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LoveFilm Review |
LoveFilm is one of the largest (merged with screenselect now) rental by post and powers a number of other brands. Very professional site with easy to use members area. With a huge range and large number of dvd's on new releases I've found the availability to be excellent. Turnaround (I'm in Scotland) was a little slow compared to some other services, but availability made up for this. I like how when browsing categories they show how many dvd's are available, i.e. 1300+ Indian titles etc.
DVD's are posted from Essex.
Click here to Visit LoveFilm
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LoveFilm Customer Reviews |
Cole from London on 2008-10-27 Rates them:  
Since Amazon has moved over to Lovefilm, mostly half of my rentals have froze whilst watching, and now have had a problem where the one film the foil 'Lovefilm' Catalogue stickers on the DVD overhang the centre hole and won't play on my laptop. Pretty confident this is the problem.
Going to speak to Lovefilm about it, will probably stop using them now, not happy. Have defintely noticed a difference since the switch. |
Ian from Jones on 2008-10-18 Rates them:
Credit where credits due. Ive slated LF in the past, but theyve got much better lately. Turnaround is fast and recent titles are available. Lets hope they keep it up this time. |
Phil from Birmingham on 2008-09-19 Rates them:
Used to be with Tescos and had a great service where i received my top priority films every time, Lovefilm took over and I only got films from the bottom of my list. Switched to Amazon and once again the great service I had received ended when Lovefilm took over and I only ever got films from the bottom of the list with the very occasional fluke when i got a film from the middle of my list! Lovefilm seem to 'power' almost every postal dvd club now so am gonna have to find someone else again, guess blockbuster is the only real alternative |
Kieran from Wales on 2008-09-06 Rates them:
Only signed up as part of a "Free 360" and "Free PS3" offer. It said as soon as you sign up, you can cancel during your free trial period. LIES! I clicked on "Cancel my Account" only to find this message.
"To confirm your cancellation please call us on 0800 091 1514.
Alternatively, if you are calling from a mobile or are unable to connect to freephone numbers, you may wish to call on 020 8631 0020.
A member of our Customer Services team is standing by waiting to speak to you. They will be able to take you through the rest of the cancellation process."
After ringing this number (and a conversation with someone not from the UK), I was told that I was unable to cancel my account until 5 days before the first payment.
AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!! HEAD INTO TOWN FOR YOUR RENTAL SERVICES!!!
Kieran |
David from London on 2008-08-31 Rates them:
I have been a member of LoveFilm for around 8 months. Not sure how I even lasted this long. Over 50 % of the discs I have received have been damaged, at least 1/3 of those so badly that you missed so much of the film it wasn't worth watching. Their product and qaulity control is appalling. In one instance I even had the same broken disc that I had returned sent straight back to me - it got stuck in excatly the same plac. Don't go near this service it is rubbish!
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Frank from Aberdeen on 2008-08-26 Rates them:
I have been a Lovefilm customer for about one and a half years, with the 2-DVD unlimited package. I have to say the following from them:
-I am usually able to see 6-8 movies per month.
-I have always received discs from my high priority list. This list includes latest releases, older movies from the eighties/nineties and classics. They tend to send me the older movies, but I have also often received new releases.
-I have received a few scratched DVDs, probably four in total. I have reported these DVDs and they have posted a replacement (I usually request a different movie) the same day.
-They have sent me two discs that were lost in the mail. I have reported these, filled the royal mail form, and they did not charge me for these losses.
-Lately, I feel that they are taking longer to send new titles.
-I do not like that they no longer supply supplementary return envelopes.
-Last week, they said that they sent me two discs but they never arrived. I put the claim in their website and they sent me the discs again, which I received, and a mail stating that I will receive a letter from Royal Mail to proceed with the claim. Because I have not received the Royal Mail Letter and they sent me the same titles, I believe that the discs did not leave their facilities, either for disorganisation or to avoid me taking so many titles.
This has been my experience with Lovefilm so far.
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Tina Yuanyuan Wei from Watford on 2008-08-17 Rates them:
LoveFilm is very disappointing to me. The huge fantastic collection online is not genuine their stock collection! I'm not a big fan of mainstream films. So my waiting list is made up of 90% alternative films. However, the alternative ones never come through. I have been told: the reserved films will come through as soon as they become available. Unfortunately, I waited more then 6 months for about 10 artistic films, non of them became available! I now have reason to believe it's a kind of fraud: when they don't have a particular film, they still keep the film profile there just to attract more people to join the membership, and make you believe someone else rent that film out but it will become available soon. I have no doubt LoveFilm has a good collection of new release films, as new main stream films have big market demand. If you watch more alternative films then big name new releases, DO NOT join them! |
scott from Manchester on 2008-08-11 Rates them:
FRUSTRATION!
Nothing about this company is simple. As a service it's reasonably simple - receive dvd, watch dvd, return dvd. If on the off chance a dvd goes missing in the post (as in my case) they are unwilling to accept this and after a certain period of time refer the case to debt collectors!
I have been trying now to resolve the case for the past month but they refuse to either supply a telephone contact or, with specific instructions to do so, actually call you back to discuss the case. All i received was a tearse, patronising template letter.
Clearly i am bitter about this experience but i urge you not to get involved with a company with such contempt for their customers as this one has shown me. |
Charlie from Sussex on 2008-08-03 Rates them:
I hate LoveFilm with a passion. On a number of occasions they sent discs I hadn't asked for, even though I always kept my rental list well stocked, as advised. Sometimes series have been sent in the wrong order. I dumped them and went to Amazon, which was great, but LoveFilm bought them out and I've found myself back with them. Aaaaaargh! I hate them!!!! and am visiting this site to look for another alternative. |
Anna from Oxford on 2008-07-31 Rates them:
We had our correct allocation of two DVDs in June, none in July but was told I had reached the limit. When I pointed out that my account said '2 remaining' they apologised and said they would reimburse that month's fee and also despatch my next DVD. Six days on, nothing happened, I wrote again to complain. Their response? To cancel my subscription! Thanks, Lovefilm, you saved me the trouble!
