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Review of Cinema Paradiso
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Cinema Paradiso is a strong, growing DVD rental company which we believe is the best for world and arthouse cinema and is one of the best for mainstream tastes as well. With over 55,000 DVD films (and a very impressive 1,800+ Blu-ray high definition titles), Cinema Paradiso is now nipping at the heels of Blockbuster and Lovefilm. We like the fact that they have expanded film info for each title, what special features are on the disc, etc. One more little thing we like about Cinema Paradiso's site is that they include DVD titles in multiple genres rather than pigeonholing everything into one category.
Cinema Paradiso's turnaround is quite good, aiming to get DVDs dispatched one business day after receiving your old ones. And if you sign up before noon on a weekday, they'll send your first lot of DVDs out that day. Their are other extras, such as purchasing gift DVD rental subscriptions, which would really make an excellent and continuing Christmas or birthday present. One of their excellent new features is an RSS feed, both a personalised one so you will be informed when discs are dispatched and received, as well as a public one which tells of the most popular rentals and new releases.
Again, while there mainstream fare is excellent, Cinema Paradiso has the best inventory of foreign films in the UK, organised well for searching. Their menu covers films from 65 countries!, plus a foreign language menu with 21 entries, and you can even search for subtitles in your language of choice. No other company even comes close for offering foreign languages films.
In March 2005, Cinema Paradiso added film reviews and ratings, addressing our only major complaint about the service. In May that year they acquired the popular Zoovies service, a good sign the company is growing well, and 2006 saw their film inventory nearly double as well as an overall site revamp. A further large inventory increase from 35,000 to 50,000 films followed in 2008, as well as the option to buy ex-rental DVDs, and we expect continued strong growth. Because of the many continuing improvements, we moved Cinema Paradiso from our fifth to our number three ranking spot in September 2008.
One of their most recent innovations is allowing up to five profiles per household--so each profile can have its own queue, and if needed, age restriction to keep young viewers safe from adult content. They've also added a DVD Sale section, where you can pick up even recent hits (ex-rental of course) like Star Trek for under eight quid, and even some real bargains like Angels and Demons for under a fiver.
Prices: Cinema Paradiso offers a broad spectrum of unlimited and limited subscription tariffs, catering to low and high volume renters alike, and all at competitive prices. Cinema Paradiso offer an unlimited, one disc at a time tariff for a very competitive £9.49, 2 discs for an also competitive £12.49, and three discs for £14.99.
They also offer a full range of limited subscriptions for low-volume renters: 2 discs per month, one out at a time for £4.89 (2.45 per disc), 3 discs per month, one out at a time, for £5.99 (2 quid per disc), and 4 discs per month, 2 out at a time, for £7.99 (£2 per disc). Unlike most other companies using this limited tariff model, if you only watch 2 in one month out of your 4 tariff, you get those extra 2 next month, so it's quite fair. Although they don't have a traditional time-based free trial, Cinema Paradiso offer the first four rentals free.
If you want to cancel, Cinema Paradiso requires that all discs be back in their possession by the time the free trial period ends--they suggest posting back five days before the end, which really means it's equivalent to a nine-day free trial if you quit.
