I don't mean they LITERALLY won't let me use the rental services...I mean they're making it so I'm afraid to continue trying. The services which send out the disks in little envelopes with easy-return capabilities are so convenient, I hate to have to give them up.
First, let me point out that First Class Mail delivery in my Northwest Chicago suburb went from adequate to atrocious several years back. For example, there is a magazine, packaged securely in an envelope clearly marked "First Class", which I have received from Los Angeles for years. They mail it every Wednesday. I always used to receive it, like clockwork, on Friday or Saturday. Maybe 10-15% of the time it wouldn't show up until Monday of the following week. Well, suddenly things changed about seven years ago, and ever since then it takes a *minimum* of five days to arrive, and usually six to seven...sometimes even longer. Meanwhile, my cohorts in the New York area still almost always receive their issues in two-three days. Yet the Post Office here still claims first class mail only rarely takes more than three days. HELLO??? I haven't received my well-packaged, clearly “First Class”-labeled magazine in less than five days in at least a year!!
So, how does this relate to DVD rentals? I've rented from three companies that use the small first-class envelopes: XRent DVD, Adult DVD Empire, and a few of the Oddesse companies. They usually arrive in about four-six days, when they arrive at all. I get a kick out of their estimates of three days, and statements that "on rare occasion" the mail is delayed. But again, I am blaming the post office in my area, not the rental companies, which all seem quite dependable.
But things are worse than a few days delay. Last year, my final rental on the AdultDVDEmpire plan never showed up at all. Now I have an order placed eight days ago at XRentDVD, and it has not (and probably never will) arrive.
And I have had not one, but two, DVD's arrive that were SOOO clearly opened on purpose so that some Postal employee could either watch it, see if he wanted to watch it, or maybe just want to know what I'm getting. That's why I also laugh at the FAQs that say, "The mail carrier won't know that you're getting adult DVD's" because of discreet return address. Man, I wish I could post an image of how these looked when they were received! They were so very clearly ripped open on purpose, by someone who was trying to do it quickly. In one case, the bottom was neatly torn open; there was a long jagged through half of the top flap (the part you throw away before returning the rental) starting near the other seal -- as if the person trying to open it was TRYING to pull apart the other seal neatly but had to give up and use brute force because he was about to be caught; and the perforation on the side was torn off almost all the way so that the top flap was just about ready to fall off. It's a wonder the DVD didn't fall out. The thing was basically as wide open as could be. If anyone wanted to look at the DVD (and I'm sure they did), it couldn't possibly have been quicker or easier to do at this point. This did not look like the kind of mangling job postal machinery could have done, especially since it did not require cancellation. Besides, when I get even slightly damaged mail, it usually has a "damage" sticker on it; and if it's badly ripped, it is put in a bag with an apology from the post office. Well this one didn't have any apology, and it couldn't have possibly been in worse shape. Of course, they were careful not to damage the disk itself, in case it was one they wanted to watch.
Now, as I said, the (second) rental that's completely (and probably permanently) missing -- right now -- is from XRent DVD. Unlike the other two companies, they package their DVDs in an a secure outer envelope that isn't as easy to rip apart as the other companies. So perhaps "whomever" decided it would just be easier to steal this one outright, since they couldn't quickly see what was inside.
IMPORTANTLY, I've only rented about 10 DVD's altogether. 20% lost, 20% mangled & opened; and the others all at least a few days late. This is pathetic and scary. (Fyi, I also received a *purchased* DVD a month ago, in a small package, that was badly mangled to the point that anyone could easily look in. That one was delivered to me in a plastic bag with a Postal “Service” form apology, and could very well have been caused by some idiot putting it through an automatic canceller instead of hand-cancelling.)
Anyway, what this all means is that I'm going to have to give up the great convenience of the first-class (ha, ha) mail rental programs...all because of the Northwest Suburban Chicago Postal "Service" (thank you very much). (Gawd, when I hear the PO crow that their Chicago area performance ratings has improved greatly, and that on-time first class performance is about "95%", it makes my blood boil). BTW, during the last month I've received other peoples' mail five times. And the last two times that I've picked up my mail at the local post office after a "vacation hold", they gave me at least five pieces of other peoples' mail each time. (The second time, I knew what to expect, so I stood there at the counter looking through my mail so that I could -- as expected -- find the stuff that wasn’t mine and hand it right back to them). So even when the DVD isn't stolen by the Post Office, they could be giving it to others in my zip code.
Another reason I'd better quit the program is that after several non-delivery cases the rental companies are going to decide that I am fabricating the losses, especially when these rare (!) problems start happening after so few rentals.
Finally, I note that when I send a rental BACK, the rental companies tend to notify that they’ve got it back in about 3 days every time. Why the discrepancy in receipt vs. return? That only makes me more suspicious about what's going on here.
If anyone in Northwest Suburban Chicago (or anywhere else) has had similar problems, I'd love to hear about it. Regardless, it was theraputic to be able to vent. I detest the local Postal “Service” so much I can't tell you -- and the issues I've mentioned here only scratch the surface of their incompetence, likely corruption/stealing (some individuals, anyway) and neverending deterioration in service.
Please Mr Postman!
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