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Stefanie from London on 2008-07-31 Rates them:
I was regularly disappointed by LoveFilm, which is why I cancelled my subscription last summer. I do understand that high demand films may not always be available right away -- however on LoveFilm you have no way of knowing when you might get something. I know it can be done better, because Amazon did -- with specific prioritisation (1, 2, 3, etc. vs. 'high', 'med'), and also notes to say when something was in or out of stock. It's all about setting expectation, something Amazon did well, and LoveFilm did not. That's not to mention the many times they sent me 'low priority' discs repeatedly rather than anything from my 'high' list, which then took at least a week+ turnaround to fix. Which, as I was watching ongoing TV series, was not helpful.
Unfortunately, however, Amazon's being run by LoveFilm, so I now lose out once more. |
Petra from London on 2008-07-25 Rates them:
Was forced to move from Amazon when they stopped supplying.
1) Lovefilm can take ages to ship DVD's. Much slower than Amazon, so if you watch lots, you will get fewer - be warned.
2) Their website technology runs on a ZX Spectrum (or so it seems). It is sooooo slow that I am considering swapping just for this reason
3) If you didn't receive or send back a DVD, prepare to get an unfriendly email explaining you will be charged lots of money if you don't send it back (even if you did!) |
Philip from lancs on 2008-07-08 Rates them:
I cancelled, thought it was sorted, and then one month to the day I cancelled I get an email saying that I still have two of their DVD's.
I sent an email saying that I sent the titles I had back on 22/05/2008(went home after posting and immediately and made the cancellation) - they don't send new titles out until they get the ones that you have back: therefore if they receive a cancellation before they get titles back why would they send out more?
They reckon that they sent out the titles they say I have on the 22/05/2008 which was the day I cancelled. Hmmm, so just for me they changed their policy and kindly sent me new rentals before I had returned the ones I had and after I cancelled!!?? Yeah Right. Lying bunch of cowboys!
Still on going, I'm going to cancel my card and join the growing number of dissolution ex Love Film customers who have the Dept Collection Agents knocking on the door!
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Rob from Cambridge on 2008-06-29 Rates them:
I was very happy renting DVDs from Amazon. Then Amazon passed on their DVD rental business to LoveFilm.
I can't even log in! I used the "transfer" links from Amazon - I get a blank screen and a stationary "progress" bar. If I go to the LoveFilm home page and try to log in there - I get a frozen screen and another stationary progress bar.
More worrrying, however, is the fact that your account e-mail address AND THE PASSWORD are sent via the URL as a querystring. This means that they are sent, unencrypted, over the Internet for all to see. This breaks the FIRST RULE for creating secure online transactions. Is it a coincidence that my pages are "stalling" at this stage? With these two pieces of information, anyone could log in to my online account with the company.
Not Happy!
Rob |
Bonnie from Cambridge on 2008-06-25 Rates them:
We joined Lovefilm and cancelled our subscription after 2 months because the turnaround time was so slow (drop off a disc on Friday, and won't get anything again till the next Thurs/Fri). It was particularly annoying when we were going through DVDs of TV shows--despite their claim to send discs of series in order, over the course of watching two shows we've had three instances of getting the wrong disc. We also hated the prioritizing system--why not let people actually rank the discs, and send out the ones that are available according to the person's ranking rather than having this vague three-tiered priority system? We subsequently joined Amazon.co.uk's rental service, which was excellent. Now Amazon has joined Lovefilm, and we're back to square 1. We're now trying Blockbuster's service. |
paula from chesterfield on 2008-06-24 Rates them:
I had some films from here, but when I chose to cancell , they charged me for a film, saying I hadn't returned it.. but I sent TWO films back in the SAME envelope and they claimed to not recieve one.. so they stole out of my account. complain as i did, they did nothing, even got onto the trading standards..do not use lovefilm, they rob you!!!!
the film was an old film , which i saw in the shop for £4 quid brand new, and they carged me £30 for not sending it back.. just a way of gettin money out of you once you cancell! LOWEST OF THE LOW! |
James from Devon on 2008-06-23 Rates them:
I have been receiving DVD rentals from LoveFilm for a little over a month now. The service I have so far received has been good - all of my discs have been sent within 1 business day and around half have been high priority titles. The condition of the discs have not been a problem to date.
I particularly recommend Lovefilm for their very wide choice of titles and their rating and recommendations service.
There is an emerging blog of note that independently (apparently) records a user's experience with Lovefilm which may offer a potential customer an insight in to the performance they are receiving - www.lovefilmreview.blogspot.com |
Jez from Herts on 2008-06-18 Rates them:
I only use Lovefilm for TV Series Rentals. I recently received an email from them saying
I have recently received an email from you saying:
"You currently have 31 titles in your rental list 'Jeremy's list'. However, 22 of them are unshippable titles. Unshippable titles are either unreleased, not available or are waiting for an earlier title in their series. You should add more shippable titles in the meantime. "
All the DVD's on my list appear to be avilable according to their website so I sent them an email asking what was going on.
In fairness they replied very quickly saying:
"Please ignore the previous mail which was delivered to you in error.
We can confirm you that according to our records, you have 31 titles in
your rental titles which are shippable. "
The thing is I'm not sure I believe them. Anyway What I've done is removed every item off my list apart from one title I have been waiting for for ages as a priority. I'm going to send all three discs I have at the moment back in one hit and see what happens.
Will let you know. |
Alex from London on 2008-05-20 Rates them:
awfull... They ask you to return DVDs in the pre-paid envelope. However, if they don't receive it (or, what I suspect, don't amend your account upon receipt) they'll ask you to pay for it (£ 25 if I remember correctly...).
I've tried to cancel via the internet, got the message that I would have to call the call centre to complete cancellation. I wrote them emails - they still didn't close the account. I disputed the payments of my credit card - Lovefilm is a known problem with my bank, First Direct!
Now they keep on bugging me for a DVD I "returned to sender" after the cancellation. They are asking for proof of postgage... |
Amy from Shrewsbury on 2008-04-14 Rates them:
Reading these reviews does make me think that there might as well be two different companies operating as LoveFilm, so polarised is the feedback.
