Movie Kiosk Discussion

[wprager]

Actually I was incorrect on the pricing scheme in my original post -- it was $1 for older movies and $2 for newer ones (regardless of format). It's been a while since I'd rented anything, though, what with the new TV season and all. Things could have changed.

[eljay]

I was very pleased to find out a couple of days ago that Zip.ca now has FOUR kiosks* within a 10-minute radius of my house! Awesome!

(*One at each of the three local Metro locations, and the fourth one at a newly-opened food Basics location.)

[NineBall]

I was excited that there is a Zip kiosk 5 minutes from my house since both the local Blockbuster and Rogers have closed down, but, all 3 times I have tried to use it over a 2 month period, the kiosk software has been frozen and does not respond to user input. I like the ability to look online to see if the kiosk has the movie in-stock before heading out but if I can't use the kiosk when I get there, they won't get my money. In the meantime, the Playstation Network has been getting my business as the cost is what I'm used to from the B&Ms and the convenience is unrivalled.

[canadianauditor]

like Nineball above, I have gone to the closet ZIP kisosk where i live in Brampton........I have gone 6 times and out of those 6 times, 3 times the kisok touch screen is frozen or not working and thus unable to rent.......to have it only working 50% of the time really sucks since I have to drive almost 15 mins to get to it.......i even phone their Customer Service number and tell them that their kisosk is out of operation........of course they just say Thanks and don't offer any coupon........you would think they would have a person driving around just checking them out to make sure they are okay......or someking of indicator inside the machine saying it is "frozen".....becaude when I call they don't even now that it is broken lol......oh well i guess it is new techonology and will take some time to iron out all the kinks......i just hope they put one in the METRO closer to where i live so i dont have to waste my time driving all the time especially when i get their and it is out of order.......

[oberst]

For anyone interested, I've been playing around with a very quick-and-dirty map of DVD kiosks. I've updated it with 4 major kiosk companies:

http://www.dvdinfo.ca/KioskMap.php

I sucked in the locations from their websites, but no guarantees about accuracy or if/when I'll keep updating it.

[canadianauditor]

For those living in Brampton, Ontario........the METRO grocery store on Main Street (between Clarence and Elgin) that was under renovation for a couple of months finally re-opened today..... it now has a ZIP kiosk with Blu-rays and DVD's for rental (like the other METRO's).....and if you go today they were giving out coupons for the ZIP kiosk (I bet they probably will give out for the whole week).......let's just hope the kiosk works properly as I find alot of the time they are down or not working properly at other Metros

JJ

[brownriggd]

When Blockbuster went belly up I was depressed but almost immediately a couple of Zip kiosks were set up in our area. For the most part they are a fair substitute but here's my take on them:

Pros:

1. low cost (2 bucks a day to rent a BD compared to $7.00 at BB)
2. Conveniently close by (don't have to go very far to rent movies)
3. Don't need a member card (one less thing in my wallet)
4. Multiple machines in the area (if one is out of the movie I want, just go to the next one..) (Pro and con...see below)

Cons:

1. Trying to decide on a movie with 5 people lined up behind me can be a bit stressful
2. Movie I want is out, so have to get in the car and go to the next machine
3. Machine is sometimes out of order
4. Machine jams occasionally when trying to return a disc
5. Selection is somewhat limited and of course there is no extensive catalogue of old favourites
6. No in-store customer service like I used to get at our local BB.
7. No free movie promotion posters like I used to get at our local BB.

Sooo, while I like having the kiosks I still miss my local BB......

[nakedgord]

1. Trying to decide on a movie with 5 people lined up behind me can be a bit stressful

That is annoying. The US services like Redbox have a search function which enables users to see what titles are in stock at their local machine so that could cut down on that concern.

2. Movie I want is out, so have to get in the car and go to the next machine

That is annoying. When there was a machine in my area (they pulled it out of my Loblaws owned store) I just didn't rent anything that time I was there.

3. Machine is sometimes out of order

That never happened at the own machine at Loblaws which was not a Zip.ca machine. Zip is a rather low rent company...I wouldn't be surprised if they're buying cheap machines.

4. Machine jams occasionally when trying to return a disc

I'm inclined to blame cheap Zip.ca machines. The old machines at the Loblaws stores never had this problem for me.

5. Selection is somewhat limited and of course there is no extensive catalogue of old favourites

With catalog titles selling often $5 to own (and sometimes less) even when there was a video store near me (Both a Jumbo and Blockbuster) they were never worth renting.

