Blockbuster Total Access delayed timeframes

Blockbuster Total Access delayed timeframes

BlockbusterTotalAccessBack on January 18th, I posted about some problems that I was experiencing with the Blockbuster Total Access program. At that time I was seeing some heavy delays on movies being shipping out when a previous movie was exchanged in store at a local Blockbuster. I received a lot of comments on my post and many people agreed that Blockbuster was not shipping out movies “right away” as they had promised. Let’s take a look at their old Total Access program details and then look at the newly updated verbiage.

Previous Blockbuster Total Access Details

When you exchange online DVDs at your local BLOCKBUSTER store your next movie is shipped right away, but it may take 1-2 days for the title returned to the store to clear from your queue.

New Blockbuster Total Access Details

When you exchange online DVDs at your local BLOCKBUSTER store your next movie is shipped within one business day right away, but it may take 2-3 days for the title returned to the store to clear from your Shipped Movies list queue.

Notice that they have added “one business day” to their “right away” statement and that the 1-2 days timeframe has been changed to “2-3 days” for the title to clear from the queue. Good thing they notified all their customers of this change! Oh wait, they didn’t inform anyone (I got no email). So if you are a Blockbuster Total Access customer that signed up in January, you are probably not receiving the level of service that was initially promised to you.

In my experience, Blockbuster is still taking longer than “one business day right away” to ship out movies after you return in store, but your results may vary. I plan on doing a comprehensive article that compares Blockbuster Total Access and Netflix in the near future, but until then, we can keep waiting on those Blockbuster movies to ship out…

About Wes Novack

Wesley Novack is a Technologist working in the software industry, with extensive experience building and managing highly available applications, services, and systems in the public cloud. He has a breadth of experience in online publishing, the consumer electronics industry, and building internet communities. Wes enjoys hanging with his family, skateboarding, hiking, the vegan lifestyle, and a good cup of tea. You can find him on Twitter @WesleyTech.

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11 Comments on “Blockbuster Total Access delayed timeframes”

  1. I had Netflix since 2005 and It has always been fast for me. In November last year I tried out Blockbuster Total Access to see how it compared and it was markedly slower. They seem to only ship out one movie per day. I would ship back two movies and they would both arrive the same day, but they would only send one movie back the same day and the second the day after. The first three films sent to me went out over a four day period.

    They had some neat features on their online store, but their speed killed it for me. I never go to B&M stores so they trade in was no advantage to me (the reason I wanted mailed DVDs was so I wouldn’t have to go to a store).

  2. Yep, Blockbuster mailing is definitely slower in my experience. Perhaps they couldn’t keep up with the huge surge in Total Access customers when the program launched nationwide?

    I have noticed the Blockbuster AGGRESSIVELY pitches their Total Access plan to ALL in store customers, which caused their Total Access customer base to skyrocket. I’ve also read that most of their Total Access customers were obtained through the in-store sales pitch.

  3. I have the same problem, my shipping que has been empty since2-27, it is 3-2 now. I have emailed a couple times, first reply was basically tough ****, next was one that they were having technical probs, and today, reply was hmm, we will look into it. They did send coupon for 1 free instore. Netflix never had a problem like this. Too bad the total access is such a great deal. If the dont ship movies, it wont be so great anymore.

  4. Well, it’s been 10 days with no movies shipped for me. 10 days since my last 3 cleared my queue, that is. I have written Blockbuster 6 times now and have only received 1 response giving me 2 free in store rentals and explaining some BS about available movies near me etc. I have 50 movies in my queue and 45 show available. I was billed on Feb 25th but no movies have shipped since then.

    My latest email threatens switching to Netflix if they don’t prorate my payment fr the days they have failed to live up to their contract. Lets see what happens now.

  5. We have had the same problems with shipping. We have e-mailed and called Blockbuster on several occasions. Our movies were dropped at the store on Feb. 17th and we still have 0 movies shipped. They claim “technical glitch”. Yesterday I spoke with a floor supervisor and he tried setting us up with a new account. Don’t bother to try this, as we still do not have any movies shipped. I am putting together a letter for the corporate offices and would like to get an idea on how widespread this issue is. Any thoughts on how I can get that informaiton?

  6. I am currently 9 days and counting without a movie shipped. I have emailed CS more than twenty times. So far I received 9 rental coupons from BBO and the empty promise of titles shipping soon. My only guess is they are not meeting their profit margins and are deep in the hole. Would not be surprised if Total Access goes under sooner than later.

  7. I just got off the phone with BB customer service (?). When they answered I asked the service person what she would think of a company if they took more than 25 minutes to answer their customer service line. She was obviously searching for some sort of response. When I mentioned the wait obviously meant that BB was having a customer service meltdown and there must be reasons for that.

    We then went on to discuss my lack of movies and receiving only bottom shelf movies when they did ship me anything. Got the computer glitch response, got the movies not available in your district warehouse, got the let me check your account again. Each time I asked if that was my problem or BB’s problem. Her answer was obvious. When I asked her what she would do if she were in the same position she of course couldn’t answer.

    Gave me next month free and then I went on to tell her that management will get the message when they see their bottom line dropping like a rock. When movies become available through online transmission and rental in volume BB wants to stay in business. They won’t do that if they continue with service as it is today.

  8. 10 days have passed without any DVD from my queue shipped out as of 2/26/07. Called BB 3 times, first 2 times on hold for 15 minutes exactly (I think there was a timer on their phone system to see if they can wear down some callers to give up). The first rep tried to use my plan (2 DVDs per month) as an excuse to say that I can wait. But I blasted him saying that I want to watch my movies on my schedule, not on theirs. Then he tried to say that I have already used up my 2 rentals for the month but I know my billing date so I blasted him further about that lame excuse. Then he promised an e-coupon which I never received so I called again the next day. The rep there apologized and sent me 2 e-coupons “so you won’t be out of a movie this weekend”, and promised me that they have fixed the problem and will still take a bit of time for all the backlogged DVDs to be shipped out (another excuse). This was last Thursday (3/1/07). Third time I called was yesterday when the call went straight to an automated service saying they are having a technical problem (no kidding). Emailed them twice since 2/26, got a reply once with another e-coupon. I did threaten to cancel and switch to Netflix. The way it is going, I figured if I call or email them everyday, I will probably get more e-coupons. But who has the time to chase down a vendor for service that I have already paid for?

    Good thing is I downgraded my membership to just 2 dvds a month last billing cycle so I am not out too much money. I have been pretty aggressive in doing the store returns, so I was getting 5 dvds per month (2 paid, and 3 free with store returns and 1 e-coupon). I figured if I can get another e-coupon from their technical fiasco, I break even and will cancel at the end of this month when my billing cycle ends.

    The end is near for BB online.

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