Posts about Redbox

We Hope Redbox Customers Only Like Playing The First Half Of Max Payne 3
UPDATE: Redbox has issued a statement to Consumerist explaining why they are only renting out the first half of the game. More »

Redbox Might Be Able To Stop Misdirected Receipts
Being an early adopter of something has its privileges and its disadvantages. Chris joined Gmail early enough that he gets to have an address that consists of his first two initials and his very common last name. That's pretty neat for him, but has led to a really annoying case of mistaken identity. He keeps getting someone else's Redbox receipts. A person who has a similar name, but lives in a different state and rents from Redbox an awful lot. The good news? Redbox has a solution for this. Kinda. More »

No, You Didn't Rent A Pirated DVD From Redbox
Nathan didn't know who it was replacing Redbox DVDs with ripped and burned copies in his city, but he approved. Kinda. He like pirated copies better, without all of the un-skippable trailers and other nonsense that studios cram on DVDs. "I don't know who this vigilante is, but I'm thankful for him," he wrote. Only there was no vigilante stealing discs from Redbox en masse. This Sony DVD-R with the movie title written in felt-tip pen is an official, legal copy of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." More »

I Just Want To Give Redbox $1.50
Lindsay rented a DVD from Redbox, and kept it longer than planned. Except her card on file was closed, and they couldn't charge the extra rental fees to it. Can they take her payment over the phone? No. They aren't set up to handle this situation, and don't particularly want her money. More »

Universal, Redbox Cut Deal To Maintain 28-Day Rental Delay
Universal will not follow the lead of Warner Bros. by restricting sales of DVDs to rental services for 56 days. Instead, the studio worked out an extension of its current deal with Redbox that will continue to keep Universal's discs out of renters' hands for 28 days. More »

Look For Blockbuster Express Kiosks To Be Replaced With Redbox Stands
Redbox parent Coinstar is in a grabby mood this week, not only teaming with Verizon to create a streaming service to compete with Netflix, but buying Blockbuster Express kiosk-operator NCR's entertainment vision, meaning all its rival kiosks will probably be taking on a reddish hue. More »

Verizon & Redbox Team Up In Unholy Video Alliance To Take On Netflix
In an attempt to woo Netflix customers who want either streaming video, DVD rental or both, Verizon and Coinstar's Redbox have joined forces to provide a new video service. The way they made the announcement, seems like they're kind of saying, "Yeah, we're not going to be Netflix, so, pick us!" More »

Redbox Says It Will Get Its Own Warner Bros. DVDs From Now On
Unhappy with the Warner Bros. plan to keep its DVDs away from rental companies for 56 days after release, Redbox says it will no longer buy DVDs from the studio and instead get them through "alternative means." More »

Enjoy Your Last Weekend Of $1 Redbox Rentals
The era of $1-per-night movie rentals was too sweet to last into November. Perhaps seeing some opportunity to up profits in the wake of Netflix's bumbling, Redbox announced its nightly DVD rental rate will rise to $1.20 on Monday. For now, Blu-rays will stick at $1.50 and video games will remain $2 per night. More »

I Don't Want Some Justin Bieber Fan's Redbox Receipts
Andrew has a common problem: he keeps getting someone else's mail. Not in his paper mailbox, but someone else's e-mail. A Justin Bieber fan in a different state entered his e-mail address when renting a DVD, and Andrew received the receipt. When he contacted Redbox to straighten out the mixup, their unhelpful solution was to block all e-mail receipts from Redbox. Yep, including his own. More »

Redbox Will Launch $2 Game Rentals In June
Finalizing a program it's been testing for months, Redbox announced it's making $2-per-night video game rentals available at more than 21,000 kiosks nationwide starting June 17. More »

Amazon To Battle Netflix, Offer Unlimited Streaming To Prime Members
Nearly six months after the initial reports that it was working on a subscription video streaming service, Amazon announced today that it was joining the group of companies trying to unseat Netflix as the king of video streaming services by offering a "new benefit" to Amazon Prime members — unlimited video streaming from a library of 5,000 titles. More »

Redbox Confirms Plans To Take On Netflix In Streaming Biz
Redbox wants to be the new Netflix, and the company is stepping into the realm of video streaming. More »

Blockbuster To Waste $15-20 Million On TV Ads
Bankrupt relic of a bygone time, Blockbuster Video, announced plans yesterday to launch its first national TV ad campaign since 2007 and that they plan on somehow taking aim at Redbox and Netflix. More »