6. No in-store customer service like I used to get at our local BB.

Based upon the service I used to get from video stores I think I get better customer service from a lifeless machine.

7. No free movie promotion posters like I used to get at our local BB.

My old Blockbuster never did this. Even the Jumbo used to sell stuff like that. Again it sounds like your store had better customer service.

[BCF]

Found this thread today, and noticed that there haven't been any updates in a while....

I'm looking forward to seeing Zip.ca kiosks in Metro stores. Does anyone know the current Zip.ca rollout status for other locations outside the GTA in Ontario?

According to the Kiosk map at Zip.ca, Zip.ca has placed kiosks almost everywhere within the GTA. Now that BB and Rogers no longer in the market for DVD/BR Rental, these Zip.ca kiosks can't arrive soon enough for people who still want the physical media movie rental experience.

Zip.ca currently has 44 working kiosks in Ontario, located inside Metro supermarkets. This is in addition to a movies-by-mail service that has been around for several years.

“We hope to be in 100 Metros by the end of the month, and I want us to be in all 800 of the stores before this time next year,” says Zip.ca chair, Rob Hall, who will be handing out promotional coupons for free rentals in Yonge-Dundas Square.

Since Rob Hall's comments on Sept 6, 2011, is Zip.ca on track to placing kiosks in all 800 Metro stores in Ontario by this fall 2012??

[oberst]

I don't know how likely that 800 hope ever was, but Zip has around 80 kiosks in Ontario (another 9 in Nova Scotia). They ran into some regulatory difficulties in Quebec and had to pull the kiosks from there.

If you are looking for something in London, a company called Playdium has 80+ kiosks in Ontario, including one in London at someplace called the Oxbury Mall.

I haven't updated it in a while, but I think my map of kiosk locations should still be fairly accurate, although I've never used a kiosk myself.

Redbox, the giant US kiosk company, is supposed to be starting a pilot program in Canada fairly soon, which should eventually shake things up quite a bit.

For movie lovers, kiosks are something of a Bad Thing. They've got a very restricted selection of popular stuff, and don't help provide access to a wide range of material, although the Zip.ca ones at least provide revenue to keep their DVD library available. But if you've enjoyed being able to have some sort of access to the entire range of DVDs for the last few years, the short and medium term alternatives for Canadians is going to suck by comparison.

[BCF]

I noticed Momentous has posted an immediate job opening for a kiosk associate in London.
The Zip.ca dvd rental kiosks should appear in London soon.

[oberst]

Redbox's initial launch is up to 28 kiosks (greater Vancouver and southern Ontario), and one of them is in the Walmart in London (Clarke Rd). Presumably Zip will go into some of the Metro stores in the next few weeks.

For Zip's "800 Metro stores by October", 800 kiosks would seem to have been a somewhat improbable financial commitment. But in any case, in practice there aren't 800 locations available. There are around 270 Metro/Food Basics stores in Ontario (Zip has kiosks in 80 of those right now). Everything else is in Quebec (295 grocery, 179 standalone drugstores), and Zip had its Quebec kiosks unceremoniously booted after running afoul of Quebec's unique DVD labelling/registration requirements. Until that's overcome, their Metro locations will be limited to Ontario.

Incidentally, Redbox isn't (at least initially) offering Canadians the online reservation and availability browsing their US system has. They are also going with the delayed release date system for some studios, so titles from certain companies (Fox's "There Will Be War" and "Red Tails", for instance) won't be available until a month after release, unlike Zip and Best Buy kiosks. Stuff from Disney ("John Carter") and Warner ("Sherlock Holmes") may not be available at all, since those studios won't supply Redbox, and they don't seem yet to have set up a Canadian equivalent to whatever retail shopping system they are using obtain them in the US.

[MrBizi]

Anyone here try any of these Best Buy kiosk yet?

http://www.***********/en-CA/kiosk-m...-for-less.aspx

Unlike zip kiosks, you can actually reserve a movie. Their "new releases" though do not look so new to me. Hopefully this will change in the future.

[rdrr2008]

Doesn't appear to rent Blu Ray movies

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/kiosk-mo...-for-less.aspx

[brownriggd]

they're just as good (or not) as the zip kiosks. Kiosks don't really replace the lack of video rental stores but they're better than nothing... I find the selection with both suppliers somewhat limited. I'm still waiting for either one to start renting out Looper..