Wal-mart's DVD Rental Service - a customer review FYI

I've been a member of Wal-mart's DVD Rental Service since 6/15/03. As a
former NetFlix subscriber (3 years, one of the charter subscribers - I quit
when titles started disappearing in the mail in bunches, which ultimately
could be traced to thieves in their Flushing distribution facility, but this
wasn't known at the time I quit - they were hassling me about the lost
DVD's), I prefer Wal-Mart by a wide margin over NetFlix.

1) My turnaround (and I've tracked this on a spreadsheet since day 1) on
shipments from Wal-Mart to me is usually 2-3 business days. With NetFlix it
was more like 7-10 days.
2) On the average I keep about 250 titles in my Wal-Mart Queue, and 99% are
usually listed as "available now". With NetFlix, it was usually 50%
unavailable at any time.
3) They confirmation of my returns usually occurs in the same time frame as
the incoming shipments, 2-3 days. With NetFlix, it often took more than a
week and sometimes as long as two weeks to get an acknowledgement of a
return.
4) I usually receive return acknowledgements in the morning email, and
notification of replacement shipments going out the same afternoon. With
NetFlix, it wasn't unusual for a week or more to expire before a replacement
shipment would be sent out.
5) Among the 66 titles I've received to date on the 4-out plan, in only one
instance was the title sent out not the one listed at the top of my queue.
For example, this morning I received acknowledgement of 3 returns, and this
afternoon, I got notification of 3 shipments, those being Sopranos Season 4
disc 1, disc 3, and disc 3, which were listed at the top of my queue as
1,2,3 respectively. My experience with NetFlix was that newly released
popular titles such as The Sopranos would be listed on top of my queue, but
they would invariably be flagged as 'long wait' and it could take weeks or
even months for them to ship. In the meantime, they might ship a
replacement title as low as #12 or even #20, skipping all the titles at the
top of the queue.
6) In all the time I've been a member of Wal-Mart, there has only been one
instance when titles did not show up in my mailbox right after they were
shipped to me, and that was an administrative error -- the Outer Limits
Season 2 discs 1 and 3 were listed as shipped, when in fact, they were
pulled from the shipping line because of factory defects. I thought they
were lost, but was subsequently notified by Wal-Mart of the error. I simply
re-queued them and the second order arrived promptly, as usual.
7) Wal-Mart's customer service responds to email inquiries with relevant
answers to my questions, unlike NetFlix's responses, which ordinarily were
no more than automated form letters generated on the basis of key words in
my original email, which was very aggravating. I've also had occasion to
speak to Wal-Mart's customer service by phone, and found their reps to be
courteous and eager to help. NetFlix's customer service reps were never
helpful, in fact they were usually pretty dumb and unable to answer
questions.

So I'm quite satisfied with Wal-Mart's service, which overall is completely
different and much better than the experience I had with NetFlix, and just
wanted to pass it along.

r7di697

My problem with Walmart. I just terminated the 30 day free trial yesterday
is 1. They have any where near the selection Netflix does. 2. They don't
stock anything rated NC17, so you get the edited R version of movies
released as NC 17 or unrated. The reason I wanted to try Walmart was the
lower price. I guess you get what you pay for.

r7di697 <> wrote in message
news:8yiob.14714$ link.net...
> I've been a member of Wal-mart's DVD Rental Service since 6/15/03. As a
> former NetFlix subscriber (3 years, one of the charter subscribers - I
quit
> when titles started disappearing in the mail in bunches, which ultimately
> could be traced to thieves in their Flushing distribution facility, but
this
> wasn't known at the time I quit - they were hassling me about the lost
> DVD's), I prefer Wal-Mart by a wide margin over NetFlix.
>
> 1) My turnaround (and I've tracked this on a spreadsheet since day 1) on
> shipments from Wal-Mart to me is usually 2-3 business days. With NetFlix
it
> was more like 7-10 days.
> 2) On the average I keep about 250 titles in my Wal-Mart Queue, and 99%
are
> usually listed as "available now". With NetFlix, it was usually 50%
> unavailable at any time.
> 3) They confirmation of my returns usually occurs in the same time frame
as
> the incoming shipments, 2-3 days. With NetFlix, it often took more than a
> week and sometimes as long as two weeks to get an acknowledgement of a
> return.
> 4) I usually receive return acknowledgements in the morning email, and
> notification of replacement shipments going out the same afternoon. With
> NetFlix, it wasn't unusual for a week or more to expire before a
replacement
> shipment would be sent out.
> 5) Among the 66 titles I've received to date on the 4-out plan, in only
one
> instance was the title sent out not the one listed at the top of my queue.
> For example, this morning I received acknowledgement of 3 returns, and
this
> afternoon, I got notification of 3 shipments, those being Sopranos Season
4
> disc 1, disc 3, and disc 3, which were listed at the top of my queue as
> 1,2,3 respectively. My experience with NetFlix was that newly released
> popular titles such as The Sopranos would be listed on top of my queue,
but
> they would invariably be flagged as 'long wait' and it could take weeks or
> even months for them to ship. In the meantime, they might ship a
> replacement title as low as #12 or even #20, skipping all the titles at
the
> top of the queue.
> 6) In all the time I've been a member of Wal-Mart, there has only been one
> instance when titles did not show up in my mailbox right after they were
> shipped to me, and that was an administrative error -- the Outer Limits
> Season 2 discs 1 and 3 were listed as shipped, when in fact, they were
> pulled from the shipping line because of factory defects. I thought they
> were lost, but was subsequently notified by Wal-Mart of the error. I
simply
> re-queued them and the second order arrived promptly, as usual.
> 7) Wal-Mart's customer service responds to email inquiries with relevant
> answers to my questions, unlike NetFlix's responses, which ordinarily were
> no more than automated form letters generated on the basis of key words in
> my original email, which was very aggravating. I've also had occasion to
> speak to Wal-Mart's customer service by phone, and found their reps to be
> courteous and eager to help. NetFlix's customer service reps were never
> helpful, in fact they were usually pretty dumb and unable to answer
> questions.
>
> So I'm quite satisfied with Wal-Mart's service, which overall is
completely
> different and much better than the experience I had with NetFlix, and just
> wanted to pass it along.
>
>

