Instawatch: How Long Should I wait?

[mjfoxtrot]

So for the first time, I tried Walmart's Instawatch program a few days ago. I ordered four bluray movies online, and within five minutes of placing my order, BAM! I got the email saying my Instawatch movies were ready. I opened the email and redeemed the movies. Awesome.

So yesterday, I said to myself, "Boy that worked great. Let's order some more Instawatch movies." So I ordered six more. But this time, I received an order confirmation email, but no email that said my Instawatch movies were ready. The confirmation email clearly says that the movies I ordered were Instawatch, but I have received no other email that would enable me to redeem the Instawatch benefit.

I checked again today, and still no email. It's been over 24 hours . . . so I called the Walmart customer service phone number and asked if there was any kind of a glitch or problem. The Walmost customer service rep didn't speak english very well and also didn't seem to really understand what Instawatch is, so I really did not get any kind of a meaningful answer.

Anybody have any advice on how long it can possibly take to get the Instawatch redemption email? Walmart's web site says "within 24 hours" and I am beyond that time frame now.

[JohnRenstrom@gmail.com]

I tried Instawatch a long time ago (I think years ago) and it wasn't a very good experience back then because the movies never showed up and it took days to finally have things resolved. I think I just ended up returning the movies back to Walmart because I was so frustrated.

Fast forward several years...I just barely tried it again two weeks ago thinking it's been a few years now...let's see how this thing works.
I was VERY methodical and carefully selected the movies that clearly stated they included the Vudu Instawatch.
Of the 7 movies I ordered here's the breakdown:
* Hail, Caesar! (VUDU Instawatch Included) - WORKED
* The Boy (VUDU Instawatch Included)- WORKED
* Paranoia (VUDU Instawatch Included) - FAILED
* Still Alice (VUDU Instawatch Included) - FAILED
* Fun Size (VUDU Instawatch Included) - FAILED
* Extended version of The Martian (VUDU Instawatch Included) - WRONG MOVIE - The theatrical version which I already owned
* Vampire Academy (VUDU Instawatch Included) - WORKED
The fact that my order had a 58% failure didn't bother me...I thought this it could be quickly remedied so I started making some calls...

I had no idea what the next week was going to being...Endlessly running around in a hopeless battle of finger pointing.
Walmart.com said it was Vudu's problem...
Vudu didn't believe me that the title was a Instawatch item...
After several days of complaining and call bouncing between Walmart and Vudu we discovered the Walmart Marketplace items didn't unlock properly even though the item's description clearly stated it included the Vudu Instawatch...
Walmart.com said call the Marketplace sellers...
The Marketplace Sellers said they can't control the item's description and directed me back to Walmart.com...
Walmart.com said go back to Vudu...
I finally pressed Vudu saying just unlock the movies but then Vudu pointed their finger at the movie industry...Really? the movie industry?
I finally just returned the entire lot (including the ones that worked because I was so frustrated at that point.
Imagine my satisfaction when I then learned I couldn't return the Marketplace items to my local Walmart...
Needless to say, I WAS NOT HAPPY!!!

The fiasco will keep me from doing anything Instawatch ever again...Nobody seems to want to take responsibility for when there's a breakdown in the systems.
The only thing I can say is buyer beware when doing anything Instawatch.

What made this whole thing worse was that I had no idea I was dealing with a Marketplace seller until things didn't work right. If I could permanently hide or disable the Walmart Marketplace sellers on Walmart.com I would but that doesn't appear to be an option...

In the end, Vudu finally made it up to me but it took me coming to my wits end before the issue was elevated high enough to get someone who understand how frustrated I was...It took 8-9 days before I would consider being in touch with anyone at Vudu who seemed to care. That is just too long for a "Instawatch" experience...Vudu or Walmart need to have more folks on deck to resolve these Instawatch problems within a 24-hour period.

[mjfoxtrot]

Sounds harrowing! Thanks for relaying your experience. It sounds like Walmart makes Instawatch promises it cannot live up to. I am not expecting any luck with this order and I do not want to have to make repeated phone calls. At this point, I am just planning on returning the majority of the purchases to a Walmart store (5 of the 6 movies I bought are returnable at my local Walmart.)

Walmart needs to get its act together on Instawatch. It is just flat out wrong to inconvenience customers like this.

[mjfoxtrot]

So a quick update: I sent this via email to Vudu today.

