Blockbuster sucks bollocks
The End of Late Fees! Big advertising blitz! Rejoicing in the streets! All hail!
So I asked the young woman at the counter what the details of this are.
Joshua: Could you tell me the details of the new program?
Employee: You still have a due date, but you have seven days from the due date to bring it back.
Joshua: And then what?
Employee: And then we sell it to you automatically, and it’s yours to keep.
Joshua: You what?
Employee: We charge you for the video, and you don’t have to bring it back.
Joshua: That’s pretty sneaky.
Employee: You have 30 days from when we charge you to return it for credit.
But hey, that’s not a late fee, I guess.
I almost want to let them do that to me once so that I can make a tidy profit when the inevitable class action lawsuit goes through.
Oh, and the “refund” you get? “You will be charged a restocking fee plus applicable taxes.” Why? “BLOCKBUSTER incurs processing, administrative and other costs when we have to convert rental product to a sale, as well as when you return the product after that sale. The restocking fee helps to cover that cost.” Poor buggers. You almost feel sorry for them, don’t you? Pitiful bastards with their administrative costs when the big mean customer makes them take a video back.
I almost left my purchases sitting on the counter and walked out, but I didn’t want to be confrontational with the employee who, despite complicity by having no intentions of informing me of the new policy without my asking, couldn’t seem to care less. And I really wanted to see Life of Brian tonight. But I had no idea how mad I’d end up.
The address, if you want to cut up your card and mail it with a nasty letter, is
Blockbuster Inc.
1201 Elm Street
Dallas, TX 75270
This company is so going to tank. Divest now.
Email subscription
June 9th, 2006 at 3:09 pm
So go to Hollywood video, and pay more than you would at BB for returnign movies late. OR, just return your movies on time.
June 9th, 2006 at 5:08 pm
I don’t mind late fees in principle. I just felt lied to when they claimed “no late fees”, when what they really meant was “renamed late fees.” In any case, I just stick to Netflix now.
June 14th, 2006 at 8:08 am
blockbuster rocks, and heres why,
with tthe no late fees deal, if you are holding a movie a week past the due date, AND you complain about them not having a movie on the shelf, its because of people like you. At another store, oh say, rogers, your late fee after the respective week you get at blockbuster which you get for free, you would be charged more money for it. The auto sale thing happens after a week but you can still return it. if you are holding a movie for 30 days, when the movie would be permanently sold to your account, it would only makes sense that you want to own it, or you lost it so you should be paying for it anyways. Basically blockbuster rocks the world of rental stores
Dan
August 4th, 2006 at 9:17 pm
I have been a Ballbuster customer fr over 7 years at the same store and I rented a movie that wouldn’t play in any DVD player but would play in a computer and it was a real hassle watching bits and pieces of the damn thing.
My so called movie experience was ruined and when I tried to return it fir a credit this pimple ass dork with a car bumper in his lip told me I could only get the same movie as a replacement and not a store credit.
He was a rude little prick and I almost fucked him up right there where he stood but I chose to wait and see what he drove to work in and keyed his shit big time and if I see him on the street I think I’ll rip that rediculous shit out of his lip and stuff it up his ass.
You give a customer the benefit of the doubt,,especially a customer who has spent thousands of dollars over the last seven+ years.
I told the little fucker to cancel my membership and shove that fucked up movie in his asshole.
FUCK YOU Blockbastard
June 16th, 2007 at 9:49 am
I have had a membership with Blockbuster Online (Total Access) for approximately 4 months now. The first month was the “Free Trial”, the second month went just fine. Ever since then, everything has been going down hill. First, we had a problem with the quality of the DVD’s we were receiving. The ones during the first 2 months were perfect. Since then we seem to have nothing but trouble, rarely do we get one that will play all the way through without skipping, and we have had quite a few that just wouldn’t play. Then, the membership we pay for is 3 movies at a time, unlimited times per month. During the first 2 months, I’d say we averaged about 9 movies a week. Since then it has definitely gone down. And for the past 2 weeks, it has been horrible. Last week, because they moved so slowly, I could only get 3 movies. Now this week, I have only received one all week. I have had to spend the past 2 days tied to my computer, trying to get this resolved. As I told the Customer Service rep in my email, one of the main reasons I got the membership was not only for the convenience of having the movies sent to my home, but also because my family and I like a lot of classic movies that they don’t carry in the local store anymore. This weekend, my family and I were supposed to get together and watch a couple of my father’s favorite movies for father’s day. I made sure the movies were in my list in plenty of time to receive them and hold on to them in preparation for the weekend. But since Blockbuster has only sent me one movie all week, I never received it, even though the system says that the movie is readily available. Blockbuster has indeed sent me coupons to drive to the nearest local store, which is not close and does not have the movies that we wanted. As stated earlier, I have had to come back and check my computer every 2-4 hours for the past 2 days, trying to get the movies here on time. The customer service has not yet given me an acceptable reason why this is happening, just stock answers that say nothing. I feel as if I was lied to with a promise of something, until they had made their money, then, I no longer mattered as a customer, the had recouped their charges and suckered me in, so now who cares.