Alex

I guess that's all true, but I guess I'm not interested in renting those
titles anyway, so I don't feel like I'm missing anything. After my
experience with NetFlix, I'm more concerned with the administrative end,
turnaround, etc. and so far it's stellar with Wal-Mart. With NetFlix it was
frankly horrible. I do remember while I was a subscriber to NetFlix that
they abruptly eliminated the mature category without notice one day, wiping
out dozens of R titles, such as the Playboy videos, and some B movies.


"Alex" <> wrote in message
news:...
> My problem with Walmart. I just terminated the 30 day free trial yesterday
> is 1. They have any where near the selection Netflix does. 2. They don't
> stock anything rated NC17, so you get the edited R version of movies
> released as NC 17 or unrated. The reason I wanted to try Walmart was the
> lower price. I guess you get what you pay for.
>
> r7di697 <> wrote in message
> news:8yiob.14714$ link.net...
> > I've been a member of Wal-mart's DVD Rental Service since 6/15/03. As a
> > former NetFlix subscriber (3 years, one of the charter subscribers - I
> quit
> > when titles started disappearing in the mail in bunches, which
ultimately
> > could be traced to thieves in their Flushing distribution facility, but
> this
> > wasn't known at the time I quit - they were hassling me about the lost
> > DVD's), I prefer Wal-Mart by a wide margin over NetFlix.
> >
> > 1) My turnaround (and I've tracked this on a spreadsheet since day 1) on
> > shipments from Wal-Mart to me is usually 2-3 business days. With
NetFlix
> it
> > was more like 7-10 days.
> > 2) On the average I keep about 250 titles in my Wal-Mart Queue, and 99%
> are
> > usually listed as "available now". With NetFlix, it was usually 50%
> > unavailable at any time.
> > 3) They confirmation of my returns usually occurs in the same time frame
> as
> > the incoming shipments, 2-3 days. With NetFlix, it often took more than
a
> > week and sometimes as long as two weeks to get an acknowledgement of a
> > return.
> > 4) I usually receive return acknowledgements in the morning email, and
> > notification of replacement shipments going out the same afternoon.
With
> > NetFlix, it wasn't unusual for a week or more to expire before a
> replacement
> > shipment would be sent out.
> > 5) Among the 66 titles I've received to date on the 4-out plan, in only
> one
> > instance was the title sent out not the one listed at the top of my
queue.
> > For example, this morning I received acknowledgement of 3 returns, and
> this
> > afternoon, I got notification of 3 shipments, those being Sopranos
Season
> 4
> > disc 1, disc 3, and disc 3, which were listed at the top of my queue as
> > 1,2,3 respectively. My experience with NetFlix was that newly released
> > popular titles such as The Sopranos would be listed on top of my queue,
> but
> > they would invariably be flagged as 'long wait' and it could take weeks
or
> > even months for them to ship. In the meantime, they might ship a
> > replacement title as low as #12 or even #20, skipping all the titles at
> the
> > top of the queue.
> > 6) In all the time I've been a member of Wal-Mart, there has only been
one
> > instance when titles did not show up in my mailbox right after they were
> > shipped to me, and that was an administrative error -- the Outer Limits
> > Season 2 discs 1 and 3 were listed as shipped, when in fact, they were
> > pulled from the shipping line because of factory defects. I thought
they
> > were lost, but was subsequently notified by Wal-Mart of the error. I
> simply
> > re-queued them and the second order arrived promptly, as usual.
> > 7) Wal-Mart's customer service responds to email inquiries with relevant
> > answers to my questions, unlike NetFlix's responses, which ordinarily
were
> > no more than automated form letters generated on the basis of key words
in
> > my original email, which was very aggravating. I've also had occasion
to
> > speak to Wal-Mart's customer service by phone, and found their reps to
be
> > courteous and eager to help. NetFlix's customer service reps were never
> > helpful, in fact they were usually pretty dumb and unable to answer
> > questions.
> >
> > So I'm quite satisfied with Wal-Mart's service, which overall is
> completely
> > different and much better than the experience I had with NetFlix, and
just
> > wanted to pass it along.
> >
> >
>
>

