That time I tried to rent Passengers
Sigh. Guys, I am still figuring out Redbox. As you are about to see. Before we moved (the first time) in December of 2015, we used Netflix disk delivery and got two disks a week and watched them (and more!) each week. But moving and house projects means we watch movies a little less, so we ended that subscription and have started using Redbox (cause $). Which I kind of suck at. Case in point:
The week Passengers came out to Redbox, we tried to rent it the first day is was available, on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, we stopped at a Redbox we thought we had pre-checked to see if it the movie was there. It actually was not available there. We used the website wrong. Oops. We got Arrival instead and watched it again, knowing the big twist. (AHH! It was like watching a different movie. Let’s talk about this movie if you’ve seen it.)
On Friday, we figured it out and checked in advance! But when we got to the box, the guy using it before us was having some issues with it. He told us when he returned his disk, it just dropped to the bottom. Sure enough, we got an error screen when we tried to rent Passengers. Darn it.
We stopped at another Redbox and it didn’t have it. So we didn’t get a movie. Womp womp, grumpypants.
On Saturday, I thought I was being smart and reserved a rental on my phone. Yay! I went to pick it up, at a Redbox close to the studio where I teach. When I got to the Redbox, I realized I reserved it under Steven’s credit card. Not mine. Steven was not with me. I needed his card to retrieve the movie. I called Redbox and they couldn’t do anything but give me a refund. “You can’t put it on a different card?” “No, our systems don’t allow us to do that.” “You can’t release it from the box so I can rent it?” “No, our systems don’t allow us to do that.” MUTHA F*CKA. (Hey, it was nice they gave me a refund though!)
I went home pissy. Later I went to run errands and decided to reserve the rental with the right card and pick it up near where I was running errands. Yay! Me so smart. But wait a minute, why won’t this go through?!
Oh hellz no. I can’t rent it close to the house because of the other reservation? WTF?! I am not driving back to the spot that was only convenient to where I was in the morning!
I drove to the location near where I was running errands, knowing they had a copy, since it was going to let me reserve it. But did it show a copy when I physically went to the Redbox? No.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
I then realized my phone was not going to let me reserve a copy anywhere, since I had one reserved for the night. So I decided to just give up.
But what if… I reserved a blu ray copy?! Would that work?
Yes! Bingo!
Finally!
Gawd, I was so annoyed, I didn’t even want to see it anymore. Ha.
I swore I wouldn’t use Redbox again after this, but they sent me a few free rentals. So you know I went back. I just really pay attention to which credit card I put it on (you use that to pick up a free rental) and which location.
When did I get so old* that I can’t use technology right?!
This is NOT a sponsored post.
*I actually saw part of this movie elsewhere, but couldn’t follow since the version I saw didn’t have closed captions. Yep. I watch everything with closed captions. I actually liked the movie more when I could follow what they were saying!
Themocracy
How did you like Passengers?
I thought it was entertaining and I liked the graphics. I should note though, I like most space movies – it’s a favorite genre of mine. Apparently people were very bothered by the plot – have you seen it?
Yes—we watched it a few weeks ago! I too enjoyed the visuals (and I think they were nominated for a few awards in the visual category) and was glad it didn’t end “happy” but kind of wanted “more” (I don’t know what I mean by “more” but…something…)
I feel like space/alternate reality is really having its moment in movies and “TV” right now…or maybe I’m just drawn to the genre and have a lot available. (Thinking things like Passengers, Arrival, WestWorld, Black Mirror, The OA, etc)
I actually said to Steven after watching it that I would like a Passengers Part II that shows what happens when the crew wakes up! I think that part (preparing to land) would be really interesting.
It is having its moment! I wonder if any other genres are, too. Did you watch Stranger Things? We just started watching a netflix original movie – Discovery – that follows some of the same topics as the OA. I couldn’t watch anymore Black Mirror after the first episode had animal abuse 🙁 Steven watches it though!
