Online DVD rental company PushPlay has discovered two trends that seem to run counter to South African perceptions; namely the general honesty of the overall population and that the SA Post Office works.
In a time when the daily media is peppered with crime reports and SA Post Office horror stories concerning alleged tender irregularities and management upheaval, PushPlay`s experience with both appears to run counter to the overall trend.
"We have been really pleasantly surprised at just how honest people generally are, especially in returning DVDs, reporting them damaged and volunteering to pay for damages. The Post Office has really bent over backwards to accommodate our business plan," Darren McLean, one of PushPlay`s partners, says.
PushPlay is loosely based on the US online DVD rental company Netflix in that it posts DVDs to its clients who sign on online to select what films they want to watch and when. No fines are levied for late returns, so a client can keep a DVD for as long as he or she likes.
A client signs on by giving credit card details and selecting a package of movies, and can pre-book movies before they are released on DVD with a wish list.
"We do have people who try and milk the system, but overall the honesty has been great," McLean says.
Once a client has ordered a DVD, PushPlay guarantees the order will reach its destination within two days and it does this through the SA Post Office.
"Our biggest problem with the Post Office, if one can call it that, is that they over service us," Debora Wynne, another of PushPlay`s partners, says.
In control
McLean says DVD rental is still a valid business model even with the prospect of better and cheaper Internet connections and the advent of more pay-TV channels on the horizon.
"A DVD just gives better quality than through downloading a movie and it also gives the user a greater measure of control over what they want to watch and when," he says.
The advantage of an online service is that anyone from anywhere in the country can order a title and that statistics generated show not just what audiences are watching, but what they want to watch as well, McLean says.
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