r7di697

There were not many titles that I wanted that Netflix did not have,
particuarly
music titles, which I wanted to watch but not necessarily buy. Walmart's
selection
was horrible. I live in California and delivery from Netflix was great.

r7di697 <> wrote in message
news:I7lob.12436$ hlink.net...
> I guess that's all true, but I guess I'm not interested in renting those
> titles anyway, so I don't feel like I'm missing anything. After my
> experience with NetFlix, I'm more concerned with the administrative end,
> turnaround, etc. and so far it's stellar with Wal-Mart. With NetFlix it
was
> frankly horrible. I do remember while I was a subscriber to NetFlix that
> they abruptly eliminated the mature category without notice one day,
wiping
> out dozens of R titles, such as the Playboy videos, and some B movies.
>
>
> "Alex" <> wrote in message
> news:...
> > My problem with Walmart. I just terminated the 30 day free trial
yesterday
> > is 1. They have any where near the selection Netflix does. 2. They don't
> > stock anything rated NC17, so you get the edited R version of movies
> > released as NC 17 or unrated. The reason I wanted to try Walmart was the
> > lower price. I guess you get what you pay for.
> >
> > r7di697 <> wrote in message
> > news:8yiob.14714$ link.net...
> > > I've been a member of Wal-mart's DVD Rental Service since 6/15/03. As
a
> > > former NetFlix subscriber (3 years, one of the charter subscribers - I
> > quit
> > > when titles started disappearing in the mail in bunches, which
> ultimately
> > > could be traced to thieves in their Flushing distribution facility,
but
> > this
> > > wasn't known at the time I quit - they were hassling me about the lost
> > > DVD's), I prefer Wal-Mart by a wide margin over NetFlix.
> > >
> > > 1) My turnaround (and I've tracked this on a spreadsheet since day 1)
on
> > > shipments from Wal-Mart to me is usually 2-3 business days. With
> NetFlix
> > it
> > > was more like 7-10 days.
> > > 2) On the average I keep about 250 titles in my Wal-Mart Queue, and
99%
> > are
> > > usually listed as "available now". With NetFlix, it was usually 50%
> > > unavailable at any time.
> > > 3) They confirmation of my returns usually occurs in the same time
frame
> > as
> > > the incoming shipments, 2-3 days. With NetFlix, it often took more
than
> a
> > > week and sometimes as long as two weeks to get an acknowledgement of a
> > > return.
> > > 4) I usually receive return acknowledgements in the morning email, and
> > > notification of replacement shipments going out the same afternoon.
> With
> > > NetFlix, it wasn't unusual for a week or more to expire before a
> > replacement
> > > shipment would be sent out.
> > > 5) Among the 66 titles I've received to date on the 4-out plan, in
only
> > one
> > > instance was the title sent out not the one listed at the top of my
> queue.
> > > For example, this morning I received acknowledgement of 3 returns, and
> > this
> > > afternoon, I got notification of 3 shipments, those being Sopranos
> Season
> > 4
> > > disc 1, disc 3, and disc 3, which were listed at the top of my queue
as
> > > 1,2,3 respectively. My experience with NetFlix was that newly
released
> > > popular titles such as The Sopranos would be listed on top of my
queue,
> > but
> > > they would invariably be flagged as 'long wait' and it could take
weeks
> or
> > > even months for them to ship. In the meantime, they might ship a
> > > replacement title as low as #12 or even #20, skipping all the titles
at
> > the
> > > top of the queue.
> > > 6) In all the time I've been a member of Wal-Mart, there has only been
> one
> > > instance when titles did not show up in my mailbox right after they
were
> > > shipped to me, and that was an administrative error -- the Outer
Limits
> > > Season 2 discs 1 and 3 were listed as shipped, when in fact, they were
> > > pulled from the shipping line because of factory defects. I thought
> they
> > > were lost, but was subsequently notified by Wal-Mart of the error. I
> > simply
> > > re-queued them and the second order arrived promptly, as usual.
> > > 7) Wal-Mart's customer service responds to email inquiries with
relevant
> > > answers to my questions, unlike NetFlix's responses, which ordinarily
> were
> > > no more than automated form letters generated on the basis of key
words
> in
> > > my original email, which was very aggravating. I've also had occasion
> to
> > > speak to Wal-Mart's customer service by phone, and found their reps to
> be
> > > courteous and eager to help. NetFlix's customer service reps were
never
> > > helpful, in fact they were usually pretty dumb and unable to answer
> > > questions.
> > >
> > > So I'm quite satisfied with Wal-Mart's service, which overall is
> > completely
> > > different and much better than the experience I had with NetFlix, and
> just
> > > wanted to pass it along.
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