Hi. It has been eight days since I bought six bluray Instawatch-eligible movies on Walmart.com, and nearly five days since I contacted Vudu to report the problem. I still have not received the Instawatch redemptions via email.

The case # is (EDITED), and my original Walmart purchase receipt is below. As you can see, all six movies I purchased say "VUDU Instawatch Included." But I haven't received the digital Instawatch movies. Surely, this should be a simple problem to correct? The receipt shows that I paid for the movies and I am entitled to receive digital copies via Instawatch.

I am simply asking to get the Instawatch digital movies that I legally and honestly paid for.

And this the response I got from Vudu:

Thank you for contacting Vudu Customer Care.

Your Case is being handled by our highest level of support, please take into consideration that there is no estimated timeframe for their resolution, however we are all working to find the best outcome for our clients. As soon as a solution is found you will be contacted through email. We thank you in advance for your patience.

I have to say, that is a response of mind-boggling corporate disinterest. Telling a customer that there "is no estimated timeframe" for a resolution is basically telling your customer that the company has no real intention to resolve the issue, despite having received clear documentation that the company did not deliver on what you paid for.

Pretty simple situation: Company sells something. Company doesn't provide customer with what it sold them. Company won't acknowledge its responsibility.

Not a good business model.

[lujan]

I gave up on Instawatch almost from the very first day it was available because of all the problems associated with it.

160 UHD
836 HDX
3 SD

[gamescan]

So a quick update: I sent this via email to Vudu today.

Hi. It has been eight days since I bought six bluray Instawatch-eligible movies on Walmart.com, and nearly five days since I contacted Vudu to report the problem. I still have not received the Instawatch redemptions via email.

The case # is (EDITED), and my original Walmart purchase receipt is below. As you can see, all six movies I purchased say "VUDU Instawatch Included." But I haven't received the digital Instawatch movies. Surely, this should be a simple problem to correct? The receipt shows that I paid for the movies and I am entitled to receive digital copies via Instawatch.

I am simply asking to get the Instawatch digital movies that I legally and honestly paid for.

And this the response I got from Vudu:

Thank you for contacting Vudu Customer Care.

Your Case is being handled by our highest level of support, please take into consideration that there is no estimated timeframe for their resolution, however we are all working to find the best outcome for our clients. As soon as a solution is found you will be contacted through email. We thank you in advance for your patience.

I have to say, that is a response of mind-boggling corporate disinterest. Telling a customer that there "is no estimated timeframe" for a resolution is basically telling your customer that the company has no real intention to resolve the issue, despite having received clear documentation that the company did not deliver on what you paid for.

Pretty simple situation: Company sells something. Company doesn't provide customer with what it sold them. Company won't acknowledge its responsibility.

Not a good business model.

This is part-and-parcel for Vudu.

Instawatch should be instant (more or less).

When it works, it's great. When it fails, Vudu CS has no idea what to do except "escalate" and tell you to "check back in a week."

The only real solution to Instawatch issues is to get the attention of a forum mod here and have them help. Regular CS has no ability to do anything.

Or, if you are near a Walmart store, try a return and rebuy.

[mjfoxtrot]

Yep, I totally agree that Vudu CS seems unable to deal with Instawatch issues like this, and a forum moderator is about your only shot. Last night, Felipe F., a well-regarded forum moderator here, stepped up to the plate and totally solved my problem. All the Instawatch movies I paid for are now in my Vudu account, thanks to him.

This is the second time Felipe has completely solved a problem that I was having, after customer service failed miserably. I hope Vudu management understands what a terrific employee they have in Felipe. He ought to be coordinating customer service training for the rest of the Vudu/Walmart employees.

[B2Net]

I hope Vudu management understands what a terrific employee they have in Felipe. He ought to be coordinating customer service training for the rest of the Vudu/Walmart employees.

Agree

[lujan]

+1

160 UHD
835 HDX
3 SD

[jeremymc7]

I bought or tried buying well over 100 InstaWatch titles. More than half of them were problematic. Not redeeming, not redeeming until disc street date (no early watch), no emails, titles that were InstaWatch and not labeled as such, titles not instawatch but labeled as such. Working with customer support was a pain the... All the screen prints, all the emails, all the time wasted.

The alternative Disc + Digital program while not perfect either is WAYYYYYY better.

I gave up on InstaWatch out of sure frustration long ago.