DVD Wars: Slash The Cost Of Rental/MSE Discussion

stphnstevey

iainD wrote:

I used to be with Tescos for a short time before changing to Cinema Paradiso, which has been great for me.

tescos have just sent me a letter offering me a gift voucher for 3 months rental to try and get me to re-join them.

To try and claim it yourself, the website is www.tescodvdrental.com/freegift then enter the code TSZZ9876

Good luck!

Worked - 3 months is heck of a long time! Hope I remember to cancel. Thanks

golddustmedia

DVD rental - frustrating:

Personally I'm not happy with the postal rental schemes.
I've just been trying the Easydvd one and have previously tried others. Perhaps it's just me but I can't really find enough films I want to watch on their sites, it just seems the selection is a bit poor.

Then, as discovered with easydvd, even when I've found one I want you don't get it delivered.

Example; I really really wanted to watch the new film Children of Men. So I "reserved" it in advance on the rental system. Then you MUST have a minimum of 4 films selected for the account to be active. SO I chose 4 including the one I wanted. I set the preference to the minimum for 3 and first priority for the one I wanted.

I didn't get what I wanted on the first go, or the second, or the third. Finally I complained to them that if they couldn't actually send the film I wanted to watch I would be better just going to my local rental store instead and then on the 4th go I got the film I wanted.

OK, they're a bit cheaper than the rental store BUT it's pot luck as to what you get and the choice isn't really my cup of tea either.

I've decided to go back to store rentals and know I'm getting what I want when I want it.

stphnstevey

Haven't really had this problem. At the moment using Tesco. They have a rating scheme and generally they send the ones you top rate first. I also find just keeping the bare minimum selection to keep it open also helps.

The idea in these schemes is there 'free'. Therefore you have to expect it not to be perfect - if you want to have perfect, try paying.

postadvd

stanzelsa wrote:

Just a word of warning to my fellow dvd tarts. Took up postadvd on their 2week free trial on the 3rd April, received only 2dvds from my list (picked the 3 at a time offer) in the 2weeks (1 of which was unplayable). I cancelled my subscription on the 15th April, received a confirmation e-mail, then discovered on the 17th April that they had charged my card anyway. I had no dvds outstanding (as they never sent any more out after the first 2 were returned). So the message from me is DON'T BOTHER WITH POSTADVD :mad:
An update on the situation with postadvd, after ignoring my first email requesting a refund they have responded to my second (threatening legal action) with a full refund however no communication or apology.

Dear Stanzelsa,

As Manager of PostaDVD, I just wanted to post a brief apology to what happened to you last year. Over the years, we have developed a negative reputation for our customer service skills. At present however, we are beginning to develop as a company and hopefully doing as much as we can to make our customers experience a positive one. I'm sorry that we never properly got back in touch with you, however please now accept that our registration onto this website is evidence enough of how much we regret what happened to you.

Kind regards,
PostaDVD

harryharp

Just thought you'd like to know that we had a free trial with Lovefilm in my name, then when it expired we successfully applied for another free trial in my husband's name straight away afterwards! I didn't think it'd be possible 'cos I thought only one free trial per household- but it definitely worked. Don't know if it works for other rental providers, but will definitely give it a try!

[Deleted User]

I have just tried to take up LOVEFILMS 21 day / 5 DVD / £10 back FREE TRIAL offer. At my first visit to their site, I was trying to find my way round it and in doing so I changed the package I had just selected. I changed it back in the same session but the damage was done. FREE TRIAL CANCELLED by Lovefilm and they made an immediate credit card deduction for the first months rental. This was about 20 minutes into trying to select DVDs for the free trial !

3 emails later and they are totally disinterested. You only get 1 chance to get it right when joining but it takes 4 successive screens to confirm that you want to cancel.

An appalling example of so-called Customer Service.

Bargain_Spotter

I have used 1dvd.co.uk. I used the link from moneysavingexpert in order to get a 30 day trial, however, they only gave me a two week trial. During the trial the turnaround period was very slow, about 1 DVD a week. Now, after taking payment from me, it has become faster, 1 DVD every 3 working days. They are posting their DVD's with the wrong postage on them. Each time I get a Certificate of Postage from the post office, I have had to pay an extra 12p, as the envelope was two fat. In addition, I received one unplayable DVD from 1dvd.co.uk - I wrote to them by letter and email, asking them to send me the same movie again, however one that worked. Neither communication from me was acknowledged, and they did not send me a playing version of this movie on DVD. Finally, the contact telephone number on their webpage doesnt work. Anyone else have similar problems with this company?

cakes_2

I have been with 1dvd..uk since September 2006 and found them very good until recently. I have also been getting the wrong postage on them, but haven't had to pay any extra so far. Now the problem seems to be that no films are being sent out, and the ones I have returned are still showing on my list. Have emailed no reply and as you say number not working. They took the money out of the bank the other day, but no service- not a happy bunny!

Bargain_Spotter

Hi, may I suggest that you stop any future payments to his company, just in case they take any more payments from you for a service which they are not providing. Are you paying through World Pay and a Future Pay Agreement? (if so you can go online at worldpay.com and cancel this agreement). I intend to cancel my membership with them shortly. Also, get help from Citizens Advice (it's free) and compose a legal sounding letter which demands this company to refund the payment which they have taken for you. Hope this helps. Regards, Bagain Spotter.

matt72

Another critical 1dvd.co.uk poster here. I signed up yesterday, based on the 30 day free trial which they advertise on their homepage. I got an email from "Ali" of membership services today stating "Many thanks for joining up with 1dvd. Unfortunately, the 30 day free trial has not been available for more than 1 year – we are experiencing some misleading marketing from websites not connected with 1dvd.co.uk. The maximum trial we can award is 14 days – so we will commence your trial on 5th April. We apologise for this – but we are not unable to adjust payment dates!"

When I replied that this was neither accurate nor acceptable given the information on their own website, the reply was "Acceptable or not - all free trials are at the discretion of the company!"

Amazing! But we're not at the best part yet! When I emailed back "Wow, crappy customer service you have there. Please cancel my trial", Ali's top-notch response was "we try to match our customer attitudes!"

I'd give this company a wide berth, and I think that the link should be taken off this site too!