Alex

My experience with Netflix has been better than yours, so I'm sticking.

I also had a problem with lost discs once upon a time. It was brief and
easily fixed. In my case a new carrier was misdelivering mail. Netflix kept
my account alive until the Postal Service put a competent carrier on the
route.

Delivery times when I started several years ago was almost a week from the
West Coast to the East Coast. The opening of regional shipping centers cut
that to 2-3 days.

The selection at Netflix is unquestionably larger. I've never had a problem
keeping my rental queue full of available titles, and if I time my returns
right I rarely have trouble grabbing a new DVD on its release date.

I'm glad you found happiness with Wal-Mart and I appreciate your sharing
your experience. I don't mean to debate you, just provide a counterpoint
from a satisfied Netflix customer.


"r7di697" <> wrote in message
news:8yiob.14714$ link.net...
> I've been a member of Wal-mart's DVD Rental Service since 6/15/03. As a
> former NetFlix subscriber (3 years, one of the charter subscribers - I
quit
> when titles started disappearing in the mail in bunches, which ultimately
> could be traced to thieves in their Flushing distribution facility, but
this
> wasn't known at the time I quit - they were hassling me about the lost
> DVD's), I prefer Wal-Mart by a wide margin over NetFlix.
>
> 1) My turnaround (and I've tracked this on a spreadsheet since day 1) on
> shipments from Wal-Mart to me is usually 2-3 business days. With NetFlix
it
> was more like 7-10 days.
> 2) On the average I keep about 250 titles in my Wal-Mart Queue, and 99%
are
> usually listed as "available now". With NetFlix, it was usually 50%
> unavailable at any time.
> 3) They confirmation of my returns usually occurs in the same time frame
as
> the incoming shipments, 2-3 days. With NetFlix, it often took more than a
> week and sometimes as long as two weeks to get an acknowledgement of a
> return.
> 4) I usually receive return acknowledgements in the morning email, and
> notification of replacement shipments going out the same afternoon. With
> NetFlix, it wasn't unusual for a week or more to expire before a
replacement
> shipment would be sent out.
> 5) Among the 66 titles I've received to date on the 4-out plan, in only
one
> instance was the title sent out not the one listed at the top of my queue.
> For example, this morning I received acknowledgement of 3 returns, and
this
> afternoon, I got notification of 3 shipments, those being Sopranos Season
4
> disc 1, disc 3, and disc 3, which were listed at the top of my queue as
> 1,2,3 respectively. My experience with NetFlix was that newly released
> popular titles such as The Sopranos would be listed on top of my queue,
but
> they would invariably be flagged as 'long wait' and it could take weeks or
> even months for them to ship. In the meantime, they might ship a
> replacement title as low as #12 or even #20, skipping all the titles at
the
> top of the queue.
> 6) In all the time I've been a member of Wal-Mart, there has only been one
> instance when titles did not show up in my mailbox right after they were
> shipped to me, and that was an administrative error -- the Outer Limits
> Season 2 discs 1 and 3 were listed as shipped, when in fact, they were
> pulled from the shipping line because of factory defects. I thought they
> were lost, but was subsequently notified by Wal-Mart of the error. I
simply
> re-queued them and the second order arrived promptly, as usual.
> 7) Wal-Mart's customer service responds to email inquiries with relevant
> answers to my questions, unlike NetFlix's responses, which ordinarily were
> no more than automated form letters generated on the basis of key words in
> my original email, which was very aggravating. I've also had occasion to
> speak to Wal-Mart's customer service by phone, and found their reps to be
> courteous and eager to help. NetFlix's customer service reps were never
> helpful, in fact they were usually pretty dumb and unable to answer
> questions.
>
> So I'm quite satisfied with Wal-Mart's service, which overall is
completely
> different and much better than the experience I had with NetFlix, and just
> wanted to pass it along.
>
>

Skid

I just wanted to put the word out on Wal-Mart's rental service as an
alternative DVD source for people who might not be happy with their current
provider. I'd like Wal-Mart to continue offering rentals.


