Last night I took the plunge, upon recommendation of one of my good friends (thanks, Airman!), to join Blockbuster Online. I love movies, but am ironically not a frequenter of the movie theater. The price of admission these days is nuts, and add the traditional popcorn and coke to the tab and you've got yourself a tank of gas. Even more of a paradox is that I'm not a huge renter of DVDs. I'd estimate that I rent 2 -3 DVDs a month at best.
This weekend I watched Hotel Rwanda with some friends of mine, one of which is a Blockbuster Online Member. Now, this movie got rave reviews, was nominated for Best Picture, but when perusing the video store, I could never bring myself to renting it to watch. I like to call myself frugal, not cheap. After experiencing the movie this weekend, I really enjoyed it.
When I found out my friend's alliance with Blockbuster Online, I quizzed him on the ins and outs of the program. How many DVDs can I have at one time? How much does it cost? Are there late fees? (Real late fees, not like the fraudulent Blockbuster Store advertising) What are the limitations? I obviously wanted the full debriefing before committing to my $15/month fee.
Before making the final decision, I calculated if this really would be beneficial to me. Renting two DVDs a month averages around $8. You throw in the gas money to drive to the store and back to return the movie and the hassle of getting it back before the alleged late fees kick in, and I was beginning to see this as a win-win. I also factored in the many movies I wouldn't pay to rent (i.e. Hotel Rwanda), but would opt to rent them on this program. I'd be willing to take a risk on renting since I'm paying a monthly fee anyway.
So, my 20 movies are in the queue and ready for Blockbuster Online to market me to death and send me my movies. I've already been pleased with their cross-promotional format of offering "Other movies you may like" when choosing a movie to add to my list. The classic "Casablanca" made it to the list simply from their marketing efforts and the fact that I've never seen that movie in its entirety. It's amazing what you can get for $15/month.
4 comments:
well i see that you brought yourself to do the whole thing via my recommendation. i think it's well worth it, we'll see though, since we're both pretty new blockbuster online renters.
If it doesn't work out, oh well, it gives me another excuse for a blog entry. :)
Yall are dragging me down with you lol. At least AJ is. I am a new fan of the "Online Renter's" club.
AJ and I are going to share his membership (thats how "cheap/frugal" we are lol). Since there are no late fees, even if we dont watch the movie together, we can always pass it off to one another, and then whoever watches it last can send it in...how briliant is that.
I wonder how many other "Co-Account owners" there are out there.
It's very brilliant, and AJ and I just had that conversation the other day, because I have thought about co-owning the account with Christie.
To drag you down further...would you believe I got my movies yesterday? A day earlier than promisied...now that's the way to make a new customer happy. :)
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