Ever since Jaime Egan posted her blog about renting DVDs online, I’ve been curious to give it a try. I didn’t do it right away because we were in the midst of selling the home we were living in and I didn’t want the hassle of changing addresses and what have you, so I put it off and frankly forgot about it. But about two weeks ago, within days of each other, I received flyers in the mail from both Blockbuster and Netflix. “Ah!” I said to myself, in the same tone of voice one would use to say, “Eureka!,” “This is my chance to try them side by side.” I went online that very afternoon and set up accounts with both.
Both sites said they would give me a two-week free trial. However, for some reason, Netflix gave me until November 28th while Blockbuster gave me until December 2nd. I think the two companies have different ideas of what constitutes a two-week period. I always thought it was fourteen days, but what do I know?
I kept a list of what movies I selected at which site, not wanting to end up with two copies of the same movie. I was like a kid in a candy store, clicking right and left. For the kids, I got Curious George, Ice Age the Meltdown, and Polar Express. I also got Cars, which I considered a major coup. For myself I got Glory Road and a couple of others which I shouldn’t mention here because they were PG-13, but if it makes anyone feel better, one of them I couldn’t watch and I learned my lesson.
In this side-by-side comparison, I must say that in my mind, Blockbuster came out the winner. Let me share some reasons why:
1. The shipping was much faster. Say I returned a movie on Monday. On Tuesday they’d send me an e-mail saying that it had been received, and I would have the replacement DVD by Thursday. With Netflix, I only had time to get two movies from them in the course of that two-week-trial.
2. The coupon system is great. If you return your DVD to Blockbuster instead of mailing it, you get an additional movie at no charge. You take it home then, and Blockbuster still mails you the next one on your list. It’s free movies all the time.
3. I simply found the selection to be better, and I could put a hold on movies that haven’t even been released yet.
I do realize that these are just my experiences and that you might feel differently. But hey, if you’re in the mood, do what I did and perform a side-by-side experiment. Sign up for Netflix and Blockbuster on the same day, try them out, and leave a comment in the comment trail. I’d love to know how you made out.
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