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Movies Media The Almighty Buck Businesses

Wal-Mart Turns Over DVD Rentals to Netflix 384

Posted by CowboyNeal from the enough-of-this dept.
prostoalex writes "US retail giant Wal-Mart is turning its DVD rental business to Netflix. No word on how much money the deal is worth but Netflix will feature promotional Wal-Mart links for the 100K customers it gets from the retail chain."
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Wal-Mart Turns Over DVD Rentals to Netflix More

Wal-Mart Turns Over DVD Rentals to Netflix

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  • Wal-mart censorship (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Lovesquid ( 840251 ) on Thursday May 19, 2005 @03:27PM (#12581624)
    Anyone know if Wal-mart censors their DVD rentals like they do with their retail CDs/DVDs? I know I won't shop there for this reason.

    • Re:Wal-mart censorship (Score:4, Funny)

      by WormholeFiend ( 674934 ) on Thursday May 19, 2005 @03:34PM (#12581699)
      It's not just WalMart that does this.

      Whenever I visit such a store, I always stop by the DVD movie department and ask "can you help me find the pr0n section?"

      And then I roll my eyes and look all frustrated when they tell me they don't sell anything in that category.

    • Re:Wal-mart censorship (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 19, 2005 @03:34PM (#12581709)
      And you know what? It's your right not to shop there because you disagree with their censoring. And it's Wal-mart's right to censor what they sell so people who WANT the censored material can get it.
      • people who WANT the censored material can get it.

        Hmmm...I wonder how a censored pr0n movie will be like

      • Re:Wal-mart censorship (Score:2, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward
        As a Christian I agree, Walmart shouldn't sell this unwholesome material. Now if you will exuse me I have to pick up some beer, a carton of cigarettes, and a gun at Walmart.

    • Re:Wal-mart censorship (Score:5, Informative)

      by eln ( 21727 ) on Thursday May 19, 2005 @03:35PM (#12581712)
      This is a cross-promotion agreement, not Wal-Mart taking over Netflix's DVD selection. Wal-Mart's DVD rental business was not really very large, with only about 100k customers to Netflix's 3 million. Wal-Mart never really heavily promoted their offering, and I think they just figured it would be a lot more cost efficient to leverage Netflix's massive existing infrastructure specializing in this sort of thing rather than trying to maintain staff of their own for something that is destined to be a very small portion of their overall business. On the radio, they noted that Netflix reported revenue of $506 million for the entire year. Wal-Mart, by contrast, makes that much in revenue in LESS THAN A DAY.

      This is not unprecedented of course. Wal-Mart allows other people to provide services under contract rather than providing those services themselves in their own stores. Examples would be things like McDonalds, and the other Cafe-style things that are in the front of every Wal-Mart, and are not owned or run by them.
      • How bizarre if true. Can you image the expense to a single company (even Wal-Mart) of editing movies simply to sell a PG-13 version of an R rated movie? I would bet the movie producer created both versions and Wal-Mart chose to only market the cleaned up one...

        Not that it makes any practical difference...

        • Can you image the expense to a single company (even Wal-Mart) of editing movies simply to sell a PG-13 version of an R rated movie? I would bet the movie producer created both versions and Wal-Mart chose to only market the cleaned up one.

          Movies are frequently edited in advance into formats "suitable" for general television audiences and other venues, such as in-flight presentation. I would hazard to guess that in many cases, packaging for retail toned-down titles would cost no more than that of man

        • The latter is actually how it works. If there are two versions, Walmart will only stock the cleaner one. American Pie was an early example -- the "unrated" version is not available at walmart. That, of course, encourages movie publishers to push both to market.

          Blockbuster does this to some degree, although it has changed its policies somewhat when the "unrated" version is the major release, or when a movie's popularity demands that either the better or at least both versions should be available.

          • The latter is actually how it works. If there are two versions, Walmart will only stock the cleaner one. American Pie was an early example -- the "unrated" version is not available at walmart. That, of course, encourages movie publishers to push both to market.

