Sat Jul 02, 2016 1:10 am
I've been using Classicflix for several years now, and I too am plagued with items that have remained in my rental queue for well over a year. Most of them are old television series and westerns. In fact I got so tired of waiting that I ended up just buying a few episode series on eBay. Such as Gunsmoke, Naked City, and Perry Mason.
Of course I could always discontinue my membership, but where else can one find a DVD rental company with classic titles? Besides, I always crossed my fingers in the hope that they will someday progress like Netflix. Who by the way immediately sends you another disc the moment you report any problems. Classicflix on the other hand, won't bother sending out another disc until they receive one back first. And we know how long that takes! Furthermore, don't even waste your time writing them because I have, and my concerns were always ignored or unanswered. However they did cut down on breakage so it seems. Yet from time to time, I still receive discs that are badly scratched, defective or has data read errors due to improper handling - and thus unplayable.
This leads me to another point, for I can't help but think that the company never "replenishes" their stock whenever a disc is lost, damaged or defective. In fact, it's fairly clear that they continue listing such damaged and lost items as currently "active" in their inventory - rather than "omitting" them like Netflix does. How else could one explain why titles remain stagnant at the top of your rental queue for such long periods of time? What's worse, I suspect they continue to mail out the same bad discs that were reported "unplayable" as well. It's like a repeated cycle to the next sucker in line after they receive it back. Quite an effective stall tactic if you ask me, and yet another trick to nickle & dime us! Unfortunately I have no way of proving that, but it seems very obvious to me. After all, you'd think that the person who had the disc before you surely must had discovered the "same problems" and reported it?
For those here who have Classicflix, I think it would be interesting if we each maintained an "updated list" of all the "unplayable discs" we get from time to time for comparison sake. If anyone receives any of the "same" listed DVD/BD titles reported as defective, then these above allegations should be quite clear. I have kept tabs on the damaged discs I had received, for they still remain on "WAIT" at the top of my queue - and probably never will be replenished either.
RECEIVED UNPLAYABLE & STILL IN QUEUE:
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- Outside the Law / Shadows 1921
- Gunplay / Hot Lead 1951
- Big City Blues 1932
- Mack Sennett Collection, Vol. 1 Disc 3 (Blu)
- Tim Holt Collection, Vol. 4 Disc 1 (Wagon Train 1940, The Fargo Kid 1940, Cyclone on Horseback 1941)
- Tim Holt Collection, Vol. 4 Disc 2 (Riding the Wind 1942, Land of the Open Range 1942, Thundering Hoofs 1942)
- Tim Holt Collection, Vol. 4 Disc 3 (Red River Robin Hood 1942, Overland Telegraph 1951, Trail Guide 1952)
- Rawhide - Season 4, Vol. 2 Disc 1
- Rawhide - Season 5, Vol. 1 Disc 2
- Rawhide - Season 6, Vol. 1 Disc 1
- Bonanza - Season 3, Vol. 2 Disc 2
- Bonanza - Season 5, Vol. 1 Disc 5
- Bonanza - Season 6, Vol. 2 Disc 1
- Bonanza - Season 8, Vol. 1 Disc 3
- Bonanza - Season 5, Vol. 1 Disc 5
As I mentioned, I've also received several damaged Gunsmoke, Naked City, and Perry Mason episodes. But I ended up buying them because they just sat in my rental queue for over a year. If Classicflix simply informed us that certain titles are UNAVAILABLE, it would sure save us a lot of time and aggravation.