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My Fling with Blockbuster Total Access
By ochua1 | March 18, 2008
I’m currently separated from Netflix. We’ve had an on-again, off-again relationship since 2001.
It’s nice that you can put your account on hold now. It makes the breakup less harsh, but a 90-day limit on the hold isn’t always long enough. (Sometimes, DVD burnout takes longer to recover from.)
I still remember the first time I tried to cancel service, too. You had to call in. There was no option to cancel on the website. And you know what happens when the only option is to call…They make it hard for you to cancel. I’m glad things have changed.
Anyway, I was reading Hacking Netflix and found an old post with the bbstore code. I’ve been flirting with the idea of trying Blockbuster Total Access for some time. I’ve always been reluctant. It felt like I would be cheating on Netflix.
My wife is one of those people who will only watch a certain movie if she’s in the mood for it. (When it comes to me, as long as I have the time, I can watch anything. Call it my insatiable thirst for knowledge…) That’s where Netflix and my wife don’t mesh and how Blockbuster entered the picture.
Blockbuster has a great business model where you can receive DVDs in the mail and, if you feel like it, return it to one of the brick-and-mortar stores and get another one. For no extra charge! It’s what separates Blockbuster from Netflix and it’s a pretty big thing.
The bbstore code gets you three out at a time and up to five in-store exchanges per month.
Or so they say…
We’re not even done with our first month, but we’ve already gotten to exchange DVDs in-store more than the limit of five.
How is that, you ask?
Well, we started our subscription during the middle of the month. When the 1st of March came midway through our trial month, the exchange counter at the bottom of the receipt reset to zero. I guess that could be expected. It’s easier to just reset everyone’s accounts on the same day.
What I wasn’t expecting, though, was the counter to not be cumulative amongst different stores. I have been going to two stores. One in Rancho Bernardo and one in Tustin. (Yes, one’s in San Diego County and the other is in Orange County.)
Each has a separate counter.
(The Blockbuster in 4S Ranch doesn’t handle Total Access, which is a bummer, because it’s only two blocks from our house. To exchange DVDs, we have to go three miles to Rancho Bernardo.)
I know that when you go to a Blockbuster location for the first time, you need to be entered into their system. So, does this mean that all a store knows is that you’re a Blockbuster member and a member of Total Access? Does this mean that you can, in a way, get “unlimited in-store exchanges” without paying the almost double monthly fee by going to a different store when you’ve hit your “limit”?
I don’t/can’t watch enough movies to find out, but it does seem interesting.
Overall, Blockbuster’s been great. The nearest distribution center is in Santa Ana, just like Netflix. Turnaround is quick, just like Netflix. And when you exchange at a store, the next disc in your queue is sent in a day or two. You don’t even need to return the disc you got from the store before the next one ships! So, if you exchange three at a store, you’ll have the three from the store and, in a couple days, three more…for a total of six!
Something else interesting happened when we rented a two-disc movie. The two discs ship separately but count as one rental. Part 2 came a day before Part 1, which ticked me off. (Can’t fault Blockbuster; It’s a post office problem.) I quickly forgot about that when we returned it and the store employee asked if I wanted another rental. (I declined and told him it was a two-disc movie.) It didn’t seem to matter that it was technically one rental. The computer treats it as two. And when the next movie shipped, two movies shipped. I now had a total of four out! WTF?
Well, that was short-lived. The system corrected itself when I returned the next movie.
Now, back to the day after I signed up. I received an email titled, “Your Queue Needs Attention.” I opened it, thinking it was important.
It was not.
It was an ad for Oscar winners.
That left a bad taste in my mouth. That’s something spammers do. I wasn’t impressed.
I’m glad it hasn’t happened again.
So, my heart is now torn. Netflix? Or Blockbuster?
Oh, Netflix. We’ve been through so much. You know my likes and dislikes. You can give me pretty much anything I’m looking for; Your repertoire is so much more vast. Your interface is so much more refined.
But, Blockbuster…It’s so nice to be able to give you a booty call. (As long as it’s before 11pm.)
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