Movie Gallery fires up in-store PowerPlay subscription plan
By Darren Murph 
posted Mar 20th 2009 11:27PM
posted Mar 20th 2009 11:27PM
[Via VideoBusiness, image courtesy of CPDothan]
posted Mar 20th 2009 11:27PM
The percentage of sales people that recommend Samsung HDTVs.
Salespeople are also becoming less likely to recommend LCD sets over plasma sets, which goes against the industry trend.
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Actually on the unlimited plan you can have four out at a time.
Actually, Blockbuster has been doing thisfor over a year. 1 movie or video game out at a time, no due dates, for $21.99. It's actually a pretty good deal if you get video games or if you go in every day on your way home from work!
The "staggering" $39.99 plan allows you to have 3 items out at once, 2 of which can be games. No late fees on anything, no due dates. Prior to this the comparable pairing of Game Access Pass was $19.99 for 1 game out at a time and a Movie Value Pass for 2 movies out at a time for $24.99. If renting a movie is nearly $5 each and games just over $8 (5 Day Rentals), then I believe the value speaks for itself.
Thank you Brad Winslow for putting the correct information. I don't know why these people write articles regarding information
on a new service, and then offer their opinion if they do not have their facts straight. How can someone compare the Powerplay program
with Netflix and Blockbuster if they don't know what exactly is being offered?
Thank you heather i work for hollywood video people dont understand that if they rent 10 movies in a month it pays for itself as well as games with having no late fees its a great deal. The best part is you can come in as many times in one day and switch those 3 items for another 3 items and not pay anything more so whoever thinkd this is a bad deal do the math.
Like the vast majority of Hollywood Video customers, I don't rent games, so I neither know nor care how good a deal PowerPlay is for those who do rent games. For all those who don't rent games, Hollywood Video's replacement of the previous MVP program with the new PowerPlay program represents a substantial price increase. How much depends on your local store. If your local Hollywood Video store is allowed to offer the "Diamond" plan ($39.99), PowerPlay is a 33% price increase over what you were paying for MVP. There are many Hollywood Video stores that aren't even allowed to offer the "Diamond" plan (my local store is one of them), in which case the price increase is from 33% to 73% depending on how many of your rentals are blu-rays. If you are exchanging the movies you rent for new ones more often than once a week, and the "Diamond" plan isn't available to you, the price increase can go much higher, because "...you can come in as many times in one day and switch those 3 items for another 3 items and not pay anything more ..." only applies to the "Diamond" plan.
Actually, Darren, Powerplay has been quite a hit, just so you know.
And to "Thats not right"; your, right! Diamon plan should be available everywhere! Its been a success at my store! Several people, even the customers that didn't purchase our discount rental cards, are coming in 2 and 3 times a week renting movies. They say its the best idea. But there is the "Platinum" plan that is 24.99 a month, you get 25 points which averages out to be about 8 New Release rentals (3 points) a month. But with this plan you can play $1 per point, so now you LITERALLY are getting a movie rental (4.55 for 5 nights after tax) for $3. With NO due dates.
I love the idea, we are a GAME ZONE store so when people bring up one game (8.47 after tax for 5 nights) I dont hesitate to offer the smallest plan, "Silver". Its the same price and your basically getting a free rental.
AS AN EMPLOYEE OF MG, I WAS VERY DISAPPOINTEDTO SEE THAT YOU HAD TRIED
TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO CONTINUE TO USE BLOCKBUSTER/NETFLIX (OF WHICH I ALSO HAVE USED) WITHOUT THE COMPLETE STORY. IF IT WAS YOUR INTENT TO TELL PEOPLE THE TRUTH, ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS VISIT A MOVIE GALLERY, IN PERSON OR ONLINE AND YOU COULD HAVE LEARNED THAT $39.99 GETS THE MG CUSTOMER 3 RENTALS AT A TIME INCLUDING 2 GAMES IF WANTED WITH NO DUE DATE AND NO LATE CHARGES!!! THEY CAN GET AS MANY GAMES OR MOVIES THAT
THEY CHOOSE IN THAT MONTH. WE ALSO HAVE 3 OTHER PLANS DESIGNED TO FIT
EVERYONE'S RENTING NEEDS. ALL OF OUR CUSTOMERS LOVE THE PLAN AND WE ARE HAPPY TO BRING THIS MUCH NEEDED DISCOUNT TO OUR CUSTOMERS. THEY ALSO GET ALL PREVIOUSLY VIEWED MOVIES AT HALF PRICE, 10% OFF ALL CON-CESSIONS AND 10% OFF ALL NEW RELEASES. ALL OF THESE LAST ITEMS ARE
ALSO AVAILABLE ON THE 3 OTHER PLANS TOO. ACTUALLY, IT SOUNDS PRETTY GREAT TO ME. WHEN I WAS ON NETFLIX/BLOCKBUSTER PLANS, I NEVER GOT TO SEE THE MOVIES I WANTED TO SEE BECAUSE THEY HAVE THIS LITTLE THING CALLED "NOT AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME" OR "VERY LONG WAIT" AND THEN THEY WOULD JUST SKIP DOWN ON YOUR LIST AND SEND WHATEVER THEY WANTED. THIS DIDNT HAPPEN ONCE IN A WHILE, IT WAS A MONTHLY THING WITH EVERY NEW RELEASE. AND THAT TO ME WAS FALSE ADVERTISING RIGHT THERE! THEY PROMISE TO SEND THE MOVIES AND THAT THEY WILL BE AVAILABLE BUT THEY ARENT AND THEY DONT. SO I USUALLY ENDED UP HAVING TO RENT IT AT A VIDEO STORE ANYWAY IF I WANTED TO SEE IT IN THIS LIFETIME. THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT AS I HAVE EXPERIENCED IT.