            Which brings up an interesting dilemma. People will rent via Wal-Mart the full versions of movies. They enjoy the movie, and buy a copy from Wal-Mart. When they watch said movie, they discover that many of the scenes are missing! It never happened
            • I believe the "return" issue has come up in the past. Since it's marked on the packaging, Walmart doesn't have to honor a return. And since you can't return DVDs that are opened, they don't need to allow consumers to return DVDs.

              IIRC, Walmart's response is "they can buy their DVD somewhere else if they don't like it." Many of us do just that, although it doesn't deter many regular walmart shoppers.

              Generally, those that disagree with Walmart's DVD and CD practices are those of us who also have a long

        • Na, it's Wlamart. They said give us a a cleaned version or we won't sell any at all.

    • Re:Wal-mart censorship (Score:5, Insightful)

      by killmenow ( 184444 ) on Thursday May 19, 2005 @03:36PM (#12581724)
      I don't know, but I could imagine a scenario wherein NetFlix provides what amounts to a fulfillment service to Wal-Mart under the Wal-Mart name and maintains its own NetFlix branded rental service.

      Then, if Wal-Mart says: no NC-17 movies, etc., on our branded service, fine. So long as the people who are interested in it can still get it under the NetFlix name, I don't care if Wal-Mart wants to filter their product.
    • I learned this crap the hard way. Back when Wal-mart started having their bins-o-DVDs for cheap, in the hillbilly hills of somewheres, I was able to get them for $4 a piece... and while I didnt LOVE everything I bought, the movies were well worth $4 (or so I thought).

      Then I started watching them... and noticed DUBBING over some swear words... WHAT THE HELL? Scenes were missing... the same ones that USA or TNT would cut out (In the Lawnmower man, the only GOOD parts were removed). Needless to say, I was SO

      • Re:Wal-mart censorship (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Jherek Carnelian ( 831679 ) on Thursday May 19, 2005 @03:54PM (#12581940)
        Then I started watching them... and noticed DUBBING over some swear words... WHAT THE HELL? Scenes were missing... the same ones that USA or TNT would cut out (In the Lawnmower man, the only GOOD parts were removed). Needless to say, I was SO furious, I too refuse to shop at the place

        I don't believe you. Producing an edited version and an unedited version of a DVD is an expensive proposition and not something a studio is going to do for DVDs that sell for ~$5. It would almost certainly be a money loser even at the volumes wally-world buys at.

        I purchased lawnmower man from the same wal-mart dump bins. So, please post the timecode for an example of this editing and I will go and try to confirm it on my copy tonight.

        • Re:Wal-mart censorship (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Anonymous Coward
          It would almost certainly be a money loser even at the volumes wally-world buys at.

          Tell that to the hundreds of businesses, large and small, that Wal-Mart puts out of business by doing exactly that. They sell over $285 BILLION a year, and if you don't do everything that they want, then they will simply make a boat-load of money with another supplier.

          Oh, you are the only person/entity that owns the movie/DVD rights? Ok, then, if you don't edit EVERYTHING we want in EVERYTHING we buy from you, you lose com
        • For the movie "Rainman" the airlines cut the scene out where Dustin Hoffman freaks out in the airport and cites airline crash statistics. The director objected saying it provides the whole reasoning behind the road trip.

          My friend saw the movie "The Sweet Hereafter" on an airplane and they cut out the whole father/daughter incest storyline, understandable but kind of ruins a couple plot-points.

          Who knows what other cuts are made on other films.

        • So, please post the timecode for an example of this editing and I will go and try to confirm it on my copy tonight.

          Mmm, mmm. Smells like defensism.

          Wouldn't it be easy to just ask him what parts he remembers being removed, so you can watch it and see for yourself?

          Who the hell would waste the time to look up timecodes to appease some random guy on slashdot?
        • Sure. The whole part where the monkey comes to Job's house (Job thinks he is CyboMan), then he gets blown to smitherines... that was taken out.

          When Job later is all twisted and Evil and he goes and makes the doctors wife go out and start shooting at the men in black, while they blow her to bits.... that part is removed as well.

          kthx
      • if they weren't marked as edited, start a lawsuit against them, they are committing fraud.
        • if they weren't marked as edited, start a lawsuit against them, they are committing fraud.

