Take your "no late fees" and stuff em, Blockbuster

The BBQ Pit
181

That’s complete and utter horseshit.

I spent three months sorting through promotional material for my store before the switch, including tapes of the commercials that ran on t.v. (the same commercials ran in our store, over and over and over ad nauseum) and another year after that being subjected to the exact same advertising. NO WHERE in any of these spots whether print, television, or radio did they ever say rentals were extended for another day. It was always advertised as an additional twelve hours.

Just suck it up and admit the fact you don’t pay attention and are talking out of your ass.

182

I never claimed you said it was shortened. I said you were a dumbass for complaining about it. Big difference, bucko.

Your argument amounted to : “I don’t like change because I can’t figure out my head from my ass”

183

And all you seem to be doing is shouting over and over again:

Blockbuster employees are never wrong and make no mistakes!

Blockbuster policies have never once been confusing!

It’s not MY fault!

WAH!

Some people feel they have been mistreated by Blockbuster employees and policies. You can’t just stick your fingers in your ear and repeat “la la la la la!”

You are a dumbass that needs to realize that the customer isn’t always right, but they’re not always wrong either.

184

No, Justin, I think what are saying is that Blockbuster made it as clear as we knew how to do what the changes were and that those policies were in fact changed at the customers’ request. Multiple (at least three) written forms of information were available at the store, so if your CSR never told you, it was in writing three times at the very least. Advertising for the program was exhaustive, and all pieces of POP (Point of Purchase - in the store) advertising, print advertising in newspapers and magazines and verbal advertising on TV (remember that guinea pig and the stupid rabbit?) and on the radio all said “Now you get 12 hours more!”

Think about it for a second. Why on earth would Blockbuster intentionally implement a program intended to piss customers off? Even the dumbasses at corporate know that they’re not the only video rental option. They don’t **want **to lose customers. They did everything they could think of to make sure people understood the change and that the change was a good thing - a thing that people had been asking for.

What would have helped you to learn the change faster? What could have been done differently? I’m asking this sincerely. It’s confused me for a long time, because I know people aren’t stupid. Yet so many people had the same problem you did. What could we have done better?

No fingers are in my ears. I’m not lalalaing anyone. Talk to me, please.

185

Thank you WhyNot, that;s probably the most sincere offer of an olive branch from either side in this whole thread.

Personally for me, I think it has to do with two things. The first is like I said somewhere upthread, it’s ingrained in me that things are due at close on the day they are due. Every other video store I went to before was like that and I also work in a library that operates the same way. So for me at least, it’s a completely foreign concept that something is due before the store closes.

Secondly, my local Blockbuster was full of a bunch of jackasses. And reading over this thread shows I’m not alone. The turnover rate was extremely high. I had a friend who worked there for a little over a year and by the end of her tenure she was second on the seniority list.

Because of this the employees would often be seen running up and down the aisles, yelling to each other across the store, throwing things, etc etc.

Naturally, they were not very quick on the ball when it came to alerting customers of changes in the due date. And I was told on several renting occasions that Blockbuster has now extended all rentals one day. Why would I look at the sign on the door if the employee tells me what day they’re due?

On top of all this, this Blockbuster twice had misplaced videos I returned in the drop. A none-too-friendly “we will send your ass to a collection agent” postcard later caused me to speak to the manager. Both times the tape was on the shelf, still charged to my card.

Once I even received a postcard for two movies that were rented on a day I didn’t even rent anything. I had checked how many rentals I had left on a rental card, but the drone didn’t log off my name. So he charged two movies out to two women that obviously weren’t me and they decided to keep them.

This thread is filled with stories like that. Is it any wonder that some people just don’t trust Blockbuster.

Although. I have to admit that this new plan sounds like a great idea.

186

Really?

I guess it’s my bad. I didn’t spend three months reading Blockbuster’s promotional literature. I didn’t spend any time at all watching their ads on TV. Once I got through the incredible ordeal of finding the video I wanted in BB’s dazzling and not easily penetrated system (is it a Cult Classic, an Action Adventure, or an Academy Award Winner, or maybe it’s just a Drama?) I probably missed the notice about the changeover, no matter how large the letters, and the emphasis I heard was on the day, not the hour, i.e. “Thank you, it’ll be due at noon on Wednesday.”

