DVD rental providers feedback

retepetsir

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhh Lovefilm are really peeing me off!!!!

I signed up for a 21-day trial back in September as part of an offer in 'Stuff' magazine. The offer also included a free DVD to keep, of which I selected 'Sin City' from a small choice. This has still yet to be received (max 28 days).

I have since tried cancelling my subscription (I had 6 days left to go) but the person on the phone would not let me, so they ended up renewing me on a 3-for-1 period, until January for £7. Dammit!

I have been trying to email them about the lack of free DVD to keep, but just look at these blooming emails:

"Hi there,
>
> I joined a trial with Lovefilm a little while ago, which also offered a free DVD with the trial. I requested Sin City, but it has been over the stated number of day (28) and I am still yet to receive this. I have since extended my subscription until January, and am still awaiting delivery of this free DVD.
>
> I have tried phoning but have been on hold for a rather long time, so please can you sort this matter out as soon as possible.
>
> Thanks"

Their reply:

"Dear Peter,

Thank you for your email.

We request if you have received the email from us regarding the link for the free DVD, once you receive this link we request you to go a head with the sign up procedure and select the title which you would like to buy.

If you have not received the email we request you to contact our customer services on 0870 2401 637. Our opening hours are from 9 AM to 8 PM Monday to Friday and Saturday 10 AM to 04 PM.

If you have any other questions then please do let us know."

Me:

"Hi Paula,

When I signed up for the trial I had a choice from around 6 DVD's. It was from a trial inside 'Stuff' Magazine and if I remember, lasted for 21 days. It has now been way over this trial length, I have renewed for another 3 months, and I havent received the DVD that was originally promised (that I was able to keep), Sin City!"

Them:

"Dear Peter,

Thank you for your email.

We request you to add the title "Sin City" into your selection list as it has not been added and set to first priority .We will be shipping it to you as soon as possible depending on the availability of the discs.

For further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us again.


Kind regards,


Sushma
Customer Services"

Me:

"Hi Sushma,

I will say this again, as you seem to be misunderstanding me!

The offer was for a free DVD 'to keep'. It was not for a rental disc! I am
receiving the rentals as normal, but I have NOT received the free DVD which
I should be able to keep!!!

This is nothing to do with the rental service. The terms of the trial stated
that if I signed up to the trial, I would receive a free DVD to keep as part
of this trial contract. I'm not so bothered about the rentals, just the fact
that the promise has not been kept..

It was part of a big promotion shown in 'Stuff' magazine 2 months back,
where signing up for a 21 day trial would mean that I could have one free
DVD to keep (Sin City). This was over 2 months ago and I am still yet to
receive this. I cannot understand why it has gone 'missing' when this was
such a big promotion in such a popular magazine?!!

Peter"

Them (arhhhhhhhhhhhhh)

"Dear Peter,

Thank you for your e-mail.

We request you to elaborate on your concern so that we can assist you better.

Regards,
Ajay"

"Hi Ajay,

Did you read my last email?!!!

This is getting ridiculous now.

I signed up with Lovefilm in September on a 21 day free trial. As a gift for signing up, I am meant to receive a free DVD to keep out of a selection of 6. I selected 'Sin City'. This was an offer advertised in the UK edition of 'Stuff' magazine.

If I signed up for a free trial, I would receive my own DVD for FREE to keep as my own, along with the rentals from the trial. Since the end of the trial in October I have extended my subscription to January (as Lovefilm did not let me cancel in time) and have STILL NOT received my free 'Sin City' DVD, which was the reason why I signed up for the trial in the first place.

Have you not heard of this offer before (free DVD)? If not, what is the point of advertising it in 'Stuff' magazine if LoveFilm are never going to uphold this offer in the first place?!

Peter"

---

I don't normally get annoyed, but its as bad as speaking to them on the phone, round and round in blooming circles.

Any suggestions?!

vinylmusic

I have had nothing but problems since with lovefilm

I'm forever emailing them and forever waiting for their responses

The main problem is that they keep getting my billing date wrong.

3 times I sorted it out by email to them and each time they fixed it only to find that several days later it reverts to an earlier date.
:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
I just referred a friend who was supposed to get 30 days free trial with the referral code he used yet his billing date is showing that he's only getting 14.