Personally I've had great servivce from them, with good turnaround times and a decent number of high priority titles.
Following my free trial I wanted to downgrade but the disc I sent back wasn't going to arrive in time so I'd have incurred the higher subscription charge. When I phoned customer services the operator added two extra days to my free trial to allow time for the disc to arrive, meaning I'd only pay for the lower subscription. I didn't need to hassle them to do this, he just offered to do it.
I don't know if they'd do the same thing if you wanted to cancel, but there's nothing to stop you saying you want to downgrade, getting a few extra days and then cancelling the account yourself online.
Overall I've found them very reasonable to deal with, but it is important to know how their cancellation/downgrading system works (ie returning discs in time) and be proactive about it or you can get caught out. |
STEVE from Cornwall on 2008-04-08 Rates them:
I am impressed. They send it within 1 day they recieve the next and the next day ill have more dvds to watch. I also like the idea of games and will be looking foward to getting that package in the near future. |
worn out dealing with it all from London on 2008-03-09 Rates them:
I can only corroborate all the negative reviews here. Never receive high priority titles - and I often have titles in high priority that are far from 'blockbusters.'
Lately about 30 percent of the discs we get are damaged. I can't count how many times we've gotten halfway through a film, only to have it reach an impasse - consistent across all three dvd players in the house.
Lately we've been receiving discs that have a Warning title page at the beginning - 'This DVD is not licensed for rental,' advising us to report the place from which we rented the disc to Not for Rental phone number, which of course I did, and the woman on the phone told me that LoveFilm had been 'very naughty' lately and was buying retail DVDs, which are much cheaper, and then renting them out.
I was with NetFlix in the States and had nothing but great experiences with them so am very disappointed to have had such a disastrous time with LoveFilm - and such a time and energy-consuming one - all this reporting scratched discs, sending them back, asking for more envelopes, tracking high priority titles that never arrive, even after 'special attention' had been promised, and on and on.
Only issue now is who to go with next?
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Ray from Norfolk on 2008-03-01 Rates them:
Awful beyond words. I tried them once and had to give up for the sake of my sanity. Rental service is slow, unreliable and incompetent. Customer service is rude, arrogant and unhelpful. Recently they offered me a free trial to go back promising standards had improved. In fact they has got even worse! I lasted a week then told them to shove it. The service is too poor to live with even when it‘s free. Avoid like the plague!!!!! |
wayne from newport,wales on 2008-02-13 Rates them:
i joined lovefilm with the mind set that i would have films to watch on a regular basis.i recived my first dvd(not in my top priortey fims)watched it.sent it back.heard nothing from them i even forgot i was a customer of theres.i made it so no money could be taken from my account by them,now months and months later i am reciveing letters from debt collectors sayin i owe them because i did not send them the dvd back.there oppinion is its my responsibility to find out what happened to the dvd and prove it was sent back.my oppinion is prove to me you never recived it back your selves.and goin by what i have read in most of the comments it seems they are a bunch of cowboys who change there name from lovefilm to lovemoney.not recomended by me and many others for your sake if you are not a member and thinking of joining DONT! |
Eva from London on 2008-02-05 Rates them:
HATEFILM.CON 1 -POOR ?? Can we have a lower rating please?
Before I signed I checked that if you don't use up your DVD allowance for that month, they'd be carried over to the next. This was written on their website. (I now cannot find this anywhere on their site??) This made sense about the 'no late fees'. I'm an occasional film viewer and signed for the 2 DVD's a month deal. I have now paid for several months and i'm still only on my 2nd free trial DVD (which I haven't watched).
I now find that if you don't use your credits for the month you've paid for they expire -HATEFILM.CON didn't want to confirm this as they at first ignored my queries.
There ARE late fees and if you don't send back before the next months subscription payment you lose your credits!!
No films watched and monies lost! |
Ja from Dorset on 2008-01-29 Rates them:
cancelled my subscription as it was a gift then kept receiving pushy very rude sales calls, walk up your local rental shop its alot less painful. |
Korben from glasgow on 2008-01-26 Rates them:
They charged me another months fee but wouldn't let me rent anything when I canceled. They got all my discs back on the day they were supposed to but still took money from me.
They claimed I would not get a refund. After numerous emails to the tune of get lost , theres nothing you can do.
My credit card company got the refund from them as it was fraud. I kept all emails and took screen shots and they were screwed.
They then had the nerve to say they had refunded me due to goodwill and hoped I would come back. Same guys who told me to get lost. Hope the get bankrupt. HATE THEM. Bunch of cowboy theives
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Tommo from Atherstone on 2008-01-01 Rates them:
I was with screenselect before it was taken over by lovefilm and have never had a problem with either company.
The only times I've had problems is with the postal service not delivering the discs, thats not lovefilms fault, thats Royal Mails.
I tend to get my high priority discs first, and occasionaly my medium priority, I have some back up discs on low priority, but I've never been sent anything from my low priority films.
I think its great for what it is and have reccomended other people join up |
David from Scotland on 2007-12-21 Rates them:
If you cancel for whatever reason, they will charge you a final month's rental fee BUT NOT PERMIT YOU TO BORROW ANY DVDs DURING THAT MONTH. THAT'S FRAUD!
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Richard from Darlington on 2007-12-10 Rates them:
The turnaround and service received has been pretty good after about 6 months with DVD's being sent promptly. Perhaps that's a result in being interested in the more unusual and possibly unpopular. However, I signed up originally to a promotion promising a free ipod shuffle for 3 months subscription after the months free trial. (This was through the Guardian's Sofa Cinema front). I haven't received it and am now being told that I did not register for the promotion. I was the sap attracted by the free ipod shuffle rather than the offer of DVD's and signed up in time and through their promotional page. Now I am being told I did not put in a promotional code, though other offers, such as the free DVD player, insert the code automatically. Has anybody succeeded in receiving a promised free gift ?
