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 We judge that Fatso is New Zealand's top DVD rental company, as illustrated by excellent customer loyalty and excellent site design. They have an impressive inventory of over 16,000 films (all Region 4 compatible)--perhaps five times that of a typical video store. In April 2007 they were the first New Zealand company to stock High definition Blu-ray titles.
Fatso has the most detailed and extensive title information for its films of any DVD rental site we've seen (and that's saying something, as we've reviewed the Australian, US, UK, Irish, Canadian, and Indian markets). Each film entry lists stars and director (all hyperlinked so you can see their other films), length, classification, genre, video/screen format, subtitles, sound, and even a list of the DVD's special features, as well as trailers and links to the official movie site when available. There are also expert reviews from well-known New Zealand critics like Steven Gray and Aaron Yap as well as member ratings and comments.
Fatso's deliveries are also very fast; they are the only company, along with Movieshack, to use FastPost for delivery outside Auckland, and they boast a Quick Return function. You simply click that you've posted your DVDs back, and they will send your next DVD immediately, without waiting to receive the incoming disc. This Return function can dramatically speed turnaround time, especially useful if you're in a remote area where mail usually takes longer.
In August 2007, they introduced an innovative GetNow program, where you can pick one title you really want to see, and they'll give it their highest priority to arranging delivery of that DVD in their next dispatch run. This has gone over well with customers, and we expect other rental companies to follow their lead soon. There is also the fatblog, covering current cinema news, reviews of upcoming releases, etc.
To aid browsing, there are a generous 22 genres (we've seen sites with as few as 7, so this is an big plus). There are various movie collections like Award Winners, Most Popular, Highest Rated, etc. As an extra, you can suspend your account for up to two months, say if you're going on a vacation or will be away on business. There are other extras, like the ability to purchase gift subscriptions and even Fatso t-shirts, and we hear there are more website development projects on the way this year.
Fatso also rents some video games for the Xbox (107 titles) and Playstation 2 ( 132 titles), including recent releases. Still, there are better games rental selections out there, and we'd hope they'd expand to cover the latest generation of titles from the PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360.
An especially useful feature to keep different people in the family happy is the Add Groups functions; so you can have a group, as can your spouse, and kids, so on a three-disc plan, each of these three groups would usually get one of the three discs at any one time, keeping everyone happy. Each group can maintain their own movie queue--a feature very few DVD rental companies anywhere in the world can boast.
Reports from across the net, especially various forums and blogs, generally rave about Fatso's service. They have a customer service phone line, open from 9 to 5 Monday through Friday, an excellent addition which many international sites lack, but which can be a lifesaver. Indeed, Fatso appears to have been the primary recipient of disgruntled DVD Unlimited members after they were acquired by Sky, with such comments evident across the net.
Founded in 2004 by Rob Berman, Fatso is operated by Westside Media Limited, based in Central Auckland. The slogan for the seemingly odd name for a DVD rental company is "all the dvd you can eat", along with the one-eyed robot carrying a DVD for their logo. They won the Emerging Business Award in 2006 at the 2006 Marketing Awards. According to a January 2007 New Zealand Herald story, Fatso probably controls 35-40% of New Zealand's online DVD rental market.
Prices: Fatso has a 14-day free trial at the three-disc out-at-a-time level only. They have several unlimited subscription plans, starting at 1 disc out at a time for $19.95 (for some reason, Fatso is the only New Zealand DVD company to offer 1-disc at a time tariff--we applaud them for it), 2 discs for $29.95, and their standard 3-disc plan for $39.95, and so on with 4 discs for $49.50, 5 discs for $59.95, 6 discs for $69.95, and finally a volume discount for 8 discs at $79.95. Those with Orcon broadband can get a 10% discount.
For value comparison, assuming Fatso's industry standard $30 monthly charge for a three-DVD out unlimited service, if you watched a modest three DVDs a week, you'd be paying $2.38 each for them, a fraction of what a video store would charge, and with no late fees to boot.
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Rental Basics