Page 1 of Tesco DVD Rental service provided by Video Island

Not sure if I am right or wrong here but been having a ongoing email with Tesco DVD Rental customer service about their supposed 14 day free trial. Lets put it this way, if you have NEVER used Video Island before but have used Screen Select, you can`t get the trial, but Tesco doesnt mention anything about the merger between the 2 companies hence you can`t get a free trial.

Wasnt too bothered about the free trial but more about the principle, which they have took more than 1 1/2 months to come back to me about. Some customer service that was. Since gone back to Blockbuster as their service is very effecient.

If you want to read the whole thread, read below.

============== Email Thread =============

Hi Michael,

Thank you for the reply which I was not expecting after waiting a whole month for a response. Please do not think I am in any way trying to get a free trial off Tescos for the sake of it as I have gone beyond that point now and rejoined Blockbuster (only 2-3p cheaper) as to me they have a better turnaround in customer response via email.

I do however object to the fact that although Tesco is using the Video Island engine, there is nowhere in your Terms and Conditions, stating that ex-Screen Select (which has now merged with Video Island) customers, are also excluded from the free 14 day trial. I find this to be misleading as I originally pointed out in my original email (see below). Whilst I do appreciate that if I was an ex-Video Island customer, my application would and should have been refused, to be then told that I have already had a Video Island trial is very misleading, when I never joined Video Island before. As a web developer myself (and one that works on many e-commerce websites and writes many T&Cs), I strongly urge Tesco to change its terms and conditions to say that both ex-Video Island and ex-Screen Select subscribers are excluded from the offer to avoid confusion and wasted applications in the future.

You say that it is not an incentive, but please bear in my mind that many people are willing to try out a service for a limited period to see how fast the service and how good the customer service is. They then usually make the choice of choosing to stay or leave. I have been with Lovefilm (previously DVDsOnTap) and Blockbuster (which I have since rejoined) for a year each and that is down to customer service response alone.

Although, I do not expect to hear from you soon, and I am NOT writing (or moaning) so that I can get a free trial, I do hope you will take on board the constructive criticisms I have noted since my original email. Please feel free to forward this email to the person in charge of the joint venture between Tescos and Video Island/Screen Select.

Kind Regards,
Ray Liu

Tesco DVD Rental <erac[at]moc.latnerdvdocset> wrote:
Dear Ray

Thank you for your e-mail.

We do appreciate the fact that you were not aware of the outsourcing of the DVD rental service to Video Island Entertainment, hence our explanatory e-mail to you after registration.
We`re sure that you will appreciate that as a company we are trying to offer an efficient service at at an affordable rate. In order to pass on the value to our customers, it is not feasible to offer more than one free trial per household.
The purpose of the free trial is not so much an incentive as it is to familiarise potential customer`s to how the online DVD rental service operates.

We feel that as the cheapest online DVD rental service provider with the biggest catalogue of titles, we are effectively the best value for money to you, our valued customer.

Please feel free to contact us with any other questions or queries or if you`re ready to go ahead as a paying subscriber.

Kind Regards,

Michael
--
Customer Services
Tesco DVD rental
London UK
www.tescodvdrental.com
Ã'Â"The best value in DVD rentalsÃ'Â"



Ray Liu wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I would like to know, if any decision has been made on the case i put forward below. I am still awaiting a reply. I would think, as good customer service, the Customer Care team, should at the very least reply to my email, regardless of the outcome.
>
> Regards,
> Ray
>
> RAY LIU wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Well to be honest, I didnt know Video Island has become part of ScreenSelect which I was previously a member of. I have NEVER been a member of Video Island at all and never have used their services so I was thinking I would get a free 14 day trial due to the attractive prices compared to ScreenSelect and Blockbuster.
>
> So to be fair, your T and Cs should have stated `previous members of ScreenSelect OR Video Island` and not Video Island as they do not exist anymore as a website. I and I presume a lot of other users in the same situation as me, find this to be quite misleading as they are not supposed to know that Video Island has merged with ScreenSelect hence they cant get a free trial from Video Island.
>
> In light of this information, I doubt my free 14 day trial will be honoured but if you check these details, you will find that my information is right and I hope Tesco change their T&Cs to reflect these changes to avoid future wasted applications.
>
> Yours,
> TKR Liu
>
>
>
>
>
> Tesco DVD Rental Customer Care wrote:
> Dear Tak
> Thank you for your interest in our service. According to our records a free
> trial account has already been used at your address with one of the services
> powered by Video Island Entertainment Ltd. According to our terms and
> conditions only one free trial is allowed per household so we cannot
> authorise a second free trial at this time.
>
> We can allow a second account if it is paid for immediately. Please let us
> know how you wish to proceed if we do not hear from you within 3 days we
> will not proceed with your second application.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Sam
> --
> Customer Services
> Tesco DVD Rental

Quote:
Since gone back to Blockbuster as their service is very effecient.

Currently on a month trial with Blockbuster. Why is it that they recieve the dvd back one day but they don`t send out a new one until the next day?