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Hookup Hotshot: Episode 464: Iris Leon - review by Captain Jack| Author | Post |
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astroknight  Questionable Moderator  Tastes so good... 4187 Posts 11/99 |  Posted - Mar 15 2005 : 10:54AMOkay, the two main subscription plans out there are between XRent and Bush. I don't think I'm alone in comparing them, but for some reason I decided to keep track of them for a couple months. I noted when I sent he disc back, when it arrived and the new one was shipped out (always the same day for both XRent and Bush) and when it arrived back to me in Minnesota. When I received a shipment from either company, I did my best to watch it the day it arrived and send it back the next day to see just how many rentals the "average person" could hope to get out of each program. For each company, I had one or two shipments that sat a couple extra days. Yes, the Post Office is a big factor in this as well, but both companies are based in California while I'm in Minnesota which in my head means the post office factor shouldn't skew things one way or another. So on to the games... XRent Total DVDs Received: 16 (includes 2 extra shipments due to problems listed later) Problems Problem #2 - Wrong Disc shipped. I ordered Nina Hartley's Private Sessions 13 and was shipped Nina Hartley's Private Sessions . The day I alerted them they shipped me out the next available title on my list with an apology. I added the title a few notches down my queue list to give them time to straighten things out, and when it came due again a little over a week later (and after the time of my test), the same problem occurred again. Supposedly XRent has now fixed the problem, and the title of the DVD listed as out has changed to reflect the real title. Shipping Times Average time - 4.6 Days Returns to Me (Days - # Shipments) Average Time - 4.9 Days Total Turnaround Time (Days - # Shipments) Average Time - 9.5 Days
Total DVDs Received: 24 (12 - 2 DVD shipments) Problems Shipping Times Average time - 3.2 Days Returns to Me (Days - # Shipments) Average Time - 3.5 Days Total Turnaround Time (Days - # Shipments) Average Time - 6.7 Days Conclusions, Final Thoughts, and Other Notes My queue list seemed to have a similar amount of titles out from both companies, and they were current enough that I could often have some decent control over what would ship out next. I think XRent carries a wider selection of DVDs (especially if you're a fetish fan), but at the same time Bush has been more than willing to try to add pretty much anything that's been requested. It might take a month or two for them to get it, but with XRent you have to wait at least a month for titles to become available for "Preferred Members" anyway. At the same time, while XRent has a wide selection of fetish films, Bush has a wide selection of amateur movies (such as those from Pixies' Emporium) that XRent misses. Both companies seem great for adding new titles to their stock, but Bush edges ahead by letting subscription members rent new titles they first day they're available rather than having to wait as they would with XRent. In the end, both places offer a great rental price with a wide selection. Bush easily edged out XRent by almost always being able to have my replacement DVDs back to me in a week or less and delivering significantly more DVDs per month at a lower cost. XRent still has a wider selection (especially if you're a fan of fetish films), but they just don't quite keep up with Bush. "Vegetarianism for me is about saying ‘yes’ to things - even meat." - Coupling *Edited to fix format* - astro Edited by - astroknight on Mar 15 2005 [Link] |
| timber Member 389 Posts 4/04 | Posted - Mar 15 2005 : 11:34AM [Link] |
| MLyons Senior Member 1617 Posts 8/02 | Posted - Mar 15 2005 : 1:23PM Anyway, yes it would be very nice if Xrent made new titles available to the preferred members immediately. It would also be nice if their shipping was a smidge faster, but I understand the problems there. Finally, it would be nice if the darn 2 disc rentals weren't obligatory. I wish I could opt to get the extra disc as a separate rental, rather than being stuck having to get both discs in the set. Those are my only... "disappointments" let's say, with Xrent's preferred program. I wouldn't call them "complaints". I'm a loyal customer of theirs and have been for several years. One thing, above all else, keeps me there, though. They ship to where I live. BushDVD does not. That makes my choice an easy one. [Link] |
| HeyNow Oblivious Gold Star Hey! 5965 Posts 1/03 | Posted - Mar 15 2005 : 10:23PM But in the end your net cost for each mailer (of two movies sent) is $2.56, $1.20 of which goes to postage (60 cents each way), paid by Bush, of course, leaving what might seem to be a pretty tiny profit margin for the company. Hopefully the majority of their customers aren't hardcore masturbators like some of us (me included! I'll have to add up my net cost per DVD rented for the year.) Again, great work, Astro! [Link] |
