Blockbuster Total Access VS. Netflix: A Review

In what is probably an attempt to compete with Netflix, Blockbuster began a similar program a few months ago. I am not usually one to rent movies and hadn't been in a movie store in years, but there was a movie I wanted to see, so I went to my local Blockbuster store. While in there, the store clerk managed to talk me into getting into their DVD rental program, Total Access. I received a two week free trial to see if it was something I wanted to keep, along with a free DVD rental up front. I was hesitant to get it at first and wasn't quite sure how it worked, but after a thorough explanation from the clerk, I decided that it sounded like a good deal. If I didn't like it, I could cancel before the trial period was up and pay nothing. The worst that could happen is that I would get some free rentals out of the trial. The way it works is that you can order what movies you want to rent online, and then when you're through with them, return them via the United States Postal Service, or to your local Blockbuster store. If you return them to the store, you get a free rental for each movie you are returning through them. And to sweeten the deal, you get an additional free DVD or game rental once a month with a coupon you can print out from their website. Their game rental is expensive and so this is definitely worth it if you like to rent a video game once in a while.

Another great thing about the Total Access program is that Blockbuster has a lot of movies available online, so many more than are available in their store. Currently, I'm working my way through renting all of the Dr. Who episodes they have and watching them. So if you think you might want to join their Total Access program, you can browse through their site and see if there are some DVDs you might want to rent. You then can sign up online or in the store. So far, I'm very happy with their Total Access plan. And when you're finished renting all the movies you want to see, you can cancel the subscription, there is no contract or mandatory length of time involved.

So now for my explanation of why Blockbuster Total Access is such a better deal than Netflix. First of all, they both have varying plans as to how many DVDs you can rent at a time, and they are pretty much the same price comparatively, but with Total Access you get to rent movies from the store while you're waiting for your next set of movies to come. And of course, you also get one extra free rental a month as I mentioned above. With Blockbuster Total Access, you can rent twice the movies than with Netflix for the same price. My brother had Netflix and it was taking a very long time to receive the movies he ordered. He switched to Blockbuster Total Access, and because there was a distribution center not very far away, he told me that in some instances the new DVDs he ordered were being delivered the day after he returned the old ones to the store. The nearest distribution center to us is about two hundred miles away and yet the DVDs we order still come quickly, usually only taking one or two days. Another positive thing about returning the DVDs to the store, besides the fact that you get free rentals with the movies you're returning, is that it registers in their computer system that you've returned them, so they go ahead and process the next movies in your queue for shipment, without having to wait for them to arrive back at the distribution center. Overall, I feel that Blockbuster's Total Access video rental program is a very good deal and seems to be a better deal than Netflix.