Lovefilm.com(film) > Reviews (171)

I have been using LoveFilm for about a year after I was offered a two week free trial via the Boots.com website. I thought this would be particularly suitable for me as where I live there is only one DVD rental shop which closes about 6pm and is hard for me to get to. I loved the idea of having the DVDs posted to me and being able to select them in my own time which was something that really appealed to me. I went to the website as directed and signed up for the free trial. When registering I had to provide all my contact details including name, address, email address, telephone number etc which I expected to do- but what I wasn't expecting was to then have to provide my debit card details in order to access the free trial. I did so, as this was something that I needed to do in order to access the trial, and the website stated that the card would not be debited until the two week period was over- it also stated that it was easy to cancel at any point during this time. I guess that the reason for them asking for your card details is for security purposes (i.e. if you don't return the discs etc).

A drawback for me, was that they first of all ask you to compile a list of 10 DVDs which you would like to watch. I would have preferred to add just a few and then go back- but I found that I got absolutely loads of emails from LoveFilm informing me that I didn't have enough unique titles in my selection. You rank the titles according to quickly you would like to see them, as High, Medium or Low. I found this useful as you wouldn't just be sent any DVD on your list- it was one of the ones which you were most looking forward to. I found the process of adding the DVDs to the selection list fairly simple- you just click on add and rate as high, medium or low priority. There are a good selection of titles the site states that they are Europe's Number 1 DVD rental service (more on that, later!). You can browse for films according to genre or through the different charts which are available as links on the left hand side of the page. Another great bonus of this site is that you can also download and buy films legally as in addition to the renting service that they supply (although I have never personally used any of the LoveFilm services other than the DVD rental). They also have a range of other types of DVDs, not just films, including documentaries, exercise and fitness and TV series.

The next day I received an email stating that the first DVD had been sent to me- and the disc actually arrived the next day. I found this to be very quick and I was pleased with the turnaround time. Another added bonus is that the DVD arrived with the rest of usual post in a small square envelope clearly recognisable as being from LoveFilm. This envelope is also used for you to return your watched DVDs to the company. You simply tear of the part with your details and seal the DVD into the envelope which is pre-printed with the correct details for LoveFilm and is also pre-payed. You can actually keep the DVDs for as long as you like- which is great as I am terrible at remembering things like this!

However, if you are intending to cancel within the two week period, you need to make sure that you have returned the DVDs in plenty of time.

There are a range of different packages which can include a pay as you go service for approximately £1.99 per disc, or unlimited such as 1 disc at a time for £9.99 a month, 2 discs at a time for £12.99 a month, 3 discs at a time for £15.99. There are also various limited options such as 1 disc at a time with a limit of 2 per month at £3.99 per month and 2 discs at a time with a limit of 4 per month for £7.99 per month. If you want to check out the site it is www.lovefilm.com

After the trial we decided to stay with LoveFilm and to upgrade our package as we wanted two discs at a time. The main reason for this was that sometimes we wanted to rent a TV DVD and therefore these are often on more than one disc. However, LoveFilm would send one of these DVDs and then a completely different DVD when what I really wanted was both of the DVDs in the set at the same time. I thought this quite logical, but apparently not! Throughout the time that I have been with LoveFilm I have had loads of emails from them! Sometimes asking me to put more titles in my selection list (why they can't just send the ones I have added, I'm not sure!) sometimes with recommendations of films I wouldn't watch- 9 times out of 10 most of the emails end up being deleted as soon as I have read them.

I found eventually that I was fed up of being sent the DVDs out of sequence when ordering box-set type titles, so I sent an email asking why this was and if there was anything which could be done to resolve this, but they never even bothered to respond. I decided after a while that I would cancel this as I think there are other DVD services around which are probably cheaper and might be able to send the DVDs in the right order! So I went online to cancel and was told to ring their customer services department. I did so and was told that I needed to return the DVDs and then I would need to log on again after I had done this and then cancel the account. I responded that I would and sent all the DVDs back and then went online two days later to cancel. Again, it told me that I needed to ring the customer service number who told me that it was likely that they hadn't received the DVDs back yet even though I had posted them two days ago. So I left it another day. I then went to check my email and it stated that they had despatched another two discs!! I went onto the site immediately and this time I was able to cancel the account. However, it was marked as pending as there were new DVDs on the way to me. I contacted the Customer Services Department to ask why they had sent more DVDs out to me- and they told me that this was because I had not cancelled my account- I informed them that I had and that previously I had tried to on two occasions but had been unable to do so! The long and the short of it is, I am likely to be charged another month's subscription as by the time I have received the DVDs (nothing in the post today!

) and sent them back my billing date will have come around again! I also felt that the customer services rep was very rude to me.

I don't feel that LoveFilm is Europe's Number 1 DVD rental site- I have found it full of difficulties with poor customer service. I have previously worked in customer services myself for years and we always went by the old adage that the customer was always right- well not at LoveFilm they're not! Another problem with LoveFilm is that, at times, their website is painfully slow!

I was considering going back to LoveFilm in the future maybe using a free trial again- but seeing as it is so hard to cancel the service I am sure that I will not. I will definitely be checking reviews on here again before I sign up to any others!