Netflix vs Blockbuster Total Access
Mar. 4th, 2007 08:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amanda_loddenA week ago, John and I rented a movie from Blockbuster. This is a significant event, since we have Netflix and haven't gone out to get a movie in ages. As is typical, I picked up one movie, he picked up a different movie, and neither of us wanted to give up ours. So we took both movies up to the counter, where the clerk asked if we wanted to get one of them for free by trying Blockbuster Total Access (Blockbuster's answer to Netflix) for two weeks. Since I'd been wanting to try Total Access anyway just to see what it was like, we signed up. Here's what we found:
Selection: Netflix still has the bigger selection, but not by much. Everything I searched for returned results in both systems (and I searched for some of the obscure movies Flex has mentioned, as well as some old TV shows, made-for-TV movies, and mini-series), but typically Netflix will have more from older actors like the Marx Brothers and Lucille Ball. To be honest, I'm not sure if this is a difference in selection or in search logic, since Netflix will try to correct your spelling. There was only one movie I found in Netflix that I didn't find in Blockbuster.
Knowing Their Inventory: With Netflix, I can "save" something that hasn't been released yet, and it will be added to my queue when it comes out. With Blockbuster Total Access, I can do this as well-- sometimes. When I tried to add "The Simpsons: Season 14" to my Blockbuster queue, I got "The Simpsons Christmas Movie" instead. ("Pirates of the Caribbean 3" saved just fine in both systems.) Also, I had an Eddie Izzard stand-up in my Blockbuster queue as one of the first three to be sent to me. Despite it always saying "available" in my queue, it has routinely failed to be shipped to me (either as one of the first three, or as a replacement for the ones I've returned), which tells me it's not really available.
Letting You Think For Yourself: This is a big thing for me. When I put something with multiple discs into my Netflix queue, I can choose to put in one disc or all of them (like, for example, if I just want to rent the one or two episodes of "Monk" that I missed in Season One). Blockbuster puts in all the discs, and you can't edit them-- I can take out the "Monk Season One" meta-disc, which removes all four Season One discs from my queue. I can't just remove Disc Three, though. Moreover, I can't re-arrange them, so that I get Disc One and then a different movie in my queue and then Disc Two later. They *will* come right in order with no interruption, whether I like it or not. I like it not.
User-Friendly Interface: Blockbuster wins here for me. Notably, I like having my queue up all the time-- with Netflix, I have to click on "Queue" to look at it. With Blockbuster Total Access, my queue (or the top X items in it; I didn't bother putting a lot into it until deciding which service to keep) is always on the right-hand side and easy to see. Both services will tell you when you're looking at a movie that's in your queue (so you don't add it again); both services fail on this if it's a movie that's already shipped to you (which strikes me as odd-- if I don't want to add the next movie to be shipped, why would I want to add the one I already have in my possession?). Netflix's interface doesn't suck, I just think Blockbuster's is better. [Update 7/11/07: I went into Netflix to update my queue a bit after borrowing one of the movies from a friend, and now if you go to one of the movies you currently have in your possession, it's listed as "At Home" and you cannot add it to your queue. So apparently I wasn't the only one who thought that was odd.]
Blockbuster-Specific Options: The big selling point of Total Access is that you can return the movies in-store. When you do, you can get a free rental right then, PLUS they'll ship the next movie in your queue (rather than waiting a day or two for them to receive the disc). We tried this; it works and is painless. However, they don't keep your Blockbuster store membership linked to your Blockbuster Total Access membership, so if the free movie you rent is the next one in your queue, you'd better remove it from your online queue quickly, or they'll still ship it to you. I'd like to see this more integrated, personally-- right now it's just a free rental and then all the management hassle of a Netflix queue. It could be so much more.
Multiple Queues: This is the deal-breaker, and the single biggest reason I will be canceling my Blockbuster membership rather than my Netflix membership. With Netflix, John and I have separate queues, and I can set it so that of the three discs we have at any time, two come from his queue and one comes from mine (he tends to watch them while I'm out doing other things on weekday evenings). Blockbuster doesn't have this at all-- you have one queue, period. This is a major deal for us-- we nearly canceled our Netflix subscription before they introduced this feature, because it would frustrate John no end to have three movies that he doesn't like and none that he does. To get around it we had to continually re-arrange our queue to make sure that the next thing shipped was his rather than mine. And honestly, Netflix's system could use a little improvement, because there's no "fall-back" queue-- if his queue empties, we only have the one movie from mine until either he adds more to his queue or I notice it and change the numbers of discs sent from each. If Blockbuster were to add this feature but set it as "up to X from this queue and then all the rest from this other queue" I'd totally switch. In a heartbeat. I can't believe John and I are alone in this desire-- how many parents would like to be able to say "send me two movies for the kids and one for me when I need to remember I'm an adult"?
