yeah but if you wanted that movie on the top of your list and it was Netflix, you would never have the option of being tired of waiting, and going straight to a physical location to either bitch and moan, or grab the copy yourself.

yes that might defeat the point, but to me that's what blockbuster is selling, not just another online service.... but an online service that has the capability to provide the customer with an actual place to go when the internet option is failing you.

i see your points in the other areas of the service that you didnt like, but i still think that when I felt betrayed by netflix, i had nobody to scream at. and i always hate that.

I have not used Blockbuster stores in the UK for 10 years now.
They were without doubt, the worst company I have had to deal with.
They never have what you want in stock.
I got accused of not returning items which I never even rented.
I rented a game console and was accused of not retuning it, once may have been excusable, but three times?
Dont bother complaining to Blockbuster customer services staff, they just ignore you.
BLOCKBUSTER_SUX

I will have to agree and disagree with you. I certainly have had my fair share of problems with Blockbuster in the past. Now I would rate them 7.5/10, which isn't bad. I would give Netflix the same rating from my experiences with them.

Both companies keep movies "in waiting" at the top of my queue. But Netflix has always had a four to five day turnaround on my movies and I live in a city that hosts one of their shipping centers. I would have been happy with two to three days, but after a couple months I had to cancel. Blockbuster ships my next movie the same day I turn the old one back into the store.

As far as getting movies from Blockbuster, things have gone pretty smoothly. I keep my queue full of movies that are always available and can usually find the unavailable stuff in the store. Also, I always plan it so that I have movies to return to the store on Tuesday and never have problems getting the new releases.(of course, I usually go in the morning)

Searching for a movie and the recommendation system for Blockbuster is crap. If you don't know what you want, defiantly go with Netflix, their recommendation system is excellent.

Devil's backbone is a great movie, and Blockbuster is using the Amazon recommend engine which doesn't base recommendations on similar plots/directors or themes, but rather based on what people bought - so a few people that bought Men in Black may have bought some of the other movies you had rated.

It sucks because the majority of people have really bad taste in movies, so you'd end up getting a lot of recommendations for low rate movies that the majority likes, rather then movies of quality that are suited to what you like.

The stupidest thing that Blockbuster's service did during the one month I was a member was to send me "series" discs out of order, as if I was going to watch Disc 5 of "Lost: The Complete Second Season" before seeing the first four in my queue. Netflix never did that, and it's one reason why I'm still subscribing.

I agree with ncnetdude above, although I have to admit that I haven't ever used Netflix. But at this point I have no need to. My blockbuster movies have never arrived late, I get one free in-store rental for every mailed one, plus I get a free game rental coupon every month.

My wife and I were watching more movies than we possibly needed on blockbuster's basic $10 (USD) program. Now that they've effectively doubled the movies I can rent with Total Access, (plus added the game coupon remember), we have more entertainment than we will ever use until we have kids or become permanent couch vegetables.

On top of that - I enjoy the experience of going to the blockbuster store more than browsing online. In the store I usually find titles to rent that I never would have normally picked online. Granted, often the latest box office hits are out .

hey,
i have to disagree with this. I have had both netflix and blockbuster, and while neither system is perfect, I have been much happier with the Blockbuster service. The biggest reason is throttling. When I had netflix and rented several movies in a month, the next month i only received movies approximately every two weeks. With blockbuster, I get movies at least every other day, and I have the option to exchange them in store. While i agree netflix has a larger selection and a slightly better user interface, blockbuster at least sends me the movies

You are an idiot. I have NEVER received netflix in one day, average 3 days. Blockbuster does not ship from their stores, and I get mine in two days from blockbuster. (I live in Colorado Springs) Free in store rentals are probably going to suck on a Friday or Saturday night, yes, duh, get over it and go there on a Mon - Thurs and you usually will find what you want. I don't even want to comment on people who let the website pick movies for them. And don't even start talking about how Netflix carries more of the 'hard to find' movies; yah if you want to watch Japanees Rape Cartoons?

i've had both, and my vote is for blockbuster. netflix throttling was the reason i left them, and blockbuster's in store return policy where you pick up another movie is the reason i'm staying with them. and i've never had a problem getting a new release at my blockbuster.

I get Netflix deliveries on Saturdays, what podunk place do you live?

Blockbuster, ftw. I don't need recommendations. Yeah, their website is weak and a resource hog, but I don't care. Exchange movies in store and get two free game rentals per month? Pwned, Netflix.

No Digg. Buried, in fact.

Great article. The last place I want to set foot in is a Blockbuster store. It's no fun looking through their limited selection and then having to wait in line. Returning movies at a store is simply no value added. And now that Blockbuster is closing stores left and right, it only increases an already inconvenient and unpleasant experience.

Blockbuster has permanently lost many customers due to their late fees and predatory practices against the small mom & pop video stores of yesteryear. Maybe the mom & pops were dinosars, but now Blockbuster is the dinosaur -- with one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel.

I have to say I LOVE my Blockbuster Total Access account. I think it's a great service and have had no problems at all.

This "article" is so full of inaccuracies.. Let me debunk/refute your points.

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"First, we never received the movies we wanted from the top of our queue."

