ZIP Features

ZIP FEATURES added in their December 2004 update

From your ZipList on their website, you can indicate when you receive a disc from ZIP, and when you return one. This probably lets them do better planning, and gives you ZipRewards. Eligible customers can get their replacement disc mailed out quickly with ZipRefill.

Click on the calendar icon to pop up the calendar, and click on the date you received the disc (the calendar window should close automatically):

Note the popup calendar does not work with Safari, so you will have to use another browser to do this.

I'm sure the ZIP programmers will fix this before the Mac villagers arrive with pitchforks and torches...

You will now need to click on the button in this section to submit the change. Note that once you do, the "Estimated" notation disappears. If you make a mistake you can go back and do this again.

Simply click on the "Returned" checkbox, and then Update (you will be asked to confirm this return).

There seems to be no way to undo this if you make a mistake and mark the wrong disc as returned.

When you mark a disc returned with ZipReturn, eligible customers will get a replacement shipped out within 24 hours, even before the return actually gets back to ZIP. Only one extra disc is allowed at a time, so if you mark two discs as returned, you will still only get one ZipRefill disc shipped back out.

One of the stated things that disqualifies a customer from ZipRefill is having DVDs reported missing. This may cause ZIP some trouble, since there seem to be a number of seemingly legitimate customers who have had discs go missing on the way to or from ZIP. If you are in this situation I'd suggest contacting customer service. Since their is no benefit to ZIP in denying ZipRefill to customers who have experienced a legitimate lost disc, if they won't turn ZipRefill back on they are either in effect saying that they still consider the loss suspicious, or they are randomly penalizing legit customers who have had bad luck on delivery. I believe some customers have had their lost disc "forgiven" and ZipRefill enabled.

ZIP is adding a loyalty points program call ZipRewards. You can earn points in various ways, and use them for various rewards.

allows you to quickly get a specific movie for an extra one-time fee. The movie will ship out in a temporary extra rental slot in your Shipping section. The fees for Gotta Have It vary (you can see what the cost will be by hovering your mouse over the icon on any entry in your ZipList - a tooltip will pop up showing the price). It appears to be based on availability and includes:

Ready To Ship ($2.99) - You'd expect this would mean they have a copy in stock which could be sent out quickly, but I've seen this on items with very low Availability bars. Perhaps it indicates titles they are willing to buy another copy of, and which they can obtain quickly from their suppliers?

Next Available ($3.99) - Presumably this means you'll get the next copy that comes back in (or is purchased). One would assume this would get prioritized ahead of ASAP customers for the same title.

Note some problems with this. Once you have accepted it, it no longer shows any information as to the type or price - this could fit with or beside the "Reserved" column entry. For new releases, you also lose the release date, which could also be displayed here.

Also, notice that this exposes one of the problems with ZIP's ASAP interface. There is no way of indicating that an upcoming release should be marked as ASAP when it is finally available. You have to keep checking the site around the release date, and when it moves up from the "Pending" section you can then ASAP it. But now you can put what is presumably an even higher priority on new releases, assuming you are willing to pay the $4.99. Hopefully they will come up with some interface improvements to address this inequity.

As of mid-January 2005, a fulfilled "Gotta Have It" left no record anywhere - there really should be some sort of record either in the Rental History or on the customer account pages. I eventually got an invoice in my Account/Billing History section, but it may not show up until the discs are shipped, or later when they are billed.

RSVP only seems to be mentioned in the FAQ, not elsewhere. Described as "optional new service that guarantees you first-in-line-receipt of a new release title". I don't know if this is just another name for the $4.99 New Release "Gotta Have It" feature.

ZIP provides much information to the movie pages, including IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes ratings, but unfortunately does not actually link to these sites.