Redbox Will Stream Movies Next Year
Not content to beckon to you subliminally from its kiosks planted in heavily trafficked areas, Redbox's corporate parent Coinstar announced it will launch a streaming service next year. Teaming with an unannounced partner, the instant rental service will go head to head with the Netflixes and Hulus of the world. More »

Redbox Will Rent Games For $2
In July, we reported on Redbox testing game rentals in select markets. And starting later this month, video game renters will be able to find their poison at even more Redbox kiosks. More »

CVS Stores To Get Redbox Kiosks
In an attempt to spread their retail footprint even further, Redbox has made a deal with pharmacy chain CVS to begin rolling out their video rental kiosks at stores across the country. More »

Redbox Randomly Charges $1.25?
Reader A. says Redbox randomly tried to charge him $1.25 for a $1 normal DVD rental. What's up with that? More »

Redbox Rolls Out Blu-ray Rentals Nationwide For $1.50 A Night
After wavering between charging $1.50 and $2 a night for Blu-ray rentals during its test program, Redbox has decided to go with the cheaper price as it makes the high-definition discs available nationwide at 13,300 kiosks, with plans to nearly double that number by the fall. More »

More People Getting DVDs From Library Than From Netflix Or Redbox
Why rent the cow when you can borrow the milk for free? That seems to be the mindset of many Americans, as a new study claims that more DVDs are borrowed from libraries each day than are rented via Netflix, Redbox or Blockbuster. More »

Redbox Wants To Get Into Online DVD Rental & Streaming Biz
While Redbox might be doing bang-up business with their 24,000 DVD rental kiosks around the country, the company knows how quickly you can go from the front of the pack to the rear (just ask Blockbuster). So in an attempt to compete with online rental and streaming service Netflix, Redbox's president says it's hatching a plan to expand its market to online users. More »

Your Redbox Reservation Is A Sacred, Unbreakable Covenant
We touched on this topic last week in a post about a broken Redbox machine, but reader Nick wants Consumerist readers to know something important about Redbox. Whether your local kiosk has been smashed in or you just plain change your mind, there is no power on earth that can cancel your reservation and give you a refund. None. More »

Redbox Testing Game Rentals, Higher Prices
As anyone who has followed the nosedive of Blockbuster knows, it's dangerous for a company in the video business to be too staid. Thus, DVD kiosk company Redbox is dipping its toes into the video game market at the same time it's also testing out higher price points in some areas. More »

Paramount And Redbox Buddy Up Against Rental-Delaying Studios
Paramount and Redbox hopped in bed together to assure renters that the studio's home video offerings will be in the rental kiosks the same day they go on sale. The move pits the studio squarely against Warner Bros., Universal and 20th Century Fox, all who have 28-day embargoes on companies renting out their stuff. More »

Blu-Ray Redbox Spotted In The Wild, Rental Costs $2 For First Day
While Redbox says that they're still figuring out price points for Blu-Ray discs in their movie kiosks, reader Dave discovered a box in the wild near San Francisco—clearly part of some test marketing effort. The price points are different from anything we've heard before. The machine offers Blu-Ray rentals for $2 for the first night, then $1 for each subsequent night. Yes, he sent pictures. More »

Blu-Rays Coming To Redbox With Price Hike
Redbox is finally latching on to the Blu-ray bandwagon, announcing it's months away from adding the pricier HD movies to its kiosks, but will be charging $1.50 a night rather than the standard buck it costs for DVDs. More »

Redbox CEO Scoffs At Netflix's Video Library
In April, it was Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes ragging on Netflix's selection of streaming video, now it's Mitch Lowe, CEO of more relevant competitor Redbox who is scoffing at Netflix's growing archive of older movies and TV shows. More »

Blockbuster Gets Warner Bros. Movies 28 Days Before Netflix
A week after Blockbuster announced it could be heading down the road to bankruptcy, there's some good news for the once-mammoth video vendor. They announced yesterday that they've reached an agreement with Time Warner that would allow them to rent Warner Bros. DVDs in their stores and by mail a full four weeks before Netflix. More »

Indiana County Won't Prosecute Stores With Redboxes
The Indiana prosecutor who sent letters threatening criminal prosecution to grocery and big-box stores containing video rental kiosks has decided not to prosecute because the general public thinks that the idea is incredibly stupid. More »

Indiana Prosecutor Wants PG, PG-13, And R-Rated Movies Out Of Redbox Kiosks
Redbox kiosks are cheap and convenient sources for DVD rentals. And, according to a prosecutor in southern Indiana, they're corrupting our children. Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Stanley Levco has sent letters threatening legal action against retailers providing space to Redbox and MovieCube kiosks. The problem? Automated kiosks don't have enough safeguards preventing minors from renting material that could theoretically harm them. More »