I haven’t watched Stranger Things but Matt has and told me I would really like it. (People are usually surprised that I haven’t watched ST). I think after a lot of “dark” programming (including just wrapping up Walking Dead and Homeland), I’ve been in the mood for “light” and have started (re)watching Friends from the beginning…ha!
Ha! Good call!
I’ve still never used RedBox. Just haven’t. We don’t really watch too many movies at all anymore and, when we do, we try to use the library as much as possible because… FREE!! But Passengers is not one I want to see. I’m very burned out on Jennifer Lawrence and had the twist ruined by a coworker.
I’ve been meaning to get a library card (to borrow DVDs, ha) since we moved over a year ago and still haven’t! I wonder when I will!
Did not see Passengers but loved Arrival – I can imagine seeing a second time would make it a totally different movie.
It really does! You remember all the assumptions you made the first time watching it (like that she is grieving the loss of a child in the beginning) and realize how wrong you were! Do you think you’ll watch it again?
Yes, let’s talk about “Arrival” some time! I have feelings about it.
Do you prefer in-person rentals to just renting via a streaming service (Amazon, Google Play, etc.)? I always hated renting discs because they’d be scratched by some previous (erstwhile) renter.
Do share!
I like streaming but it’s more $$ and doesn’t always work with our wireless. I think leaving my house to rent a disk is a complete PITA.
I’ve never used RedBox – at this point, I pretty much wait for movies to come to HBO/Netflix if I haven’t seen them in the theater (which is silly for me to not to see them there because it’s so cheap – less than $5 for movies before 6:00 pm).
BTW, when your post title came up in my Feedly reader, Passengers wasn’t italicized and before I read it, I thought “did she need extra people in her vehicle for the carpool lane? LOL
Going to the movies can be such an ordeal though! Ha! We used to go much more frequently, but now we usually want to be at home! Do you guys have a $5 day, too? Or just before 6:00pm?
Ha! Ha ha ha!
There’s one day where it’s like $3.50 – we don’t have good shopping here in town, but by golly, we do have cheap movies, LOL.
Ha ha ha! You got something!
Well I, for one, am SO GLAD you eventually got a copy of Passengers, because after such an ordeal, I’d say you certainly earned it! I’ve never used RedBox before, but goodness gracious, what a learning curve! Hopefully it’ll be much simpler the next time around now that you know what you’re doing.
Thank you for being glad for me! And don’t let me scare you off from it! I really think it’s mostly user error!
I love Redbox and use it a lot. Glad that after this ordeal you finally got to see it.
I read through the comments and saw you liked Passengers. My wife and I loved it. We saw it in the theater not long before it came out on DVD. Rented it at Redbox.
As for your Redbox experience, it’s a mix of old and new technology. I had to make sure I added the two credit cards I normally carry before renting. I once got to pick up my movie and didn’t have the right card. Frustrating that I couldn’t add the card on their mobile app to get the movie.
I liked Arrival, too. Great story and well casted.
Have you been using the app, besides not getting the card to add? I’ve added the app to my phone and never been able to even get it to work! Sigh. We work hard for those $1.50 rentals! Ha!
Both movies really made me think, in different ways. Did you watch Arrival again after the big “reveal” in the story?
I do use the Redbox app on my phone. It seems to work for the most part, but I prefer doing the reserve on my laptop. A lot easier interface. We get the codes via SMS, which is nice. Although the number of 1 FREE RENTAL codes dropped off over a year ago. They are mostly rent 1 get 1 free. We normally don’t have time to watch two movies in one night.
As for Arrival, we only watched it once. I’m not familiar with the reveal. You should email me what you are talking about to avoid spoilers here.
I have issues telling it which location I want it to use – do you find that easier on one interface, or do you always use the same location?
I’ve actually been getting a few free rentals! Maybe they do that for newer customers? Ha, funny story, before we understood how Redbox worked we rented three movies on a Friday! We had to rush to watch them all by 9 pm the next day!
Ahh, I will put it in my email response.