"Skid" <> wrote in message
news:QDwob.71582$e01.250508@attbi_s02...
> My experience with Netflix has been better than yours, so I'm sticking.
>
> I also had a problem with lost discs once upon a time. It was brief and
> easily fixed. In my case a new carrier was misdelivering mail. Netflix
kept
> my account alive until the Postal Service put a competent carrier on the
> route.
>
> Delivery times when I started several years ago was almost a week from the
> West Coast to the East Coast. The opening of regional shipping centers cut
> that to 2-3 days.
>
> The selection at Netflix is unquestionably larger. I've never had a
problem
> keeping my rental queue full of available titles, and if I time my returns
> right I rarely have trouble grabbing a new DVD on its release date.
>
> I'm glad you found happiness with Wal-Mart and I appreciate your sharing
> your experience. I don't mean to debate you, just provide a counterpoint
> from a satisfied Netflix customer.
>
>
> "r7di697" <> wrote in message
> news:8yiob.14714$ link.net...
> > I've been a member of Wal-mart's DVD Rental Service since 6/15/03. As a
> > former NetFlix subscriber (3 years, one of the charter subscribers - I
> quit
> > when titles started disappearing in the mail in bunches, which
ultimately
> > could be traced to thieves in their Flushing distribution facility, but
> this
> > wasn't known at the time I quit - they were hassling me about the lost
> > DVD's), I prefer Wal-Mart by a wide margin over NetFlix.
> >
> > 1) My turnaround (and I've tracked this on a spreadsheet since day 1) on
> > shipments from Wal-Mart to me is usually 2-3 business days. With
NetFlix
> it
> > was more like 7-10 days.
> > 2) On the average I keep about 250 titles in my Wal-Mart Queue, and 99%
> are
> > usually listed as "available now". With NetFlix, it was usually 50%
> > unavailable at any time.
> > 3) They confirmation of my returns usually occurs in the same time frame
> as
> > the incoming shipments, 2-3 days. With NetFlix, it often took more than
a
> > week and sometimes as long as two weeks to get an acknowledgement of a
> > return.
> > 4) I usually receive return acknowledgements in the morning email, and
> > notification of replacement shipments going out the same afternoon.
With
> > NetFlix, it wasn't unusual for a week or more to expire before a
> replacement
> > shipment would be sent out.
> > 5) Among the 66 titles I've received to date on the 4-out plan, in only
> one
> > instance was the title sent out not the one listed at the top of my
queue.
> > For example, this morning I received acknowledgement of 3 returns, and
> this
> > afternoon, I got notification of 3 shipments, those being Sopranos
Season
> 4
> > disc 1, disc 3, and disc 3, which were listed at the top of my queue as
> > 1,2,3 respectively. My experience with NetFlix was that newly released
> > popular titles such as The Sopranos would be listed on top of my queue,
> but
> > they would invariably be flagged as 'long wait' and it could take weeks
or
> > even months for them to ship. In the meantime, they might ship a
> > replacement title as low as #12 or even #20, skipping all the titles at
> the
> > top of the queue.
> > 6) In all the time I've been a member of Wal-Mart, there has only been
one
> > instance when titles did not show up in my mailbox right after they were
> > shipped to me, and that was an administrative error -- the Outer Limits
> > Season 2 discs 1 and 3 were listed as shipped, when in fact, they were
> > pulled from the shipping line because of factory defects. I thought
they
> > were lost, but was subsequently notified by Wal-Mart of the error. I
> simply
> > re-queued them and the second order arrived promptly, as usual.
> > 7) Wal-Mart's customer service responds to email inquiries with relevant
> > answers to my questions, unlike NetFlix's responses, which ordinarily
were
> > no more than automated form letters generated on the basis of key words
in
> > my original email, which was very aggravating. I've also had occasion
to
> > speak to Wal-Mart's customer service by phone, and found their reps to
be
> > courteous and eager to help. NetFlix's customer service reps were never
> > helpful, in fact they were usually pretty dumb and unable to answer
> > questions.
> >
> > So I'm quite satisfied with Wal-Mart's service, which overall is
> completely
> > different and much better than the experience I had with NetFlix, and
just
> > wanted to pass it along.
> >
> >
>
>

r7di697

I am also a member of Netflix and I am currently in a free trial with
WalMart. However, I will not be sticking with Walmart simply becuase of the
selection. Of my entire Netflix queue, 80% of them are NOT available at
Walmart. Plus there is no speed difference, I return Walmart and Netflix
discs at the same time, and the next movies both show up on the same day.
There is nothing at all WRONG with WalMart, they just don't have the
selection, otherwise I would stay with Walmart.






