Since the days I returned from US in 2002, I always wanted NetFlix type of service in India. I missed the quality DVDs not just movies but also other interesting programs available on DVDs. The poor quality of discs in neighborhood rental stores and high city traffic to watch a good movie made me look for alternatives. 'Cinema' at Koramangala is one such store in Bangalore and Hyderabad offering wide variety of titles for rent with best quality discs, but they dont have a door delivery service. The neighborhood stores slowly started door delivery service, but they lacked a website catalogue to choose from titles and ofcourse the quality of discs is not always the best.
Now after 5 years, www.seventymm.com is the first such site to offer DVD rentals over the web. They have good collection of titles and to start with a fairly priced plans. Recently Reliance promoted www.bigflicks.com has entered into this business. So far I have seen these two companies offering DVDs delivered to home in India and thought of comparing their plans here.
Seventymm claims service in 6 cities, Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Chandigarh and Hyderabad and around 15,000 titles in 14 languages. Their basic plan gives you 1 movie at a time and you could watch upto 6 movies in a month. You need to return the disc within 3 nights and 4 days. This plan costs you a basic membership fee of Rs. 250 and a registration fee of Rs. 199. You need to pay a refundable security deposit of Rs. 349. Per month it costs you Rs. 798 for 6 movies. Rs. 133 per movie. Hrm...
Bigflicks delivers movies worldwide over broadband and in India by door delivery. Being a Reliance company, they have office in Ahmedabad and also offer services in 9 other cities (Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkatta, Mumbai, Pune). Their basic plan of 1 disc at a time requires a refundable deposit of Rs 400, a monthly subscription of Rs. 250 and no registration fee. Currently none of the plans in Bigflicks have registration fee. While rental period for Old titles is not limited, new titles have to be returned within 48 hours. Bigflicks also claims over 15,000 titles in 15 languages. In total per month it comes to Rs. 750 for one disc plan and no major difference than seventymm.
And for the real movie buffs, Bigflicks lets you take a maximum of 3 discs at a time with no upper limit on total number of movies per month. This plan costs you Rs. 5000 per annum and a security deposit of Rs. 1000. Where as in Seventymm, one can rent a maximum of 2 discs at a time with no limit on the number of titles you can rent in a month. Their annual plan costs you Rs. 5490 per annum with no security deposit. Their one time registration fee of Rs. 199 is to be paid. This turns out to be Rs. 5689 per annum again not so much of difference from Bigflicks. The advantage here is one can keep the disc for unlimited number of days. Assuming a new title can also be kept.
Ofcourse what needs to be seen to compare these two services further is on the following parameters....
1. The availability of titles
- Once you place the request, what is the number of days you need to wait for that title
- This parameter can further be for old titles and new titles
- The title itself in their catalogue
- When delivered, the contents of the case has same movie as you requested
2. Turnaround time of your requests for pick up and delivery
- Lets say you place a request to pick up the disc, how many hours or days they take to pick up the disc.
- If the disc is available at the time of placing request, when does it get delivered
3. Transparency in Billing
- Are you charged as promised?
- are there any hidden charges like late payment fees or service charges
4. Quality of titles
- Condition of discs
- You get a good movie watching experience without any missing parts due to scratches on discs
- Sub-titles in the language you need
- For higher customer satisfaction - original discs with supplement information like making of the movie etc.
May be the blog viewers can comment their experience with any of these services. I am still not a subscriber to any of these services.
Now after 5 years, www.seventymm.com is the first such site to offer DVD rentals over the web. They have good collection of titles and to start with a fairly priced plans. Recently Reliance promoted www.bigflicks.com has entered into this business. So far I have seen these two companies offering DVDs delivered to home in India and thought of comparing their plans here.
Seventymm claims service in 6 cities, Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Chandigarh and Hyderabad and around 15,000 titles in 14 languages. Their basic plan gives you 1 movie at a time and you could watch upto 6 movies in a month. You need to return the disc within 3 nights and 4 days. This plan costs you a basic membership fee of Rs. 250 and a registration fee of Rs. 199. You need to pay a refundable security deposit of Rs. 349. Per month it costs you Rs. 798 for 6 movies. Rs. 133 per movie. Hrm...
Bigflicks delivers movies worldwide over broadband and in India by door delivery. Being a Reliance company, they have office in Ahmedabad and also offer services in 9 other cities (Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkatta, Mumbai, Pune). Their basic plan of 1 disc at a time requires a refundable deposit of Rs 400, a monthly subscription of Rs. 250 and no registration fee. Currently none of the plans in Bigflicks have registration fee. While rental period for Old titles is not limited, new titles have to be returned within 48 hours. Bigflicks also claims over 15,000 titles in 15 languages. In total per month it comes to Rs. 750 for one disc plan and no major difference than seventymm.
And for the real movie buffs, Bigflicks lets you take a maximum of 3 discs at a time with no upper limit on total number of movies per month. This plan costs you Rs. 5000 per annum and a security deposit of Rs. 1000. Where as in Seventymm, one can rent a maximum of 2 discs at a time with no limit on the number of titles you can rent in a month. Their annual plan costs you Rs. 5490 per annum with no security deposit. Their one time registration fee of Rs. 199 is to be paid. This turns out to be Rs. 5689 per annum again not so much of difference from Bigflicks. The advantage here is one can keep the disc for unlimited number of days. Assuming a new title can also be kept.
Ofcourse what needs to be seen to compare these two services further is on the following parameters....
1. The availability of titles
- Once you place the request, what is the number of days you need to wait for that title
- This parameter can further be for old titles and new titles
- The title itself in their catalogue
- When delivered, the contents of the case has same movie as you requested
2. Turnaround time of your requests for pick up and delivery
- Lets say you place a request to pick up the disc, how many hours or days they take to pick up the disc.
- If the disc is available at the time of placing request, when does it get delivered
3. Transparency in Billing
- Are you charged as promised?
- are there any hidden charges like late payment fees or service charges
4. Quality of titles
- Condition of discs
- You get a good movie watching experience without any missing parts due to scratches on discs
- Sub-titles in the language you need
- For higher customer satisfaction - original discs with supplement information like making of the movie etc.
May be the blog viewers can comment their experience with any of these services. I am still not a subscriber to any of these services.
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