          Have fun with that one in court. If there's nothing indicating that it's the complete, uncut version, there's no fraud.

    • Re:Wal-mart censorship (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Big_Al_B ( 743369 ) on Thursday May 19, 2005 @03:40PM (#12581765)
      Er, how does a *store* choosing what merchandise to sell to *customers* who choose to shop there constitute censorship again?

      If that's censorship then I guess my local whole foods market is guilty too, because they don't carry Cap'n Crunch Peanut Butter Crunch. All they carry is some crappy organic peanut butter puffs. The *bastards*.

      • Re:Wal-mart censorship (Score:4, Interesting)

        by MaineCoon ( 12585 ) on Thursday May 19, 2005 @03:44PM (#12581816) Homepage
        Wal-Mart sells DVDs that have had their content edited (dubbed words, cut scenes), and only mention it in small type that you have to know to look for. Otherwise the packages look almost identical to the full length versions.

        It's the same kind of editing that TV stations do to show a PG-13 or R rated movie during the day.

        The fact that it isn't CLEARLY labelled as such, masquerading as the real thing, IS censorship.
        • Wal-Mart sells DVDs that have had their content edited (dubbed words, cut scenes), and only mention it in small type that you have to know to look for. Otherwise the packages look almost identical to the full length versions.

          So they *are* labelled then...

          It's the same kind of editing that TV stations do to show a PG-13 or R rated movie during the day.

          And this was not obvious to who?

          The fact that it isn't CLEARLY labelled as such, masquerading as the real thing, IS censorship.

          You define "censorship

      • Re:Wal-mart censorship (Score:4, Interesting)

        by damiangerous ( 218679 ) <1ndt7174ekq80001@sneakemail.com> on Thursday May 19, 2005 @03:47PM (#12581855)
        Well, it's not quite censorship, but it's not quite as innocent as you describe either. Wal-Mart only sells "radio friendly" CDs (I don't know about DVDs). A CD you buy at Wal-Mart may not be the same CD you buy at a local CD shop, despite identical packaging. Wal-Mart has the buying power to get labels to press special edited versions of their CDs for sale just in Wal-Mart. This isn't necessarily a problem in and of itelf. The problem is that Wal-Mart doesn't tell anyone about this.

      • Re:Wal-mart censorship (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Gadgetfreak ( 97865 ) on Thursday May 19, 2005 @03:49PM (#12581879)
        Correct, it's not actually censorship in the true sense of the word. A better description would be that Wal-Mart's business decisions are a "very powerful influence."

        My girlfriend works for a label manufacturer that prints labels for a well known motor oil company. They've had to re-design labels entirely, because the bottle that the company uses had changed shape. The exclusive reason is because Wal-Mart did not like the way the bottle handle was positioned when they were put on the shelf. So a multi-million dollar repackaging was set in order.

        Any manufacturer of consumer products, or even services as this case seems to be, stands to lose a TON of revenue if Wal-Mart decides that they don't want to play ball with you anymore.

        There's no doubt that Netflix would be persuaded to do just about anything that Wal-Mart requests of them.

      • It's not that they don't carry "objectionable" stuff; it is that they selectively edit out content of movies (dubbing over swear words, etc.). This is censorship.
      • don't tell people they are doing it, then it wold seems to me they are sensoring. Or perhaps commiting fraud.

        Also, I would say the if a company controlled enough of a market, they could enforce sensorship. not in this case, but I can see scenerios where this happens.

        Historically sensorship only applied to governments, however now that corporations have gotten to the point where they run things, and control people who don't even wish to use them I would say they can sensor.
        example:
        Microsoft incorporated in
    • Being a Wal Mart DVD customer (by mail), I can say that they don't. I was able to get a few DVD's I was sure they wouldn't carry, like South Park and Team America. I just got the email today about the "merger" with netflix, and I'm not sure whether to go for it. I've read some crappy things about Netflix service.
    • When I had service with them, I didn't see any evidence of censorship. I think that the unit was entirely separate from the retail unit, and got its inventory independently. However, they sucked for other reasons, which I've detailed elsewhere here :)
    • Well, there is the Normal version, sometimes also called Theatrical Release version. Then there's the Director's Cut and sometimes the Two-Disc Extended Aspect Ratio Cut With Pointless Distracting Commentary And Useless Bonus Features version.

