Anyone Use Redbox Regularly?

[LuvsGurl]

Hello everyone,

This Netflix fiasco (price jump followed by the announcement that DVD rentals are being split off to form a new company) is starting to leave a sour taste in my mouth.

I've been a loyal Netflix subscriber for years, even cancelled my cable TV and went with just Netflix because of their great service and selection. But if I'm going to have to get my DVDs from one place and my streamed movies/shows from another I may just give Redbox a try. They're everywhere around here and not having to hassle with mailing the DVDs does sound appealing.

So I'd like to hear some opinions and reviews from people who use Redbox. How is the selection? How is the DVD quality? Is there such a thing as customer service or is it like getting a soda from the drink machine? (I.E. you get what pops out, good bad or ugly.) At least with Netflix I know that if I get a bad/scratched/broken disc I can report it and usually get a replacement within a day or so.

Thanks!

[nhdl]

it is like a soda machine. i go online and reserve my movies ahead of time. overall i am a big redbox fan.

[DailyDi]

I use Redbox all the time and they connect your email to your payment so you get a receipt by email and customer service is available. Have gotten free rental codes for my machine being messed up when I needed to return a movie, so sure they would do the same for a bad disc.

[ldatsea]

I use Redbox all the time and they connect your email to your payment so you get a receipt by email and customer service is available. Have gotten free rental codes for my machine being messed up when I needed to return a movie, so sure they would do the same for a bad disc.

I have had good service from redbox but the real lack of content is the biggest looser of the system...

[DailyDi]

Most of my locations have dual boxes now, so more selection

[DiaperPony]

Am I the only one excited about the Netflix change? Might be nice to rent some video games, if they don't charge too much.

[dmavn]

What's a DVD?

Oh, yea, those are those shiny things we put drinks on so they don't mess up the table.

...I had a whole diatribe in mind of the cost of doing business in today's economy, increases in postal rates, decreases in actual Netflix mail orders.. Etc. And how having them set as dual businesses it would be easier to liquidate one without effecting the other,.. But I think I will just leave it with the above...

[Kari]

Occasionally you get a defective DVD.

Either from previous customers letting their kids use them as a Frisbee.

But not usually much more than you'd get from Netflix or a store.

I understand Blockbuster/Dish Network has a plan to get back on top and basically put Netflix O.O.B.

http://news.cnet.com...details-friday/

[LuvsGurl]

Blockbuster is probably going to get a good many customers back as this progresses. Basically Netflix is saying "we don't care about you anymore" to their DVD customers, and they are discovering a large number of people still enjoy getting DVDs from them.

The time to phase out DVD rentals and go 100% for the online streaming route is coming, but I think Netflix jumped the gun by about 5 years. The recession is holding everything back, including the transition from physical to electronic media.

[BBB]

Well, in addition to the recession, there are licensing agreement issues.

From what I've read, and I'm no expert, once Netflix bought a physical DVD, they could rent it out as much as they wanted due to how some law is written, because they aren't reproducing the movie, they're just sending their copy out.

With streaming, they have to pay royalties or need an additional arrangement with the studios, or with a separate content provider (starz was in a contract with them I believe).

But I dunno. It's been a cluster fack.

Redbox is nice. We have 5 or 6 locations pretty close to my house. I use them sporadically, and have had good luck. No unplayable dvd's. I believe you can look up the available movies online too.

[Mama Melody]

I use redbox SO much. Easy, just the same time I go get groceries, I pick up a movie. The selection is pretty slim, but they usually have at least one thing I want to watch, and for a buck? Worth it!

[Loveable_guy]

I have read on Marketwatch.com that Netflicks is splitting the streaming video rental off and will most likely sell this new asset to Amazon.

Amazon will only offer streaming videos. If they were to take on video by mail the IRS will likely jump all over Amazon to collect sales tax. This would open the door to collect sales tax on all sales.

For the record I do my videos by mail with Netflicks

[BriGuy]

I personally don't like red box. I miss video stores. Red box can't make suggestions and they only have what is "popular". The level of automation we are starting to see is scaring me. It's putting more and more people out of a job.

[LuvsGurl]

I have read on Marketwatch.com that Netflicks is splitting the streaming video rental off and will most likely sell this new asset to Amazon.

Amazon will only offer streaming videos. If they were to take on video by mail the IRS will likely jump all over Amazon to collect sales tax. This would open the door to collect sales tax on all sales.

For the record I do my videos by mail with Netflicks

Interesting.

Last I heard Netflix was splitting off DVD by mail because they want to focus their efforts solely on streaming. I don't know why they would sell their streaming business to Amazon, as that would mean the end of the company completely.

In either case, Netflix's stock holders are sending a clear message... this has all been a very bad move.

On the other hand, Blockbuster has been hanging by a thread for a while now, if they can make the right moves now it could just save their business.

[Rockies Fan in Diapers]

The level of automation we are starting to see is scaring me. It's putting more and more people out of a job.

Ditto this! While they are nice at times, Self Checkouts at Stores are causing the same problem.

Rockies Fan.

[Baby Brian]

Sorry, I'm old fashioned. I prefer to OWN my dvd's. That's why I rent the movies from red box and *********************redacted************************. That way I can watch it again when ever I want to.

[bbgirlmichelle]

Sorry, I'm old fashioned. I prefer to OWN my dvd's. That's why I rent the movies from red box and *********************redacted************************. That way I can watch it again when ever I want to.

I prefer to own my own DVD's and Blu Rays, which is why I buy them brand new. I will admit to owning a few previously viewed movies in my collection, but that's only when buying it in that condition was only a few dollars different from the price of renting it.

[speedy_d's]

My family solely uses Redbox now to rent movies. At most we would rent 2 movies per weekend, and on the other hand we sometimes rent none, so using something like redbox only makes sense given how we rent movies. The only problem we have noticed when it comes to Redbox is that because it is fully automated and no human actually views the returned dvds, you can sometimes get a dvd that has been abused(ie scratches, tons of fingerprints, "gunk" shmeared on it, etc.). We do email Redbox about the issue when we do rent a dvd in such condition, and sometimes we will get free dvd rentals from it, so at least the company is aware of the problem.

[PArms]

I rent movies about once a month so I use Redbox to view the latest and greatest. They don't have a great selection, but they usually have something that I want to see. They do put in older movies in their rotation.

At $1, you can't go wrong. They do have very good customer service online for the occasional damaged DVD. They also offer free codes that I've used numerous times.

I'm careful as to when I rent so that I have time to watch it twice before returning it. If something comes up, then I only get to see it once, no big deal. If I only had time to watch once, then I get a call from work, it's a waste of a dollar.

I've never used netflix. Somehow, I just don't trust paying for 1's and 0's without physically holding onto something especially when the internet connection is fallible and slow (for streaming video) at most times.

[DiaperPony]

I've gotten a few things I wanted from swapadvd.com, but as you might imagine, it is mostly useful for older dvd's. In other words, the discs you could get used for cheap off amazon anyways.