Lovefilm.com(film) > Reviews (171)

Lovefilm is a subscription service which most people nowadays seem to have an awareness of. We personally took out a subscription in January 2005. We had done some christmas shopping at Boots.com, and inside the parcel was a flyer advertising the service. If we went in and subscribed using a code on the flyer we could have boots points and then further points for every month we paid for. It seemed a no brainer to us that we should at least try this service as it would not cost us anything for at least a month, and then if we liked it the costs were not that extortionate to carry on using the service.

Most cashback websites such as quidco, topcashback, pigsback, onepoll, maximiles and i dare say many others i am unaware of still offer cashback if you take out a free trial of the lovefilm service. To me, it is a foolish person who goes to the site in any other way.

Setting up the account was easy. Once i had entered email and password details, i could search through their film database and start adding films to a wishlist. They would send me one out straightaway via first class post, which i could then keep as long as i wanted before using the freepost envelope to return it to them. It would get back to them the next day, and they would email me to tell me that they had received it, and then i would get another email the same day to tell me what DVD they would be sending me next.

You can tailor your subscription package to match your viewing needs and habits. At first we had a package where we had unlimited viewing and i got one disc at a time, but i could watch as many as i wanted. This suited well at the time as at first i was at home on sick leave for a 6 month period, so the postman could deliver a DVD in the morning, i could watch it in the early afternoon, and have it back in the postbox before the 4pm collection. I could easily get through 3 or 4 DVDs per week, and the package was £8.99, now £9.99 per month.

When i had the kids, we found that our time has been more limited, so i could no longer sit and watch as much, so we dropped the package to 1 at a time, and 2 per month. This costs us just over £4 per month, and a new subscriber would pay £4.99 a month for this service. This is reasonable to me, as it is similar to what we would pay at a video shop, or if we paid to watch a film via our talk talk subscription TV service.

As well as having a large collection of current and older DVDs available for hire, they also rent out games for several of the more recent games consoles. I think this is a great idea as some games cost a lot to buy, and some people manage to complete them within a few days of buying it, so then they have money tied up in a redundant game. They have games for the playstation 3 and 2, and PSP, the nintendo Wii and DS, xbox and xbox 360, and the gamecube.

I've never used the game package, but i would be very tempted to upgrade when my children are bigger and looking to play more computer games.

Another service is that they have some content that is available to view online if that is part of your package.

We have used this service when it has been offered to us as a trial. They did this during the football tournament last summer. (I am so not a footie fan - i couldn't even tell you what it was.) We used this then as we were away from home on holiday and we could watch films on my husbands laptop. We have watched a few films this way and transmission was as good as watching a DVD, and it was completely hassle free.

Choosing a package is dependent on what you think you might want.

Light users can choose:
- 1 at a time, 2 rentals per month - £4.99
- 1 at a time, 3 rentals per month plus 2 hours of online use - £5.99
- 2 discs at a time, 4 rentals per month, plus 4 hours of online - £8.16 (weird price is down to the 20% VAT rate as before that they were all ...99p packages.)

unlimited users can choose:
- 1 disc at a time, as many as you watch, plus online use - £9.99
- 2 discs at a time plus online viewing - £13.27
- 3 discs at a time plus online viewing - £16.33

For those who would like games too:
- 1 disc at a time, 2 per month, no online - £5.99
- 2 discs at a time, 4 rentals per month + 4 hours online - £10.20
- 1 disc at a time, unlimited rental + online viewing - £11.22
- 2 discs at a time, unlimited, with online - £14.99
- 3 discs at a time, unlimited, with online - £19.39

Or, a family subscription of 5 discs at a time, up to 10 rentals per month, + 10 hours of online use for £17.35.

Personally, i highly rate lovefilm. They have always made sure that we have had a new disc out really promptly. The longest we have had to wait is 2 days which is more likely to be postal delays than something at their end as it is not normal service.

We have had some discs that are not in such good condition. When you are playing them they can skip. Most only need a quick clean, but if you send it back and tick the envelope to say it is faulty, and report it online, then they will resend it to you as soon as they can. My husband hates this aspect, because it is always a popular film that we have wanted to see for a while.

We have had problems on a couple of occasions where the disc has not arrived when we have posted it. When we have reported it missing, they have asked me to let them know the number of the post box i sent it from, and then i guess they take that up with Royal mail, as i have never heard about it again and my service has carried on as normal.

I have a current list of films we want that is nearly 200 items, so there is always something that can be sent to me. They recommend having at least 10 on your list to keep prompt deliveries going. We have watched a wide range of films, and TV box sets during the nearly 6 years of membership.

I have had some months where we have only watched one film from our subscription package, and they have sent me a little email offering me a credit on my account so i can claim that film on another month when we are less busy. I really think this is good customer service as they could just ignore this. I have also been given extra credits when it has been the anniversary of me joining their service, which is another nice touch that costs them very little.

I have seen reports online that some people have found it a bit tricky to cancel their free trial of the service. You can do it online, but only when it is out of office hours. Personally i have never rang up, and have dealt with changes to my service online.

Another thing we have liked is that every year we are offered a gift of so many weeks free trial to offer to our friends and family. One year i was offered 3 months, and my sister used this to keep my nephews entertained all summer. We seem to have run out of new people to give them to now.

Overall, it is a large company, and some people might not like the fact that some discs skip, and it might take a long time to get the latest movies available. You won't get your first choice like going into a high street shop. However, it is a reliable service, it is a good value service particularly if you watch a lot of films and use an unlimited package, and it has given me nearly 6 years of cheap and almost hassle free entertainment. I am going to award 4 stars. I think i would choose 4.5 if i could, but the down marking is for my husbands annoyance at scratched discs. It has upset him too many times.

Thanks for reading.