      And there's the Praise The Lord and Pass The Ammo version, in which the phrase fuck you has been dubbed over with forget you and holy fucking shit has been replaced with oh my.

      They're also much shorter. All the violent scenes and sexual content have been removed,

  • New Blockbuster campign "No late fees! And this time its for real!!"

    • Re:Blockbuster campaign (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Lovesquid ( 840251 ) on Thursday May 19, 2005 @03:37PM (#12581745)
      I managed a Blockbuster for 2 years. Worst job I ever had. Seemed like every single day there was either a lawsuit pending from someone who got screwed over, or a mistake on late fees that I had to accept being screamed at about (like it was my own personal fault), or $500 in shoplifting loss (it happens when you have enough hours to staff only 1 employee most of the time). Nothing is more mind-numbing that repeatedly opening then closing like 2000 video/DVD cases per day to verify their contents.

      I mean all retail jobs blow monkey dick, but this one blew Kong. I've never set foot in any Blockbuster store since I left.

  • Hey Blockbuster... (Score:5, Funny)

    by LegendOfLink ( 574790 ) on Thursday May 19, 2005 @03:28PM (#12581629) Homepage
    You can kiss your ass goodbye...Always.
  • I am a Netflix die hard but I figured Wal Mart with all it's capital and brand recognition would crush Netflix.

    Good turn of events.
    • Well, the thing is that the WM brand is big in rural areas where they are THE sole bastion of high technology. Stop laughing.

      I mean, have you seen those commercials where the hip teenager explains how these new DVD thingys are just da BOMB?

      -shudder-

      Come on, these people have never even heard of Netflix. The geeks among them have AOL.

      For everyone else, was there really any question who would win?
      m-
    • Walmart had 100,000 customers. netflix has ow shouldhave about 4 million paying customers. so this addition of customers is lost in the noise: a 2.5% increase. Plus they are paying less than the ususal so it even costs netflix some money to buy them!

      The nice thing for net flix is the cross marketing.
  • Wal mart is actually giving up a market instead of pricing them out of business?

    • Re:WalMart = Microsoft of retail (Score:5, Insightful)

      by geoffspear ( 692508 ) * on Thursday May 19, 2005 @03:33PM (#12581688) Homepage
      Nah, it's just outsourcing. Giving up the market would involve shutting down their service altogether instead of getting someone else to do it.

      And apparently they were smart enough to realize that a DVD-by-mail service for US customers just can't be run out of China for cheaper.

      • That would imply that Wal mart is paying netflix. They are doing cross-advertising. Wal mart recommends netflix, for rentals and netflix recommends wal mart to purchase the dvd's.

        So yes, wal mart is shutting down their rental service entirely...they are giving their customer base to netflix for a promise of advertisement. Businesses do it all the time "we not only sell you our physical store which is worth 100k, but we are selling you client-base which is worth 1 million."

  • Mmmm, sweet irony... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by NeuroManson ( 214835 ) on Thursday May 19, 2005 @03:31PM (#12581658) Homepage
    Usually it's the other way around with Wal-Mart.

  • A Win For The Little Guys (Score:5, Interesting)

    by blueZhift ( 652272 ) on Thursday May 19, 2005 @03:31PM (#12581663) Homepage Journal
    Hooray for a rare win for the little guys! I've been a Netflix customer since the beginning so I'm happy to see a deal that promises to keep Netflix around a little longer. That just leaves Amazon and Blockbuster. Personally, I'd like to see Amazon do a similar deal with Netflix rather than try to crush them. Why? Because Netflix has become a good brand in the DVD mail rental space, so Amazon may have more to gain teaming up with them than fighting.
    • Netflix is not a "little guy". Netflix is a publicly traded company NFLX ticker with a goal of reaching 4 million subscribers by year's end. I honestly think Walmart's going to walk away the winner here. They get to ditch their profit losing segment while simotaneously gaining free virtual endorsement from Walmart as their pick as the place to buy DVDs. FWIW, I don't think Netflix is evil like Walmart is, but calling them a "little guy" hardly seems apt given their situation.