Okay. I’m lazy and I don’t pay attention. I’d rather write “videos due” on the calendar than “videos due–noon” because frankly I have stuff going on other than returning the videos and there’s not a lot of room on my calendar.

I guess Blockbuster forgot toincorporate into its business plan that nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.

187

FWIW, at my store we wrote off late fees for the first time someone claimed to not know the noon deadline. That earned them a gentle reminder, a rundown of the seven different places that said "noon"between the register and the door and a note on their account saying that they are now aware of the noon deadline.

You’d be shocked to see how many people would use the same excuse twenty times. You’d be shocked to know we still gave out “knows about noon deadline” credits years later.

188

If Blockbuster sincerely wanted to give its customers what they wanted, it could have implemented a 12-hour grace period thus: The video is still due by midnight on Monday, and that’s what it says on the receipt. However, in actual fact you have until noon on Tuesday to get it into the box before any late fee is assessed.

That way, people would be pleasantly surprised, rather than the reverse. Just as basic psychology, most people seem to prefer that.

And note that not all customers are very regular customers. I used to rent a TV once or twice a year and watch a bunch of movies. So the due-at-noon policy may well have been in effect for six months or more the first time I encountered it. (Oh, and the last time I encountered it, too, since that was the same time.)

189

That’s a really good idea, Cicada. I had the same one, about 6 months before the end of my tenure there, before the switch to Noon due times. There’s a computer function for “Oh, shoot, I found this on the shelf and it’s not overdue after all” check-ins that credits one day of late fees on the tape. I instructed my maganers to check in all tapes that were in by 10:00 AM (open) as FOS, essentially giving all the overnight returners a grace period.

I thought, what could go wrong with this? The customers will love me, right? They’ll have less late fees, even if they really owe them by company policy. Some of them will come in, thinking they owe a late fee, and they won’t! Maybe they’ll spend the two bucks on candy instead! Hey, I’m such a great manager, I’ll do away with company policy in order to better serve my customers! (Yes, I really do think like that.)

I figured the only one who would be unhappy was my District Manager when he saw my FOS report. He’d think we were doing an awfully sloppy job of checking in movies. But I’d explain, we’d share a laugh because revenues would go up, it’d all be happy and Technicolor.

I quickly learned why I’m not a corporate manager.

The customers were livid! Absolutely melt-the-linoleum call-the-fire-department-and-DCFS l.i.v.i.d. What was the problem?
“What do you mean My Little Pony wasn’t really due back until Wednesday morning? My daughter could have watched the tape three more times Wednesday before school!”
“Dude, I could have stayed home after watching *Armageddon * Tuesday night and not returned it until I went to work Wednesday? That sucks, man!”
“This is fraud, that’s what it is! If you say a movie is due back on Tuesday and it’s not due back until Wednesday, you’re stealing that day from me!”

:frowning:

I couldn’t win for losing.

But I do appreciate the feedback from you and from Justin. It’s helpful to hear ideas, even if it’s only to know that maybe I really did try everything.

190

And that’s exactly what the twelve hour extension was - a grace period for people who wanted to turn it in before we opened the next day. For fuck’s sake, we even gave a grace period for the grace period - tapes were not actually counted late in the system until after 2PM!! What the hell do people really want? After 5 years with Blockbuster, I’m convinced that customers won’t be satisfied until they start giving the product away for free.

191

Which is why Blockbuster spent so much time advertising and promoting the new return policies. But it’s what people asked for - so they got it.

Well, after hearing numerous stories just like mine about being robbed at gunpoint, having cars crash through our stores, people threatening to sue us personally and having tapes thrown at our heads, I think I’m not alone when I say the customers can be just as bad.

[quote]
This thread is filled with stories like that. Is it any wonder that some people just don’t trust Blockbuster.