All I'm getting from Customer Support is that I didn't register for the promotion! |
Sam from Sussex on 2007-11-29 Rates them:
Utter mind-numbing incompetence throughout. First 2 films received ok. Sent back and then since then titles have been appearing in my 'at home' list at random - I sometimes get an email telling me a title has been sent and those ones arrive. However if I don't get an email, I know I'll never get the disc and have to report it again.
Customer service is like banging your head against a wall, the same cut-and-paste reply each time saying it is not their fault. I maybe get to see one film every 2 weeks.
They blame you or the post office for everything and refuse to show any proof that the discs were sent. Check the T&C VERY closely... |
Jim from London on 2007-11-24 Rates them:
i have to say that reading the mostly negative reviews on here i don't recognise the service that i have happily used for a year or more with no problems. my discs are nearly always turned around within three days (ie I post on monday, get back on Weds), I nearly always get a disc from my top choice, any emails to their customer services get dealt with within a few hours (unlike an email i sent recently to talktalk, which took a week for a reply) and anyone else i know who is a member seems equally happy.
generally i reckon i am paying £1-£2 per rental which is much less than blockbuster, much more choice and i don't have to go down to the shop to see what they've got.
the website was a bit rubbish last year but its geting better and better at the moment - a new home page design in the last few days is really cool and the ability to have more than one list is great.
i've heard they have around half a million customers so i guess they'll always be a few people who get bad service - after all i guess things will sometimes go wrong. |
Ian from Jones on 2007-11-19 Rates them:
I have cancelled and rejoined Lovefilm many times. Usually because every few months the last cancellation registers somewhere and they send me a 3 months for 1 offer, giving me "unlimited" rental for £5 a month. Well Im cancelling this time and wont be going back. Why? Lovefilm is essentially lying to you with their advertising. You do not get anything like unlimited rental. They used to throttle, which I didnt care about as I dont watch that many. Now their turn around is so slow that you cant watch more than 3 a week. Its not acceptable that a disk that arrives with them on monday morning doesnt produce a replacement til the following Saturday. Now how about those 65,000 titles they brag about? They may have 65,000 films on their site (and Im not at all sure about that) but getting anything new and in demand is nigh on impossible. If you have 15 niche interest older or foreign titles in your list and 75 other titles youll receive those 15 titles until theyre all gone and then theyll continue to, very slowly, allocate you the next most unpopular ones. I want to watch those films eventually but not JUST the,. They just dont stock the movies they say they do in appreciable numbers. They have great marketing and a good website but there are far better companies out there to give your hard earned to. Avoid. |
David from London on 2007-11-10 Rates them:
I have never had a bad experiance with Lovefilm, but i am an avid user with several accounts on lovefilm, blockbuster and Amazon.
I have also started a website to get opinons and thoughts about lovefilm not just to post bad experiances, but to give examples of how they can improve, without these ideas they will never know and our money just goes to waste.
To bring your ideas to Lovefilm post your ideas and thoughts on http://www.hackinglovefilm.com |
Terri from Berkshire on 2007-11-10 Rates them:
I fully understand the poor ratings this company has received, I've been there myself with poor service from Screenselect. However I've been renting films from Lovefilm for over a year and I haven't got much to complain about (at the moment). I get quite a few new releases out of them and so far they have lived up to the promise of sending another DVD out by the following day, though they could improve their service by sending them out on the same day like other rental sites do. They do however receive discs back on a Saturday where as the other sites do not.
You've got to know how to play them at their own game and here are a couple of tips when joining Lovefilm.
1) When you want to cancel your membership with them send the discs back a week before and get proof of postage, empty your list so when they receive the discs back they can't send you another one out, then cancel so they can't say you have any outstanding discs. If after a few days they still haven't received the discs back cancel anyway (at least 3 days before your next payment). If they say they haven't received the discs back by your payment date and they charge you, contact your credit card company and tell them you followed Lovefilms cancellation policy and have proof of postage, they will sort it out and get the money refunded.
2) Cancel your membership (as above) and be nice about it, you will then probably get an email asking you to rejoin (usually within a month), offering you 3 months for the price of 1. At the end of this period cancel your membership (as above) and wait as you will probably get the same email again. So far I've paid for 4 months rentals and have had a years membership out of them. They also treat you like a new customer for the first few weeks so you get lots of new releases.
This will not work with Lovefilm but I have had 4 free 1 month trials with Blockbusters (find promotional codes on the Internet) by joining up other members of my house using different credit/debit cards. Even though it says in their terms and conditions 1 free trial per household, using a different name and email address seems to get excepted for another free trial. I even joined my children up who are 10 & 12 (lied abut their date of birth) and it worked.
Hope this has been helpful.
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Robert from Derby on 2007-11-08 Rates them:
I went on this site just after id signed upto lovefilm and was awaited my first game, and i saw all the terrible reviews you guys had given in and it made me think "crap what have i waisted my money on" but ive got to say so far i have done 4 swaps with love films and the longest took 4 days as it was sent on a saturday so obviosuly didnt get there till monday, all the disk are in good condition. and they do tend to choose the high priorites over medium or low. so all i can say is love film is defiantly a good rental service for games (though i believe the dvd service would be terrible as there is just so many people using that side of the site) |
A very unhappy user from Warwickshire on 2007-11-05 Rates them:
Lovefilm is the worst company I have ever come across. They have recently taken double the amount of money for one months membership and refuse to refund me the difference until I return the DVD's I currently have rented. They seem to be incapable of understanding that I had paid to rent these DVD's and that the funds I want refunded had been taken from my bank account illegally. They refuse to answer questions sent via emails, tell lies on the phone i.e. Will refund and send email to confirm - neither of these have happened. I seriously warn against anyone using this company. |
Charles from London on 2007-11-03 Rates them:
Love film is rubbish, with very poor customer service. I left Amazon temporarily to try them out.
I never received disks they claim to have sent, and they have now attempted to place the burden of proof on me.
I'm afraid I didn't even make it through the 14 day trial without getting pissed off at them and canceling my membership.
