Blockbuster Movie Pass performance thread

[Yespage]

Not the exact same thing by any means but just wanted to say that if you do the in-store exchange, when you turn in the store exchange it is scanned back in to inventory and the BB shipping facility is notified to send the next movie in your queue without waiting for it to be returned by mail. For example, Saturday I go to the store and exchange my mailed disc for a store disc. I return the store disc on Sunday, and on Monday BB ships my next disc without waiting for the store to send back my mailed disc.

Obviously that doesn't help those without a local store but it is a cool feature for those of us who do have one.

Interesting. That'd be a good way of getting eight discs guaranteed in a month.

I was curious about the in-store exchange. You obviously have the mailing that the disc came in, so do your return and get a new disc and just return it or do you need an account or a card to be able to do that?

I have a BB that isn't around the corner, but isn't too far away either (we got so spoiled with every store being around every corner for the past 15 years). I thought there was another one, much closer, though that may have closed, I need to drive by and check.

I got my movie today that they told me would be here tomorrow.

First the LHC breaks the speed of light, well maybe just on paper with a mistake in it,... and now this! We are living in exciting times.

 

[barco13]

I chatted online with Dish about my lack of shipping issue. They gave me the moviepass number of 877-862-1613. I discussed with them for a few minutes and they said something was converted over to my account wrong but they fixed it and emailed me 2 in store coupons. Hopefully this helps if anybody else is having a similar issue.

 

[nuttz565]

Blockbuster issues..

So I currently have 9 different movie/games in my queue and none of them are available. They either have short or very long wait next to them, kind of annoying but here is the real pain in the A@@ and to be fair its probably out of BB's hands but please can some one explain this to me. So Resistance 3 for the PS3 has been out for a month. Now I have it in my queue and it says it won't be available to ship until 12/20/2011. I'm guessing this has something to do with license agreements. Now if I have BB send me out another game I can then take it directly down to BB and exchange it for Resistance 3 and keep it for as long as I want. Just trying to make some sense of this.....

 

[Coach Knight]

I was curious about the in-store exchange. You obviously have the mailing that the disc came in, so do your return and get a new disc and just return it or do you need an account or a card to be able to do that?

Yes, you simply put it in the envelope and seal it up...turn it in for the exchange...they scan the bar code on the envelope and the disc you are exchanging it for. You'll also get an email (normally by the time you get to your car) that confirms you have made the exchange. You can even set your online queue to remove the in-store exchange so that it doesn't send it again to you, in case it was a movie near the top of your queue. Once you turn in the in-store exchange and it gets scanned in, you get an email confirming the receipt of that disc and that your new disc will be shipping immediately.

You do have to create an in-store account to exchange, but the process was quick and painless. Also nearly every time I have done an exchange I have gotten a coupon for a free or discounted movie rental.

 

[dishburgh]

I chatted online with Dish about my lack of shipping issue. They gave me the moviepass number of 877-862-1613. I discussed with them for a few minutes and they said something was converted over to my account wrong but they fixed it and emailed me 2 in store coupons. Hopefully this helps if anybody else is having a similar issue.

Called the 877 number and spoke with a moviepass rep who after checking into it, said that there was a system wide "glitch" with certain peoples' accounts and the discs either not being shipped or really strange dates were being given and that their IT people are aware of it and will be pushing out a fix probably on Monday.

She asked that we be patient and if still issues after Monday/Tuesday we should call the 877 number then.

I can wait until then.

 

[ralfyguy]

So I got my disc mailed, watched the show and took it to my BB store and exchanged it. Now the manager told me, that I cannot come back and exchange it endlessly. She said that I need to order the next one by mail again for to exchange it in the store again. Is that correct?

 

[nuttz565]

So I got my disc mailed, watched the show and took it to my BB store and exchanged it. Now the manager told me, that I cannot come back and exchange it endlessly. She said that I need to order the next one by mail again for to exchange it in the store again. Is that correct?

Yes that is correct. BB does offer for $15 a month unlimited instore exchanges, I guess if you didn't have BB through Dish that might be the way to go.

 

[ralfyguy]

This whole thing doesn't make sense, with the following scenarios for renting the show Fast Five as an example:


Scenario #1: I get a disc mailed, take it to the store and exchange it = 2 free shows to watch

Scenario #2: I get a disc mailed, take it to the store and just drop it off = 1 free show to watch
If I go to the same store tomorrow and want to rent another movie, I get charged $2.99 for a new release.
Now if I had just exchanged it, or just ordered another, movie #2 would have been free.