  • Competition (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MyLongNickName ( 822545 ) on Thursday May 19, 2005 @03:31PM (#12581664) Journal
    It seems to me that the there is really only room for one DVD rental-by-mail service. It is one of those commodity items that becomes cheaper to run on a per-customer basis the more customers you have. Netflix got rid of a potential competitor and gained an influential ally in the process. Now, they have to deal with Blockbuster.

    In five years, only one will remain. Who will win? My money is still on Blockbuster, but the odds have definitely shifted.

    • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday May 19, 2005 @03:47PM (#12581858)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • of course he meant cheaper for the COMPANY.

    • Re:Competition (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Elwood P Dowd ( 16933 )
      It seems to me that the there is really only room for one DVD rental-by-mail service.

      Dunno why you say that. Yes, it is "one of those commodity items that becomes cheaper to run on a per-customer basis the more customers you have" but it is also a service that can vary in quality. You might prefer Netflix because it is cheaper or has a better website, while someone else may prefer ChristianFlix because it provides them with censored movies. Someone else might prefer IndieFlix because the website is bette
    • In five years, only one will remain.

      Yeah, just like how there is only one Cola company, and Pepsi is completely bankrupt. And like how Amazon.com [amazon.com] is the ONLY place to buy [buy.com] books [bn.com] online.

      Monoplies only happen if there is a measuable barrier-to-entry in the market, either technical or legal. Postal DVD rental doesn't have a barrier like that, so there will probably stay two companies (functionally interchangable with each other).
    • It is one of those commodity items that becomes cheaper to run on a per-customer basis the more customers you have.

      Not exactly, because of the revenue-sharing contracts:

      Vertical revenue-sharing contracts allow manufacturers and retailers, or rental companies, the ability to better manage their "coordination of inventory decisions where both firms separately maximize profits. Historically, the use of simple, linear pricing rules between manufacturers and retailers may lead to suboptimal supply of the

  • The stuff billionaires are made of (Score:5, Interesting)

    by RealProgrammer ( 723725 ) on Thursday May 19, 2005 @03:33PM (#12581694) Homepage Journal
    Wow, hooray for Netflix, I guess.

    Netflix should figure out a way to use Wal-Mart as a local cache. For the hottest releases, you don't have to wait for the thing to be delivered (or even downloaded and burned >-). You hand the Wal-Mart electronics guru your Netflix card, and they put your name in the computer.

    There's got to be a way to make that work more cheaply than mailing each one.
    • That's a really cool idea. Maybe you bring them a DVD you got in the mail, they scan it, drop it in their own mailbox, and hand you a new rental. That way, you still only have 3 (or whatever) movies out at any one time.

      It would likely cost extra. You gotta pay for the shelf space, and the wage for the guy doing the scanning.
    • You hand the Wal-Mart electronics guru your Netflix card

      guru?!?!

      In which parallel dimension have you been shopping and how do I get there?
      • >guru?!?!
        >
        >In which parallel dimension have you been
        >shopping and how do I get there?

        Yeah, right.

        Recently, I had a bundle of CD blanks or something to buy, and took them to the electronics counter. The 18-year-old wunderkind behind the counter, next to the cash register, was talking to her boyfriend (or a prospect, anyway).

        I asked to purchase the item. "I can't do that, you'll have to go up front", she said, and continued with her conversation about what someone went and then somebody else
    • Ha. Tha will actually involve entering a Wal Mart store. That's not a good idea, I don't think I'm up to date on my tetanus shots. Have you ever been in a Wal Mart store?

  • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Big story (Score:2, Funny)

    by Golias ( 176380 )
    In other news, it appears that Wal-Mart used to rent out DVD's.

