Redbox DVD Rental Review

When I first heard about Redbox DVD rental, I was kind of skeptical. But then I heard you could get a DVD rental for just a dollar and then I was impressed. I was so impressed that I wanted to know if they had a franchise program. They do, but you have to be a large company with a huge amount of traffic. So I never pursued that money making option any further.

I live here in Florida and there are 4 Redbox kiosks within a square mile. We have one at our local Winn-Dixie grocery store, we have a one at McDonald's, and the Walmart has 2! One at each entrance!

I like having this many Redbox's available so if one of the kiosks has a long line I can just go to another one. If one of the machines is down, I can go to another one, and if a movie is not available at one, yeah you guessed it, I can go to another one. Using the Redbox website is a nice feature as well. I like being able to reserve a movie online and then go and pick it up where I choose. Plus, it's nice to get a Redbox promo code sent to my phone on the first Monday of every month. And I really like being able to take the DVD back to any Redbox, wherever I may happen to be.

DVD Movie Rental Issues

Up until recently I haven't had any complaints when it came to renting a DVD from Redbox. However, that has changed. I have noticed a problem with the DVD's themselves. Out of the last 6 that I have rented, I have only been able to watch 4 of them. 2 of the discs were so scratched that they wouldn't even play in my DVD player. I really didn't care at first because I had only paid a dollar. But then I talked to some other people and they have had the same problem. This may be a cause of concern for Redbox.

So I started to do some research on the Internet to see if anyone else was having Redbox problems. And to my surprise, a lot of people are starting to have the same problem as me and there have been many other complaints as well. I read all the great Redbox reviews that have been posted, and they all were all very positive, but it seems that the longer Redbox is around, the more problems and complaints that are surfacing.

A similar problem that is being reported is in regards to the circular ID sticker that the Redbox company puts on the disc so that it can be read by the kiosk when you return it. Some say that the sticker is off-center and it causes the DVD to function incorrectly in their DVD players. One person even reported that it damaged his machine from the imbalance the sticker caused while spinning. I guess Blockbuster tried this before with their game discs and had to stop for the very same reason.

Return Problems

Another big issue with Redbox is return problems. Some are saying that they have been returning their DVD's on time, but the machine is not recognizing the ID sticker and not giving them credit for the return. Some people have been charged an additional dollar for every day that they thought they had the discs and then Redbox charges them for the cost of the DVD. One site online had hundreds of complaints in this regard.

I haven't experienced the latter 2 problems but I am not happy with the quality issues that I am starting to see with the DVD's. I wish when you returned the DVD they would ask you if you were satisfied and then if you are not, you should be able to choose the reason why. For example, 'Were you satisfied with the quality of the DVD disc?' Yes or No. If 'No': 'Scratched|Out of Balance|Would Not Play'

From what I understand if you have any problems, it has been difficult for people to contact them for support. I have even come across a few people saying that Redbox is a scam and that they will never rent from them again. They would rather rent DVD's from Blockbuster or NetFlix.

Redbox DVD Rentals Conclusion

Well I'm not at that point yet, so I will continue to rent from Redbox, but if I continue to have a problem with the scratched DVD's, or if I experience any of the other problems, I will stop using them myself. The more popular Redbox becomes, the more people are going to be renting DVD's. The more people that rent them, the more chances there are for them to get gradually damaged. They really need to service the machines more and set up a feedback feature on the machine.

One tip that I can give is make sure that you are notified of your rentals and returns via email. This way you have some sort of proof that your Redbox DVD rental has been properly received back. Hopefully I will not experience the major problems with Redbox that some are having. It is a great idea for a profitable business and I would hate to see it crumble because of customer complaints and issues due to these issues.