Couldn’t hurt to try, right?

Genius for the iPhone recommended the Redbox app because I downloaded Phone Flicks, a Netflix browsing app.  For kicks, I downloaded it, found the nearest Redbox, and browsed its selection.  The app is SLOW, but nifty because you can reserve movies straight from your phone.

The next time we were at the grocery store, we decided to rent something from it just to say we tried it out.

We rented Made of Honor. Cool premise, poorly written. It’s getting two stars on Netflix.

The next day I try to return it to the same kiosk but unfortunately, it was under some sort of “Inventory Maintenance,” whatever that meant.

How does it make sense to put their machine in maintenance mode RIGHT BEFORE THE MOVIES ARE DUE?!  If the machine is full or broken, then say so (and why you’re at it, pass that information to the iPhone app too!); if your not full, but getting a software update, TAKE MY MOVIE ANYWAY!

If at first you don’t succeed, try a Walmart.

The movie is late by now.  There is another location down the road at the local WalMart.  All I want to do is return the movie and get out.  I get there and a woman is chatting on her phone staring at the screen.  I think she notices me and starts paging though the catalog.  A couple walks up and gets behind me.  The woman is still on her phone but she looks over to notice a line.  “Oh. I’m sorry ya’ll,” she says and continues her conversation on the phone as she finalizes her choice.  At that point I realize why it’s only a dollar – well, two dollars now.

I quietly turn in my movie and head back home.

I’ll stick with the original red: Netflix.

Once I get home, I get on my computer and send RedBox an angry email. This was almost a week ago and I have yet to receive even an acknowledgment mail.  (As I edited this, Thunderbird alerts me to a new email from, you guessed it, Redbox customer care.  More on that in a bit.)  I also run a quick search for “Red Box sucks” and find that the problems I ran into is fairly common.

Long lines, a crappy app, and kiosks that work sporadically? No thanks.

The email I received contained an apology and two free movie rentals.  Even though I really don’t want them, we’ll end up using the codes just because Redbox can be convenient. I explained how crappy their service/application/kiosk was and told them what I ‘m telling you now: Netflix is still my number one.  Once those two codes are used, though, I don’t think we’ll ever go back.

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