I've noticed that there has been an extra 2 to 3 day delay when sending non-priority (i.e. first class mail) through USPS.

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The same thing should go for the timing. I can understand things taking an extra day or two for the holiday season. The question on things come in when I shipped discs back to Bush and XRent on the same day, and I receive the replacements discs from Bush in the mail the same day that XRent shows my discs arriving there. It happened two, if not three, times last month.

I'm just wondering more if I seem to be some kind of freak with these things happening to me as XRent used to be great. I had no problem subscribing to them at a higher price because I thought they were offering more and better service. I also like supporting them because I know they're a big supporter of Adult DVD Talk (and I respect them a lot for offering a military discount), but I'm starting to have a hard time justifying them with a lower selection and the service appearing to drop off.

"Vegetarianism for me is about saying ‘yes’ to things - even meat." - Coupling

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Someone mentioned something in another thread that I thought was interesting. They stated that packages sent from BushDVD have a postmark while those from XRentDVD do not. This is an indication to me that they use different interfaces to the USPS.

I'm guessing, and this is pure speculation I have no insider knowledge of their shipping systems, that BushDVD runs their postage through a Pitney-Bowes type of system and ships regular First Class mail.

I'm guessing that XRentDVD does their own USPS manifesting. Manifest mailing streamlines the processing of U.S. mail transactions. It allows mailers to combine mail pieces of identical or different weights and rates into a single mailing. Any mailer who pays postage by permit with an advance deposit account may manifest mail. Postal manifesting also allows mailers to take advantage of a variety of postal discounts and automation incentives.

What does the return postage look like on each company's respective mailing packages?

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"Vegetarianism for me is about saying ‘yes’ to things - even meat." - Coupling

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I haven't had a real problem with rental stock. I usually rent new titles and accept the fact that I have to wait awhile.

I think Xrent is still the best out there, but they may have slipped a bit.

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I wonder since they do the per disc rental for a set fee (typically 3.99?) they wouldn’t want to see the per disc “price” they receive from the unlimited plan drop just too far below that, thus the need to slow down to say, the consumer gets around 15 DVDs per month on the 5 out plan which is like them renting each title for under $2.50 (assuming a monthly charge of $36.00 – not to mention that the shipping charges get paid out of that monthly fee instead of an extra 2.99 added on for the weekly rental program.) Maybe, since the unlimited part of their business is just one part of it and not the main part it gets lower priority, so if they don’t have enough manpower to get to everything, they take care of sales and the normal fee-per-disc rental before checking in the rentals for the unlimited program and sometimes accumulate a backlog there.

Ah, hell…just the late night ramblings from someone that doesn’t know any better. Maybe any delays are due to the USPS…it’s really key (from the consumers point of view) that the next “new” discs are sent out the same day as the “old” ones are received. They still do that right? (The only other disappointing part I can see of the unlimited program is that new releases (in the first 30 days) aren’t part of available titles to rent, via the unlimited program.)

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The difference in speed has nothing to do with the postage type. We have checked on this and witnessed first hand how the post office is able to process all postage and sort the mail on the same day it arrives (to or from).

The difference in speed is directly related to the packaging that Bush is using. They have gotten the mailer thick enough that it is treated as package and traverses a different system in the USPS than regular mail.

Bush's 2-disc system is an advantage for speed but does not scale well. This is why Netflix abandoned the practice early on. We wish them well as there is definitely room for many companies to provide adult rental programs. However, please do not assume that because they are sometimes faster in the mail that we or others are somehow throttling our customers. We make multiple pickups from the post office to get as much mail as possible each day and turn it around the same day. We are commited to providing good service for our customers.

We have had some setbacks at our NJ facility (it's so damn cold there), but it should be operational within a couple of months. This will help those of you on the East coast. If it is a success then we may open other facilities to bring down the shipping time for others. As with everything we do, we try to do it well or not at all.

Thanks for all the positive notes from ADT members.

Edited by - xrentwebmaster on 1/6/2005 9:31:57 AM

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As a competitor, we have a high opinion of XRentDVD and believe they are only one of the few online rental companies that actually deliver the goods.

www.bushdvd.com

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XRentDVD

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X-Rent has almost always consistently beat other stores in posting new DVDs for sale right when they are released.

Over the past week, most of the other stores I shop at have had new releases (and a bigger selection of them) in stock sometimes two or three days earlier than X-Rent (just one example... example, the Hustler DVD releases this week).

Also, I noticed that new releases are being posted later in the evening. They used to be up by about 6:30 or 7pm Eastern time, now they often don't appear until after 8. This may not seem like a big difference, but it used to be that an order would go out on the same night if you got it in early enough.