  • Walmartization (Score:2, Interesting)

    by 3D Monkey ( 808934 )
    Wal-Mart had no chance in succeding in this market to begin with. The reason they are so huge in retail and goods trade is because they buy in such huge volume that they can virtualy control the companies who supply their stores.

    Vlasic Pickles was an unfortunate tragedy of the Wal-Mart Empire.
    http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.htm l [fastcompany.com]

    It's good to see them lose some ground either way.

  • WalMart Ads on Netflix = Optional! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by MaineCoon ( 12585 ) on Thursday May 19, 2005 @03:50PM (#12581889) Homepage
    There is a little close box on the ads, top right corner. Click it. No more ads!

    So far the ads haven't returned, even after closing the browser window and opening a new window.

    I logged out, and logged back in, still no ads.

    So those of us who are morally opposed to WalMart's business practices don't have to deal with their banner ads. One click makes it go away.
  • My $1,700 of stock which dropped to like $1,000 looks to now be at $1,800 :)

  • 100K-1 (Score:5, Interesting)

    by jmichaelg ( 148257 ) on Thursday May 19, 2005 @03:52PM (#12581908) Journal
    I got an email from Walmart this morning telling me about the change over. The email had a link that took me to a page on Walmart's site explaining they were shutting down. On the page was a button that said "Click here to get your account transfered to Netflix" along with some text that explained my rental queue and terms of service would be transferred intact by clicking on the button.

    Didn't work that way. Got transferred to Netflix's new account page with the wrong service option selected and everything else blank. Had the software worked properly, I would now be a Netflix customer but it didn't so I checked out Blockbuster's offer. So if anyone at Netflix is reading this, especially if you're the developer, your bug cost you a customer. Blockbuster looks to have a better deal than Netflix - something I probably wouldn't have noticed had your code worked properly.

    It's a shame Walmart quit. When they entered the market, Netflix raised their monthly service fee, realized that wasn't the brightest thing to way to compete with the world's largest retailer and subsequently lowered their fees to match Walmart's. Both companies then proceeded to add a whole lot more titles to their mix - or at least claim they did. The overall effect of Walmart's entry into this field was to increase competition and improve the offerings. I frequently saw a 2 day turnaround from mailing a DVD to receiving its replacement. With Walmart's exit, I wouldn't be surprised to see a concurrent dimunition of service from the remaining players.

    • Sucks to be you. I think you'll check out NF's offerings in a couple months, though. I've posted elsewhere in this storyline how bad BB is :) I like NF and GC the best.

    • Re:100K-1 (Score:4, Informative)

      by verloren ( 523497 ) on Thursday May 19, 2005 @04:29PM (#12582375)
      I've found that Blockbuster doesn't have a *better* deal than Netflix, though it is cheaper. In return for being cheaper, however, it takes longer to get the next item on the list, I'm a lot less likely to get the top choice in my queue, the UI is generally less usable, the recommendations system is not as good, and it generally seems trickier to happen upon the lesser-known films that can turn out to be so enjoyable.

      And yes, I am cancelling, at the end of the month.

  • WHAT?!? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by __aaitqo8496 ( 231556 ) on Thursday May 19, 2005 @03:53PM (#12581929) Journal
    Wait... are you telling me that Wal-mart entered a market and wasn't able to successfully drive everyone else out by lowering prices below cost then gouge once there were no competitors left?

    Someone tell Bill Quinn [amazon.com], author of How Wal-Mart is Destroying America and The World and What You Can Do About It [amazon.com]
  • Can anyone here point me to a netflix-like service that provides service to Peurto Rico? All of them that I have tried so far won't support residents of PR. I guess none of them have a local distribution center and the cost of mail to the mainland is too much.