WARNING

Constantly watch your billing date to make sure it doesnt change to an earlier date otherwise you may get a bad suprise

vinylmusic

I'm into my third month with Lovefilm due to their offer of 3 months for the price of one.
I think I have made sufficient experience with them to conclude that their service is terrible. They are as bad as ebay buying out the competition in order to dominate the market. Now they are easily a market leader they treat their customers like cr**

• Slow turnaround

• I send back 3 films and after waiting 2 days for "allocation" I only get one.

• Average of 1.5 unplayable dvd's a month.

• Emails would be considered answered promptly if only they replied to the actual questions/complaints. They obviously only get the gist of it and click on the appropiate template respons

• No chance of any extra time/movies to compensate for THEIR mistakes

• They appear to select the less popular titles first, the ones I marked as low priority. I rarely get any of my high priority movies

Needless to say I wont be staying with them for a 4th month if i have to pay

I hope this will be a warning to others to stay away.

If you really can't stay away and want a 30 day free trial instead of 14 days then add the promotional code RAF96. I dont know if you will need a referral email address for it to work. If you do then send me a private message and I will send you mine

outbidder

I agree they have been awful, they rarely respond to emails and having taken out the Blockbuster Quidco offer, I too have cancelled today.

They take you through about 5 pages of "Are you sure you really want to cancel" and "How about you downgrade your package?" but eventually you get an email confirming that your subs will be cancelled when they receive all DVDs back.

I only have one out anyway which will go back tomorrow (with proof of posting obtained). I have also cleared out my list so they don't send any more out "by mistake".

Maybe they will sort out their customer service and start to get members back but they seem to be dropping like flies at the moment...

barmaid00

i first decovered Lovefilm when i flicked through the boots magazine (availiable free in store, just take a copy to the till and present your advantage card) and came across an offer, sign up to a 6 dvd rental trial and recieve a £10 boots voucher (can't be bad). there are no contracts of tie-ins, so i signed up, placed 70 films in my wanted list and three days later i recieved my first two selections.

I am amazed at the quick turn around- i watched the titles and sent them back within two days the next lot of films where delivered.:T

I would recommend that you had at least 50-80 films in your list that you want to see, but with new films coming out all the time, that won't be a problem. The best bit is that i get to watch my eights comedy dvd's and my partener get's to watch his horror films.

They also have a wide selection of fitness dvd's, sports titles and music films to watch, so there is something for everyone.

Time it right and you could recieve around 5 films a week based on the 3 dvd's allowed at anyone time package. It's a really good deal. (cheaper than the cinema):j

Heather x

kopo

barmaid00 wrote:

i first decovered Lovefilm when i flicked through the boots magazine (availiable free in store, just take a copy to the till and present your advantage card) and came across an offer, sign up to a 6 dvd rental trial and recieve a £10 boots voucher (can't be bad). there are no contracts of tie-ins, so i signed up, placed 70 films in my wanted list and three days later i recieved my first two selections.

I am amazed at the quick turn around- i watched the titles and sent them back within two days the next lot of films where delivered.:T

I would recommend that you had at least 50-80 films in your list that you want to see, but with new films coming out all the time, that won't be a problem. The best bit is that i get to watch my eights comedy dvd's and my partener get's to watch his horror films.

They also have a wide selection of fitness dvd's, sports titles and music films to watch, so there is something for everyone.

Time it right and you could recieve around 5 films a week based on the 3 dvd's allowed at anyone time package. It's a really good deal. (cheaper than the cinema):j

Heather x

Time it right and you could recieve around 5 films a week but only happen in your first month.

vinylmusic

barmaid00 wrote:

i first decovered Lovefilm when i flicked through the boots magazine (availiable free in store, just take a copy to the till and present your advantage card) and came across an offer, sign up to a 6 dvd rental trial and recieve a £10 boots voucher (can't be bad). there are no contracts of tie-ins, so i signed up, placed 70 films in my wanted list and three days later i recieved my first two selections.

I am amazed at the quick turn around- i watched the titles and sent them back within two days the next lot of films where delivered.:T

I would recommend that you had at least 50-80 films in your list that you want to see, but with new films coming out all the time, that won't be a problem. The best bit is that i get to watch my eights comedy dvd's and my partener get's to watch his horror films.

They also have a wide selection of fitness dvd's, sports titles and music films to watch, so there is something for everyone.

