>>>>If Netflix delivered on horseback I would still use them after years of Blockbuster’s abuse of their market position at the retail level.<<<<<<
I’ve been with Netflix since about 2000 and have seen them go though some changes, mostly for the better but sometimes wierd.
They recently opened a newer and closer distribution point for Northern VA (for years it has been just up the road in Gaithersburg MD) and suddenly we had staggered deliveries over the next 5 or 6 days. I.E., for years I’d return five DVDs and receive my next 5 DVDs in the mail within 2 days. More recently it’s been return 5 and get 2 in 2 days, 2 more the next day, and the final 1 after 4 days.
So I’ve been trying Blockbuster again after many years. They’ve completely redeemed the company, and most particularly the abusive and out-of-control “late fees” which I’m certain were an essential component of the previous (and now dead) business model.
We just returned a movie to BB and found out that the “late fees” have been reinstated. We had to buy the DVD, not just pay the fees. Paid $10 for a DVD we didn’t want.
It’s entirely possible that Netflix have started to move the goalposts now that they are a market leader themselves but Blockbuster dug almost to China so they have a long ways to go.