[QUOTE]

And this thread is also full of stories from customers who refuse to even pay attention to the contracts they sign when they get a membership card, or take responsibility for their own actions. It’s a wonder that some employees just don’t trust customers.

192

Eee-yep. Three years of waiting tables/managing restaurants has left me firmly convinced that no matter what you do, somebody somewhere is going to get pissed off at you for it. And that includes, XJETGIRLX, giving the product away for free. I currently work at a steakhouse. A few nights ago, a lady complained that her steak was burnt (it wasn’t), and she refused to eat it and wouldn’t accept our offer to cook her another one. So, we took the steak off her check, and cooked her another one anyway. The manager took it out to her, explaining that both steaks were on the house. The woman was furious…she couldn’t believe we had the audacity to cook her another steak after she had expressly told us not to do so.

My best friend worked as a CSR at Pizza Hut. Sometimes, he would discover after an order had been placed that they were out of the type of crust that had been ordered. If the order was for a medium pizza, and they had large crusts of that same type in stock, he would substitute a large for the order and give it to them at no extra charge. He stopped doing this after, on two seperate occasions, irate women came storming into the restaurant, shocked and appalled that my friend would change their order without consulting them first. Both of them continued this tirade even after my friend explained that they were merely getting more pizza for free. It didn’t matter. “You DON’T CHANGE MY ORDER!!!”, they would insist.

Yes, when you work in a service industry, you discover just how many annoying fucksticks there are in the world. Over time, this leads many servicepeople to regard customers in general as annoying fucksticks, which in turn leads to a cynical mistreatment of even those customers who would otherwise be kind. This then fosters a perception among customers that all servicepeople are annoying fucksticks. All of a sudden, everybody on both sides of the counter hates each other, and views any action on the part of the other side as being malicious and designed solely to piss them off. This situation is no good for anybody. Fortunately, all that is needed to solve the problem is an individual sense of awareness and perspective.

So, how about a little recap. Correct me if I’m wrong on any of the following.

Most BB employees = good
Some BB employees = evil
Most BB customers = good
Some BB customers = evil
BB “twelve hour extension” policy = evil, thinly disguised as good
Evilness of BB “twelve hour extension” policy = not the fault of BB employees
BB employees who think (BB “twelve hour extension” policy != evil) = people who haven’t really thought about it OR people who like screwing over customers
People who like screwing over customers = evil BB employees
BB “you get thirty-seven days to return the movie with a $1.25 penalty” policy = good
People who think (BB “YGTSDTRTMWA$1.25P” policy = evil) = people who haven’t really thought about it OR dipshits
Dipshits = evil BB customers

Sound accurate enough?

193

Jeez, I think some people just don’t get that because one store sucks, it doesn’t mean that the entire company is made of jerks. There are 50 stores just in Austin. I’m sure a few of them aren’t a pleasant experience. Plus, some BBs are franchises, so they can pretty much do whatever they want. Corporate are stricter. My DM comes in to the store at least 2 or 3 times a month on Friday or Saturday night,

We still give noon-policy credits to people. I actually give out a ton of credits, since my store’s policy is to make people happy. We make exceptions to rules once or twice.

There are a couple of people who’ve wanted to switch out a video game for a different one because they didn’t like the game they rented. Does anyone let you do this? We will the first time, unless it’s an obvious scammer. Then I have a manager do it.

I love the people with the movie pass who come in all peeved off when their credit card gets auto-charged to renew the pass. On every receipt we give out, it has the renew date. And it’s SO easy to cancel - I literally only have to hit about 3 keys to cancel it. And a few days before the renew date, popups tells us to remind them of the renew date. It’s pretty well designed to give people warning about the charge, in case they want to cancel. But people still forget and get all angry.

We let people bring animals into our store. Friday night, someone’s dog pooped in the DVD-for-sale aisle, and the owner just left it. Oh yes.