You NEVER received movies from the top of your queue? NEVER? I have. Don't act like this NEVER happens with Netflix. Second concerning this point, Blockbuster tells you why some movies at the top of your queue might not ship first/right away..

"Whenever a rental slot is open, we review the first listing in your Queue to determine whether or not it can be shipped from the closest distribution center to you. If the title is not available at this center, the system automatically searches for the requested title at other distribution centers throughout our network. If the top Queue selection falls outside of an acceptable shipping window, we will ship a title that falls lower in the queue. This process helps you receive more titles each month, based on anticipated shipping times, and allows you to experience fewer delays."

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"We were roped in by the Total Access program, which supposedly never leaves you empty-handed since you get free new release rentals in-store."

Supposedly never leaves you empty handed? Supposedly? I think your wrong here. I am never without a movie with Total Access. Your alos missing the point! "since you get free new release" is where I think you went wrong. It's for ANY movie in the entire store AND video games. Total Access means you will never be without a MOVIE, they didn't say you'd never be without a NEW RELEASE! I bring in my mailers and pick out any movie in the store. You are after all signed up for Netflix to watch movies....

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"Third, it took forever to receive our movies. They mail them from Blockbuster stores, so it takes around 2 days to receive your movies… usually."

Again, your making assumptions based on God knows what. "They mail them from Blockbuster stores". You ARE retarded. Secondly concerning this point, my movies come in 3 days, usually less. Not to mention I bring the mailers into the stores to watch movies while I'm waiting for them to arrive in the mail...and I get movies on Saturdays...

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"Fourth, the recommendation system is a joke in comparison to Netflix. We have no idea what type of algorithm they are using over at Blockbuster for their recommendation system but it is useless."

Blockbuster's might not be all up to snuff, but seriously, if your counting on ANY algorithm to match movies for you, ...your retarded.

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"Fifth, the way in which you search for movies was an even bigger joke. You can only search by movie name or actor. How about date range, movie studio, genre?"

You have me here. Their site is a bit lacking in this department, however they just updated their site and I expect it will improve. After all, I don't think they put up their site, stand back going, "Alright, it's finished!". How do I get around this? I use Google/Wiki/IMDB to find what I want. I also browse the movies on their site. My queue has over 150 movies in it.. I'm not in short supply of coming up with movies, I'm in short supply of time to watch them all.

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You need to stand back and understand why Netflix and Blockbuster Online exist. Firstly, the service is to rent movies. Secondly, it's to have the movies delievered to your house. Each is there for a certain type of person. If you want movies, Blockbuster is clearly the way to go. You will end up getting FAR more movies at the end of the month than with Netflix. If extensive movie searching and a complex recommendation algorithm are what your looking for then I'd choose Netflix. If you want movies delieverd on Saturdays, choose Blockbuster.

Granted, Netflix has now come out with movies on your computer via streaming, but I will put money that Blockbuster will do something like this sooner than later...

I've had both and, so far, Blockbuster is better. Why? Because I can take my mailers in and trade them for movies in the store. I like being able to walk around and look for obscure gems.

But my local Blockbuster stocks a shitload of movies and the only ones that are usually unavailable are the shitty first releases that mostly suck anyway.

I liked Netflix -- but it had its "short wait" problems, too. And yes, sometimes I got the movies in a day, but the faster I turned them back in, the slower the service got. Hell, I think they even got busted for delaying service to heavy users (don't quote me on that).

The Total Access thing makes a huge difference.

I think they both suck. You need to get the Blockbuster Monthly pass what lets you keep two out at a time, all the time. You go to Blockbuster on Tuesday or Sunday and all the new releases are in stock so there's no wasted rentals. Then, if you want some esoteric movie, you subscribe to Nexflix for $10 and pull one at a time.

You really have to play both to get the best deal.

Netflix is terrible and had a large lawsuit against them because of how scandalous they really are. Blockbuster sends movies much faster and allows you to always have a move and not have to wait 5 days. I think this blogger is working for Netflix because he obviously doesn't know what he is talking about. Netflix has to do all they can to keep customers from going to the best. Blockbuster is the winner by far.

I DON'T want "far more movies at the end of the month" if they are not good movies. Didn't you flaming diggers understand the article?

If Blockbuster doesn't have good movies to offer in the store, what good is a damn free rental? And second, if they don't have the movies I want available online, then what good is the service altogether? You guys keep coming back with "I have 9 dvd's in my hand, how about the netflix discs in YOUR hand?" 9 DVD's of what, exactly?

Movie watching is not about quantity, it's about quality if I'm not mistaken.

And second, I was told by a Blockbuster employee that they ship from stores, and guess what? THEY DO. The warehouses augment the rare movies that are shipped from the store.

And for the record, Blockbuster does edit movies. The version of Requiem for a Dream that they stock is edited for content, and same with the movie Audition. Quit denying it.

I have used both services recently, and, like the reviewer, I canceled my Blockbuster account for basically the same reasons. He's absolutely right about both the algorithm and the browsing method that Blockbuster's website uses - They are horrible. Netflix's recommendation algorithm and website layout, however, are wonderful. I rated about 60 movies, and their algorithm consistently returns movies that I am interested in seeing. Browsing their website is also a breeze. I will continue to use Netflix's service in the forseeable future, and I will probably buy some of their stock.