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Bye Bye Blockbuster - Hello Red Box and Netflix

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 8:23 pm
by disneyboy20022

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 8:41 pm
by ajmrowland
yet, Family Video's kicking more than the biggest b&m video rental chain in the country. Of course, Blockbuster spends more money.

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 8:53 pm
by Elladorine
We just stopped using Blockbuster's mail-in service this past week (which is similar to Netflix) because they changed their policies on turning the mail-ins in for free local rentals and such.

Might as well just stick with Netflix. :p

We don't have Family Video out here, and with that being said I don't care much for their hiring process. :roll:

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 8:56 pm
by jpanimation
I remember when we rented VHS tapes and Super Nintendo games and we had about 7 or 8 different rental places in our area (prices weren't as bad compared to buying price and digital was nowhere to be seen). Now Home Video Theater, Iggle Video (within Giant Eagle), Hollywood Video, and surrounding Blockbusters have all closed. Family Video is all we have left but I don't see that lasting too much longer as they are WAY overpriced (understandable as its there only business). No one can compete with Netflix.

I do all my renting from my local Drugmart, in which I can rent new Blu-rays for 79cents on Mondays or I just rent the Blu-rays for free from my library. In tough times like these, you just cant afford the $5/1night rentals from Blockbuster and co.

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 9:20 pm
by SpringHeelJack
jpanimation wrote:Iggle Video (within Giant Eagle)
I'm shocked anyone else here knew of Iggle Video. Or Giant Eagle.

I'm frankly still surprised Blockbuster hasn't gone under. With a combination one-at-a-time plan from Netflix and a library card, I've pretty much gotten to see anything I've wanted to. And much cheaper than Blockbuster... when my boyfriend rented "Juno", he was shocked to see it was like five bucks for one night, which is pretty much bull plop. Not to mention in the few Blockbusters I've been in, the employees have been jerks. Not that that's always the case, but they've certainly never done anything to win me over.

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 9:35 pm
by Isidour
The high prices for each rent, the increasing technology(which of course includes the digital media) and in some countries the "bootleggin" became an unbeatable challenge to the Blockbusters

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:19 pm
by ajmrowland
Of course, since I don't rent games often anymore, this may mean a gamefly subscription as well.

Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 1:06 am
by Sky Syndrome
SpringHeelJack wrote:
jpanimation wrote:Iggle Video (within Giant Eagle)
I'm shocked anyone else here knew of Iggle Video. Or Giant Eagle.

I'm frankly still surprised Blockbuster hasn't gone under. With a combination one-at-a-time plan from Netflix and a library card, I've pretty much gotten to see anything I've wanted to. And much cheaper than Blockbuster... when my boyfriend rented "Juno", he was shocked to see it was like five bucks for one night, which is pretty much bull plop. Not to mention in the few Blockbusters I've been in, the employees have been jerks. Not that that's always the case, but they've certainly never done anything to win me over.
Five dollars for a rental is insane. The movie rental shop in my town is little and obscured and they only charge around $2.25 for an older movie (keep it for two days) and a little higher than that for a new movie (keep for one evening).

Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 1:20 am
by Lazario
I've hated Blockbuster for many, many years now. Their in-store selection sucks. Big time. And I'll bet their online selection isn't as good at Netflix.

So, fingers-crossed for the potential death of Blockbuster.

Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 11:03 am
by Mushu2083
I don't even rent DVDs anymore. I just borrow from friends or I just buy them. I worked at Blockbuster in late 2003. It was quite the experience. Especially when we were out of a certain movie and wouldn't offer rain checks for it. Last time I rented anything from a Blockbuster was earlier in the year and it was a video game.

Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 4:00 pm
by Prudence
I usually just use YouTube now. Not really legal on the parts of the people putting the movies on YouTube, but I appreciate it!

Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 4:08 pm
by blackcauldron85
So, today I used a Redbox for the first time. I even had a free movie rental code that I used (I still had to swipe my debit card, though). I brought the movie home, watched it, and brought it back to return it. BUT, the machine said that it was full, that I can either come back or go to another Redbox location to return the movie! I was not happy. So, I drove out of my way (and on a busy road, in rush hour traffic :roll:) to bring it to another 7-11 store, and I went there, and I got the same message on that machine. It is a given that, at 4:45pm, most Redbox machines will not be taking returns due to being full? Tomorrow morning, the machine nearby better not be full, or else I will be mad!

Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 5:43 pm
by rs_milo_whatever
I had never even thought about a redbox's capacity, I'm sorry to hear you had such a bad time. Seems like the little convenience I thought redbox had has just left my mind.

Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 6:15 pm
by Flanger-Hanger
Though I didn't use Blockbuster in the past, the concept of a video rental store is just useless to me. There is only so much you can have in stock at any given time and there are many alternatives to see movies for a lesser price without having to worry about things like scratched/beat up discs.

Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 8:23 pm
by ajmrowland
I always thought BB's selection was rather good. That said, Netflix is the best. There's no denying that almost every title available is on Netflix.

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 6:01 am
by rexcrk
The Blockbuster in my town closed back in the summer =( Now all we have is a Redbox by the grocery store I work at.

It's not a big deal for me for movies 'cause I already own all the best movies :P . However, it does suck if I wanted to rent an older movie, because Red Box only has new movies. And it also sucks if I wanna rent a video game, 'cause now there's no where to rent games :cry:

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 7:42 am
by PeterPanfan
RedBox seems like a waste, and with Amy's new story, it only adds to my theory.

I mean, it just seems kind of sketchy. Why can't you just use regular money instead of a credit/debit card when it's only $1 per night? And if you have to wait since it can be overloaded, that's crap.

I'll stick to the wonderful Netflix, thank you very much.

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 7:43 am
by blackcauldron85
I haven't ventured out yet to RedBox today, so I guess I'll post back when I return the movie (if I can), but I was on Blockbuster's website a couple days ago, and you can download a movie to rent for $3.99. I canceled Netflix recently since I watched pretty much all the older movies I wanted to, and I figured that I'd use the library & Netflix for other films, but Corbin Bleu's newest movie came out yesterday, and RedBox doesn't have it, so I looked on Blockbuster's site. $3.99 is still cheaper than renting from the actual store, so I'll probably just do that (and I can post my experience with the ease of their website if and when I do).

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 8:16 am
by ajmrowland
Yeah, well with Netflix, Streaming is free for members.

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 9:07 am
by IagoZazu
I don't rent movies or video games anymore. It doesn't surprise me that Netflix is king because accessibility and easiness rule.