Cinema Paradiso www.cinemaparadiso.co.uk Reviews
Latest Reviews
★☆☆☆☆
“SCAM”
Written on: 13/05/2013 by Onegiftedguy (2 reviews written)
I didn't receive any dvd's, and they still took my money. What a joke (read more)
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★☆☆☆☆
“Unfortunately Cinema Paradiso is an operation who are...”
Written on: 26/03/2013
Unfortunately Cinema Paradiso is an operation who are well known for delaying DVDs or otherwise manipulating customers in order to extend billing periods. Please avoid. In contrast, we have had reliable and acceptable service from Lovefilm, which makes them worth using instead. (read more)
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★☆☆☆☆
“Terrible Terrible Service”
Written on: 15/03/2013 by simevo
The selection of films offered are good, trying to have them delivered is the problem. I have had an endless list of issues with Cinema Paradiso, largely centered around their incompetence at delivering discs. Not surprisingly there was no issue during my month trial period, but once the payments started, so did the problems with them delivering discs. I have raised this with them on several occasions and i got a generic letter back to blame Royal Mail, dated 5 months ago to say there had... (read more)
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★★★★★
“Good Value and great for foreign films”
Written on: 10/02/2013 by KmanIslands (1 review written)
After spending 6 months in France, I was keen to continue watching French films in the UK so that my language skills didn't deteriorate too badly. I was initially a little put off after reading reviews on here, but after biting the bullet and going for it, (Other mainstream providers like Lovefilm have a godawful selection of foreign films, so it wasn't really an option), I'm glad to say that I'm a happy customer and have been blown away by their customer service as well. As I've had... (read more)
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★★★★★
“The best dvd and blu-ray rental company”
Written on: 13/01/2013
Cinema Paradiso definitely has the best selection of titles in the UK especially World Cinema. I have tried all services out there and I am sticking with Cinema Paradiso. For the last 4 years I have been using them, I’ve rented over 500 discs and have never experienced any problems. Sometimes their turn around was slow and I found out that it actually was the Royal Mail who was late delivering titles to them. I also agree with the people who left feedback on their website: "keep doing what... (read more)
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★☆☆☆☆
“Don't waste yout time”
Written on: 08/01/2013
I've actually used cinema paradiso for a while, range of films was good especially world cinema, turnaround was ok. Recently I got a free 12 month online subscription to Lovefilm so 3 months ago I tried to cancel my subscription with cinema paradiso. Lovefilm online has a terrible selection of films so in truth I probably would have gone back to cinema paradiso but definitely not now. It's been three months and they are still charging my account, each time they say I have not cancelled it.... (read more)
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★☆☆☆☆
“Was a loyal customer, now will never use them again.”
Written on: 08/01/2013
I have been off and on a customer of Cinema Paradiso for well over 7 years and in the past found them to be a good service with quick turnaround times. After taking a year out to use Netflix I returned to Cinema Paradiso to catch up on some more recent releases and other titles unavailable on Netflix, and to be completely honest I was really shocked at how badly the service had deteriorated. Getting popular titles was a long wait, in the 2 months I was back with Cinema Paradiso I only... (read more)
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★★☆☆☆
“do not use!!!!”
Written on: 15/12/2012 by unhappycustomer151212 (1 review written)
I should of looked up these reviews before I decided to do a 14 free trial - they have taken money out of my account today when I cancelled in time and they take almost a week to show dics as returned - dishonest and poor service - keep away!!!!! (read more)
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★☆☆☆☆
“never have films I want”
Written on: 26/09/2012 by Django33
worst film rental company out there, never had any of my priority movies, to get films had to resort to only having one on waiting list and still had to wait 2 weeks. gone back to Lovefilm who've improved greatly (read more)
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★☆☆☆☆
“Beware of Cinema Paradiso!”
Written on: 15/05/2012
The company has a policy of claiming disks have not arrived back during the free trial period, thereby allowing them to bill you at the end of the trial period. (read more)
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Showing 1 - 10 of 45 Reviews
★☆☆☆☆
“Genius!!!”