Back to Amazon for me, who have excellent customer service. |
Tam from Manchester on 2007-11-02 Rates them:
I joined Lovefilm about a month ago and in three consecutive deliveries of DVDs they have sent me a badly scratched disk that has resulted in me having to skip small chunks of the movie. Apart from the scratched disks, I have no other problems, the delvery and turnaround rate is pretty quick, 3-4 days. But I am really starting to get p***ed of with my movie viewing being interrupted by "error cannot read media" - for god's sake sort it out. |
uma from yorkshire on 2007-10-16 Rates them:
i joined lovefilkm when it was screenselect and at first i was happy with their service. as i tend to watch more obscure and older film latest releases and their turnaround times weren't a problem. but they are getting slower and slower, sometimes it taking 4 days from when they recieve your disk back to posting out another even though there are 20-0 titles in your high priority list. and if you want something new, forget it. prison break has been at the top of my list now for about 4 months and not a sniff. but the final straw was today. i posted a disk back over a week ago and it is showing as not recieved. when i enquired through their online faq i got this reply emailed back to me:
We can confirm that we have not yet received back 'freaky friday'.
A 'V91' form will be sent to you within the next 10 working days, asking you to confirm postage of this disc.
We would like to remind you that failure to help us with our enquiries will result in £25 being deducted from your account if we do not receive the form back from you.
We are sorry for the inconvenience, and thank you in advance for your co-operation. Your next disc from your selection will be dispatched as soon as possible.
If you have any further queries please email us at support@lovefilm.com
now as they did not get my disk which i posted what is to say they will recieve this form, of indeed it ever arrives? and why are they charging £25 for a frankly worn disk that you can pick up new in the shops for under a fiver? i would accept this, i wouldn't be happy as i have been a member over 2 years and you would think they would give you the benfit of the doubt, but this just sucks. once this is sorted i'm going to cancel and try blockbuster. |
Steve from Lancashire on 2007-09-28 Rates them:
There's an ASA ruling against Lovefilm for abusing the advertising term "unlimited", and it gives a measure of Lovefilm's attitude when they defend their cheating selves by saying customers complaining of a limited "unlimited" service "were often engaged in illegal DVD piracy."
http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/non_broadcast/Adjudication+Details.htm?Adjudication_id=41603
However such a ruling does not appear to have prevented Lovefilm from continuing to advertise itself as unlimited.
A recent petition at the Downing Street web site concerning "unlimited" broadband providers was palmed off to the ASA by the government, and the ASA refused to act.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/03/government_dodges_unlimited/
Is it any wonder that companies like Lovefilm, who get bigger and bigger as they swallow up other companies, feel they can do as they please? |
Keith from Lancashire on 2007-09-27 Rates them:
oh my goodness, where do I start ?
When they were screenselect I was basically quite happy. Never seemed to get new releases (when there was only 25 new releases on my list, I just didnt get anything!)
Then it went to Lovefilm. As previously posted, I really only watch at weekends, so I was posting them back first thing monday, only for them to sit on my queue, mostly to not have anything at all to watch the following week, due to their slow turnaround times. Sometimes they would jsut send one, leaving me with only the bonus disc from an old rental to watch all weekend. Did I really pay £14.99 for that rubbish ?
But, it got better still. In addition to having nothing to watch many weekends, they started taking money from my card more and more often. should be the 1st of the month, then started taking 1st, then 28th, then 26th, then 21st of the month, meaning they were actually taking 13 or 14 per year. I rang to cancel, and ask them what they were playing at. The only contact was a hopeless indian call centre, run by a company that are not lovefilm, just a sub contracted telephone company that gives answers from their questionairre software (eg. Why have you taken two payments ?your subscription is £14.99 per month how can I be helping you today thank you please ? Why are you not sending any discs? your subscription is £14.99 per month thank you for allowing me to help you today thank you please. Get the idea ?!)
I got hold of their london head office number, and the receiptionist would not put me through to anyone at all, nor give me a postal address to write to. I asked where she was, I would write to that address. She said she didnt know ! She gave me the postcode, which I entered on multimap and gave HER the address. she then admitted she had been lying to avoid having to give me the information, to obstruct my complaint. What a pathetic method to avoid your customers' feedback. Irritating and ridiculous. I cancelled there and then.
When I did write, some weeks later, I jsut received a preprinted, "we take your feedback seriously" letter, but not answered a single point in the letter. Do they care less ? obviously not.
Seems they arent in the business of renting DVDs at all, jsut harvesting card numbers,helping themselves to the cash above and beyond the terms of the agreement, and if youre lucky, you will one old film per week thats been on network TV. Pathetic.
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.
|
Steve from Edinburgh on 2007-09-06 Rates them:
Well initially I had major problems with these guys since they were not allocating dvd's for over 2 days... This was very frustrating even though I had over 150 entries in my selection.
However over the last 2 months I can actually not be happier. I'm on the 2 package and we have since found out that the high priority lists seem to work also. I used to have all entries as high priority.
I wonder if they have waves of service by postcode, you know, 2 months good service in Edinburgh, poor in Bristol. Better in London, poorer in Southampton, then worse in Edinburgh and better in Southampton... That sort of thought...
Anyway at this time I am actually coming to the end of my prepaid subscription, but maybe that is why my service has improved, because at first it was poor during the first couple of months of my prepaid subscription. I am considering renewing - which is probably going to mean that I will have to face poorer service.. Who knows. Today I rate them 9 out of 10. |
Colin from Dundee (Scotland) on 2007-09-06 Rates them:
Well isn't Lovefilm a bit of a disaster. I was a happy member of Screenselect and indeed Lovefilm until July. 12 out of the last 14 DVD despatched have not arrived. I wonder how many have actually left the warehouse? They don't read the e-mails you send them and if they do they certainly don't reply to what they have read, I was asked the same question three times in one day. I have given them an alternate address as they have refused to keep sending DVD to my house. 2 out of 4 despatched have arrived there. If the other two don't turn up today I'm going to cancel. Though I hear that could be fun. |
Adam from Bristol on 2007-08-28 Rates them:
I have been with lovefilm for several years now. I started off with 'moviechoices' and this was taken over by various companies and now lovefilm. I am on the 4 at-a-time package and have changed packages a few times over the last few years, always with no problems regarding billing.
