With Rogers apparently getting out of seven day rentals (see this thread (http://www.digitalhomecanada.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44795) to discuss), it would seem they are sticking to new releases and leaving the rest of the business to others.

The purpose of this thread is for folks to give their feedback on the ZIP service of DVD rentals (and feel free to recommend any alternative services)

Please restrict this thread to one post per member so we get peoples review. Feel free to discuss Rogers decision in the other thread or create a separate thread to discuss.

Thanks in advance

I've been a member for about 2 years now, and when they started, it was great, but as they got more subscribers, the service became slower.

Although their tagline reads 'unlimited entertainment', it is NOT unlimited rentals like it was when they started. If you are on the 4-disk plan, I believe you are limited to 11 per month, and then $2.49 for each additional. Also, you don't know which dvd's you are going to receive, something random in stock from your wishlist.

As of now, they are pretty good, and have opened a couple of satellite warehouses to fulfill orders, so the turnaround(2-days) is getting better.

p.

I've been with ZIP since they started, and have tried a number of the others as well. Note that Rogers Video Direct (RVD, the mail operation) is a joint venture with ZIP.ca, and for most purposes the experience will be almost identical to ZIP (same warehouses, discs, computer systems, etc., just different envelopes). The RVD flavour does, however, offer an "in-store coupon" version of the 4 and 6 disc plans. For an extra $5/month, you get two monthly coupons for rentals at a Rogers store.

- ZIP/RVD has monthly limits, or "caps", on the number of discs per month (The cap on the 4-at-a-time $25 plan is 11, for instance). You can set your account to either stop shipping for the rest of the month when your limit is reached, or to keep shipping for $2.50/disc. So if you are looking primarily for the lowest cost per disc, ZIP/RVD probably won't be it.

- I don't do a lot of new release rentals myself, but the speed of receiving these is a frequent complaint at ODG, although anecdotal evidence is hard to convert to how well things are overall. New releases are even more of a problem for online companies than stores, since each disc is going to be with a customer for a longer period of time on average. The RVD "in-store coupon" option might be of interest for those with a convenient Rogers store and a desire to pick up new releases quickly.

-ZIP has 40,000 titles and 300,000 discs, 4 warehouses, and something like 30,000+ customers, making it the big gorilla (at a guess, whoever is #2 is probably a tenth of this size customer-wise). ZIP will add pretty much anything they don't have that is available if you can point them at it, although they are getting a little pickier lately on some of the multitude of "Special Edition" re-releases. The larger size and their love of procedures can make ZIP's customer service response a little klunky at times, compared with the smaller companies.

- ZIP doesn't have an arrangeable list of requests like most other companies - you can mark two or three as "ASAP", but have no control over the preferred order of the rest (of course, even an ordered list is no guarantee of shipping order from any company). Many people, including myself, find the system somewhat frustrating, although rumour has it improvements are imminent.

- Most people looking for alternatives seem to go with either Cinemail (http://www.cinemail.ca) (Winnipeg) or Canflix (http://www.canflix.com) (Calgary). Cinemail has over 18,000 titles, and is quite forthright (https://www.cinemail.ca/mem_faq.cfm?id=15) about not being a new release service. They have a "QuickReturn" feature which lets you mark titles on the website as you return them, and have them send new ones without waiting for them to arrive back in Winnipeg, which makes up for mail delivery times. Canflix has around 8000 titles - they list 20,000, but most of these are "Ready To Order" (i.e. they don't have them), and presumably will be purchased based on customer demand and their acquisition budget. Their "FlixReturn" feature is similar to Cinemail's "QuickReturn", but only works on a maximum of two rentals at a time (ZIP has a similar ZipReturn feature on a single disc at a time). Those interested in high rental volumes will be able to get more rentals per month with these companies. On the selection trade-off, while a lot of ZIP's 40,000 titles may be really low-interest things, even Cinemail isn't going to have all the TV series, anime, and other genre stuff that ZIP does.

- There are some others, and if you live close to them or aren't looking for large selections or unique features they may hold some interest. I would suggest avoiding Starflix (Montreal) completely

I used Zip.ca for a year up until they implemented the caps. The last month I used my rewards points for an extra movie and I think they shipped me around 15 that month so I wasn't sure if the cap was really working. I didn't quit because of caps but because I had exhausted everything I wanted to see and couldn't justify the cost. Local DVD rentals of new releases are $1.50 here so for the few new movies I watch a month, it made more sense.

If you like watching movies, I think it's a great service. I would come home to 2 or 3 DVDs in my mail box a couple times a week. If you want to watch a particular movie, or just new releases, it's not so ideal.

There are so many movies available now it's all but impossible for a video store to carry everything. Zip and a couple others really fill a niche to obtaining hard to find movies in my case from the 60-80s and foreign films. For a movie buff, I would recommend the service.

My experience with ZIP maybe somewhat outdated but the reason I left them is as follows :

They ask you to keep a list of at least 15 movies (at any given time) that you'd like to watch. Of these 15 you have no idea which ones you are going to receive (I believe you could prioritize 3 or 4). I personally only go for the newer releases. Getting new releases from ZIP in a timely manner was extremely frustrating. They kept sending me movies from my list of 15 but the movies they sent me were rarely from my top 5. They were mostly films that I put in as filller to make up the recommended minimum 15.

So needless to say I wasn't happy with their service and ended up leaving them after about 4 months.

If you are expecting new releases then IMO it's best to goto your local video store.