Written on: 04/05/2012
I'm currently on a trial with them (3 disks at home, unlimited). I have noticed the slow turnaround time and politely enquired why that's happening. this is the response I got: "Thank you for contacting Cinema Paradiso. Our system operates on fair use policy and it aims to ensure a balanced experience for our members. In other words our system gives priority to members who do not rent high number of DVDs. The system takes into consideration your overall renting history and allocates DVDs... (read more)
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★☆☆☆☆
“Avoid like the plague - tricks and don't reply”
Written on: 24/04/2012
During paid membership, can't fault speed of turnaround but movie bank tiny. Before end of paid month 2 (also month 1) when I intended to cancel, they delayed sending out by unexplained days then even though I posted straight back to them and cleared my list, they claim not to have received for days after. The problem being I sent a friends accounts discs back same day and they then received mine which I marked the case with UV pen I emailled to ask why my account has a negative balance... (read more)
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★★★★★
“Good reliable service”
Written on: 15/02/2012 by ACS2K (1 review written)
I've been with cinema paradiso for four years now after leaving Love Film. I have found the service very reliable, discs are sent out promptly and any problems I've ever had have been rectified immediately. I particularly like their large range of arthouse and world cinema. All in all, a good service and a fair price. (read more)
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★☆☆☆☆
“scams!!! taking money every month wthout sending any dvds!”
Written on: 07/02/2012 by lyndseyw
do not sign up with Cinema Paradiso!! This company will take your money from you every month without sending any dvd's!! I am absolutely discusted with their services and thier lies!! When calling them they say they will get someone to call you back but they dont!! They recognise the fact they are taking the money without sending DVD's! Theyre excuses are that you haven't selected any more dvd titles! I will be doing something abou this as i am appauled! (read more)
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★☆☆☆☆
“Basically a group of crooks”
Written on: 21/07/2011 by CLHS (3 reviews written)
I didn't receive either of the two DVDs that Cinema Paradiso sent to me. After reporting them missing, I was sent a replacement for one, but not the other. Within the first two months another two discs were not sent out to me. Entirely frustrated at paying for a service that I was not being provided, I cancelled my account. Almost three months later, £80 was debited from my bank account (4 x £20) by Cinema Paradiso, completely unexplained, and without any notification or justification.... (read more)
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★★★★☆
“The selection of films on offer is outstanding. I have...”
Written on: 13/05/2011 by david2dec (1 review written)
The selection of films on offer is outstanding. I have an interest in some quite niche areas of film: Latest Releases, Rental Package 1-6, Gift Subscription and having functionality to watch trailers. Everything I have looking for has been available here & one thing which I personally like is 30 days free trail period for which £4.89 per month is not too much. I could not get this range from any other film rental service. (read more)
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★☆☆☆☆
“I returned a DVD, they said I didn't, I e-mailed them...”
Written on: 27/04/2011
I returned a DVD, they said I didn't, I e-mailed them for a contact number to discuss the matter, and they didn't have one. They issued a demand through a debt recovery company and I have just paid the final demand of £43. All this from a £6 trial, never again. A phone number would've helped to resolve the matter, I notice they now have one; hopefully this is a step in the right direction for other disheartened customers. (read more)
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★★★★★
“I have tried and tested this service number of times...”
Written on: 11/02/2011
I have tried and tested this service number of times in the past and there has been a vast improvement in the operational management and customer service since they first started. The best thing about Cinema is that they will reward loyal customers. But if you don't stick around long enough you'll never know. (read more)
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★☆☆☆☆
“Do not use this company !!!!!! ”
Written on: 14/01/2011 by Dirtypotatoes (4 reviews written)
Do not use this company !!!!!!
I got a special Offer of 3 Months for £6 for one DVD at a time. The only trouble is it takes 5-7 day to get a new DVD after you've returned the last one. In the last month I've only had one DVD. I cancelled my membership and sent sent my last DVD back with proof postage and guess what, they say they didn't get the DVD till 4 days later and billed my for a another month at just under £10.
A Special Offer is only a Special Offer if you received what your...
(read more)
★☆☆☆☆
“I purchased a groupon voucher (£15) for cinema...”
Written on: 13/01/2011
I purchased a groupon voucher (£15) for cinema paradiso back in October 2010 which gave me three months of one DVD at a time (usually £10 a month) rental. Overall I was fairly happy with their service (quick and usually received one of my top 5 picks) until it came to cancelling my account at the end of my three month groupon period (10th Jan). I returned my last rental on the 5th Jan and they gave me until 12th Jan before they automatically took the next months payment (thanks paradiso!),... (read more)
Visit cinemaparadiso.co.ukDirtypotatoes's Comment
Written on: 14/01/2011
I found this review very helpful because... the same thing happened to me. This is a company in trouble.