The program is the best program I have ever seen Movie Gallery come up with. I am a Manager for one of the Movie Gallery's, and so far all I see is a customer friendly program.
It is amazing seeing how much our customers are saving, and its great to see how happy it has made our customers. There is a program for everyone, and with the hard times
that everyone is facing, it just goes to show that movie gallery cares about its communities, and what they are going through. As for netflix, I was a member when they first came out
and like I tell my customers there is no A, B , C, D list. As for the HW all I can say from what
I know about the MVP program, it didn't include the new releases, and this does. No more waiting 30 days to watch that movie you have been wanting to see. All great companies grow and change with the times, and I see Movie Gallery and Hollywood Videos doing great things
in the future.
Actually, the above negative comments are all true.
IF you were an MVP member at 24.00 per month you got 2 movies out, unlimited return. That plan is dead! The only replacement for it is PowerPlay $40.00 per month plan.
That is pure and simple a FORCED COST INCREASE. (During a recession, GOOD IDEA!).
I don't rent games and don't care, but if you make it so that I must buy the top level to get what I was receiving before, I am not sure Movie/Gallery-Hollywood video cares about us, only making more money.
JC... Joke right, you can't even be serious.
PS MovieGalleryEmployee, you also can't be serious or are a cheerleader because it is not a hit a many stores I have been to...
actually the only replacement is not the $40 plan. there is the silver package $14.99 where you can have 2 movies out unlimited. plus you get the other perks of 50% of used movies and 10% of concessions.. so if your not a gamer, there is still good deals.
Hey ya'll! I am (as well) a Movie Gallery employee and just thought i would include some input on the subject at hand. MVP customers, who by the way are loyal Hollywood Video cust, are right. The Power play program does not offer "the savings". That is unfortunate to say the least. Especially in a recession. Although what is the lesser of the two evils? Some sort of savings program or none at all. The point of Power play is to bring both Movie gallery and Hollywood together with a sense of one brand. The Power play program brings real savings value to customers in the more rural areas.There is usually not much for entertainment in the Movie gallery locations so our cust depend on us for just that. On average one family will spend $25. a week just in rentals. That's like 5 movies. You do the math, so the Diamond ($39.00) plan helps very much. Having one program across the board has also brought my communication closer with the Hollywood stores. We are working with each other. This lessons the time that corporate has to spend focusing on our stores as individuals. That in turn puts more focus time on our customers. SO.....if the program does not satisfy you, email our company. That's what they stress to our stores. It all about doing what it takes to make our customers happy and loyal. And loyal customers keeps our business going.
Be warned; they will use the 14 day "grace period" to screw you out of time on your membership. I purchased the plan on the 25th, used it for a month, and then didn't renew it for a while because I got busy and didn't have time to watch any movies. I went in on the 5th, 11 days after my membership had expired (I thought), and purchased it again, assuming it would last for another month. Instead, it expired again on the 25th, and I lost 11 days worth of membership time. Apparently if you pay for another subscription within 14 days of your previous subscription expiring, it's considered a "renewal" of your previous subscription, and keeps the original subscription's expiration date.
I am a movie gallery employee (possibly store manager in a couple of months), and when it comes down to powerplay, like any great thing it has it's good sides and bad sides. Really overall, it's a good deal, but one problem is basically the customers have a hard time understanding it. The store I was originally at had the diamond plan and we were in a rural area, so it did OK but not great. Then I transfered to another MG store about 20 miles away for more hours. This all happened right after powerplay came out. So really, I didn't get a lot of play time with the diamond, but oh well. The reason for this is because the store I am at now is a test store that doesn't offer diamond. highest is platinum. i call my old store all the time and revenue is WAY down because of diamond. Whereas, ours has stayed about the same maybe went up a little. So far I believe that MGA has decided to eradicate diamond completely (though I'm not a hundred percent). That to me poses a problem because those who are reaping the benefits of that plan will be shocked and aggravated that their fav plan is being cut out. to compete with other rental companies i believe they should continue to offer to those who have it just to keep that small amount of buss. now overall, it's a good deal, and it really saves a lot of money for our customers (we are normally 5.08 with tax for a new release for five days), but i believe they have sorta gone about the wrong way of approaching customers with this plan. The main issue is that it IS a plan and many people who already have tight wallets already don't wanna subscribe to a monthly thing. So you sell it like a bundle (or a better version of the DRC). Sure it helps because then you ACTUALLY SELL IT. However when you sell it that way or just sell it as free rentals for x many dollars more, people get mad because they don't understand that there really still are due dates after thirty days. that is unless you auto renew or you pay for extra months in advance. but then they pose the question, i didn't know this was a monthly thing, so they think they have been bamboozled. especially if their plan expires and they dont bring the movies back or have leftover points and basically you hook em into renewing, so they use the rest of their points really fast so they dont lose any, and they just never come back or choose not to renew. and now they want us to auto renew. the whole thing that drives the customers to buy it is the false belief that it isn't monthly. auto renew just makes it worse. people like having the option not to renew or to downgrade. i think its a good deal but it should be sold as a bundle not a plan. movie gallery is going the wrong way with this one. and then they get made when you don't sell enough. but its like look what your customers want, they want basic discount rentals, they dont wanna plan. im just ready for us to turn into moviestop/netflix. sales and sales only.