Scenario #3: I use my Samsung TV for streaming the same movie, and it would charge me $3.99.

Scenario #4: I use my Dish Network receiver for streaming the same movie and I get charged $4.99 for the SD, and $6.99 for the HD version.

Scenario #5: I use my Dish Network receiver for watching the same movie with Dish On Demand, which cost me $6.99 to rent.

Scenario #6: I use my Dish network receiver for pay-per-view ch527, the extended version in SD for $4.99

Scenario #7: I use my Dish network receiver for pay-per-view ch528, the SHORT version in SD for $5.99

Scenario #8: I use my Dish network receiver for pay-per-view ch502, the extended version in HD for $6.99


DUDE!!!!

 

[sethwell]

Scenario #1: I get a disc mailed, take it to the store and exchange it = 2 free shows to watch
that is included in the BBMP from dish, 1 disc out at a time, unlimited exchanges, in-store exchanges

Scenario #2: I get a disc mailed, take it to the store and just drop it off = 1 free show to watch
If I go to the same store tomorrow and want to rent another movie, I get charged $2.99 for a new release.
Now if I had just exchanged it, or just ordered another, movie #2 would have been free.
you answered your own scenario there

Scenario #3: I use my Samsung TV for streaming the same movie, and it would charge me $3.99.
Using a completely different service from Blockbuster, but there should be a way to do this for their customers. maybe in the future it will be but i wouldn't hold your breath.

Scenario #4: I use my Dish Network receiver for streaming the same movie and I get charged $4.99 for the SD, and $6.99 for the HD version.
I'm assuming that title is a dish VOD title and therefore not tied to the movie pack?

Scenario #5: I use my Dish Network receiver for watching the same movie with Dish On Demand, which cost me $6.99 to rent.
Dish Network offering, not Blockbuster. this answer goes for the next three as well.
Scenario #6: I use my Dish network receiver for pay-per-view ch527, the extended version in SD for $4.99

Scenario #7: I use my Dish network receiver for pay-per-view ch528, the SHORT version in SD for $5.99

Scenario #8: I use my Dish network receiver for pay-per-view ch502, the extended version in HD for $6.99

I mainly use my 922 and have a 722 as well. i haven't even tried to watch any other streaming movies except the first one i tried. the interface is just too slow and clunky to find something. i also don't recall seeing any of the titles branded with a blockbuster logo or even stating they were from blockbuster, this would help the customer select an item from the blockbuster catalog. even a blockbuster filter would be nice, someone correct me if i missed that but it would be a good idea to implement.

 

[The Fat Man]

However, he does have a point. Why doesn't dish just kill VOD Movies and Movie PPV if they are offering the Movie Pass. That would free bandwith for something like . . . and I'm just spitballing . . . Full time HD RSN's! Obviously keep the events PPV, but get rid of the movies. When Comcast rolled out VOD New Releases, they reduced PPV to Events and Adult Entertainment. That freed up space. Maybe Dish is waiting to see how well the Movie Pass takes off.

 

[ralfyguy]

In a way it doesn't make sense to me that for streaming a movie I have to pay, and the same movie I get shipped in the mail for free. And on top of that get the best possible quality with the mailed disc.
It also doesn't make sense that I can exchange the mailed disc in the store for another, but after that I have to get one in the mail again first before I can exchange it in the store again.

 

[TheForce]

First of all, once you understand that nothing is free, that you pay in one way or another, either part of a package or separate a la carte, but you still pay you will begin to understand. Making people believe they get stuff for free by just telling them it's free is one of the oldest tricks in Marketing. Advertising 101- The three most compelling words in advertising are in order: "FREE" 'SEX" "CASH" The joke is the phrase "FREE SEX FOR CASH" The second marketing gimmick is to make you follow a convoluted path or procedure with various hoops to jump through in order to trick you into spending more money. Giving you a "free" disk at the store is a way to get you into the store and maybe that you will see an opportunity to spend money there too. Are you beginning to understand how the gimmicks work now?

 

[ralfyguy]

I understand that. Just not in this case. Is streaming for them so much more costly than running a sorting facility for mailing discs?