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Showing 11 - 20 of 45 Reviews
★★★★★
“All in all a good service, good selection of films, no...”
Written on: 20/12/2010 by Account1
All in all a good service, good selection of films, no probs at all.
Would recommend them.
(read more)
★☆☆☆☆
“Pros: ”
Written on: 13/12/2010 by stefanaalten (1 review written)
Pros:
- Good selection of films (matched by Lovefilm though, so not a USP in my opinion). Liked the various lists prepared - film festival award winners, etc.
- Easy to use site.
Cons:
- Slow turnaround. I had hoped for a weekly service (return one batch on Monday, receive next batch by Friday, to watch over the weekend) but that is proving to be the optimistic scenario. Their T&Cs refers to a "5 business days" time lag which in practice comes down to more than a week and makes the "batch...
(read more)
Stefanaalten's Response to stefanaalten's Review
Written on: 13/12/2010
After I placed my "cancellation request" they offered me a free week and I'm giving them another shot, accepting that my experience may have been impacted by the slow postal service due to bad weather.
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Dirtypotatoes's Response to stefanaalten's Review
Written on: 14/01/2011
Same happened to me. My tip for everyone don't use a company that doesn't have a telephone number on its web site.
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★★★★☆
“Signed up for a cheap offer (3 months for £6) before...”
Written on: 05/11/2010 by arewenotben (3 reviews written)
Signed up for a cheap offer (3 months for £6) before reading the reviews here, which would have probably put me off, but glad they didn't. Had no problems at all getting new DVDs and always recognised as received the day after. Like with any rental service, if you only have 10 brand new releases on your list you're not going to get much joy but if you have a good number then you'll be fine. No complaints so far and may look into extending my membership after the offer has ended. (read more)
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★☆☆☆☆
“I had a trial run with cinemparadiso about three years...”
Written on: 29/06/2010
I had a trial run with cinemparadiso about three years ago and wasnt that impressed due to the lack of top titles being allocated, poor customer service and the fact they stiffed me for months rental fee despite returning my disks back with 3 days to spare. I got a recommendation from a friend who has been with them for a over a year who said that they were much better so I gave them another go. I wish I had not bothered. They dispatch and turn around times are generally good but I suffered... (read more)
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★☆☆☆☆
“I emailed Cinema Paradiso asking for reprieve on a DVD...”
Written on: 21/05/2010
I emailed Cinema Paradiso asking for reprieve on a DVD that was returned one day late because I was stuck out of the country due to the volcanic ash disruption. Got a robotic email back saying that they would not give me a refund but would allow me to use the month I paid for. I tried to accept their offer (as I have no choice), but then they just sent me a barely altered version of the robotic original email. Responded to that to tell them *again* to activate my account, but haven't... (read more)
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★☆☆☆☆
“NEVER USE THIS COMPANY ”
Written on: 16/05/2010
NEVER USE THIS COMPANY
I tool out a free trial with them, the second week they emailed me to say the films I'd sent back hadn't been sent back. Concerned that their return system was not good I tried to cancel my membership, but they won't cancel it, they still take money from my bank 3 months on. My bank says they can't do anything about it because I have no proof that I returned the dvds. I seem to be caught into paying them £10 each month for the rest of my life. I only gave 1 star...
(read more)
Guest's Comment
Written on: 27/05/2011
Why don't you cancel your direct debit? What are they going to do?
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★☆☆☆☆
“cruddy site. cruddy service. never get the movies you...”
Written on: 14/05/2010
cruddy site. cruddy service. never get the movies you want. I stayed 2 months after the free trial and that was all the punishment i could take. now with tesco DVD and get at least five top titles a month with CP i got no top titles. (read more)
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★★★★★
“I am working for Cinema Paradiso and would like to...”
Written on: 08/05/2010
I am working for Cinema Paradiso and would like to respond to a few issues that some of you have experienced.
Firstly, regarding the voting system, it has always worked correctly. However it needed 24 hours to replicate votes across all systems which means that results were not shown immediately on the website. This has now been changed so votes are instantly propagated across all systems.
With regards to our search engine, recently this was completely redeveloped to tackle some of the...
(read more)
Flanakin00's Comment
Written on: 24/10/2012
I have got problems with cinema paradiso, and have sent 5 emails, not 1 reply except when I cancelled my subscription, even then I got a robotic email, I asked again and again for someone to contact me, and I'm still waiting, not impressed.
