Online DVD Rental in Canada

September 13, 2005 1:13 PM

Related to this question, I'm looking for a dvd rental service (i.e Netflix) in Canada.

VHQOnline, what we've been with and what we've really enjoyed, just got bought out by Zip.ca, those evil Future Shop folks. I noticed they totally borked our shipping info, and their validation on their membership editing is atrocious.

Basically, I don't trust a company that puts such a poor site together, and want to get out. Suggestions? We were currently on the 5 dvd/month for 30 bucks. Canadian, please :)

posted by eurasian to Computers & Internet (10 answers total)

Cinemail? I'm not a customer myself (I live in Chicago), but I have a few Canadian friends who use it and they seem happy with it.
posted by Johnny Assay at 1:18 PM on September 13, 2005

there's quite a few here
posted by blue_beetle at 2:25 PM on September 13, 2005

Best answer: Here's a list of online DVD rental sites. There's 11 canadian ones listed there (12, actually, but VHQOnline and Zip are counted as one), so hopefully, one of those will fit your requirements.
posted by bachelor#3 at 2:26 PM on September 13, 2005

I used Zip.ca. Fast turnaround, good selection, they'll order anything that they don't have (if you can show them where to buy it). No complaints from me.
posted by PurplePorpoise at 2:44 PM on September 13, 2005

The guy sitting next to me uses Zip.ca over the winter months, we're in Montreal and he says two or three day turnaround.

I myself went the cheap way and spent $60 on a DVD player that plays DivX. It's paid for itself doubly so in only two weeks.
posted by furtive at 5:02 PM on September 13, 2005

How are Zip.ca and futureshop connected? Besides red web sites...
posted by boost ventilator at 6:42 PM on September 13, 2005

I investigated a bunch of Canadian sites about a year ago and concluded that -- once you find one or two you like -- the best option is the one closest to your home.

You can't get another rental until you return the ones you have, so fast turnaround in the mail means more rentals per month.

Details here.
posted by TechStuff at 7:26 PM on September 13, 2005

We used DVDflix out of Vancouver first for about a year, but living in Ottawa, we found their turnaround time to be a killer so we ended up switching to Zip, with no regrets. Shipping involves a 2-day turnaround and you can speed it up by telling them that you've put your movie(s) in the mail. We've been with them for over a year and have few complaints (website stability being the main one).

I also like to hear more about the connection between Zip and Future Shop as this is news to me. Their one link to evil I know of is CEO Rick Anderson (strategist to the former Reform party and Canadian Alliance).
posted by RibaldOne at 9:26 AM on September 14, 2005

Best as I can tell, Future Shop markets Zip.ca, the same way that they market Bell ExpressVu, but that's the extent of the relationship; that linked FutureShop page there even warns you that you are leaving FutureShop's website.
posted by mendel at 10:00 AM on September 14, 2005

Another vote for zip.ca. I live in Ottawa so YMMV but if I click on the "I've just returned this movie" checkbox on the website my next selection will often be in the following day's mail. Also, they're very good about adding titles to the collection.
posted by kaymac at 6:52 AM on September 15, 2005