Renting video games...

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Sharky.

Sharky.

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...and why you should avoid it. (warning: long post follows)

OK, here's the deal. I'm on school holidays right now, and yesterday I went to Video Ezy to rent a PS2 game or two (I ended up getting Tourist Trophy and Driver: Parallel Lines). Sounds good, right? Read on.


I got home from Video Ezy with TT and Driver, and plugged the PS2 all in, etc. I load up TT first, and think, this is a pretty cool game (but then it would be ;)).

I get the Novice and Junior licences, win a Yamaha motard and a 400cc '85 Suzuki. All right so far.

I save, and have lunch, trying out Driver: Parallel Lines afterwards. (here's where the problems start).


I pop the disc in, and switch on. And the PS2 loads into the browser. Okay, I think, nothing to worry about, after all Battlefield 2:MC did this the first time I played it when I bought it. I select the disc icon to load the game. Only the game doesn't load. So I reset. This process continues for about 5 minutes.

And, guess what? It never got any further than the screen where white/blue "PlayStation 2" text pops up.


So I pop TT back in, only to get intermittent DREs all the way through play. 10 minutes later, I've had enough, and return to Video Ezy with the discs, to get different copies of the games. I get different copies, and go back home.


The replacement copy of Driver didn't load (exactly like the first copy). The first copy of TT did (well, sort of), and the replacement pulled a Driver.

Yet again, I return to Video Ezy (about 4 hours after hiring them initially), only this time I ask for a refund.
But not after they asked if I tried other games in the PS2 (ha! Already thought of that, Video Ezy) - obviously trying to say my PS2 was faulty, not their merchandise.


True, the discs were scratched a bit (causing all the DREs), but they should've still worked OK.

I'm never renting a video game again, which is a shame, because that was one of the few ways to "try before you buy".

[edit]
The games were $8 for an overnight rental (I had a hire one, get one free coupon) - I got back from Video Ezy the first time at 10.15 am yesterday, and they were due back tonight @ 6pm. I only got an hour and a half play time (all from TT).
[/edit]

(note, my beef is with the fact the video store doesn't monitor the condition of the discs when returned)

So, have any of you had a similar problem with video game/DVD rentals?
 
You should do what I do. After paying for the rentals, I open the cases up, and check the discs. If they aren't scratched, I'll take 'em. If they are, I'll demand another copy or my money back.
 
I did check the discs - they didn't look too bad, ie they appeared in good enough quality to work.

Virtually all the games they have there are going to be scratched in one way or another - I suspect that people leave the discs out of the cases, data side down on a coarse surface (like a wooden table).
 
My local Blockbuster serves me just fine. I've got some buddies that work there and it's a great place in my opinion. I've never had any problems renting games from there.

Hell, you can rent a few games and just never take them back. You'll pay around $25 for four games. Well, if you don't mind stealing anyway. I've never heard of Blockbuster going after anyone for not returning rentals.
 
Jjacks
My local Blockbuster serves me just fine. I've got some buddies that work there and it's a great place in my opinion. I've never had any problems renting games from there.

Hell, you can rent a few games and just never take them back. You'll pay around $25 for four games. Well, if you don't mind stealing anyway. I've never heard of Blockbuster going after anyone for not returning rentals.
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I believe they just call you and up the price of the return fee until you do. I also believe they can stop renting you games/movies if you fail to return previous copies until you pay the return fee and give the games back.

However, my Blockbuster never charged me for CS on the Xbox, and I've had it ever since. :lol:
 
The local video store (which used to be good for games, but it's newest is from 2004 now, changed ownership) used to check the games before you rented them on their systems if you asked. They were pretty cool about refunding for DRE's and fixing scratches.
 
MachỎne;2435150
used to check the games before you rented them on their systems if you asked.
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That's the sort of thing that needs to happen here.

I also reckon they should check the discs when they get returned, and if noticeably (ie medium-large) scratched, ask the previous person who rented the title whether they experienced any problems with it.

I can guarantee people who went "whoops, I scratched it" when using the discs never make any mention of the disc not working properly, and that annoys me.
 
The story in the original post is not at all like the experiences I've had with Blockbuster. The discs may be scratched up a bit, but never really anything drastic.

The only reason why I don't go to Blockbuster anymore is because their selection is horrible. :lol:
 
*McLaren*
I also believe they can stop renting you games/movies if you fail to return previous copies until you pay the return fee and give the games back.
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That's why you just don't go back. Pick out the games you want the most, rent them for $5-7 and never give them back. Who cares if you can't go back? Most towns/cities have more than one Blockbuster, and if your account goes through to all of them, use a different video store. :)
 
Wolfe2x7
The only reason why I don't go to Blockbuster anymore is because their selection is horrible. :lol:
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Jjacks
Pick out the games you want the most, rent them for $5-7 and never give them back. Who cares if you can't go back? Most towns/cities have more than one Blockbuster, and if your account goes through to all of them, use a different video store. :)
Click to expand...

Hmm...perhaps there's a corrolation here... :lol:
 
Which is why they implemented the "no late fees rule". If you don't give them back, they charge you the price of the game minus the rent fee to your credit card.
 
Seanman
Which is why they implemented the "no late fees rule". If you don't give them back, they charge you the price of the game minus the rent fee to your credit card.
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I didn't give them any credit card information. I showed them my license and an old pay stub from my last job. They gave me three wallet sized cards and wished me happy renting. I've got a couple of movies and a few games I just havent had the energy to return for a few months now. Haven't heard anything about it from them either.
 
Yeah, I've had problems like this.

Usually I find it's little children with no repect and sticky fingers putting finger prints all over the disk. A wipe with a damp cloth usually gets it working again.

I remember one game I rented had a piece of food stuck to the disk. A piece of food!

But recently, my friends and I rented Napolean Dynamite from Video Ezy. We chucked it in a PS2, only to get 5mins out of it before it didn't play no more. Chucked it into the computer, only to have the same result. :(

So, before taking it back to the store the next morning for a refund, I chucked it into our DVD player (a proper DVD player) and it worked fine. I only watched 30mins because the movie sucks arse, but that's another story.

The disk was a little scratched, but nothing too major. Enough to stop it playing in the PS2 and computer though - or maybe I have some uber-DVD Player...

Anyway, I know what you're saying, but I've never had a game that didn't play at all, much less two copies of the game that didn't play.
 
I once rented a game and they gave me the wrong one. I didn't find out until I got home and I was really annoyed that I would have to go back and change it.
 
The store in the town I used to live in, used to run all discs through the repair machine (whatever it's called) every time they were returned, whether they be games or movies. I guess that may wear the discs out quicker, but I guess it works out cheaper for them to have to replace discs every so often, rather than pay back rental fees all the time.
 

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