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Flanakin00's Comment
Written on: 24/10/2012
I have tried to email cinema paradiso 5 times, no one gets back to me, once I cancelled my subscription I got a robotic email, which asked if it answered any queries I had, I replied no it didn't, and emailed again and again, still waiting for a reply, terrible customer service, in fact non existent.
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★★★☆☆
“I've been with Cinema Paradiso for quite and while and...”
Written on: 10/04/2010
I've been with Cinema Paradiso for quite and while and seen the level of service deteriorate quite badly, to the point that I have now left to join another DVD rental company.
Customer Service: The customer service had been quite good though over the past six months its been fairly poor. I don't often have reason to contact customer service though when I do I expect the courtesy of a reply, which they more often than not fail to do. Also when you get a reply from customer service you get...
(read more)
★★☆☆☆
“Had exact same issues as other reviewers. ”
Written on: 28/03/2010
Had exact same issues as other reviewers.
Film review system is seriously flawed.
When voting positive or negative for a review vote is not counted and when you write reviews you never get any votes. Assume cause nobody can vote for you either.
Pointless rewards & prizes for best reviews each month as you cannot vote and the same names win every month. No point having rewards for reviews when you have no chance of winning anything.
Customer help is hit and miss. Sometimes they respond...
(read more)
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Showing 21 - 30 of 45 Reviews
★☆☆☆☆
“really shabby and quite possibly dishonest service. ”
Written on: 28/03/2010
really shabby and quite possibly dishonest service.
loads of titles listed for rental though you never actual get them. i had titles on my list that sat there for the whole 6 months i was with them which never got dispatched and they were not even top popular movies!
customer service is terrible they never answer your email inquiries.
worst of all is the movie review system which is supposed to award monthly prizes for the most helpful movie reviews, though this seems to be a complete fix....
(read more)
★☆☆☆☆
“Avoid these conmen like the plague. I joined up and...”
Written on: 04/03/2010
Avoid these conmen like the plague. I joined up and paid my first month's subscription in advance and never received a single DVD from them. Obviously I emailed them repeatedly but still I was never once sent a DVD. I only had a reply to two of my emails. Finally I cancelled my membership and wrote off the membership fee for the month as just an unlucky experience.
This was in June 2009. In October 2009 they took £80 from my bank account (which I disputed) and sent me an email claiming...
(read more)
★☆☆☆☆
“DO NOT AND I REPEAT DO NOT DEAL WITH THESE ONLINE...”
Written on: 13/01/2010
DO NOT AND I REPEAT DO NOT DEAL WITH THESE ONLINE COWBOYS!! For one thing, they run their foreign business from a P.O box and you cannot contact them in any way possible except perhaps by post. The letter I received from them was written in bad English! I cancelled my free trial well before the end but they still charged my card. I cancelled again when they said my card was charged but it still did not go through. You need to go through 3 processes by scrolling further down the page and... (read more)
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★☆☆☆☆
“Their turnaround on DVDs is actually very good...”
Written on: 11/12/2009
Their turnaround on DVDs is actually very good although you often have to wait a long time to get a new title.
The main problem is that when you cancel your account, they will then say the DVDs haven't been returned to them on time even after 4 days, when they usually receive it the day after posting. Also, you MUST get a certificate of posting when returning DVDs after cancellation as they may say they haven't been rec'd and try to charge you for these.
Scammers. You have been warned.
(read more)
★☆☆☆☆
“Buyer beware ”
Written on: 16/11/2009
Buyer beware
Do not use this service from CINEMA PARADISO they deliberatley do not cancel your account at the end of the month,evenwhen you have handed your DVDS in on times so they can deliberatley charge you for another months rental and once you have canceled your account they chage you another months to reactivate it (By using there contract to screw you)yes thats a totalof £30 pounds fot 1 months rental thats you never wanted in the firsst place.
They even lie aboour you DVDScoming...
(read more)
★★☆☆☆
“Availability of top titles from Cinema Paradiso is...”
Written on: 04/09/2009
Availability of top titles from Cinema Paradiso is really poor. (read more)
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★☆☆☆☆
“I signed up for the free trial with Cinema Paradiso...”
Written on: 23/07/2009
I signed up for the free trial with Cinema Paradiso and before the trial could expire i returned the dvds. but now after two weeks I am being send dvds again and they want to deduct money from my account.
there is no phone no on their site where you can contact them and so I really feel miserable.