Time it right and you could recieve around 5 films a week based on the 3 dvd's allowed at anyone time package. It's a really good deal. (cheaper than the cinema):j

Heather x

I guess its ok for heavy users
I'm not into fitness stuff or tv episodes
I'm only really interested in certain general movies like the occasional thriller but mostly classics, arthouse and french cinema.

After all I have seen theres not such a lot left that really interests me.
I now have about 17 titles on my list and around 10 of them I've been waiting ages for
They show a lot of titles I'd like which can only be reserved.

My dilemma is that I need titles added to my list to receieve a fast turnaround when sending back the ones I've watched
If I add lots of less interesting ones I'm liable to get them hence delaying getting those I really want.

Just as an example, my neighbour really wants to see Sliding Doors, a great movie I'd already seen. You can now buy it in Asda for around 3 quid and just about everyone who wanted to see it has done so its not a title high on anyones list of priorities

Well i stuck it on the bottom of my list as low priority and voila, it was the very next title they allocated to me. At this rate I either have to go on seeing less interesting movies in hope I'll eventuaslly get to see what I want
or
stop adding titles and put up with an increasingly slow turnaround

Either way I can't win.
My next billing date is 5th Feb. Thats when I'll quit

grace2much

My head is spinning with all the different rental companies and the pros and cons each has. This will be my first time to rent DVDs. Had almost decided on easycinema but then I saw on their site it was serviced by Lovefilm and they seem to have attracted a lot of negative feedback in general.

So I thought after reading the mainly positive feed back that a blockbuster free trial for 1 month as martin's article said would be the best option but when I tried to add martins code to the blockbusters free trial section it said it was invalid or expired I think. So I could only have a 2 weeks free trial, sounds a very short time to let me get a feel for the rental game. Perhaps though its long enough.....any thoughts?

Can anyone advise me on the blockbuster code problem and who they think a dvd rental novice should try first?

Thanks in advance

vinylmusic

grace2much wrote:

My head is spinning with all the different rental companies and the pros and cons each has. This will be my first time to rent DVDs. Had almost decided on easycinema but then I saw on their site it was serviced by Lovefilm and they seem to have attracted a lot of negative feedback in general.

So I thought after reading the mainly positive feed back that a blockbuster free trial for 1 month as martin's article said would be the best option but when I tried to add martins code to the blockbusters free trial section it said it was invalid or expired I think. So I could only have a 2 weeks free trial, sounds a very short time to let me get a feel for the rental game. Perhaps though its long enough.....any thoughts?

Can anyone advise me on the blockbuster code problem and who they think a dvd rental novice should try first?

Thanks in advance

These are my thoughts after llots of use of these companies.

Unless your a heavy user with a wide taste in movies, tv series and so on then take a look at the alternatives.

Video stores
Many video stores are cheaper now and if you look you'll find special deals and longer rental periods.:beer:

The local library
Lots of libraries have movies for as litle as £1 and you can keep them for a reasonable time. Mine has recent releases for £2 and others for £1 some libraries offer better choice than others. Some also give special deals to people on benefits etc. :beer:

Buy new :beer:
Stores like Asda and morrisons have recently been selling great titles very cheap
Asda as low as £3.00 each, Morrisons for two for a fiver. and good titles too and you keep them forever or sell them on therough ebay. Who knows, you may even make a profit
Music Zone can be cheap too

Buy Second Hand.
Amazon, Ebay, charity shops, markets etc
I bought a whole series of "24" on ebay for £25 including postage. When I was finished I got nearly all my money back selling it back on ebay. :T

Buy a DVD recorder
With so many good movies on freeview these days and with filmfour becoming free I'm seriously considering to invest in a DVD recorder.
Cheapest recorder I know is from Asda at under £70 and blank DVDR's as little as 30p each
5 months with Lovefilm costs £75 so with this method the recorder pays for itself in that amount of time. :T

With all these alternatives who needs online rentals

Oh yes! Free Trials
Naturally before abandoning Online rentals altogether make maximum use of any free trials and special offers such as 3 months for price of one

grace2much

Thanks vinylmusic for taking the time to provide me with these other choices. I hadn't realised that my local library may have this DVD service and I'll check this out on Monday;).

But just using your experiences if I did end up giving one company a trial which would be your first and second choices?