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Cinema Paradiso Customer Comments
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Featured Cinema Paradiso Customer Review
Danielle from London, September 8, 2009
have tried other DVD rentals company such as Lovefilm for a short time before switching to Cinema Paradiso. I have been a full member for nearly 2 years and cannot stop praising their services. Their website is improving constantly and the quality of films already in their catalogue is certainly one of the most complete especially especially if you are looking for foreign films. When a title is added to their reserved list, they will do everything to obtain a copy of a specific film for their members. You get regular update of what is happening to your reserved selection and will always manage obtaining a copy of the film who are looking for as soon as at it is released for the UK market. Their customer services is also very efficient and you will always get your dedicated customer services assistant who will do their best to help you even if you have a complaint to make. I would recommend to any future customers to read the company terms and conditions before joining in. By doing so, you will avoid complaining about specific issues which are clearly stated in them. All DVDs rental companies have the same terms and conditions and it is important to read them carefully to before joining in. Even though DVDs are all dispatched using the first class Royal Mail service, we all know that Royal Mail is not always reliable with delivery the mail on time. So, Cinema Paradiso cannot be held responsible for such a delay. I have recommend Cinema Paradiso to a large number of my friends who are so far satisfied. DVDs can get easily lost in the post, and, if you follow the process to report lost DVDs, major problems can be easily avoid. They have also added trailers to their website and their quality is certainly the best compare to Lovefilm and Blockbusters. It is obviously a smaller company compared to their competitors but they certainly care more about their members than other multinationals who just care about obtaining a large number of customers rather than looking after those they have already have on their database. Cinema Paradiso cares about their customers and always take their customers comments and suggestions into consideration. Also every emails are answered personally. You do not get a standard respond like the others. They are also the only ones offering a free trial period of 30 days with 4 free DVDs rentals while the others offer only 14 days which is too short to decide if you want to start a membership with them or not I wish Cinema Paradiso good luck and carry on improving their website as well as looking after your customers using such a personal service.
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Most Recent Cinema Paradiso Customer Reviews
Lucy from Bath, 16 April 2010
There return service isn't good, I returned 2 dvds they say never arrived, this caused me to lose trust in their service an I cancelled my membership, they are refusing to cancel it until I return the dvds which I have already returned. My bank says they can continue to take my monthly membership for as long as they choose and there is nothing I can do about it.
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Tina, 27 March 2010
very sloppy customer service which never replies to emails. the reviews are a rip off, there is are prizes for the most helpful reviews each month thou the voting buttons don't store your vote so you cant vote on any reviews! i submitted about 30+ reviews 10 of which cant be seen on the site unless your logged out! i've been a member for 4 months and the overall experience was shabby to say the least.
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Shannon, 7 January 2010
I also left from Lovefilm looking for a better option, and have found it with CP--they're cheaper and don't feel like the faceless bueracracy that is Lovefilm when you have problems. A disc was lost in the post and all I had to do was fill out a form, no accusations, charges, or hassles (though it took over a week to realise it was late, my own fault). I can't recommend Cinema Paradiso highly enough.
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Tony, 17 February 2009
would give this nil stars for value and customer service if i could, very very poor company. i was lucky if i got one dvd in a whole week. lovefilm id better.
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John from London, 9 September, 2008
I'm a Mymoviestream/Outnow refugee, jumped ship when they went downhill earlier this year, just as I had a couple years back from Screenselect when Loveflim took over and ruined it. Well, it looks like Cinema Paradiso is like MMS used to be, good and fast, but it has a much bigger range then they do even now. I mean 400 bluray titles, that's awesome (you should really try it by the way, blows normal dvds out of the water. I just hope these guys don't go south like these dvd rental companies seem to have a habit of doing when they get too large. Ah well, until then, viva Cinema Paradiso!
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Rosario, 22 August, 2008
I love this service, as it's difficult to get ahold of good Spanish language DVDS here, and I can just rent them for a cheap price. I like how I just click on World Cinema, then there are dozens of countires (including USA, ha ha, as if most aren't from holywood). I click Spain, and there are hundreds of titles, more than I can watch!
I'm on the 9.49 plan and often get through 7 discs or so in a month, much cheaper than the high street, where it would be twice, maybe three times as much. Sometimes new films arent available for awhile though, my only problem with them.
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Add Your Comments – Cinema Paradiso DVD Rental
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Online DVD rental prices and terms change frequently; check the company website for the latest.
 UK-DVD-Rental-Guide.com is not responsible for any losses resulting from the information provided (see Disclaimer). If you do spot a discrepancy, please email us and we'll update the site.
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Rental Basics