Now, it's hard to place an order and have it ship because of the late postings for new releases. There also seems to be a trickle of new releases each night (maybe 10 total new releases), rather than 2 or 3 pages like I've seen in the past.

I hope this is just a temporary glitch, because I've always been partial to X-Rent because of their promptness in posting new releases.

pb

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sorry

pb

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XRentDVD

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Now? Well, now the delivery times are just random. For me, it ranges anywhere from a day to about a week. Needless to say, it's been a very frustrating experience, and I'm very glad I discovered this forum where I learned about BushDVD. It's actually cheaper, faster, and MUCH more satisfying. Keep up the good work, guys!

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Meanwhile, Excalibur Films's "DVDRentz" program sent me each of three DVDs separately, even though I clicked the option to have them all sent together. Then they said they sent me a DVD on the 9th of December, and it never showed up. They replied, "Let us know if it's not there by Dec 23". I let them know it hadn't arrived, and it's now in the process of being re-shipped (after another 7 to 10 day backorder period), and it's been over a month since they said they originally shipped it (a month and a half after I had originally ordered it). OH, I should mention - when I clicked the "Check Inventory" button by each of my films, they all said "Now" (available immediately) - which is the only reason I decided to rent from them - no waiting. Yet the one that I still haven't received was actually a back-order title, and is still a back-order title, even though its status had clearly said "Now". So their inventory system LIES. Beware Excalibur/DVDRentz.

- Slider

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"Vegetarianism for me is about saying ‘yes’ to things - even meat." - Coupling

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As for the selection, that's a tough one. I do find that many of the titles I'd like to get are "out" at any given time, and this goes just as much for the newer titles as it does for older titles. I have a long list in the queue though, so it really doesn't bother me too much. I imagine it's difficult trying to gauge how many copies of each DVD to stock, and to KEEP in stock as the age of the title increases and its initial popularity decreases. I think Xrent still does a fine job, and their website is better than ever. I assumed that these little hiccups were merely nothing more than growing pains. They've treated me well over the last few years, and I still put my faith in them.

Edited by - MLyons on 1/13/2005 12:32:40 PM

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The primary reason that mail travels faster to you then it does back to us is because of where it is submitted into the postal system. We submit outgoing mail at the main sorting facility for Orange County, CA. This results in a 1-2 day difference on average.

XRentDVD

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When I think about what it used to be like before companies like Xrent came about, the comparison is nothing less than laughable. Along with ADT, Xrent and others like them have revolutionized the efficiency and speed, and value with which porn is distributed to the end-customers.

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"Vegetarianism for me is about saying ‘yes’ to things - even meat." - Coupling

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I just started renting titles from them a couple of weeks ago and I have no complaints at all. I've been renting ala carte instead of signing up for a monthly membership. I don't mind having to wait a while to rent the newer titles, although I was able to rent a brand new release last week so I'm not sure if it was a mistake on the part of XRent or perhaps they were just overstocked with that item-not sure.

Overall, I think XRent is the best in the business.

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Well now I'm really glad I chose not to get a monthly membership.

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I think I've been on their preferred plan for about two years now. To add to Bono's comments, I haven't had a disc lost or severely delayed until this year. Since Jan., however, I've had it happen with two DVDs.

"Vegetarianism for me is about saying ‘yes’ to things - even meat." - Coupling

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Kimi Lixx,Julie Night,Tina Tyler and then everyone else.

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I'm on the "Lite" program. It doesn't work that way exactly. You can have 2 discs out at a time, that doesn't mean that you must exchange two discs for two discs. The discs are shipped separately, in their own envelopes. When you're done with one, you send one back, and Xrent replaces it with the next available one in your queue. The only tricky thing is that if you want a 2-disc rental from xrent (a lot of Wicked titles, and some Evil Angel titles, etc.), you must send 2 discs back at one time so that they are received at the same time, so the 2 disc rental is sent to you.

The Lite program works well for me. I just wish they didn't have so many obligatory 2 disc rentals (would rather have them available separately), and offered new titles in the preferred program. Otherwise, Xrent's been good to me.

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i.e. You are on the 3 disc plan
- you send one DVD back
- We send you a 2 disc Rental
- you now have 4 discs out
- if you send back a single DVD we don't ship another one as you now have 3 discs out
- you return the 2 disc rental later that week and we mail out 2 DVDs

The above is only an example. There are many different ways it could work out for you. We treat 2 disc sets as a single DVD when we allocate them to your account, and as 2 discs from that point on.

I hope this clarifies this somewhat.

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XRentGuy

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