Netflix vs. Blockbuster: Which Online DVD Rental Service Provider is better?

If you are interested in subscribing to an online DVD rental service, the first two companies that you would probably hear are Blockbuster Online and Netflix. These companies are probably the most popular online DVD rental service provider across United States and they have been competing with one another for several years. 

Blockbuster Online currently have 75,000 titles in their library. The movies are categorized differently and are classified to 17 genres. There are various membership plans that you can choose from. Before, they used to have 4 at a time unlimited plan but in December of 2007 they made a drastic change of their prices and plans which were disapproved by their subscribers. Some customers have kept their old plans that are cheaper but some were automatically updated to the new plans. But still, some of their membership plans are somehow appealing because they allow you to exchange your movie rentals for free in-store movie rental. 

In their website, you can find critic reviews and you can view movie trailers. You can also conveniently buy the movie online if you liked it. Additionally, just like other online DVD rental service, they don’t charge their customers late fees, there are no due dates for returning DVDs and the postage is for free. They also offer two weeks of free trial for new subscribers. 

Blockbuster Online says that the turn around time of the DVD rentals will take one or two days. But some customers claim that this is not true. Sometimes their movies arrive after four or more days after they have returned their previous DVD rentals. 

Nevertheless, Blockbuster Online is still a good online DVD rental company that offers good services to their customers. 

Netflix, on the other hand, was the first online DVD rental service provider in the United States. It was founded in 1997 and they currently have nearly 8.2 million registered members and an astonishing assortment of 100,000 titles. They have competitive membership plans in low prices and they offer free trial membership. No due dates and no late fees policy are also implemented in the company. 

Their website can provide their customers a lot of features. Like for example, you just need to mouse over to the movie thumbnail and a textbox will appear and written there is the full synopsis of the movie. However, unlike Blockbuster’s website, Netflix’s website does not provide complete information about the DVD titles. 

But the allocation process of Netflix was accused of throttling. Customers say that Netflix automatically stops shipping DVDs if they see that the customers have rented many DVDs within a month and they would give the priority to the people who rent lesser DVDs. A consumer class action lawsuit was filed against Netflix in San Francisco Superior Court in September 2004 by Frank Chavez. 

After the issue of throttling, Netflix remained strong and has maintained the reputation of having the fastest DVD rental turn around time. 

It is really hard to decide which online DVD rental service provider is better. Both Blockbuster and Netflix have their own advantages and disadvantages. They also have the positive and the negative feedbacks from their subscribers. But the final decision is still up to you. Compare two services and figure out which one could meet your demands.