Post# 239 - Gamefly - How Does It All Work?

Dear Gamefly,

Your service intrigues me—the ability to rent videogames by mail, rather than purchase them outright, or drive to and from a video store.  As a videogame junkie, I love trying all the new titles before I commit to purchase.

The other day, I saw one of your commercials on the National Broadcasting Channel.  Something about it stuck in my head.  Here goes.

In the commercial, a woman, presumably selected to appeal to the decision-making mom market, stated that when you’re done, you can “drop the game in the mail, and the next one arrives in a day or two.”  In a DAY or two.

I was wondering how this was possible.  Best case, I can see two days, more realistically, three (drop in mail on Monday Morning, receive new game Wednesday).  Day One: I drop it in the mail, the mail carrier delivers it to the post office where it is processed.  Day Two: the game arrives at your hub, where it is quickly processed and turned right around.  If early enough, it processes through the post office and is delivered that same day.  That’s really asking a lot of the postal service.

I’m curious.  Before I sign up, I need to know.  How are you able to turn a game around in a day?  Was the lady in the commercial a big fat liar?  Was she “going off script?”  Improvising?  Feeling the vibe?  What’s the deal?

Thanks,

Jerry
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Hello,

Thank you for contacting GameFly. We process returns and shipments six days a week. In most cases, we ship your next available game within the same day we receive the returned game. We also use FastReturn, developed in partnership with the U.S. Postal Service, to improve delivery times by allowing us to send you the next available game in your GameQ before we receive the returned game in one of our facilities.

A FastReturn is initiated when a barcode located on the return mailer is scanned by the U.S. Postal Service. This scan is then sent to GameFly to enable our FastReturn system to start processing the next title in your GameQ. Your GameQ may temporarily show that you have more games out than your plan allows. It will be updated as soon as we receive the returned game.

Shipping thru the U.S. Postal Service first class mail to or from one of our facilities is estimated to take 2 to 4 days. However, we realize there are exceptions and understand this situation can be frustrating. We work diligently to improve shipping performance and rely on members like you to help us focus on the most important problems.

If we can be of further assistance, please let us know.

Sincerely,

Jodi R.
The GameFly Team

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