I keep quite a long (?) rental list at 150 on average, and it does not really bother me to have new new releases quickly as if a film is that important I would have seen it at the cinema, with my Cineworld Unlimited card !!
No real problems - even in Bristol where the postal service ain't great I normally get a new disc on the second working day after posting. The odd damaged DVD - but I think my DVD player is a bit old now and isn't the best at playing them anyway !!
Good company - very surprised to see so many negative reviews on here. |
Colin from Newcastle on 2007-08-22 Rates them:
I joined lovefilm about 3 years ago and got fed up with being sent scratched discs -Why they can't check them before sending them? I left and joined Screenselect... however, a few months later Screenselect were taken over by Loveflim, so I became a member again. This did annoy me, but I thought I'd give them another chance. Everything went fine for about a year, but then troubles started again, mainly with postage this time. The turn around is MUCH slower than it used to be. I can only put this down to them being too big a company now. Many other rental firms such as 'odeon, sainsburys, filmfour are 'powered' by Lovefilm. So basically they handle a lot of discs, and in my opinion haven't the resources to cope fully. The straw that broke the camels back this time was being sent 2 discs in one envelope. Thats fine, as long as they put a spare envelope inside, but they didn't. Basically I have to send both discs back at once. I emailed them and asked if they could send some spare envelopes, and they said that they would. These never turned up. I emailed again, and they said I could send one back in my own envelope with my name and account reference details inside. I replied by saying that wasn't good enough, and not what they said in the first place. They still wouldn't budge, which I couldn't believe. I am leaving - what I'm paying for is time. The amount of rentals is 'unlimited', but if they only allow you to rent 8 discs a month due to poor turnaround times, or by making you send 2 discs back together, it makes their life easier. Lovefilm are too big and have become complacent, their customer service is terrible and I'm now seeking an alternative. Again! |
alan from edinburgh on 2007-08-21 Rates them:
Absolutely appalling Customer Service from this shower. I signed up on 15th August, they contrived to get ny address wrong. I informed them immediately. They then contacted me on the 16th, saying that they had changed my address, but as they had already sent out discs to the original wrong address, it was my responsibility to recover their discs. This reply also contrived to get me address wrong. E-Mails to the Customer Service team have been met with belligerent replies along the lines of:
"This is no fault of ours"
"We need you to recover these discs".
I think I have had a lucky escape, and would urge anyone considering joining to reconsider.
I have taken the advice on this forum and have reported them to Trading Standards. |
Glen Banyard from Ely on 2007-08-15 Rates them:
Depite being with Lovefilm for several years the rating of 1 is fully and utterly deserved.
Like most have had poor quality, badly scratched and maintained discs, on more than one occassion a disc, or discs have been 'lost' when returned, despite the disc being in the same envelope as others they already acknowledge as received.
The 'straw that broke the back' has been the last 2 months, out of the discs I have received, they have been largely medium priority, despite having 30-50 High prioirity in the list, several high prioirity have been there so long they are on Sky Premiere now ! I suspect this is being the new titles tend to be to those on trial accounts / newly signed up to entice them in.
I generally only get time to watch the films at weekend, so the discs are in the morning post on Monday back to them, yet it's Wednesday or Thursday before they are checked in and new ones sent out. In recent weeks the discs have been returned on a Monday and I havent received the new discs until the following week !
Customer service is next to useless, they are arguementative, defensive and largely unhelpful and rude. The head office is really not much better, the receptionist doesn't put you through to who you ask for, only to another level of Customer Service, again who are largely ineffective in their job.
I thought, foolishly I might add, that my complaint was being taken seriously, as I had cancelled the account and Rachel Collins at LoveFILM promised to refund the last two months, however one month got refunded, then they somehow they managed to get a transfer set up and deduct a further payment.
I have made an official complaint to trading standard, sought legal advice about the deducting funds for a cancelled account, and got their directors details from Companies House. I am drafting everything to be sent to BBC WatchDog for their new series.
I seriously urge anyone who is contemplating signing up to read all the sites and all the reviews, LoveFilm is not the answer to you movie thirst. |
Jo from Essex on 2007-08-13 Rates them:
I signed up for this as the website looked user friendly. Then I read the reviews (wrong way round i know!) I have used Amazon before and they are so much better.
I received my first DVD on Saturday 4th August, put it back in the post on 6th, and am still waiting for my next dvd today on the 13th! I phoned up to cancel and they said that they did not receive it until Friday which is why they have only just dispatched. with Amazon you receive them a couple of days after you return them.
Also bearing in mind how long it takes for them to suspposedly receive the DVD, if they have not received it before the date when the first payment is due to come out, they will charge you anyway despite the fact you have cancelled it!!
DONT SIGN UP! |
Antonia from Cardiff on 2007-07-31 Rates them:
I was a member of them a year ago and left due to a terrible service but thought I would give them another chance, it didn't go well....
I was a member for 3 months and during this time I only managed to rent 25 DVDs out of a possible 90 that I could have rented it they ran smoothly. When I contacted them they said that I was a 'heavy user' - I found out that this is what they call someone who has rented more than 15 disks - ever! So, because I rented 15 in the first month I was slowed down and only sent another 10 disks over the next two months! I also never got any 'new releases' (apparently in such high demand I had to wait a few months - it wouldn't be a 'new release' then!) or TV shows because they said they never had disk 1 of any of them to send and I wanted to see them in order.
I was also sent a few very badly damaged disks that wouldn't play properly and when I decided to inform them of one they held the disk on my account for a week and practically accused me of damaging it.
When it came to cancel I had to phone them and was grilled for almost 20 mins about why I wanted to leave, I don't appreciate being interrogated!