| astroknight Questionable Moderator Tastes so good... 4187 Posts 11/99 | Posted - Mar 15 2005 : 11:09PM "Vegetarianism for me is about saying ‘yes’ to things - even meat." - Coupling [Link] |
| timber Member 389 Posts 4/04 | Posted - Mar 17 2005 : 11:03AM I guess the only reason it seems like they are taking longer is that all my envelopes are getting bunched up on one day (ie I get 3 envelopes on Monday and none again until next Monday) When I'm getting 1 envelople a day 3 days a week I never have to go long without something to watch. I don't know what they're doing but there shipping times really can't be beat. [Link] |
| GonzoAnalFan Member 700 Posts 6/04 | Posted - Mar 17 2005 : 7:10PM [Link] |
| -Kelly- Senior Member 2517 Posts 5/03 | Posted - Mar 25 2005 : 5:20PM Today is the 5th mailing day since 2 packages were shipped to me. I'm not sure, but as best I can tell this is the longest any shipment from them has ever taken to get to me. If they aren't here tomorrow then I'll be worried. Kelly [Link] |
| slkjohn23 Member 16 Posts 2/02 | Posted - Mar 26 2005 : 8:01PM To me Bush is one of the last of a dying breed. An online dvd rental company that as far as I can tell, does not throttle. [Link] |
| GonzoAnalFan Member 700 Posts 6/04 | Posted - Mar 26 2005 : 10:05PM [Link] |
| CG_Gurl80 Member Sexy Bitches 486 Posts 1/05 | Posted - Mar 27 2005 : 3:24AM [Link] |
| astroknight Questionable Moderator Tastes so good... 4187 Posts 11/99 | Posted - Apr 11 2005 : 6:14PM "Vegetarianism for me is about saying ‘yes’ to things - even meat." - Coupling [Link] |
| MLyons Senior Member 1617 Posts 8/02 | Posted - Apr 11 2005 : 7:38PM [Link] |
| skronker Notable Legendary Icon Scopophiliac 9780 Posts 9/02 | Posted - Apr 11 2005 : 8:08PM [Link] |
| Lanche Member 48 Posts 10/03 | Posted - Apr 22 2005 : 11:16AM I've been using xrent since Nov, and I've kept stepping up the plan, I'm now maxed out at 8 DVD's at a time for the $49.99 a month. I have noticed quite a few defective DVD's from xrent (a little less than 1 out of 10) They may not be outright cracks on the DVD, but there are usually enough minor scratches, chips on the edge of the disk, etc that at least part of the DVD won't play correctly. I am becoming frustrated with xrent that it seems the faster I turn around the dvd and send it back, the longer it takes for them to "receive" it and send a new one out. I almost suspect they slow down the process to reduce the # of DVD's I can get per month. I would say I average a 10 day turn around time. I almost always send the DVD back the next mailing day after I receive it. Sometimes it will take a week for them to receive my return. I've mailed plenty of things to CA (I'm in FL) and it's never taken 5 or 6 mailing days for first class to reach it's destination. I'd never even heard of Bush DVD before, I orginally made my choice between xrent and urent based on selection and price. With my recent struggles with turn around time at xrent, I will need to check bush out. **Note- xrent has always been very good in replacing defective discs. I'm happy with the service in general, I just think they are slowing it down intentionally. [Link] |
| s0me0nesmind1 New Member 5 Posts 4/05 | Posted - Apr 22 2005 : 4:44PM [Link] |
| Drew Black broken crankshaft 8011 Posts 9/99 | Posted - Apr 22 2005 : 9:16PM [Link] |
| Lanche Member 48 Posts 10/03 | Posted - Apr 23 2005 : 12:59AM I've always thought it was a shame when I package up 5 seperate DVD's into their own envelopes when I'm mailing them back. One more plus for Xrent is their website. It's definetely more slick than Bush with sharper resolution cover graphics, and it's easier to cross reference by title. Bush doesn't even have a place to search by star unless you want to cycle thourgh pages of names. The shame of it is, I'll probably still use xrent to search for what I want and then order through Bush DVD. [Link] |
| GonzoAnalFan Member 700 Posts 6/04 | Posted - Apr 23 2005 : 2:41AM Allows me to stay up-to-date on all the great upcoming titles that I have to see. (This ensures that they add the title the very day that it streetreleases, unlike Bush who gets 'em or adds 'em MUCH later...usually requiring me to make a request via email) P.S.-I know, I know...Bush doesn't make you wait a month after it releases before you can actually rent it, well in many cases even with that being the case I end up getting to add a title quicker through Xrent than Bush since they on occassion take THAT long. [Link] |