Conclusion: Blockbuster Total Access is great if you watch all your movies at once and don't like the few days wait for mailing them back, or if you're impatient and want a new movie Right Now. Otherwise, it's about the same as Netflix, but with fewer options to let you customize your service to your liking. I'm disappointed in Blockbuster; with a good integration of their online service and their bricks-and-mortar stores they could have kicked Netflix's ass. Instead, they've made Netflix's younger sibling, but with free deals that cut into their existing stores' profits.
Selection: Netflix still has the bigger selection, but not by much. Everything I searched for returned results in both systems (and I searched for some of the obscure movies Flex has mentioned, as well as some old TV shows, made-for-TV movies, and mini-series), but typically Netflix will have more from older actors like the Marx Brothers and Lucille Ball. To be honest, I'm not sure if this is a difference in selection or in search logic, since Netflix will try to correct your spelling. There was only one movie I found in Netflix that I didn't find in Blockbuster.
Knowing Their Inventory: With Netflix, I can "save" something that hasn't been released yet, and it will be added to my queue when it comes out. With Blockbuster Total Access, I can do this as well-- sometimes. When I tried to add "The Simpsons: Season 14" to my Blockbuster queue, I got "The Simpsons Christmas Movie" instead. ("Pirates of the Caribbean 3" saved just fine in both systems.) Also, I had an Eddie Izzard stand-up in my Blockbuster queue as one of the first three to be sent to me. Despite it always saying "available" in my queue, it has routinely failed to be shipped to me (either as one of the first three, or as a replacement for the ones I've returned), which tells me it's not really available.
Letting You Think For Yourself: This is a big thing for me. When I put something with multiple discs into my Netflix queue, I can choose to put in one disc or all of them (like, for example, if I just want to rent the one or two episodes of "Monk" that I missed in Season One). Blockbuster puts in all the discs, and you can't edit them-- I can take out the "Monk Season One" meta-disc, which removes all four Season One discs from my queue. I can't just remove Disc Three, though. Moreover, I can't re-arrange them, so that I get Disc One and then a different movie in my queue and then Disc Two later. They *will* come right in order with no interruption, whether I like it or not. I like it not.
User-Friendly Interface: Blockbuster wins here for me. Notably, I like having my queue up all the time-- with Netflix, I have to click on "Queue" to look at it. With Blockbuster Total Access, my queue (or the top X items in it; I didn't bother putting a lot into it until deciding which service to keep) is always on the right-hand side and easy to see. Both services will tell you when you're looking at a movie that's in your queue (so you don't add it again); both services fail on this if it's a movie that's already shipped to you (which strikes me as odd-- if I don't want to add the next movie to be shipped, why would I want to add the one I already have in my possession?). Netflix's interface doesn't suck, I just think Blockbuster's is better. [Update 7/11/07: I went into Netflix to update my queue a bit after borrowing one of the movies from a friend, and now if you go to one of the movies you currently have in your possession, it's listed as "At Home" and you cannot add it to your queue. So apparently I wasn't the only one who thought that was odd.]
Blockbuster-Specific Options: The big selling point of Total Access is that you can return the movies in-store. When you do, you can get a free rental right then, PLUS they'll ship the next movie in your queue (rather than waiting a day or two for them to receive the disc). We tried this; it works and is painless. However, they don't keep your Blockbuster store membership linked to your Blockbuster Total Access membership, so if the free movie you rent is the next one in your queue, you'd better remove it from your online queue quickly, or they'll still ship it to you. I'd like to see this more integrated, personally-- right now it's just a free rental and then all the management hassle of a Netflix queue. It could be so much more.
Multiple Queues: This is the deal-breaker, and the single biggest reason I will be canceling my Blockbuster membership rather than my Netflix membership. With Netflix, John and I have separate queues, and I can set it so that of the three discs we have at any time, two come from his queue and one comes from mine (he tends to watch them while I'm out doing other things on weekday evenings). Blockbuster doesn't have this at all-- you have one queue, period. This is a major deal for us-- we nearly canceled our Netflix subscription before they introduced this feature, because it would frustrate John no end to have three movies that he doesn't like and none that he does. To get around it we had to continually re-arrange our queue to make sure that the next thing shipped was his rather than mine. And honestly, Netflix's system could use a little improvement, because there's no "fall-back" queue-- if his queue empties, we only have the one movie from mine until either he adds more to his queue or I notice it and change the numbers of discs sent from each. If Blockbuster were to add this feature but set it as "up to X from this queue and then all the rest from this other queue" I'd totally switch. In a heartbeat. I can't believe John and I are alone in this desire-- how many parents would like to be able to say "send me two movies for the kids and one for me when I need to remember I'm an adult"?
Conclusion: Blockbuster Total Access is great if you watch all your movies at once and don't like the few days wait for mailing them back, or if you're impatient and want a new movie Right Now. Otherwise, it's about the same as Netflix, but with fewer options to let you customize your service to your liking. I'm disappointed in Blockbuster; with a good integration of their online service and their bricks-and-mortar stores they could have kicked Netflix's ass. Instead, they've made Netflix's younger sibling, but with free deals that cut into their existing stores' profits.
