Screen Select (DVD rental)

Thought I'd add my 2p worth to this thread..

I was a member of LoveFilm, right the way from the beginning when they were DVRAB On Tap and they used to put first class stamps on the return envelopes. They were good to start off with, but over the last few months I've been less impressed.

If you got a DVD on Monday, watched it and sent it back Tuesday, they'd get it Wednesday, and you'd get an email Wednesday afternoon to say they'd dispatched your next choice. But then it started to slow down, so it sometimes took a week to get your next selection. I've had a few DVRAB that wouldn't play on either the PS2 or PC-DVD, and then at some point I stopped getting emails from them telling me that my next selection had been dispatched.

I cancelled my membership last weekend and joined Screen Select on the 5 DVRAB at once plan. Very impressed that by Tuesday morning I had four of them, and the fifth arrived on Wednesday. Plus their mailers are quite cool, in the fact that you just pull a tab, pop it back in the original packaging and send it back.

Oh and they're cheaper than DVRABOnTap/LoveFilm. OK so it's only a few quid a month difference, but look after the pennies..

Also like the fact that two DVD disc sets are only charged as one rental - so something like Once Upon A Time in America comes out in one go, instead of having to wait til you've sent back the first one.

So far, so good - but only time will tell!

Alex
 
I've signed up for the LOVEFiLM trial which seems to be going smoothly so far.

I did a bit of comparative shopping on the web sites for ten or so of the online rental outfits, not so much on price as on breadth of stock. Taking some directors I like and checking which films were available, the sites with the best range were qflicks, ScreenSelect and LOVEFiLM. Some that looked good in theory - eg webflix - had quite limited range in practice.

I'll try the three that looked best and see how it goes, but has anyone any experience of qflicks, which I hadn't heard of before?
 
I've been with Screen Select since New Year. I'm NOT happy with them. Yes, they turn discs around quickly, usually. The problem is their apparent inability to send my top-level choices. I've had 2 films at top level for weeks, and never get them. And then they send a bottom-level instead of a mid-level.

When I wrote and complained the reply was NOT meaningful. They did not address the issues I raised. I will probably cancel them and try someone else. I'm not very happy that they have since bought-out the other company I was most interested in.

Read somewhere that they were created by the same folks that started Amazon.co.uk. If this is true, it figures. Customer service at Amazon.uk is rather lousy too. Fine when they have what you want, but otherwise they simply drop the ball and delete your order (After weeks/months of promising to deliver).
 
Kacas, you need to return both DVRAB to mailboxmovies, otherwise they won't send another one out! I'm a memeber and I did it once, and they didn't send another out 'till I returned the other one!
 
Moogy, just out of interest what was the reply? I have stated already that i am happy with them but i do have the same issue as you do, having had many prioritised movies sitting there since day one almost that havent been sent. Some of them are not popular or new movies so i cant understand how in 3 months they have never been available at any time??

Just a point of note also is that i had an email from one of the companies i took a trial out with after i cancelled with them advising me not to assume that the others companies who advertised bigger choices of movies actually had them in stock. I took this as sour grapes scare mongering if you like but who knows, maybe the companies advertising huge ranges dont actually keep many in stock ever and therefore you would never get some titles ever?
 
It's difficult recommending movies as it's all down to taste but here are some i have seen recently that i i rate.

Horror/Suspense:

Roadkill
Wrong Turn
Final Destination 1 & 2
The Dentist
Braindead

Comedy:

Meet the parents
There's something about Mary
Liar Liar
 
They simply said the obvious, that they allocate stock based on availability. It was a canned response.

The 2 movies for which Im waiting ARE fairly recent (Phonebooth and 28 Days Later). However the "brick-and-mortar" competition typically have many copies of new releases. I've never had problems getting a recent film from a traditional video rental.

I also suggested a change in their priority system. They didn't respond to that at all.

I've thought about how one would efficiently operate such a business. Idealy, a disc would be handled once per turn-around. Come in, scan for return, print mailer for the next customer, stuff it in the envelope and toss in the out basket. This saves chasing discs in archive stacks.

It seems not unlikely that these companies would advertise more titles than they actually have. Funny part is, they can buy discs IF enough people request it, or not, if not.
 
I was with Screen Select until earlier today and have been really happy with their service. Unfortunately I seem to be suffering from light-fingered postie/ sorting office person as now two of my dvRAB have gone astray in the post to them. Last time Screenselect claimed from Royal Mail, I received a letter back from Royal Mail saying I should get a certificate of posting each time I returned a dvd otherwise claims may not be considered. Due to the fact that two of my local post offices are closing this will now mean a five mile round trip each time. As this is a bit inconvenient (understatement)I've sadly cancelled as from today as I feel I can no longer take the risk of these dvRAB going missing.
 
well Choices Direct, have done well.. matrix revolutions & Master and commander arrived this morning :-) not bad goin.. but noticed they DON`T post films on a saturday.. as we`ve not had anyfilm on a monday .. so as long as they get these back friday should have new films for the weekend.
 
SounRAB like a prepared response they will send often. I also fedback on their priority system, because it is a hassle having to deselect titles then select them all again just to change priorities. A simple numbering system is much easier.

Did you notice by any chance they now do different pricing packages allowing up to five discs? I stumbled on this by chance but was certainly never advised that this change had taken place even though i fedback to them that they should have more. Not great communication there.
 
To change priority on a selection, go to the page listing what films are in your list. There are option buttons for priority 1-3 plus remove. You click the one you want, then click "update selection" at the bottom of the list. This saves any changes in priority you have made.

Last Friday they checked in a movie I had returned, and did not send a new selection until Monday. Yesterday they again checked one in without sending the replacement the same day. I wonder if they either had NONE of 22 films in my list, or are actually trying to wait for a high level (7 level 2, 2 level 1), or are just getting lax.
 
I had trials running with three companies, Screenselect, Lovefilm and Movietrak.

I've gone with movietrak.co.uk as they have offered a consistently good service, always sent out quickly and within the top 3 choices, I never had a scratched disc from them, the packaging is the easiest for returns and it's the cheapest deal for a 2 DVRAB at a time membership. They also have an easy 'queueing' system (unlike screenselect) which is just a numbered list. You can move DVRAB around the list however you like just by updating the number in the list.

I have more confidence in them, so Screenselect and Lovefilm have just been cancelled.
 
I'm on a trial with DVRAB365.
Service is quick, films available near the top of my list BUT a couple of the films I've had out have got stuck a good few times on viewing, which, needless to say, is extremely irritating.

Is this an occupational hazard of this type of renting (DVRAB in post so knocked about more?). What are other people's experiences?
 
Scratched DVRAB aren't to do with the type of renting, because they're in a case anyway, it's to do with people not caring for the DVD, i.e. leaving it out etc... I guess with the amount of people that rent one DVD from a place like this and the fact that you don't physically hand it in, people are more inconsiderate with them maybe.
 
Ive been with DVD365.com for a few months, can normally get through about 5 or 6 discs a week.
I had quite a few scratched and jumping in places. They have started putting in disc protector paRAB in the cases. It looks like the discs were spinning around in the cases in the post as most we scratched in a circular pattern.

If you email and report the disc it means (hopefully) that they wont continue to send out the faulty disc to others, and the few Ive reported they've added a couple of days onto my payment date for inconvenience.
 
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