I usually got my next two envelopes within ~2 days, practically always before I had finished the movies from the store. I really liked the ability to go grab a movie at the spur of the moment, and watch it on my TV, not my computer. However, things have been getting steadily less awesome since I started with them. First they changed the plans around. My bill went up $2 a month, which I was ok with because it was still about half the price that new subscribers would have to pay for the same service, and I still considered it a good deal. Then the movies seemed to take a little longer to get to me, maybe every 3rd movie seemed to take an extra two days or so, but it really didn't affect me much. Then they changed the way in-store exchanges work, essentially throttling the number of envelopes you receive YET TRYING TO PASS IT OFF AS A CONVENIENT NEW SERVICE. Then my local brick-and-mortar store closed, basically nullifying the whole convenience factor of the in-store exchanges. This is basically my last month with them.
What really pisses me off is that when I think back to when I first started with them, it was a really great service and it definitely gave Netflix a run for the money - even my Netflix friends thought the in-store exchange thing was great. I feel that the whole venture failed not because it was a bad idea, but because it was mismanaged. It's as if they got into the movies-in-the-mail thing reluctantly, thinking that it would be a small part of their operation, and when it took off they didn't know how to manage it. Just think, Netflix has to spend 84 cents for each envelope just for shipping. All Blockbuster has to do is take all the in-store exchanges collected at a branch, drop them all into a big envelope and mail them back in bulk - a big savings on what is probably their biggest expense. You'd think someone with an MBA could figure out a way to make that work for their bottom line. And their piss-poor support for movie downloads - I have a Mac, so I can't watch movies online? WTF???
I guess it's just an example of a big corporation that's unable/unwilling to change with the times... seems to be plenty of those around these days.

Kinda hard to feel bad for morons still renting from Blockbuster.

I use Blockbuster, at least until they go under. I've rather liked having the ability to get new releases in store on the weekend of release. It's more reliable than sending in your latest DVD.

If it gets worse, I'll just try Netflix. It's not like it's hard to make the switch.

@lilyHaze: It is in Netflix's TOS that they can throttle, deliver your DVDs from centers that aren't your closest one, and so on.

If you spend too much time below $2 per rental, you can expect them to start slowing you down after awhile.

i've been using Blockbuster Total Access since early 2007. I get two rentals in the mail, which i can then trade for two rentals in the store, and also i get an ecoupon good for a free game or movie in store. My wife and i aren't heavy movie watchers, but 4 movies (including bluray at no extra charge) and 1 game a month for $8.00 is not a bad deal at all. I'm not saying that the heavier users aren't having problems, but BB works well for those of who are light users.