July 12th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
Blockbuster is the worst company on the planet. Store manager Scott in council bluffs iowa at woodbury ave location is very rude. He refuses to give you his employee number or last name. He laughs in your face in the store and on the phone saying nothing will be done for you and that its your fault because they lost the movies you returned. Its not my fault of an employee stole them. They said they would look into it and get back to me. Then I get a letter in the mail from a collections agency. Hmm oh we took care of it alright. Scott should not be a manager. I was a manager of a huge corporation for 5 years. If I was the owner of that store and saw the way Scott treated customers he would be fired right away. Customer service “customer care” passes the buck and said the account was closed and I would be getting refunded. Thats not the case. I find out the account was still open even though I went to the store and they said it was closed as well as calling customer care to close it. Company is full of lies! They still have my $20 which I shouldn’t of had to pay because I returned the movies. I didn’t want it on my credit so I paid it. I still haven’t received an apology from blockbuster and I haven’t received one from the store manager. Netflix is the best thing out there. I encourage you to cancel your blockbuster membership and join a company that has great deals and great customer service. Netflix rocks!
July 13th, 2007 at 12:46 am
Aye, me. I think the world would be better served if I delete this post.
It somehow brings out the worst in people. I get “managers of huge corporations” writing phrases like “shouldn’t of”. I get people telling me off for holding a movie past the due date and complaining about movies not being on the shelf, something I never even talked about, and writing “blockbuster rocks the world of rental stores”. Note that the trolls, as usual, cannot find the Shift key to save their lives. And I have twice had to delete comments because they exceeded the R-rating of this site, proclaiming the virtues of ‘buster.
WTF is wrong with people?
My brother suggests that there are 14 year olds, who have never had to pay a late fee in their lives, actually going on Google to search for “Blockbuster sucks” so that they can stick up for their friend. This actually makes a modicum of sense, in that it explains the behavior here. Not that the behavior is sensible.
First off, for the brain-dead out there: let me explain what a “restocking fee” is in customer service parlance. It’s a way to say “we’ll accept a return, but we’ll charge you a fee for it.” That’s what it means. It has nothing to do with movies on shelves or late fees or wanting to keep a game to “beat it” (love that phrase, and I’ll suggest that some of my site visitors need to do just that: either leave or masturbate, but please, not onto this page.)
But fundamentally, the problem is that “No Late Fees” is a lie. It’s a fucking lie. It’s a George W. Bush, United Airlines, Colonial Africa, psycho-chick-at-college lie. They don’t charge a late fee. They sell you the movie, without your authorization. Then they pump themselves up for it as if they are the good guys.
It says “Feel free to leave replies even to very old posts”, but please, double think that. Are you sure you need to leave that note? Are you sure you need to talk about Council Bluffs, Iowa, which I’m assuming is capitalized with a comma on official stationery? Are you sure, you 14-year-olds, even if you’re almost 15 years old, that you need to be sticking up for Blockbuster on Mommy and Daddy’s computer?
Oh, I forgot: you earned it by doing your chores.
Back off. Blockbuster lies. Class actionable lies. This post was for me to vent. I don’t care about Council Bluffs. I don’t care about you beating console games. I don’t care about pimping Netflix, or I’d have an affiliate link here. Maybe you don’t give a shit about what I think. Then go somewherefuckingelse.
And if you’re going to vent, for me or against me, keep it R-rated. Reservoir Dogs is a good starting place to know what sort of things are permitted. Except I forgot. ‘buster won’t rent Tarantino to 14-year-olds. So try to use your common sense. But please, at the same time, use the Shift key.
January 16th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
“Dan Says:
June 9th, 2006 at 3:09 pm
So go to Hollywood video, and pay more than you would at BB for returnign movies late. OR, just return your movies on time.”
yeah that’s all fine and dandy until you’re over at your g/f’s house watching a movie you rented for the two of you, and end up having to leave in a hurry forgetting the movie. then she returns the case w/out the movie and loses the movie…now you’re out $75 dollar for the restocking fees…and who in the world uses hollywood videos anyways…netflix man…come on, this is the 21st century…we don’t have to go to the store and pay over-priced fees now, we can get them cheaper via mail.
i think the idea of cutting up the blockbuster card and sending it to the local BB is hillarious, and will prbly end up doing it