The cap is making me qive up the service, 11 is too low,

The inability to prioritize/number the DVDs was the main reason I left Zip. I had a hundred or more DVDs in my list, and only being able to choose 2 of them as ASAPs and then never having any guarantee that I would get either of those ASAPs became increasingly frustrating. It was especially annoying to me since I was basically forced into Zip when they bought out VHQ and suddenly one day I found out I was a Zip member. VHQ let you number your whole list of DVDs, so you knew you'd likely get a DVD in your top 10 rather than a totally random DVD out of 100.

Now I'm with CanFlix which uses a numbered list system and sends out a new DVD the day after I tell them I've sent one back. The disadvantage to CanFlix is a smaller stock, but at least I have a better idea of what's coming to me.

The cap is making me qive up the service, 11 is too low,
Same, will be closing my account soon because of this.

I'm quite happy with them after being with them for about two years. I don't expect new releases from them, although I add some to my Ziplist and they come when they come. Presumably, a good movie today will be a good movie a month or a year from now. I generally purchase those few "must see" new releases since they are often discs that my family will watch multiple times. I own about 600 DVDs.

I have always had about 100 discs on my Ziplist. I use them for a lot of TV shows, foreign films, older films, anime and Criterion Collection films that I just can't get anywhere else.

The cap of 11 for the 4-disc plan is a bit of a pain but that still leaves the price at less than $2.50 per disc.

I've had a membership to the sevice for 2 years and think it's great. Nobody was happy about the limits they set a few months ago but compared to renting from BB it's still much cheaper.

I mostly use the service for tv shows and older movies. I would highly recommend it :)

Not bad service but the quality of some of the DVD's is appalling. I've sent a number of them back for skipping, or unreadable sectors. Usually because they are so badly worn/scratched. They replace them, but sometimes the replacements are no better. Their website states that they will replace it with a new one...I'll believe that when I see it.

I have been a paid subscriber with Rogers Video Direct (Zip) going on 2 months. Get Smart has been on my list since day one I have yet to receive any disk.

Spiderman 67 has been on my list since day one, have yet to receive any disk.

Hawaii Five O has been on my list since it came out March 06 Have yet to receive any disk.

As for others on my list I have received them all. Turn around was quick aprox 3days. Will give them another week to see if I get the programs. If not I will have to cancel. Hopefully they will come. I do not want to cancel. On other issues the CSR "Dan" has been very helpfull. Wish more CSRs were like him.

Ive checked out Zip.ca's website and it says now you can get unlimited 3 dvd's at a time for 24.95. What's the point of going for 4 at a time with caps when you can go for 3 at a time for unlimited? Makes sense to me. I used to live in the U.S and I was subscribed to both Netflix and Blockbuster online and I must say they had superior service compared to Zip.ca. For $14.95 you could get unlimited 3-dvd's at a time and would get them in the order you requested on your que list. I asked Blockbuster Canada if they were going to introduce a similer service in Canada but they couldn't tell me anything. I wonder why it's more expensive in Canada, is it because of our wider geography? Not only that, but Block Buster online in the U.S would give you free dvd rentals at Block Buster stores as well and so many other options as well, it's amazing!

I have been with zip for about 1 month now and my satisfaction level is relatively low. It takes at least 5 days to get a new DVD in the mail from the time we put it in the mailbox. For example, if I put a DVD in the mail on Monday, I will get a replacement the following monday.

I live in London, ON which is 2 hrs from Toronto along the nations busiest highway (so they say). It should take one day from the day they ship to get it but that is not happening. The slow turnaround time means I have gone several weekends without any movies to watch.

I just switched from 3 unlimited to 4 out at a time, max of 11/month. Hopefully this will help.

What they have been sending me is also annoying me. All the movies at the bottom of the list are getting sent. None of the new releases. The only new release I have received has been Casino Royale and that was a courtesy DVD. Their "algorithms" determined I had not received any new releases since I had signed up so they sent an extra DVD.

The other annoying this is that they let you add new movies to your list before they are even released on DVD. As soon as a movie hits the theatre you can add it to your list. If you don't add early you could be waiting forever for new releases.

Joined up for the two week free trial at the unlimited three DVD plan. After a delayed start of sending any movies, there's been a 2-3 day turnaround. Faster than I expected. In an automated email that I received yesterday, the delay was explained and the free trial extended. Nice. :)

What I've been using the service for is getting hard to find crappy movies. There are newer movies on my ZipList which we haven't received yet. That may be due to the preferred order of the older crappier movies ahead of the newer ones. So my expectations have been exceeded so far and I'll likely stay on past the free trial. We'll see if the performance changes when it's mostly new movies on the list.

Joined 1 month ago. I have 30+ Blue-Ray titles in my ZipList and they shipped 10 during the first month, including recent releases. So my opinion is positive.

I've been using them for 2 months just for HD DVD/ Blu-ray, and have received less than 10 titles - only one of them near the top of my list - the other 8 were the least wanted and 2 completely unwanted (wrong) discs. For the free trial period I didn't receive anything and not one excuse.
Unsatisfied, but not completely.

Does nny know is there a site that compares the defferent video services.

Can anyone update me on how zip.ca is doing lately?

I've been with them for a few months now. Not too bad, although I think they use the slowest mail service ever. I have the single disc service and turn them around same day and still end up with only 4.5 discs a month.

They are good for grabbing the odd-ball movie that you always wanted to see and missed. It keeps me entertained.