Amazon buys into Lovefilm

Amazon Europe has agreed to cough the cash to acquire the largest stake in DVD-by-post outfit Lovefilm. It'll sell its own UK and German DVD rental businesses to Lovefilm as part of the deal. Subject to regulatory approval of the deal, Lovefilm will then be promoted on Amazon's European sites. The deal is likely to pique …

[Luke]

Oh for sh*tt*ng in a bucket

I've moved DVD by post providers twice already to get away from LoveFilm, but they just keep buying them up and getting rid of any of the good customer service and good features! Arrgh!

[Ralph]

Oh ****

Well, there goes the last decent DVD rental service in the UK, assimilated into the general poo that is Lovefilm.

[Kris Chaplin]

I for one love lovefilm

They keep sending me 3 month free trial vouchers, about once a year. So I go onto the 3disk at a time deal, eat as much as I can then quit, and wait for the next voucher.

Cant grumble at free..

[Dawn Barnes]

OH NO

I just left Amazon DVD due to their shocking customer service, messing up my DVD purchase discount, telling me card didn't work and threatening to close my account while continuing to take money from the card but refusing to send me DVDs because I hadn't paid!

In the end I got a refund on the monies taken but no DVDs received. They told me my account was cancelled as I hadn't paid and so I lost my 10% discount even though they had been taking money and nobody I contacted would reinstate my 10% discount, nor could they decide whether my account was active or inactive. Confused? I was.

So I left and went to LoveFilm...

[Badg3r]

Lovefilm

Been using them for a while since they assimilated the DVD rental firm I was with, no complaints here since takeover.

[David Simpson]

UMMM......

I have used both and i prefer lovefilm, Have yet to have a problem with them.

Amazon's service was so bad i canceled it after 3 weeks as I had only had 1 disc.

[Alistair]

Blockbuster is still going?

You surprise me. They only ever stocked H-wood schlockbusters anyway.

At least Lfilm carry those rarely rented oddities that you always wanted to watch but were always too afraid to ask for.

[Brian O'Neill]

Well I love film...

I have been with lovefilm from the start and think they have a great service. I am able to get through up to 20 dvds a month, so the service is a bargain for me.

I know prefer to watch dvd's than most TV.

[Anonymous Coward]

Who dreamt up that name?

When ScreenSelect morphed into LoveFilm, was I the only one who felt a little uncomfortable about the new name? In particular I was a little concerned what the neighbours would think when they saw me receiving deliveries three times a week from a company whose name could easily belong to an upmarket adult movie distributor.

Torn between icons here, Paris because I'd expect to rent her 'work' from LoveFilm but I think instead I'll grab my coat.

[bluesxman]

@ Alistair

"At least Lfilm carry those rarely rented oddities that you always wanted to watch but were always too afraid to ask for."

So you're saying they carry pr0n? Didn't realise it was THAT kind of "Love" film...

[Anonymous Coward]

"Howling Mad" Murdoch, anyone?

hardly surprising that amazon is getting in to bed with lovefilm considering the owner of lovefilm is a former high-ranking colleague of amazon. (it possibly goes to reinforce the belief that a lot of the internet is not about the ACTUAL quality of what you're doing, simply the APPEARANCE of what you're doing.)

IGMC.

[captain kangaroo]

lovefilm

Can't fault them, they're impossibly quick to send the next DVD, courteous when dealing with and good value for money, because every 3 months I call them and tell them I don't want their service and they reduce the price by 50% for the next 3 months..

[Neville]

Poor service

The reason they are called LoveFilm is because they prefer to hang on to them rather than send them out to paying customers.

[Danny]

No problems with Lovefilm here

DVDs arrive quickly, always in good condition, bargain price, rare items stocked, crappy name for a company!

[Steve Anderson]

Re: Lovefilm

Lovefilm are great provided you don't want to see a film that's recently come out, because those are always with the free trialists, leaving you with sloppy seconds. Cancelling your account is a nightmare, and even then they don't actually cancel your account - the best you can hope for is that your account will just lie dormant... and then they'll ring you from time to time just to see if you're sure you made the right choice. Pain in the bum.