  • great... (Score:4, Informative)

    by patrick.whitlock ( 708318 ) on Thursday May 19, 2005 @04:00PM (#12581993)
    I live in north Alabama (stop laughing). and yes, Wal-mart is big in my neck of the woods. But if you think Microsoft is evil, you should look at Wal-mart a bit more closely. A town near me at one time had 3 grocery stores. now, they have A wal-mart. 3, count em...3 locally owned buisnesses have been shoulderd out of the picture by a large multi-national company. 3 economy helping buisnesses have closed thier doors. so, now.. you have to shop at wal-mart, or drive 20+ mins to the closest grocery store. I figure that each store had at least 40 employees. that's 120 people now out of a job, and wally world hasn't got that many employees. so... we've increased the unemployment, decreased the number of locally owned buisnesses, and made one hell of a traffic jam. now they want to take out the movie rental places. Somehow i don't think Sam Walton would appreciate this
  • As part of the deal, will Wal-Mart keep Netflix supplied with cheap Chinese bootleg DVDs? Would any of Netflix's customers know or care if they were watching "pirated" movies?

  • Good - WalMart SUCKED as a rental service (Score:5, Informative)

    by artifex2004 ( 766107 ) on Thursday May 19, 2005 @04:07PM (#12582104) Journal
    WalMart shipped from Arkansas, so you can imagine how long it took for disks to travel back and forth to the rest of the country. It was usually a 2-3 day trip each way here to Dallas, Texas, for example. And the selection was even worse than Blockbuster's online service, if you can believe it.

    I've belonged to 4 rental services, and this is the order I rank them:

    customer service:
    1) Greencine (usually a few hours for email reply during the day, some of the staff seem to remember you by name, and they also often show up in the discussion boards),
    2) Netflix (known for throttling service sometimes (less often these days), and takes a couple days to answer emails)
    3) WalMart
    4) Blockbuster far behind. 3-4 days to answer emails, empty slots when I had a queue of hundreds for a couple days at a time and each of them was supposedly "available now" - and I live within 30 miles of the national headquarters and the main distribution center.

    selection:
    1&2) Netflix, Greencine. GC has a better anime selection for now, as well as more hard to find foreign titles. Netflix has much better availability on almost every title it actually stocks, and is edging up on the anime. But it's still not there with foreign titles, either. Best selection for most people, however.
    3) Blockbuster had mostly the same titles you'd see in its stores. But as I said earlier, a lot of them weren't really available when they claimed they were.
    4) WalMart basically had a subset of what Blockbuster did. They did keep the slots full, however.

    speed:
    1) Netflix! They win by a landslide, having dozens of distribution centers, so there's probably one near you. However, they have been known to throttle customers after the grace period, and some of those "shipping tomorrow" or "shipping in [two days]" messages look suspicious. They don't do shipping or receiving on Saturdays, unfortunately.
    2) Blockbuster. They have a number of distribution centers, but they are slower to process returns and mailing out. Not to mention that I had empty slots for days, several times. I think I may have seen them ship/receive on Saturdays, though.
    3) Greencine. Unfortunately, their one center in California is their Achille's heel, as it takes days for anyone outside the region to get DVDs or send them back. It usually takes 2-3 days for a disc to get to Dallas, and 4-5 days to get back to California. The postal service seems spotty in this regard. Note, they DEFINITELY work on Saturdays as well, which is very important in their case.
    4) Walmart's center is in Arkansas. They're about as slow as Greencine. No, I don't think they work on Saturdays. Sometimes I wondered if they worked on Mondays and/or Fridays, either...

    overall value:
    Netflix is the best overall value for most people; I usually get 15 discs a month on the standard 3-out plan. I get 9 discs from Greencine on average with their 3-out plan, but I'm a foreign film fan who sometimes watches anime, so I'm keeping them around. I will say that last fall I dropped NF and kept GC, but GC had some customer service and shipping problems in January and February, so I restarted NF to supplement. Blockbuster shipped somewhere between Netflix's average and Greencine's, but their selection and customer service makes them not worth the trouble. Seriously. I canceled at the end of last year. And WalMart shipped about as many as GC, so they'd have been a nonstarter even if they weren't shutting down, now. I cancelled within 2 or 3 months, I think :)
  • Netflix development staff has now been replaced by poorly paid elderly people and downs syndrome kids working on adult assistance programs.

    Moreover, users of Netflix.com will experience audio tracks which simulate an atmosphere consisting of rednecks beating their children and people buying firearms at 1am.

    Also, Netflix.com be the first website to smell weird.

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