How Did This Used Redbox Disc Get Sold As A New DVD?
David noticed something strange about the purportedly new, sealed DVD that he bought at closeout chain Marshalls. He writes that when he unsealed and opened the case, the DVD inside formerly belonged to...Redbox?! More »

Redbox Offers Free Movie Rental Good For Six Whole Hours
Several readers in the Oklahoma City area wrote to us about a recent issue with Redbox. Kiosks all over the area were full and unable to accept DVD returns. Redbox made up for the outage by offering area consumers a free rental. Except the free rental code was only good for six hours after the message was sent out. More »

Redbox Customer Rents Blank Disk
Russ says he rented a movie from Redbox and ended up with a blank disc. He also says he can't get an answer from Redbox on what to do next.

I rented three DVDs for my kids at a San Antonio, TX location, then drove back home with them to Austin. When I took one of them out of its case, I noticed that it was a just a blank CD-R. The previous renter had taken the I.D. label from the original DVD and messily placed it on the CD-R. 

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Redbox Won't Take Reader's Money, Bans Credit Card Forever
What can you do when a company bans not you, but your only credit card? John explains that he returned some Redbox movies before his vacation. Then his vacation got really exciting, and his credit card was briefly and accidentally reported stolen. He straightened things out with the credit card company, but Redbox was not so forgiving. He owes the company $15, but they won't accept his money. Now he's unable to borrow from Redbox, and their customer service is no help. More »

Redbox Testing Higher Prices In Some Markets
Renting a DVD for $1 per day is a simple, easy-to-understand pricing scheme. But in some markets, Redbox kiosks are testing some new pricing plans. They will charge either $2 or $1.50 for the first night, and $1 for subsequent nights. More »

Yeah, Blockbuster Is Pretty Much F*#$%$

—>Back in the day there used to be these things called VHS tapes. They used to cost a lot of money — so there were these places you could go to rent them. The last surviving relic of this bygone era, Blockbuster Video (also known as the company that was almost stupid enough to buy Circuit City), announced in a regulatory filing today that it plans to close over 800 stores by the end of next year. This is nearly twice the number they previously announced.  More »

Redbox Sues Warner Bros. And Asks For Help From Consumers

—>Concerned that rentals are hacking into DVD sales profits, Warner Bros. has restricted rental companies such as Redbox and Neftlix from offering its movies until 28 days after movies hit retail shelves.  More »

What Should I Do When Redbox Has Indigestion?

—>John, like many people, enjoys renting movies from Redbox kiosks and does so frequently. Recently, the machine wouldn't accept his disc back. It's not a huge inconvenience, but he started to wonder why he, the customer, needs to go out of his way due to a problem on the company's end.  More »

Blue Redbox Experiencing A Severe Identity Crisis

—>Chris spotted this Blue Redbox at a Wal-Mart. Poor, confused box.  More »

Watch Out For Throttling If You're On A Blockbuster Rental Plan

—>Robert's recent experience with his local Blockbuster just underscores how ill-equipped the rental chain is to compete against Netflix and new-star-on-the-block Redbox. Whether Robert has caught them deliberately throttling his account, or he's just the victim of a poorly implemented system, it's not the kind of customer experience you should have to settle for anymore.  More »

If we owned a Blockbuster franchise, we'd seriously think about just renting out the space to a bunch of Redbox kiosks. Blockbuster reported a 42% drop in revenue for the first quarter of 2009, which CEO Jim Keyes blamed on people going out to watch movies at theaters instead. Regarding the Redbox threat, Keyes said they hope to have 3,000 kiosks functioning by the end of the year. Redbox, on the other hand, has about 12,000. [Reuters]  More »

Redbox Kiosks Crank Out Cheap DVD Rentals, Doom For Hollywood

—>With its ubiquitous DVD rental kiosks, Redbox has been known to toy with our emotions. The machines have taken up all the choice grocery store spots where your favorite stale gumball machines used to sit. And company execs taunted us by dreaming up that awesome Free Movie Mondays promotion only to vow to take it away by the end of the summer.  More »

Redbox Starts To Wean Customers Off Free Movie Mondays

—>A few readers contacted us, with tears in their eyes, to let us know that Redbox is ending their "Free Movie Mondays" promotion as we know it. Redbox kiosks, which seemingly sprouted overnight in every grocery store in the country a few years ago, let you rent newly-released DVDs for $1 per day. The free movie promotion sent a free rental code out every Monday in an e-mail or text message. After May 11, new codes will only be issued once per month, ending in August.  More »