Netflix vs. Blockbuster

I have been an avid user of Netflix for probably 2 or 3 years now. I love netflix since our local movie rental place (mom and pop kinda place) only has a few dvds and they rent them by the night. Most nights I have no idea what's going to happen and can never count on the fact if I rent a movie, I'll get to work it that same night. Our blockbuster is in marshall and I try to only go to marshall on Friday's (save on gas and such).

I noticed on frugalcouponliving.com that she found that blockbuster was offering a 6 week free trial of their service and thought I'd sign up. I wanted to see how they rated compared to the netflix and which would was the best rental for me.

Let's start with netflix.

If I mail a movie out on Monday, they usually received it Tuesday and ship out my next movie that same day and I usually have it Wednesday. That's pretty good. I rarely have any problems getting a movie late (maybe a handful of times in the entire time I've been a member). I've never had a movie lost in the mail and I've only received 1 movie damanged (which I did not have to pay for). I've lost one movie (I'm convinced I threw it away) and I paid the fee and was sent out another movie promptly. I pay 15.07 (with tax) a month for 2 movie rental (unlimited). I've watched several online through their streaming and mostly pretty good quality and I've had no problems with that. I give them an A+.

Blockbuster is next.

I was able to find the movies I was interested in, so the selection seems pretty good. I liked the idea that I could return them to the blockbuster store, but what I think they fail to mention is that you can only do it 5 times in a month. They may not be a problem for some people, but if you can get unlimited rentals, why not be able to return them unlimited as well. I received my first movie about 3 days after i signed up. I mailed both movies back on the same day (to the same place in two different envelopes) and one was received the next day and the other took 3 days to get there. It took them 1 day to mail me a new dvd for the first return and then it's taken 3 days for the 2nd return. They defintiely aren't nearly as fast (and maybe they aren't worried about that since they have the actual store to make money from as well). Price wise, they are more expensive, 16.99 (without tax) for unlimited rentals. I haven't found that you can watch any movies on their site yet either, but I believe you can download one to your box for a 24 hour viewing..

I know that Netflix dvds go to Coppell, Tx and blockbuster to Dallas, Tx (both are very close to either other).

My overall review is, I'll stick with Netflix after my six week trial is finished. Blockbuster is nice, but at this point in time (and in my opinion) doesn't compare with the service I receive from Netflix, nor the price.

~danielle~