About every two years or so, I forget how much I hate Blockbuster Video Rental. I think it started with petty late fees, and just an overall bad experience in the rental stores back in the day. For the last few years, we’ve had NetFlix, and it’s worked perfect for us. In fact – we still have Netflix – both DVD and streaming with our XBOX 360 kinect. The whole family loves and uses Netflix on a regular basis.

But today, I was looking for a movie that wasn’t on NetFlix Streaming, and Jamie and I wanted to watch it tonight, after the kids went to bed. It just so happened that I had a coupon from the check out at our local grocery store for a free Blockbuster Express Kiosk rental. I jumped online and setup an account on the express site, and found a rental kiosk at the gas station around the corner.

Upon checkout, in the fine print I see that the coupon I have is expired. Well I guess that the first thing that is stupid. Why put an expiration date on something that you’re trying to use as customer acquisition? OK – no problem, I’m still in for the $2.99 to Rent “Wall Street”

After setting up my account I get an email that reads …

And don’t forget, just for setting up your profile on BLOCKBUSTER Express™, you get a first night DVD rental FREE, on us! Simply enter the promotional code ESU11B when prompted during the rental process at the kiosk.

So cool, I’m back in the free trial – this movie isn’t going to cost anything. Off to the gas Station. I get there, thumb through the kiosk, pick the movie “Wall Street” and on the checkout screen, I see that you can add a coupon. So I type in my code and press the big green DONE button. Aaaannnnnddddd, I should have known they would mess it up again. The next screen says it’s not valid promotion code. I’m sure somewhere in the fine print of the email says, this coupon is only valid on blah blah blah. Why even send it if I can’t use it? Blockbuster – I HATE YOU.

   

So I walk away – the movie isn’t that important. I don’t want to be a Blockbuster Customer. I’ve since put the movie in my NetFlix Queue and when it releases in a few weeks, I’ll have the DVD magically show up in my mailbox.

Note to Self: I HATE BLOCKBUSTER!
Note to Self: I HATE BLOCKBUSTER!
Note to Self: I HATE BLOCKBUSTER!

Use NETFLIX – for DVD or online streaming – nothing beats them.

 

I recently needed a new passport faster than the 6-8 week turn around, an

d even faster than the 2-3 week rush service you can pay extra for from the Department of the State. Searching online I found a bunch of Hand Carry services, and I decided to try RushMyPassport.com and here is a quick overview of what happened.

First – The service is 90% automated (very nice), along with a few customer service calls to make sure I knew what I was supposed to be doing. My service agent was Barbara – who was very friendly on the phone, and helpful to make sure I was well organized, knew exactly what I was doing, what I had to include, where the closest “Sealing Agent” is, and probably more information that I have since forgotten.

What’s a sealing agent you ask? I’m glad you asked. Here’s the run down. You can hire a hand carry agency to walk in to a Department of State office, and work on your behalf. If you live in San Francisco or Philadelphia (and I’m sure there are others) then you would not have this problem, since you can do this yourself in person. Liv

ing in a state like Arizona, without a local Passport office, you have to look for other options. Now, just any Joe off the street can’t show up and say – “Um, I’m here for Mr. Cate’s passport…” So how do they do it?

Here’s where the sealing agent comes in. There are probably a lot of government places that will do it, but I chose my local post office. One thing I learned here is that you can make an appointment, but not a same day appointment. If you need same day services, call around, and some of the post offices have walk in hours for Passport services, on a first-come-first-serve basis. This is what I chose to do.

When it’s your turn, present the “Sealing Agent” all your paperwork. (S)He’ll go over it, making sure you have everything in order, and will put everything into a 8X

11 envelop, and put special seal on it. This is kind of like a high end notary, but with a package instead of a signature. They seal it, and then put a bunch of stamps around the seal to make sure it can’t be tampered with.

Then you send FedEx the sealed envelop, along with copies of everything in the Envelop to the Hand Carry agent. They do the rest, and within a few days a new passport, along with your original documents show up via FedEx, in plenty of time for your time.

I chose the 3-4 business day option, and as promised, I’m now holding a new passport 🙂

Since there are a bunch of these services online, and I had success with RushMyPassport.com I thought I would write a quick review and let you know of the success I had with them. I really like that it’s mostly automated. Automated by email that is. When I first signed up, I got a payment confirmation, and a nice note outlining what was going to happen over the next week. After I followed the directions, I got all my
All in all, I’m very happy with the services from RushMyPassport.com and I would recommend them to anyone else who finds them selves in a “OMG I need a new passport” moment like I did 🙂 paperwork in place, I was contacted by Barbara. (I knew she would be calling because an email said – “Your case is assigned to Barbara who will be calling you today”). Once she confirmed I had everything in line, she emailed me a pre-paid FedEx print out. After I sent the overnight FedEx, I received email confirmation that the package was received. Then an email saying it was processed, and finally an email with a tracking number stating that my new Passport is on it’s way back to me.