I CAN'T BELIEVE THESE PEOPLE ARE STILL IN BUSINESS! |
Eve from London on 2007-07-29 Rates them:
Hello,
I had a different experience with Lovefilm, maybe its better in London. I was with Lovefilm for over a year and found it to be pretty good. I don't have a Blockbuster near me and i do like to watch older more obscure films, so i haven't had a problem waiting for new releases. I did leave as i had been bought membership for a present, and the first time i went to leave i accidently pressed the cancelation button, which actually means stop cancelation. So then i had to ring and explain to woman who was really helpfulpersuasive sales person and i ended up paying 1 more months membership for another 3 months worth of dvds. Then it automatically canceled once i'd sent the last disk back.
In the entire year i had been sent two wrong dvds by mistake and i got stolen in the post, which i was never charged for. So i think i got a good deal over the year. I guess if this happened in your 1 months free membership it would put you off really, but i found the rest of the year has been fine.
Also i only wanted to watch 2 dvds a week, so i wasn't watching them and posting them back the next day.
I think this is a good service if you want to watch a couple of olderobscure films per week, and don't live near a video store. |
Peter from Blackpool on 2007-07-28 Rates them:
Beware!
I joined for the free trial - liked the service and thought everything was OK - they had my Credit Card Details etc...
first thing I knew something was wrong was when I had debt collection agencies demanding money - something I've NEVER experienced before.
Turns out Lovefilm were unable to collect from my Credit Card due to an error on their part and without trying to contact me put me in the hands of a Credit Recovery Agency!
MANY MANY emails later -despite their appologies - I'm still out of pocket!
Don't touch this firm with a BARGPOLE! |
margaret from glasgow on 2007-07-05 Rates them:
Been with lovefilm for about six months good turn around at start now im lucky if I get 3 a week. send the discs back on a monday lucky if I get another 3 on friday. Used to send back discs on monday they would get them on the tuesday and I would receive 3 on the wednesday. I think they try to restrict the amount they send out to you. Provisional allocation is a new one they have came up with. Delaying the disc for another day. Now my discs seem to be getting lost in the post. Dont recommend this company to anyone con artists!! |
Jason from Portsmouth City on 2007-06-26 Rates them:
I have been with lovefilm for a number of years now and have not had many problems.
I always get my new rentals back within days,if i say post on monday,my new choice will be with me wedursday.
the longest i have waited was the other week when i posted my rentals back on the tuesday and got my new rentals on friday.
Which is only one day longer then normal.
When i joined on the 14 day free trial i had the same quick turn around..
I have been sent a film that was not viewable once but i just sent it back and got a new rental within days,i also was sent a dvd last year that was demanged but again i was just sent another one.
I did though had one disc go missing in the post but they just sent me a claim form and i sent it back and that was the end of that.
I think the slow turn around must be more down to the postal service in the area you live then lovefilm otherwise everyone would be having the same problem.
I sent back some dvds monday and i just logged into my lovefilm account and check my rental list and it is showing my two new dvd rentals as being sent.
The only problem i have had is with the digital download software that would not load and though i did call their helpline the software needed still will not work.
The staff on the helpline was friendly but the advice she gave has not sorted the problem out.
The only negtive about lovefilm is that you will not often get the titles near the top of your rental list.
But as i keep a very large rental list i have no problems.
so i would advice anyone to keep a very large rental list.
I tend to get the discs in postion 3-10 I hardly ever get dvds postion 1-3.
Also with new releases you could wait months before getting the new release even if it is number one in your rental list.
I advice anyone to keep a number of dics as High because if you do not.
You may find a delay as the time i waited a day longer then normal was the day that i only had the dvds i really wanted as high in my rental list.
And they do tend to send those discs out over other discs.
so i would advice anyone to have all their films as high.
Lovefilm also when it comes to tv shows have in the past sent our disc two before they have sent out disc one which was a really pain in the butt.
but with the sleeper cell dvd's they seem to be sending the discs in the right order.
Though time will tell if they do that thing again.
It was what put me off renting 24 from them because to get the last disc before you have got the hours before would be a real pain as with 24 you need the discs in the right hour.
As based on past experince,lovefilm track record with tv shows discs is not that great.
If you really want to get that new release then i would advice either to buy it or use a service like your local rental store.
As with lovefilm.
You never get the new relases for months after they come out
due to the fact that everyone is wanting it and lovefilm does'nt buy enough copies for everyone so their will be delays.
If you only watch one film per week.
I would'nt bother with lovefilm as the chance of you getting the films you really want to watch is slim.
You would be better off renting from a local store or buying. |
Jill from London on 2007-06-25 Rates them:
First, for those seeking a better film company -- try Blockbuster. I searched online for voucher codes and found one for a month free trial. They let you number the disks in the order you'd like to receive them, and the cost is 14.99 for unlimited three disks at home. I've been with them a little over two weeks now, and get the movies fast. I always have gotten selections from my top five choices. The only downside is they are not open on Saturdays to receive or send out more disks. Lovefilm is open Saturdays, but they are often so slow or send out stuff from the bottom of your list, that I think it's still worth it to go with Blockbuster. We watched films fast and sent them back to see what the turnaround is like, and I've gotten 10 films at home in two weeks of membership with Blockbuster! I'm hoping they don't slow down or send older movies once the trial is over, but all signs are good.
As to Lovefilm, I'm really concerned about how hard it will be to cancel, and wish that we had used a credit card instead of direct debit to sign up. They sent out three films at the same time last week; we got two of them but not the third. I was going to call and cancel today, but I have to wait until Wednesday to even report the disk as lost in the mail! Now I'm afraid not having that third disk will throw a monkey wrench in the works and we'll be stuck for at least one more month with Lovefilm. Can you call a bank and have them block direct debits??? |
Luke from West London on 2007-06-22 Rates them:
Signed up to Lovefilm this morning and decided to do a little digging around. Found this site and many more like it with very bad reviews of LoveFilm. Due to this I called them up and asked to cancel the subscription. The guy tried his best to 'rebuttal' my objections but from having a background in the call-center industry he didn't try for long. He confirmed he'll put a cancellation request on my account and it will take 24hours to be completed. I asked if I'd get any written confirmation once the account is cancelled... he confirmed i'd get an email confirmation. I enquired about the terms & conditions (6.4) which stated that a pre-authorisation charge will be authorised for a three month service when you sign up to the free trial. I got him to confirm several times that my account wouldn't be charged.
