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DVD Rental Article Discussion

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Former_MSE_Lawrence
Former_MSE_Lawrence Posts: 975 Forumite
edited 14 June 2010 at 4:12PM in Shop but don't drop

This is the discussion to link on the back of the updated
DVD Rental: Cheapest online providers & tarting article.

Click reply to discuss below
«13456711

Comments

  • Here's a quick tip for you. Rather than signing up for your free trial in the daytime I found that if you can stay awake until midnight and sign up for your free trial just after then your first batch of DVDs will likely be sent out the following morning (still the same date though), effectively adding an extra day to your free trial. :D

    Rob
  • jinkssick
    jinkssick Posts: 1,323 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    I done the metro Lovefilm deal for one month with 2 free cinema tickets, before the trial was done I phoned and cancelled, two minutes later I got another code for returning customers for 3 months free trial and thats what I am on now. DVD rental tarting I suppose.
    Save saynoto0870.com in your favorites, and stop giving companies more £££ dialling 0870 numbers when you can dial freephones or cheaper alternatives
    call your credit card company, tell them that you want to leave, 99% of the time theyll lower your APR%
    Remember when that Bank Manager or Salesperson smiles at you, all he sees is £ notes. Dont forget the motto, "the wider their grin, the more debt your in"
  • jinkssick
    jinkssick Posts: 1,323 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    Some tips:

    Make sure you send your last DVD a few days before the end of your trial, as youll be charged. When you send it back make sure you delete all the DVDs from your list so they cannot send you anymore.
    Save saynoto0870.com in your favorites, and stop giving companies more £££ dialling 0870 numbers when you can dial freephones or cheaper alternatives
    call your credit card company, tell them that you want to leave, 99% of the time theyll lower your APR%
    Remember when that Bank Manager or Salesperson smiles at you, all he sees is £ notes. Dont forget the motto, "the wider their grin, the more debt your in"
  • i tried love film but films kept getting lost all the time in the post! other than that really good
  • PopeSock
    PopeSock Posts: 552 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    Is there a site - apart from LoveFilm and PostaDVD - that does combined DVD and game rentals? LoveFilm seems to have a bit of bad press, in terms of delivering crap service once the trial is over. And PostaDVD has some completely shocking reviews.
  • Tesco do a combined dvd and games but its run by lovefilm although cheaper than the rest. I was on it for a while but got a bit fed up at never getting xbox games.

    On another note, I signed up for the cd wow free trial with a free cd. They won't give me the cd because I cancelled my account four days early so they wouldn't send me out more dvds and charge me. WHAT A CON!
    :jWaiting for the comping fairy to arrive, a big thank you to all that post comps:j
  • paddytt
    paddytt Posts: 302 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Blockbuster offering 1 month free trial:

    https://www.blockbuster.co.uk/winteroffer

    TT
  • Hi,
    I've been with Lovefilm a couple of months and in terms of speed of delivery they are very good. The despatch depot in the UK is in Peterborough and I'm only a couple of hours away in Ipswich so the turnaround for me is usually post today-there tomorrow-new disc arrive day after. Customer service is OK although the email response is offshore (not sure about phone) so there is sometimes a language barrier. I recently sent a message advising them on a technical issue and their response suggested that they had no idea what I was talking about. Don't know what they are like when you try to cancel your subscription.

    Excellent selection of discs, including High Def. ones, and if you receive a faulty disc then the replacement will be in addition to your normal allowance.

    All in all OK so far, and definitely a lot cheaper than high street rental.
    Hope this helps.
  • codger
    codger Posts: 2,079 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Robston wrote: »
    Hi,
    I've been with Lovefilm a couple of months and in terms of speed of delivery they are very good. Customer service is OK although the email response is offshore (not sure about phone) so there is sometimes a language barrier. I recently sent a message advising them on a technical issue and their response suggested that they had no idea what I was talking about. Don't know what they are like when you try to cancel your subscription.

    Not sure if the dozens (hundreds?) of posts last year on MSE about "cancelling from Lovefilm" are still there -- nor all the complaints about this company's dreadful business practices when it comes to charging customers who thought they were on a "free trial" -- but Lovefilm certainly hasn't changed.

    Now it's Which? that is having to offer advice to the unsuspecting, as mentioned in Which? recent review of DVD rentals by post providers:


    The good, the bad and the ugly
    Most triallists only had to wait a day or two for their first DVD.
    But Lovefilm, the UK’s largest online DVD service, kept them waiting, on average, five days.

    Several triallists of Tesco and WH Smith, which are powered by Lovefilm, had similar problems. A Lovefilm spokesman told us this was down to technical problems it was experiencing when we carried out the trial.

    Lovefilm was on a par with most other companies for sending priority films – on average, three of the first four DVDs were among the top five on triallists’ wish lists. But those with Movieconnect received on average only one top-priority film among the first four DVDs.

    Movieconnect, along with Lovefilm, Tesco and WH Smith, also did worse than the other companies for problem DVDs – on average between 10 and 20 per cent of discs received had problems playing, such as the DVD freezing or skipping frames.

    As for cancellation, most triallists found it easy, although some were surprised that Lovefilm required a phone call to cancel.

    However, without advice from Which?, it may not have been so simple.

    The fact is that Lovefilm continues exactly on as it always has done, ever ready to bluff its way out of any situation with tales of "temporary" system malfunctions or "misunderstandings" or "errors from which lessons have been learnt".

    That Lovefilm should now be in the process of acquiring Amazon UK's DVD rentals business -- unless that acquisition can be stopped -- is bad news indeed.

    :cry:
  • The article states that Lovefilm won't let you take successive free trials with the different rental companies they operate, but actually I've been able to do just that, although I had a period as a paid-up member. I did a free trial with WH Smith, then signed up, cancelled a year later, and took out a 2 month free trial with Tesco. Both WH Smith and Tesco are run by Lovefilm. So, it's worth giving it a go.
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