 

[TG2]

However, he does have a point. Why doesn't dish just kill VOD Movies and Movie PPV if they are offering the Movie Pass. That would free bandwidth for something like . . . and I'm just spit-balling . . . Full time HD RSN's! Obviously keep the events PPV, but get rid of the movies. When Comcast rolled out VOD New Releases, they reduced PPV to Events and Adult Entertainment. That freed up space. Maybe Dish is waiting to see how well the Movie Pass takes off.

Why? because dish has the 211k, the 625, the myriad of OTHER receivers out there that *could* get PPV titles because they stream from the Satellite.

And someone else posted.. something that I've also posted to Dish IRT asking them to take up to managment .. regardless of starting point in the DVR menu .. going into BBMP and finding a title ... each individual title should have their own identifier as to where its coming from .. PPV, IPVOD, VOD, BBMP, etc..

While Don Landis (just above) explains the gimmicks behind the scenes the trickery that dish is trying to accomplish.. what they are incidentally doing, is tarnishing *all* of their content sources by *not* identifying where each individual title is coming from ... the worst experience found through the BBMP menu, becomes the "everything is like that" experience in the user's mind; because the user doesn't see its from BBMP, or VOD, or PPV, they only see it coming under that one BBMP menu choice ... another Dish failure.

 

[KAB]

Question, if anyone knows. If your mail return is going to a BB center in one city, does that means you receive from the same city? Case in point, recent return went to here in Indy...they received next day. However, replacement (original was damaged) took two days. I can't find anything on the mailer to show origin.

 

[Ghpr13]

I'm wondering to about where my disc come from and where they go. Before I mailed my last 2 disc off today I took a good look at the BB envelope. The return address in the corner was in Dallas, TX, but the address the disc was being mailed to was a Louisville, KY P.O. Box....

Ghpr13

 

[KAB]

The return address in the corner was in Dallas, TX, but the address the disc was being mailed to was a Louisville, KY P.O. Box....

Ghpr13

BB Corporate HQ is Dallas. But I dare say that's not where they come from.

 

[TheForce]

I agree with KAB on that Dallas address, and I think it safe to say that where you return your disks to is also where it came from. If like Netflix, the disks may come from several nearby centers. I've seen two here, on in town and the other in Orlando. Both are next day by mail.

from Ralfyguy-

I understand that. Just not in this case. Is streaming for them so much more costly than running a sorting facility for mailing discs?

Most certainly the costs of operation are different but I would not assume that one is significantly less than the other. There are quite a few costs that streaming has, such as digitizing and encoding and app development and storage plus the linking services such as Limelight and skyworks solutions and others that are contracted by Blockbuster and Netflix, CBS, ABC, NBC HBO etc that take the request and begin the stream to the ISP you use through these large server operations. It is not as simple a process as you may think just because it is all handled electronically. I once spoke with the CEO at Limelight about how the streaming process works from source of the movie on the master until you get it from your ISP, say Comcast or Cox or Verizon etc. I was astounded at the complexity, and the fact that much of the process is handled by subcontracting services companies. Then there is the perceived media licensing that is often negotiated at a much higher rate from the studios because it is streaming. When you think about it, the disk by mail is crude, archaic but simple and maybe quite a bit cheaper. Ultimately, I believe we will see considerably higher per month costs for streaming but the selection, and quantity will be much better. We make a big mistake if we try to compare the business of one with the other. According to Reed Hastings ( Netflix CEO) in his note to stock holders, is the main reason he wanted to isolate the two businesses. Dish Network split the hardware ( Echostar) from the media subscription business. I would not be surprised if Dish doesn't some day split the retail stores off although the business is still subscription based media distribution. The non-subscriber can still rent but as subscriptions take over those walk-in customers will be paying larger and larger rates, being encouraged to subscribe to DishNetwork. At my store the clerks are all asking non-subscribers to sign up now. I predict that soon, the BB stores will no longer rent to non-subscribers. It will be like sign up for $10 a month one at a time or rent for $6 a day.

 

[downriver]

Do you guys who stream experience audio drops? Is the audio 5.1? Is the screen resolution noticeably any different?

 

[Ghpr13]

I agree with KAB on that Dallas address, and I think it safe to say that where you return your disks to is also where it came from. If like Netflix, the disks may come from several nearby centers. I've seen two here, on in town and the other in Orlando. Both are next day by mail.

I agree too. See my post in other BBMP thread.

Ghpr13