"r7di697" <> wrote in message
news:8yiob.14714$ link.net...
> I've been a member of Wal-mart's DVD Rental Service since 6/15/03. As a
> former NetFlix subscriber (3 years, one of the charter subscribers - I
quit
> when titles started disappearing in the mail in bunches, which ultimately
> could be traced to thieves in their Flushing distribution facility, but
this
> wasn't known at the time I quit - they were hassling me about the lost
> DVD's), I prefer Wal-Mart by a wide margin over NetFlix.
>
> 1) My turnaround (and I've tracked this on a spreadsheet since day 1) on
> shipments from Wal-Mart to me is usually 2-3 business days. With NetFlix
it
> was more like 7-10 days.
> 2) On the average I keep about 250 titles in my Wal-Mart Queue, and 99%
are
> usually listed as "available now". With NetFlix, it was usually 50%
> unavailable at any time.
> 3) They confirmation of my returns usually occurs in the same time frame
as
> the incoming shipments, 2-3 days. With NetFlix, it often took more than a
> week and sometimes as long as two weeks to get an acknowledgement of a
> return.
> 4) I usually receive return acknowledgements in the morning email, and
> notification of replacement shipments going out the same afternoon. With
> NetFlix, it wasn't unusual for a week or more to expire before a
replacement
> shipment would be sent out.
> 5) Among the 66 titles I've received to date on the 4-out plan, in only
one
> instance was the title sent out not the one listed at the top of my queue.
> For example, this morning I received acknowledgement of 3 returns, and
this
> afternoon, I got notification of 3 shipments, those being Sopranos Season
4
> disc 1, disc 3, and disc 3, which were listed at the top of my queue as
> 1,2,3 respectively. My experience with NetFlix was that newly released
> popular titles such as The Sopranos would be listed on top of my queue,
but
> they would invariably be flagged as 'long wait' and it could take weeks or
> even months for them to ship. In the meantime, they might ship a
> replacement title as low as #12 or even #20, skipping all the titles at
the
> top of the queue.
> 6) In all the time I've been a member of Wal-Mart, there has only been one
> instance when titles did not show up in my mailbox right after they were
> shipped to me, and that was an administrative error -- the Outer Limits
> Season 2 discs 1 and 3 were listed as shipped, when in fact, they were
> pulled from the shipping line because of factory defects. I thought they
> were lost, but was subsequently notified by Wal-Mart of the error. I
simply
> re-queued them and the second order arrived promptly, as usual.
> 7) Wal-Mart's customer service responds to email inquiries with relevant
> answers to my questions, unlike NetFlix's responses, which ordinarily were
> no more than automated form letters generated on the basis of key words in
> my original email, which was very aggravating. I've also had occasion to
> speak to Wal-Mart's customer service by phone, and found their reps to be
> courteous and eager to help. NetFlix's customer service reps were never
> helpful, in fact they were usually pretty dumb and unable to answer
> questions.
>
> So I'm quite satisfied with Wal-Mart's service, which overall is
completely
> different and much better than the experience I had with NetFlix, and just
> wanted to pass it along.
>
>

Pug Fugley

"r7di697" <> wrote in message
news:8yiob.14714$ link.net...
> I've been a member of Wal-mart's DVD Rental Service since 6/15/03. As a
> former NetFlix subscriber (3 years, one of the charter subscribers - I
quit
> when titles started disappearing in the mail in bunches, which ultimately
> could be traced to thieves in their Flushing distribution facility, but
this
> wasn't known at the time I quit - they were hassling me about the lost
> DVD's), I prefer Wal-Mart by a wide margin over NetFlix.

I used to be a Netflix customer from back not long after they started
(either '97 or '98; I forget - back when you paid per rental and didn't
subscribe) until this past Jan '03. I also quit them because of too many
lost titles over about a six month period. For the record, I'm in the
Pittsburgh area and all my returns were going to their Gathersburg, MD
facility. My returns did *not* go to the Flushing center although I did
hear about what happened there.
I've been using Walmart since January right after I quit Netflix.


> 1) My turnaround (and I've tracked this on a spreadsheet since day 1) on
> shipments from Wal-Mart to me is usually 2-3 business days. With NetFlix
it
> was more like 7-10 days.

If Walmart tells me they've shipped something on a Wednesday, I'll usually
get it on Friday or perhaps Saturday. It was about the same with Netflix.
The problem with Netflix was just getting them to actually ship the dang
things. Once the USPS (supposedly) got it, it came relatively fast.


> 2) On the average I keep about 250 titles in my Wal-Mart Queue, and 99%
are
> usually listed as "available now". With NetFlix, it was usually 50%
> unavailable at any time.