[Alastair Montgomery]

Crap on a stick

I switch to Amazon from LoveFilm due to the number of defective disks they were sending me.

It's going to cost you more to match your disks per month options, might check out my local high street rental store again.

[Patrick]

Oh no!

I was with movietrak (remember them?), the UK's first and most brilliant online DVD rental co. And like Luke have trying to get away from the Lovefilm take over jokers ever since....

This could be just the incentive Blockbuster need to get their collective a***s in gear.

[ad47uk]

ok for me

I been with lovefilm for a while now, when Sainsburys decided to drop their rental service, it was run by lovefilm anyway.

I have had no problems if any disks was faulty they would send another one right away. I did have the 3 disks at a time option, but now dropped it to 1 disk at once and 2 disks per month, not because lovefilm is not good, but because I need to cut down on my spending.

[Chris Green]

What about the Amazon DVD rental discout?

Assuming this deal goes through, and I don't see it why it wouldn't - what will happen to my discount on DVD purchases from Amazon.co.uk? Will they pull it or what? The FAQs on both sites don't even mention it.

[Peter Reynolds]

This is bad, bad, news

I suffered under Lovefilm for some months last year - unauthorised debits to my card, unreliable deliveries, high instance of faulty discs but yes, mainly a cavalier, almost fraudulent attiitude to the card detauls I had entrusted to them. It took loads of correspondence with my card issuer to extricate myself and now I'm still plagued with spam froim Lovefilm alomost every day.

I've been using Amazon happily for a couple of months now so this is bad, bad news as far as I'm concerned.

I also use, would recommend and perhaps will now use solely Cinema Paradiso

[Anonymous Coward]

LoveFilm HateThem

I was one of the original "DVD-on-tap" subscribers and it was brilliant, as soon as they re-branded it "LoveFilm" it because a total disaster and they didn't give a flying hoot about customers from that point onwards.

The problems were as such:

1) Receiving porn titles for 'U' (childrens) rated DVDs films I'd ordered for the kids.

2) Received a copy of "Analyse This" but instead of the numbering system they use now (to id/track each disc) they used the first four of the films title: On the envelope label it said "ANAL" in huge bold letters so my postman must have thought i was ordering some right absolute filth...!!!

3) They advertised a phone number to those customers "wary" of (internet only presence businesses) but for all it was worth I had a more positive response making animal noises to my 1 year old. I have far more meaningful conversations with him than LoveFilms off-shore call centre could ever manage. (Head meet brick wall moments when phoning LoveFilm) its a PR disaster. Oh and for some things like cancelling you HAVE to ring this number. Soul destroying. They must be paying a full 20 pence an hour to their livestock in this call centre.

4) Sad I know, but I WON an ASA adjudication against them for using the word "Unlimited" in their advertising when i was on a GOLD Plus membership (4 Disc Membership) they couldnt get me no more than 8 Discs a month (Pathetic considering 1 a week turnaround would be 16 discs a month)

5) Even had trading standards investigate them too, but they didnt reply to T/S.

6) They do not reply to your mails within 24 hours, no, they wait 4 days to reply and even then the reply is utterly retarded - they clearly dont read what you type, they must employ some right brain dead mongs. You have to re-explain it in baby talk and S-P-E-L-L it out very bluntly...

7) After years of DVD-on-tap with NEVER a disc going missing until the LoveFilm rebrand, Suddenly I was constantly reporting missing discs and, mysteriously, after WEEKS they would suddenly "find them" but i would LOSE out on my quota as their mongs had obviously forgotten to book-in the DVD or messed it up somehow.

8) Try and go to other DVD services who offer the same thing and you'll find they are ALL connected to LoveFilm in some way or another !!! See who runs your service!!!!

After 4.5 years in total with that company I gave it up, forefeiting half of my annual prepaid subscription and they didnt even apologise when I left not after sending my complaint in for ten consecutive weeks. No chance of a refund either even though 100% of the problems were all caused by them...

Skull and Crossbones to AVOID forever and ever like hell !!!!!!!!!