I logged back on to the site after the telephone call and clicked the My Account section. It stated that my cancellation was pending and that my subscription will be cancelled once they receive all the discs back.
I had only opened the account an hour or so ago so haven't received any dics nor have i requested any... called them back and spoke to another guy who said that the account will be cancelled today and the confirmation email will take 24 - 48hrs to be received.
So will see if I get an email... will keep you updated |
<>< from Bournemouth on 2007-06-19 Rates them:
Lovefilm's quality of service has declined considerably since they bought out Screenselect, of which I was originally a member. After losing 3 DVD's and having to pay for one of them (20 quid) I decided to cancel my service, which was no easy task either. |
Steve from Suffolk on 2007-06-17 Rates them:
Used them for 4 months. On average 1 in 3 disks were badly scratched. Canceled my subscription |
Spencer from Orkney on 2007-06-13 Rates them:
difficult to rate.
was tempted to go for a mere one or two. why? because my experience with them left me with the impression that their professionalism extends only so far as "we're a big company, we make money, we dont care about you".
"I left simple f***ing instructions", which they failed to adhere to, i can only assume because its a big unstoppable trudging bureaucracy.
that said...
i have found some excelent titles from them i would not have found either in my local rental places, nor from video hosters nor p2p or torrents... or at least couldnt be bothered digging around for them there, especially when i didnt know what i was looking for until i saw it.
many obscure self help titles and foreign films just for starters.
it's having these strange neiche titles that saves them and has them scrape up an amazing 4 stars (VERY GENEROUS coming from me), but of course, this is only of worth to those interesting in "out there" stuff away from the mainstream brain-rot junk... which they have plenty of too.
looking around, i see other people too are miffed by their "dont care about you" attitude. its not savvy. will shoot themselves in the foot eventually even against the tidal wave of marketting schemes they employ, which i have to admit, i got suckered into too, handing those sheets around with my email address on it for a free month. never happened.
the rate with which the dvds return to you after sending them is sometimes excellent, then sometimes a little lagging.
IF you sign up, make sure you're kitted out to do what my friend did... burn a copy or a divx of every dvd you get that you like. it's the only way to get any real value for money out of it. oh if i had thought of that when i was signed up.
... i only stumbled across this because i was thinking of signing up again.... after reading the reviews, i am reminded why i unsubscribed.
of to emule, bitlord, bitcommet, packetnews, googlevideo, guba, veoh, alluc, tv-links.co.uk, etc i go. :D |
Gavin from Oxford on 2007-06-09 Rates them:
Maybe they are inconsistent, my peronal experince with Lovefilm has been fine, I am on 2 discs a month pre paid, I keep a short list and the tirn around suits me. There are some things that bug me - I want to be able to easily remove TV series from my recomendations and if you have less than 10 DVDs in your list they pester you to add more. I would also rather chhose a specific title for the next DVD to be delivered which you can't do, although youu can choose which ones are a higher priority than others. |
euan from ayr, scotland on 2007-06-08 Rates them:
I had a feeling when I searched in google a forum with as many complaints as this might come up. Basically I signed up to lovefilm, as I thought unlimited movie and games for £15 sounds good to me , however It takes so long for the turn around would probably get one a week, so eventually I stopped using the service.
So I decided so cancel, Im not quite sure why the have a cancelation button on the website , as you have to call up to cancel. On calling I spoke to a lady, who offered me a deal of 3 months for the price of 1, on turning down this offer the lady actually started to laugh and snigger at me , in the end it took me about 15 minutes to cancel, they dont seem to think its your right to cancel as a customer. I think they just want to keep you on as long as possible until they crook you.
My Dvds have all been recieved back however my cancelation is still pending, not quite sure why ??
If I was you id stay well away . |
Jon from Liverpool on 2007-06-07 Rates them:
I was previously a member of Screenselect which were excellent, both on choice/availability and turn around times. I have been a member for 30 months paying annually in advance. However there has been a marked reduction in the quality of service. My issues are wrong discs being sent (the same one three times in one case) and the slow turn around time. In the old Screenselect days you could post your discs Saturday first post, they would recieve them before lunch on Monday and at the latest despatch them Tuesday and arrive Wednesday, more often than not you'd have at least 1 of the 3 discs on Tuesday.
My experience now is that I do not (ever) recieve discs before Thursday, and more often than not it's Friday. I think there is an active policy of restricting people to only one set of discs per calendar week, which when you add in Bank Holidays etc really means you'll be lucky to get two lot's a month and when some of those aren't what you've ordered...well you can see where I'm going here.
Before taking out a subscription remember, no matter how fast you post them back, you're not going to get your next disc any faster. If you pay in advance you have no comeback and they treat you as a second rate Customer. I won't be renewing, instead the money will be going to BSkyB or Virgin for as many movies as they can throw at me. |
Chloe from London on 2007-05-23 Rates them:
I have never lost so much money in such a short amount of time. please noone ever sign up to this. It started when i saw an advert for a 7 day free trial, i received the dvd's on the 6th day! giving me a few hours to try and watch the dvd's and posting them back straight after, which. On the 8th day i noticed i had been charged 11.99 from lovefilm, who had not bothered to ask me whether i would like to sign up to them on a monthly basis after the free trial! I cancelled my account immediately only to see that the next time i checked my bank balance i had been charged 40 pounds as they claimed they had not received my dvd's. i complained and they asked me to fill out a form so they could refund me for the dvd's being lost in the post! i have still not received the refund after 25 days, and have contacted my bank who insist no transactions have been made from lovefilm and lovefilm have now got radio silence! words cannot describe how awful this company is! |
Andy from Nottingham on 2007-05-23 Rates them:
I signed up for the 14 day trail period, and canceled it 2 days after receiving the disc. Next thing i find that i was charged £9.99 in my account! and my next bill was due!? So i wrote them an email stateting demand for refund. I also phoned the customer service explaining the problem. The said they will send me a form to fi | | |