I usually hover around 75 titles in my queue. When I first started using
Walmart, their title availability was horrid. At any one time, perhaps only
10% to 25% of my titles were available 'now' and the rest were unavailable.
Reminded me of the early days of Netflix who used to also have availability
problems. Just over the past couple months, I've noticed that the titles in
my queue are now mostly available - it's now the reverse situation: like
only 10-25% of my titles are *unavailable* instead of available. The
unavailable ones are mostly new releases of popular titles: walmart hasn't
solved that problem yet at all. When I quit Netflix, I think maybe just 5
titles out of my queue of a 150+ were unavailable.


> 3) They confirmation of my returns usually occurs in the same time frame
as
> the incoming shipments, 2-3 days. With NetFlix, it often took more than a
> week and sometimes as long as two weeks to get an acknowledgement of a
> return.

Pretty much the same here, at least now. In the beginning, Walmart turn
around times were about the same as Netflix for me. (But at least Walmart
got my returns.) I was never impressed with Netflix's turnaround times - in
fact, I thought it took just as long and sometimes *longer* when I started
using Netflix's Maryland distribution center instead of the original San
Jose headquarters.

In general, with Netflix, if I dropped titles in the mail on Monday morning,
then they *usually* gave me confirmation that they received them by Thursday
or Friday. It wasn't unusual to not get notification until the following
Monday or Tues, though. Then, if I was lucky, they'd send replacement the
same day but often it was the next day.

Walmart's turnaround times have gotten pretty good *very* recently. I'm
assuming it's because my titles are being returned to Johnstown, NY instead
of Georgia like they used to when I first joined. Over the past three
weeks, I've dropped titles in the mail on Monday morning. Wendesday morning
I get notification that they've received them already. I give my Kudos to
both Walmart and the Post Office.

Basically, I usually drop titles in the mail on Monday morning after weekend
viewings. Walmart usually notifies me Wednesday morning that they've
received them. Wednesday afternoon they tell me they've shipped
replacements. I usually get the replacements on Friday or sometimes
Saturday. (I was expecting three disks tonight. I got two so I'm assuming
the other one will come tomorrow.)

Total round-trip turnaround time for Netflix: 10 days average. Walmart: 5
days average.


> 4) I usually receive return acknowledgements in the morning email, and
> notification of replacement shipments going out the same afternoon. With
> NetFlix, it wasn't unusual for a week or more to expire before a
replacement
> shipment would be sent out.

Same here for me with Walmart... morning receipts followed by afternoon
shipments. With Netflix, it was usually next day shipments. I never had to
wait a week like you say, though, thank gawd.


> 5) Among the 66 titles I've received to date on the 4-out plan, in only
one
> instance was the title sent out not the one listed at the top of my queue.
> For example, this morning I received acknowledgement of 3 returns, and
this
> afternoon, I got notification of 3 shipments, those being Sopranos Season
4
> disc 1, disc 3, and disc 3, which were listed at the top of my queue as
> 1,2,3 respectively. My experience with NetFlix was that newly released
> popular titles such as The Sopranos would be listed on top of my queue,
but
> they would invariably be flagged as 'long wait' and it could take weeks or
> even months for them to ship. In the meantime, they might ship a
> replacement title as low as #12 or even #20, skipping all the titles at
the
> top of the queue.

Not sure what's being said here. One thing that was wrong to do with
Netflix was to allow Unavailable titles to be at the top of your queue.
When this happened, then instead of Netflix just immediatley skipping down
the queue and sending off the first available title, they would wait 24
hours or so to 'give a chance' for the top-queued Unavailable title to
become available.


> 6) In all the time I've been a member of Wal-Mart, there has only been one
> instance when titles did not show up in my mailbox right after they were
> shipped to me, and that was an administrative error -- the Outer Limits
> Season 2 discs 1 and 3 were listed as shipped, when in fact, they were
> pulled from the shipping line because of factory defects. I thought they
> were lost, but was subsequently notified by Wal-Mart of the error. I
simply
> re-queued them and the second order arrived promptly, as usual.

I've not had any lost titles with Walmart, yet. I think twice I've mailed
back titles and they seemed to not get them promptly. So I'd report them as
'lost in the mail'. Both times, though, the titles did magically show up a
few days later.


> 7) Wal-Mart's customer service responds to email inquiries with relevant
> answers to my questions, unlike NetFlix's responses, which ordinarily were
> no more than automated form letters generated on the basis of key words in
> my original email, which was very aggravating. I've also had occasion to
> speak to Wal-Mart's customer service by phone, and found their reps to be
> courteous and eager to help. NetFlix's customer service reps were never
> helpful, in fact they were usually pretty dumb and unable to answer
> questions.

I've never had contact with Walmarts service people so can't comment. Don't
even get me started about Netflix and their automaton email responses.
Grrh. Arrgh.


Here's a couple criticisms I have of Walmart...