| HeyNow Oblivious Gold Star Hey! 5965 Posts 1/03 | Posted - Apr 23 2005 : 2:50AM It seems that a common complaint about BushDVD is the lackluster website - I don't really see it myself but maybe I just don't know any better. They have been making a few nice minor upgrades. Now, adding a title to your queue simply brings a small pop up window instead of taking you to your queue page (which takes a few seconds to load). I see they have also changed the user ranking system (now 1 to 5 stars) with a note of how many people have ranked that title. This should create a more meaningful ranking system. (I would like to see them add that rating to the queue listing so at a glance I can see the highly rated and lower rated movies and adjust accordingly.) [Link] |
| GonzoAnalFan Member 700 Posts 6/04 | Posted - Apr 23 2005 : 2:54AM However, I feel that Xrent's utilization of ratings is the opposite, I could care less about recommendations, those ratings should be viewable by everyone...not just the queue-user. [Link] |
| julieragefan Member 11 Posts 4/05 | Posted - Apr 25 2005 : 1:32PM Plus, the queue system is simple and well-designed. The hard-core-open-source-unix-porn folks will love it...its simplicity and do one thing and do it well. [Link] |
| Lanche Member 48 Posts 10/03 | Posted - Apr 25 2005 : 10:42PM As of today (4/25) they still don't show receiving a DVD I mailed back 8 days ago. Eight. Give me a break. I did receive a few DVD's from them today they sent last Wednesday (5 mailing days, yup I'm sure) and 2 of the 4 have noticable cracks in them and won't play through. The real shame of it is, I figure I need to cancel my account now even though it doesn't bill for 2 more weeks. Because according to them, it sometimes takes 2 weeks for a roundtrip mail deilvery from FL to CA, and if they don't receive my last DVD in time, I'll get "throttled" for yet another 50 bucks. [Link] |
| slkjohn23 Member 16 Posts 2/02 | Posted - Apr 26 2005 : 4:46PM [Link] |
| green-toke Member Loc: Kyoto, Japan 159 Posts 4/05 | Posted - May 24 2005 : 4:13PM Problems: Xrentdvd => received cracked dvd's. The staff at xrent say that this is due to the dvd's being accidentally run through automated mail processing machines by the post office. Although they once re-sent a title to me that I had sent back because it was cracked and it appeared to be the same cracked dvd. I suspect that they may have been throttling dvd's as well which probably saves them money on shipping expenses if they are in fact doing it. Sugardvd => selection is great for certain studios and non-existent for others. They have a great selection but they are not yet as diverse as xrentdvd or bushdvd. Bushdvd => selection is comparable to Xrentdvd but I must be located too far away from them. I am in the eastern part of the U.S. and it took seven days for them to receive my last returns. That is way too long. Oddly enough, it takes about 4 days for their shipments to reach me. I am a new member with them, I will have to see if this improves or not before deciding whether to stay with them. I believe that I will try duel memberships in the future, if Bushdvd doesn't work out, between Xrentdvd and Sugardvd at the lowest membership levels. That's really the only way to have access to any title that you are looking for and not spend too much. Edited by - green-toke on 5/31/2005 2:41:48 PM [Link] |
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| astroknight Questionable Moderator Tastes so good... 4187 Posts 11/99 | Posted - May 24 2005 : 4:18PM "Vegetarianism for me is about saying ‘yes’ to things - even meat." - Coupling [Link] |
| Lanche Member 48 Posts 10/03 | Posted - May 26 2005 : 11:31PM The only weaknesses with Bush is their odd close up feature when looking at cover and back and I really prefer the search feature on Xrent. Much easier to cross reference titles and stars. [Link] |
| green-toke Member Loc: Kyoto, Japan 159 Posts 4/05 | Posted - May 27 2005 : 5:26AM As for Bushdvd, the padded envelopes are good but I never noticed any cracked dvd's from Sugardvd when I was signed up with them and they have flimsy envelopes like Xrent. I hope that Xrent is making an effort to remove the dvd's that are coming back to them cracked. They should visually check every dvd that is returned to them. [Link] |
| green-toke Member Loc: Kyoto, Japan 159 Posts 4/05 | Posted - May 31 2005 : 2:39PM I received both of the bushdvd envelopes today but only received one of the two xrentdvd envelopes that I was expecting. I will try again to send back all of the dvds at the same time and we'll see what happens. [Link] |
| green-toke Member Loc: Kyoto, Japan 159 Posts 4/05 | Posted - Jun 1 2005 : 7:12PM However, the test should be performed by someone willing to have duel unlimited rental memberships. Only then can it be determined that one or both of these companies is throttling dvds to save on shipping costs. I have decided to cancel XRENTDVD because they do not try to stay competative in pricing with Bushdvd or Sugardvd. [Link] |
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