British Film Institute Reviews 36

The BFI Player app is appalling. There are different versions. The computer and mobile phone version has a watchlist . The Amazon fire stick and my TV one does not have a watchlist. This means you need to with look on the computer or just remember what you want to watch. When on the Amazon stick if you do a search for a film but then want to return to the main menu you can't. It gets stuck between the film you searched for and the search menu. This means you have to go into the app library on the stick and force stop for it to refresh to the main menu. None of the versions have a 'continue watching' list either. It is too hard work and I won't be renewing.

I tried to book for an event but my experience was a complete disaster in every way. First of 3 lots of tickets disappeared when I'd chosen them so the seats were getting further back. My payment card kept being declined for some reason, only clue was something about 3D authentication failing then it took me to a faulty server page each time. I tried on two other devices and it was the same. Booking instructions were also as clear as mud and selecting seats often brought up 1 instead of 2. I tried phoning the box office but they never answered. I told my friend and a bit later on he managed to get the seats but by phone only. I honestly don't know who manages to book up online! Complete sham and the booking process should be revised

Disappointing. Limited films and keep trying to charge you for more. Also you can’t use it abroad. What’s the point?

Rather foolishly I paid up front for a year's subscription to BFI player. I imagined the site would, at least, have a comprehensive database of directors and their films, something like MUBI, even if they weren't available to watch. But no. It's hugely disappointing and a regrettable purchase on my part. It's the 'British' Film Institute - but without substance.

Was given a year's subscription as a birthday present. A year later haven't managed to stream one film despite having a good TV that had multiple streaming services on it. The customer support is there but they haven't managed to solve the issue of me not being able to play films. I have hand written them a letter asking for a refund for my friend as it's been a useless gift to me.

Subscribed to BFI for a year- will run out at end of 03/24 and haven't watched a film yet. Doesn't play and the customer help (they reach out to you!!) just come back with computer speak about providers, systems, security blocks - piffle. I am pretty sure they want people just to pay to view and rent. Haven't heard anything about a refund.... I would like to reach out and grab it back!!

I wish I had read earlier reviews before ordering! I ordered a dvd as it was showing as in stock on their website and the site said orders are normally despatched within 48 hours. Money was taken and it said "processing" in the orders section. However a week later it had still not been despatched so I emailed to find out what was happening. No reply to the email or reminders so I sent a cancellation email under Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 on 27 November. Again no reply but today 1 December received an email saying the dvd had been despatched - 4 days after they were told the order was cancelled!!

Update 15 December - still not a single reply from BFI (other than one automated email acknowledgement - which proves they did receive my cancellation request!) and still no refund following cancellation of the order.

We bought a film and it wouldn't play - no error code, just..nothing. There was no chat assistance so we emailed but never heard anything back and our money was lost. I wanted to use them over Amazon etc but if it doesn't work and the customer service is non-existent then it's a waste of time.

Subscribed for a year as a treat to myself. Contacted them within the free trial period to say I hadn't been sent the link to allow me to watch. They asked me various questions (which I now can't remember) and asked for further info, which I sent. Got a message to say they were dealing with it. Heard nothing for two or three weeks and contacted them again. They said they weren't the right department and they would pass it on. In the meantime they took my annual subscription. I never heard from them again. So £35 had been taken from me under false pretences. I cannot remember ever dealing with a more useless organisation. I suggest you don't go anywhere near them

I like to use smaller companies when possible, but these kinds of experiences always make me doubt that personal policy.

I made a pretty big order early August. I received an immediate notification that it would take 7-10 business days to process, because they didn't have two of the movies. So, after three weeks or so, I asked them about this. It took them days to response and they only replied that they were still missing one of the films.

So, I waited another three weeks or so and then asked again, admittedly in a quite snarky way. They took over a week to reply and they told me that they were experiencing problems with a distributor, which they had not bothered to inform me about before that.

It took them couple of more weeks, after which they just decided that they would drop one of the movies from my order and sent the rest, except that they took three days to actually send it (based on tracking data) and they took several more days to refund me for the missing movie. And guess what? They are still selling that movie they told me they couldn't get on their website. Are they actively seeking to make things complicated for themselves?

So, It's now two and a half months later. I paid for customs just yesterday, so I'm hoping to get the actual package soon. And their communication throughout this has been horrible. It would seem that the whole process is horribly mismanaged. It would also appear that their shopfront doesn't reflect what they actually have on hand.

Again, I would love to be able to support these smaller shops, but this place just isn't it.

I had a subscription through Amazon, cancelled it but then noticed I was still paying for it. When I contacted BFI I was told that I then had to cancel it through the BFI player. This was not made clear and meant that I was paying for a service I could not access and believed I was no longer subscribed to. Customer service was also very poor

Bought a blu ray was sent a dvd. When I contacted was told to send back dvd in a prepaid envelope and a blu ray would be sent. Still waiting weeks later and emails being ignored. Avoid this site at all costs seems to be either useless or plain fraudsters.

Took advantage (or thought I was) of a 2 week free subscription to watch some interesting movies over Christmas. From my first attempt an error appeared and I couldn't watch anything. Then I realised you have to use the special BFI player to view the movies but that didn't work either. Today I tried again and an error came up saying I wasn't in the UK (when I was). This time I contacted the chat support. Very nice person to help me out but it was way too complicated - Mac hides your IP address or something - spent a while doing diagnostics with them but it still didn't work. Don't know why BFI trying to make their player like fort know when I can see iPlayer, Netflix and Amazon etc on any device. Really disappointing. If they had been upfront about all their requirements I would not have wasted my time trying to join up. Don't waste your time either is my advice.

I am sorry to say that the slow streaming is a reason to give up.
Nearly impossible to watch full movies, instead, shorts movies (17 minutes) are running ok, no annoying bluffing.
Anyway, BBC Iplayer and Netflix are working perfectly on my laptop...
I have subscribed and cancelled with BFI the same day.
Pity!