- The website (and inner disk envelopes) list the release date of the DVD
and not of the movie itself. For example: I just put the original "The
Italian Job" from 1969 in my queue tonight. Walmart's website lists a
release date of 2003. I couldn't care less about the DVD release date. I
want to see the date the movie was originally made. The only way to tell
the original movie from this years remake is by knowing Michael Caine is in
one and Mark Wahlberg is in the other. And more often, when I'm watching a
title I think to myself, "when was this filmed again?". I look at the
envelope: "2002"? Doh! I thought Robert Shaw was dead! :-/

- I've had a *lot* of problems with scratched discs from Walmart. I've
often had to skip a chapter because of some scratch causing problems. I've
yet to see "Once Upon a Time" in America... I rented the two disk title from
Walmart. The first disc was so scratched that I was only able to watch
about half of it before it just got so bad that it wouldn't play anymore.
Then, I got replacement disks from Walmart and those were also scratched up
so bad they were unplayable. Sheesh! One disk had a big gouge in it like
somebody jabbed at it with a screw driver or something. What do people do to
these things? And does Walmart not at least *look* at the disk before
shipping it to the next person? With Netflix, I very, very rarely had
scratched disks - they were usually pristine. And I *never* got dirty
finger printed disks (perhaps Netflix cleans them)? Walmart's often has
dust specks and/or fingerprints.

- Speaking of replacement disks: If you report a disk as unplayable,
Walmart does not ship you a replacement until they get the original back.
Once they get the title that you report a problem with back, *then* they'll
ship you a replacement. And by replacement, I don't mean the same title...
they just ship something else from your queue. They won't let you add a
title if it's already in your queue or you listed as in your possesion So,
to get my replacement Once Upon a Time disks, I have to wait for Walmart to
get my bad disks back and ship me some other movie, *then* I can added Once
Upon a Time back into my queue. I specifically remember Netflix would ship
out a replacement as soon as you reported a problem. It would albeit just
be the next title on your queue, though. (Although I *think* I remember
adding problem titles to my queue right away so I could get immediate
replacement of the same movie and the website did not complain about me
already having the same title in my possession - I could be wrong, though.)

Jeeters

The thing is I've been out of NetFlix for at least 2 years now so I know a
lot could have changed since I was there. I was only reporting on my
experience then, I have no idea what NetFlix is like now. Like you I was
one of the original members.

At the time, NetFlix's turnaround was very poor, sometimes on a 4 out plan I
was lucky to get 5-6 discs in a month's time. Walmart has been speedy for
me from day 1, which was the middle of this past June. Someone started a
thread on this board at the time which demonstrated that experienced NetFlix
subscribers, especially those who were flagged by NetFlix as fast
turnarounds (get them, watch them, mail them back right away) would actually
get sandbagged by NetFlix by having titles which were listed as "available"
to newer members as "long wait" for them. Don't know if they are still
doing that.

I just checked my Wal-Mart queue -- out of 233 titles, 3 are flagged as
"very long wait". All the rest are classified as "Available Now". I have a
lot of old TV series titles in my queue, such as Twilight Zone, Star Trek,
etc. so maybe that makes a difference. I'm not into many of the new titles.
That would affect availability, I'm sure. It looks like the only relatively
new title in my queue is "The Core" from last summer. I do have "Terminator
3" and "Lara Croft Cradle of Life" in the "DVDs Awaiting Release" section,
so I'll see how those are flagged when they finally get queued. Still, I
fully expected the Sopranos Season 4 DVDs to be on wait status once they
were released, but amazingly, they are all available now.

I think after the scandal they had here in the NYC area about a year ago,
with one of the supervisors in the Flushing Post Office being convicted and
imprisoned for felony theft of hundreds of NetFlix titles, they are
proactive about theft in the system, and as a result, I haven't lost any
Wal-mart titles so far.

I haven't had any defective discs from Wal-Mart yet, though there was that
set of Outer Limits discs which were pulled from the shipping queue because
of some problem, so I guess they are inspecting the discs before they send
them out now, which is good. With NetFlix I often got defective discs, in
fact one (this is funny) arrived in pieces, with the envelope taped
together. Near as I can figure, it must have fallen under a truck wheel on
the way over. LOL

Remember when NetFlix would let you "check in" a disc you had mailed back
and they'd send out a replacement before receiving it? Those were the days!

r7di697

In article <FHFob.10536$ .net>
in alt.video.dvd, r7di697 <> wrote:
>I just checked my Wal-Mart queue -- out of 233 titles, 3 are flagged as
>"very long wait". All the rest are classified as "Available Now". I have a
>lot of old TV series titles in my queue, such as Twilight Zone, Star Trek,
>etc. so maybe that makes a difference.

Does Wal-mart do the Netflix thing that I read about, shipping out
only one disc at a time from a boxed set?

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Cortland County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
DVD FAQ: http://dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html
other FAQs: http://oakroadsystems.com/tech/faqget.htm

Stan Brown