Comments on: Blockbuster Takes on Redbox with $1.99 One-Night DVD Rentals

By: Abigail

Abigail — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:25:55 +0000

I’m a Blockbuster subscriber – we love being able to trade in movies the same day! At any rate, I don’t know about the $1.99 promo (did you call that store and ask if it was a short-term thing?). I do know, though, that lately whenever we trade in a movie, a coupon prints out. After the next Tuesday, we can use it to rent a movie for $1.99, even new releases.

Honestly, I’m not sure if this only happens for Blockbuster Total Access members or for others. If it’s the former, it’s brilliant. My husband suggested using one the other day because we were out of trades for the month. I pointed out that we could simply put it in our queue. While we wouldn’t get it immediately, it seemed silly to spend $1.99 on a movie we could get a couple days later for free. Especially since the next plan up was only $3 more and included TWO more trade-ins.

By: PT

PT — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:58:46 +0000

Oh I feel so bad, My Journey. Sorry, man. I’ll go look for the official press release from Blockbuster to get the scoop.

By: My Journey

My Journey — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:19:19 +0000

PT,

Went to blockbuster last ONLY because of your post, and the saleswoman looked at me like I had 4 heads!

She told me that the 1.99 was a short promotion and it was only on certain movies.

JUST FYI

By: PT

PT — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:03:42 +0000

Thanks for the info, Shelia. Good to know. Good point about the dropoff thing too. I didn’t factor that in. Now that I think about it more, I know I’ve heard of people using Redbox while traveling long distances by car for the car DVD. It sounds like you’ve got a good system down. Thanks for your comment.

By: Sheila

Sheila — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:51:52 +0000

When I rent from Redbox, it tells me they are due back by 9:00 p.m. the next evening – regardless of the time of day I rent. Frequently (with kids) I go get the movie in the morning, so I get quite a bit more than 24 hours. No big deal if you are late, they just charge you $1 more. I’m not sure what it says if you rent late in the evening. I also like the I can drop the Redbox movie off at any Redbox, not necessarily the same one I got it at. For me, Redbox is very near the Blockbuster (which I very rarely go to), so I can easily check Redbox and then go to Blockbuster if needed. I never watch movies myself, and limit how many I get for my kids, so Netflix is not anything I would ever be interested in.

By: GaelicWench

GaelicWench — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:24:27 +0000

I have a subscription ($8.99)to Netflix, but since our favorite shows on the telly (read that: the TNT channel) have been renewed for the summer, I am gonna downgrade to $4.99.

I am not a huge fan of BlockBuster; never have been. ***Nor do I like belonging to anything – membership-wise – that has a deadline. I like the freedom of being able to return the DVDs next week because something comes up during the week which prevents us from watching a movie.

***DISCLAIMER: This does preclude projects on a deadline at work.

By: eMoneyLog

eMoneyLog — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:36:13 +0000

I like the netflix concept of making a list and holding on to the movie as long as you have not watched it, no penalties, etc..

By: My Journey

My Journey — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:41:03 +0000

For whatever reason I get so angry when corporate America fails to realize their business model is in the sh!tter and doesn’t change.

GM with the gas guzzlers
BB got KILLED by netflix and then redbox
AOL was still charging up until a couple years back
etc.