(read more)
☆☆☆☆☆
“same thing happened with me. complete waste of time,...”
Written on: 11/05/2009 by jim831 (6 reviews written)
same thing happened with me. complete waste of time, DO NOT JOIN!!! (read more)
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★☆☆☆☆
“Slow turnaround, I personally found it very difficult...”
Written on: 28/04/2008
Slow turnaround, I personally found it very difficult to cancel. Seriously I do not recommend Cinema Pardiso. The only company who has a good selection and a fast turnaround is Blockbuster... amazing at it seems... Blockbuster (read more)
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☆☆☆☆☆
“I started a "free" trial with Cinema Paradiso. As far...”
Written on: 04/12/2007 by marosc (1 review written)
I started a "free" trial with Cinema Paradiso. As far as I am aware it took a few days for the DVDs to even be dispatched. I cancelled the trial well before it was due to finish and returned my DVDs. They then charged me my first monthly fee. I was expecting this to be refunded after they received my DVDs but this didn't happen. When I queried this they told me that I would not be refunded as they received the disc's after the trial had finished - in my opinion this is totally unlike every... (read more)
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Showing 31 - 40 of 45 Reviews
☆☆☆☆☆
“You need to tell your readers that Cinema Paradiso is...”
Written on: 05/11/2007 by 400coups (1 review written)
You need to tell your readers that Cinema Paradiso is not a good company. I did a free trial with them and cancelled before the end of the trial as was my right. I had returned the DVD's but there was a postal strike which they knew about and mentioned on their site. Eventually they received their dvd's. But they then charged me for an extra month in which i did not ask for or receive any dvd's! I have written politely several times, they are impossible to contact by phone. Each time they... (read more)
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☆☆☆☆☆
“I am on the one disc unlimited package which is a...”
Written on: 06/12/2006 by familyguy19 (1 review written)
I am on the one disc unlimited package which is a misnomer because I'm lucky if I get a disc a week from my selection of 25 films. Initially though all was well and I received a couple of films a week and these were always within my top 5 choices. However after 3 months that changed and I started getting films from the bottom of my list only, and the turnaround time went up from a couple of days to about 5 days. When I complained about this I was told about their fair usage policy which I... (read more)
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★★★★★
“I have only been a member of ScreenSelect and Cinema...”
Written on: 13/11/2006 by winwah (3 reviews written)
I have only been a member of ScreenSelect and Cinema Paradiso online DVD rental so far, but Cinema Paradiso is easily the best. The website is very easy to use, and it has many advanced features that make the experience more fun too. One of my favourite features is the Mini-list, that sits on the right side of the window and enables you to change the order of your priority list by dragging titles around.
In terms of value, I am currently on the 4 DVD's a month (2 at a time) for £7.99. I...
(read more)
★★★★★
“I have been using their service for over two years now. ”
Written on: 06/11/2006 by gorgonzola
I have been using their service for over two years now.
In the meantime I subscribed to all the major rental companies just to compare, and I can tell you, the more you stay their customer, the better service you get. Guaranteed!
Cinema Paradiso are smaller than other online DVD rental companies, and they have much better world cinema titles.
They pay more attention to the detail, and if you decide to upgrade/downgrade to a different level, turnaround remains the same.
Customer...
(read more)
☆☆☆☆☆
“I signed up for a free trial with Cinema Paradiso...”
Written on: 05/09/2006 by Andyventsspleen (1 review written)
I signed up for a free trial with Cinema Paradiso online DVD rental, but several days later nothing had happened. I emailed to find out why? They claimed to have sent me an email telling me to add more titles to my list.
I received no such email, and it was not clear on the site that I had to have a minimum selection listed.
I cancelled, as I feel that good communication and clarity are essential to running an internet service. If they could not get this right, yet send me a reply to a...
(read more)
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cinemaparadiso.co.uk
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"SCAM" Read More
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Boris9856's Response to unhappycustomer151212's Review
Written on: 16/12/2012
I have read all these reviews and do not understand how is it possible that it happens to some people and not to me. I got this company to give me free trial 3 times in the last 3 years (sorry cannot share how to) and never had these problems. May be I am lucky? I really would like to know when you cancelled, when you returned the discs and if you got proof of posting? I like their website and service and if ever I get constant income I will definitely subscribe but would love to find out why this happens to some people