Zip.ca is no Netflix.com
Back in March 11th I posted about trying Zip.ca
So now, after signing up in June I we started getting movies in the mail.
Compared to Netflix.com, Zip falls short in one key area: your list of movies is not shipped in any order.
When I subscribed to Netflix in the US, I got the NEXT movie on my list.
When Zip sends a movie it is a RANDOM pick from your 'Ziplist'. More like the 'Zipbucket'.
Otherwise, they send me movies to my mailbox - which when you live in the country that is convenient. Also, zip has a pretty good selection, beyond what I can find at MacNeils store in Tyne Valley or the Jumbo video in Summerside. So I will stay subscribed to zip for now.
I needs my El Mariachi and 101 Rejkevic.
The reason Zip and Netflix will outserve the local store is the range of movies and the easy search features via their websites. However zip didn't kill the video store because most people just want to get the popular movies without all the webbing around.
Kenny
1 Comments:
Here is my experience, summarized in an email I sent to ZIP.ca upon cancelling my subscription:
Here is an email I have sent ZIP.ca upon terminating my account:
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Hi,
Having used Netflix for over a year in the US (and being a complete addict of the service) I hoped that zip.ca would be even 50% the service that netflix was. I expected a slower delivery due to Canada Post. And perhaps delays in getting popular movies.
However, Zip.ca has fallen far short of even these modest expectations and, in my opinion, has missed an outstanding business opportunity to do in Canada what Netflix has done in the US. What has Zip.ca failed to do, which leads me, a former netflix addict back to the depressing aisles of Blockbuster? I list these things in the hope that ZIP will take note and make the simple changes needed to expand to its full potential:
1. web interface: this is by far the easiest problem to fix, and it is a HUGE problem. I urge you to try netflix's interface for rating films, receiving recommendations based on ratings, linking with other users to learn about movies, etc. Netflix is brilliant not only because it delivers films to your home, but almost equally because it provides a way of discovering new films. Ask any former user about this and I assure you they will agree that it is THIS that makes the service so addictive: always finding new gems. This is truly impossible on ZIP. There is no decent way to find things that you don't already know about, aside from the rather limited top 10 and top 100 lists. Not adequate and so painfully easy to fix with a small investment.
2. availability of films. Come on: invest in your FUTURE!!! By purchasing more films and getting everybody their top item at least within a month, you would not be losing users but instead gaining many, many more. I personally recruited many users to netflix when I used it, but have told people not to use ZIP. Here's why: I have received almost none of my top items since signing up for ZIP many months ago. It is impossible to get new releases. I have gotten NOTHING even remotely recent from your service. The films I do get from ZIP can be rented very inexpensively for 7 day periods from video stores. The purpose of ZIP is completely defeated, because I have to go to the video store to rent new movies, and because older movies can be gotten at what works out to be a far better rate.
This sounds cynical, but I now wonder if ZIP even owns copies of new releases, and if you do WHO on earth is the lucky devil to get the copy? Here's a challenge to your company: post the number of copies of each film you own on your site, and next to each the number of requests for each. I just cannot understand how it makes good business sense to not fill the demand of your customers. For goodness sake, raise your prices if this is what it takes! I would pay more for the service if it worked.
3. customer service. About 4 weeks ago, I noticed that I had sent back a movie and had not received a replacement for a whole 2 weeks. However, I had sent the movie in question with another film, and clicked both as returned the same day. I reported this delay to ZIP and the response was to (1) leave the missing film in my list indefinitely, thereby limiting my access down to 2 films, and (2) sending a very threatening sounding email noting that ZIP takes issues of film theft very seriously. Now, I never mentioned that I thought the film was stolen in my complaint. I suspected, instead, that it had been lost in the mail. As it turns out, the film popped back into existence about 2 days after my complaint. Either ZIP had lost it internally or Canada Post had taken nearly 3 weeks to deliver one of two films sent the same day. Who knows? Two questions: (1) why would you ever send an email assuming that someone had stolen the movie (in language that does not exclude the possibility that it was the consumer, in fact, who had) when many other things can lead to missing films, and (2) why, given the very small expense of a single lost film - the first ever reported lost by this customer - would you not free up my third spot during your "investigation"? Your email and suspending of my ZIP slot made me feel like I was being investigated, all for a single DVD??? That is insane business practice. I strongly recommend you reconsider this policy for future customers.
I will now cancel my zip subscription, sadly, and return to blockbuster and similar evils, until Netflix eventually moves to the Canadian market, at which time I will quickly subscribe to their service.
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