Blockbuster BD rental discussion thread - Page 66

From what I heard Dish now has to do all the ordering so they are new to the game. They are a little behind and need some catching up to do. Copies have been ordered. I'm hoping stores get them tomorrow since that is when shipments usually come into the stores.

Many are saying they are putting their account on hold -- would make sense to do this only right before your next billing date, right? Not like you're going to get a refund for the days you don't use.

I'm still keeping my account. I was almost going to put it on hold. I have both NF and BB. I was actually forced to go to Redbox to pick up Green Hornet on Blu-ray. First time I ever went to a Redbox. I guess this will be a good time for me to rent Treme on Blu-ray. I heard its very good.

Yes, I did it two days before my next billing date. Though it really would not have mattered since they did not have any of the movies in my queue.

Why not get Green Hornet from Neflix instead of paying for two subscriptions and then buy from a third?

Netflix has the Green Hornet rental date as 5/31.

I put my Blockbuster account on hold last month, and none of the previous "On Hold" movies have become available, and all new Criterions and catalog titles in my queue since have been either "On Hold" or "Unavailable", so I feel pretty good about the hold for now. I'll keep the hold for another month or so, and decide whether to rejoin.

I thought I timed it right it get The Dilemma on Tues. But when I checked my queue it says 'on order.' Does that mean Blockbuster doesn't have it? At this point the 28 day wait period at Netflix might actually be faster. I dunno?

I have both BB and NF too. All the titles in my queue are "unavailable" so I'm thinking of putting my account on hold as well. I dunno, but today is the last day I have to decide since my billing date is tomorrow.

On another note, I decided to use Red Box for the first time on Tuesday to get Green Hornet on Blu Ray. Now how is it that Red Box had it, but NF shows it releasing on 5/31? I thought NF and Red Box were subject to the same 28 day window.

I really liked Blockbuster by Mail and really dislike Netflix, but I quit my BB subscription in April when things looked so bleak and re-joined NF. Looks like I made the right decision, unfortunately.

No, the Green Hornet is a Sony Pictures release and as such has D/D agreement with Red Box. AFAIK, only Fox, Warner and Universal has a 28 day delay with Red Box. Sony (Columbia), Disney, Lions Gate and Paramount have D/D with Red Box. Have not heard what Sony (Columbia) window is with Netflix.

I am going to stick with BB until the nature of the changes Dish makes in BB's operation become clear. If Dish gets BB's credit problems straightened out and continues to acquire the catalog BDs that NF now passes over then BB will continue to be a better source of BDs than NF was at the time I gave up my subscription in exasperation.

I'll be putting my BB account on hold in a couple weeks when my billing date approaches. My queue has dwindled down to not much left anyway, as I've deleted things that it appeared they were never going to get (and acquired elsewhere). I can always turn it back on if things turn around, but no sense in paying for it if they don't have anything to send me.

Green Hornet is not available through NF until 5/31. I know it seems silly to go to Redbox when I already have 2 subscriptions (which I use a lot and get my moneys worth), but I had the day off, I was bored, and there was nothing else to watch so I figure why not fork over $1.50.

I called around and nobody has any copies of The Dilemma or Green Hornet on either DVD or Blu-ray. I was told Thursday by the latest and I knew that was a joke.

I agree. This is why I have more discs out a time with BB than NF because in the past BB usually received most or all of the catalog titles. Although I am still waiting on Taxi Driver and a few others.

Green Hornet now shows as available in my queue, so hopefullly it will be at the local store tomorrow.

The Dilemma still says that its on order. I guess I can wait on that one.

From some of the recent news in some trade magazines. Netflix is starting to turn more to streaming and less disc rental.

So I for one am keeping my Blockbuster by mail membership open. Even if I'm lucky to get one title per week as compared to two with NF (NF is closer)

I don't think Redbox will be a viable option for those wanting Blu Rays for a while at least. They have mentioned some of their market gains were due to stocking fewer Blu Rays and increasing in demand DVD stock.

The goal is to make money, for every Blu Ray, that's a DVD (what the majority still wants or needs) that they lose the rental from.

Maybe if we all don't jump ship and cancel, Dish will see there is a market that will not settle for "just" streaming.

As far as I know, their analysis was that they should stock fewer copies of discs in general and expand to include games.

The gist is, they aren't selling out on many titles (meaning many sit idle), but see a large potential market for getting your gaming fix.

The idea is, Mom and Dad rent a movie on the way out of the grocery store - and, in the same transaction, pick up a game for the kids to stay occupied during it.

So I got the inside scoop. Apparently Blockbuster has to re-work deals and agreements with the Studios. This is all being done and negotiated by Dish Network. I would assume that these deals will be better for both the company and the customer. From what I heard, deals have been made with Sony and Summit. I believe Green Hornet is a Sony title so that is why Blockbuster now has it in stock. The store I rent at was heavily stocked. I was impressed with the amount of Blu-rays in stock. There was at least 25 sitting on the shelf.

The Dilemma is delayed, but I believe Dish has worked with Universal who is the studio behind The Dilemma and a deal has been made with that particular studio. I asked the store manager about The Dilemma and he says it will probably arrive in stores on Monday, May 16th. He also told me that the company is sort of "under construction" as Dish (since they are the new owners) are negotiating with studios for new deals and agreements and it will be anywhere between 2-5 weeks for everything to be settled and then after that everything will be not just good again, but better. So we shall see.

Redbox isn't a good option for Blu-ray as we all know. Most of their movies are DVD's. When they do have Blu-rays its probably just a few copies of that particular movie and they don't get everything on Blu-ray either of course. That is why I like Blockbuster. I have a NF account as well, but in my experience BB has been way better for Blu-ray rentals and if Dish Network can strike some sweet deals with the studios for Blockbuster then that will be better for us Blu-ray renters. Better deals = more Blu-rays for us and your chances of getting a brand new release on Blu-ray is better. If you see my post above I mentioned that the store I rent at was heavily stocked on the Blu-ray of Green Hornet or at least a pretty good amount if you ask me. Dish must have got a good distribution deal with Sony.

Thanks for the heads up on this. Looking forward to the new and improved BB online service.

I sure hope. I really hope they start getting the catalog Blu-ray releases again for online. I think once all the negotiating and when all the contracts and agreements are in place we will start seeing those catalog titles again as well as the smaller titles that come out. It also has been mentioned in a few news articles that Dish wants to start a substantial streaming service for Blockbuster. I hope this would tie in with our Total Access.

Well, that's why I keep an eye on this thread, hoping Dish can get things straightened out and get BB by Mail back to as good as it once was. And yes, Netflix now is getting almost none of the blu-ray catalog releases. I stream a few things, but I'd never watch something via streaming that I can watch on blu-ray on disc no matter how much NF pushes their streaming.

Doesn't look good for this week....the three titles that I wanted to rent on Blu ray say On Order for mail order and not available for store rental...says the samething for DVD as well. The titles were:

Black Death
illusionist
No Strings Attached (available on blu ray at red box)

Like many, I am becoming discouraged with the lack of alternatives to rent blu rays. I've been a long time BB customer....but it looks shaky for my local store and their national presence. I just wish Dish or whomever would come out publically and keep the customer informed as to the situation. With no information, we are allowed to draw our own conclusions...which presented with the fact that neither blu ray nor dvd are available for some of the titles last week and what appears to be even more of the new titles this week...it makes the consumer nervous.

Last week, my neighborhood BB didn't get The Green Hornet BD on Tuesday but it finally came in on Thursday. Today they didn't get the Blue Valentine BD but the manager told me the regional manager had told her to expect to get it "mid week." Time will tell.

NF shipped me No Strings Attached and Blue Valentine yesterday.

Those of us who dumped NF in frustration did it because of NF's refusal to buy newly released BD editions of catalog titles. New releases were never much of a problem. Of course, BB isn't going to work either unless its new daddy, Dish, can make satisfactory deals with the studios so that BB can get discs again.

What some forget is that NF also doesn't buy BDs of some current releases...such as ALL-STAR SUPERMAN, the After Dark films SECONDS APART & FERTILE GROUND, etc. WHile these may not be top tier a la GREEN HORNET, it should be noted that it is not only catalog titles that NF doesn't stock.

I had seen that there were some second tier new releases that NF didn't buy but didn't worry much about them because they were movies I had no interest in seeing. Come to think of it, I would probably have been better off not seeing some of the first tier new releases that I did watch.

Looking at my BB queue and Blue Valentine and No Strings are on order. My queue isn't all that large but out of 21, 6 are on order, 7 are very long to long wait. It consists of mostly new releases and the more popular catalog releases.

One would think that Dish would communicate with their customer base and throw them a "we are working on it" bone. Since they don't seem care about my business I guess I'll put my account on hold and wait and see what happens. I realize they have a lot on their plate, however if they don't take care of their current base of customers they won't have anybody left to work (whatever their business strategy is) on.

That's for sure! I fortunately was able to get the SUPERMAN BD via BB...and enjoyed it more than GREEN HORNET!