And as to pushing the movie pass, well, we have to. My store has to sell 50 a week. If we get that, we get perks like pizza on the weekends or getting to wear jeans instead of khakis. And last month, the lowest selling store had to wash the DM’s car. `Course, this could just be my district. Apparently the districts are pretty varied - In my district, I can wear my nostril screw, tongue bar, and keep my ears gauged up to 0g, mainly because, well, it’s Austin. Other districts have no facial jewelry or gauged ears (which is company policy). If they can change that, I’m sure they can change incentive things.

And here’s my Movie Pass spiel: (if they’re checking out 2 movies, especially 2 2Day rentals) “Do you think you’ll rent two more movies in the next month or turn these movies in late? Because that’s how much the Movie Pass costs.” It really does - the first month is the cost of 4 rentals, and after that it’s the cost of 6. If they say no, I drop it. If they’re interested, I keep going. My store mananger’s a lot pushier, tho. But he’s at least funny about it.

S’all I have to say. Of course, I’m not saying ALL stores are cool, cause I only know my store.

194

No, it’s not really accurate enough.

I mean, I understand where you’re coming from, and I agree for the most part. But my point is that I don’t see that the twelve hour extension was “evil, thinly disguised as good”.

I am completely oblivious as to how giving customers extra time without hiking up the rental fees or adding any additional fees could be a bad thing in any light. So please, honestly, explain to me how giving customers more of anything for free is a bad thing.

195

You’re really not listening…

196

Because Blockbuster was banking on most people doing exactly what most people did: hearing that the videos are due on Day X, forgetting about the “noon” part entirely during the interim, returning the videos AFTER noon on Day X, and getting smacked for late fees. Yes, they took measures – in some cases extensive measures – to inform customers about the “noon” provision, and yes, in the end, the fault for the late fees lies solely with the customers. None of this, however, changes the fact that Blockbuster knew it was going to happen anyway, no matter how many signs they put up or how verbal warnings they gave, and designed the policy with that in mind. They were essentially providing you with an easy and convenient way to screw yourself over, and reminding you multiple times that “hey, we’re doing this, so you’d better be careful”. The beauty of the policy was that it would generate extra late fees while allowing BB to claim that it was attempting to do its customers a favor. Unless BB executives are an extremely naive group of people – and corporate executives are many things, but “naive” isn’t generally one of them – they were well-aware of what the true effect of this policy would be long before its implementation.

This is in sharp contrast to the new policy, which seems designed to help the consumer in a straightforward and decidedly non-devious manner.

197

Oh holy fucking Christ on a cracker. So now they’re not only an evil, satanic empire, they’re fucking psychic too? Give me a break. :rolleyes:

198

And you’re really not saying anything with any substance. Please, seriously, tell me how from the viewpoint of the customer giving them something more for nothing extra on their part is an evil thing. That’s all I want to know.

199

Um, I know this is the Pit, so you are free to ignore this if you want, but “cite?” Were you a Blockbuter executive? What exactly gives you this insight into the corporate mind other than a general sense of paranoia and conspiracy theories developed as a service industry employee?

Which was designed by the **same **evil corporate structure that several years ago decided to come up with a diabolical plan to bilk you out of $2.50.

Isn’t it more logical (Occam’s Razor and people are not inherently evil and no corporation wants to drive customers away) to assume that Blockbuster screwed up? That they did tons of market research, asked customers what they wanted, came up with a new plan and implemented it, but it was **not **in fact what the majority of customers wanted once they had it?

Now they’ve come up with a new plan. We think it sounds better. Blockbuster is hoping we think it is better. We’ll see how it’s actually recieved in the stores.

200

This reminds me so much of the New Coke “scandal.” The idea that introducing New Coke, then reverting to Coke Classic was some sort of Diabolical Master Plan to bilk the public out of their life savings. The fact was that New Coke fared better in blind taste tests than the old product, but Coca-Cola didn’t count on the psychological power of that classic logo and red can that people had come to know and love. And there you have it – Coca-Cola was giving the public what it wanted, and did not consider the psychological aspects of its strategy.

Interesting how people seem to derive more comfort from believing that Big Corporations are evil than believing that their marketing people are fallible. But really, which makes more sense?

Anti-BB people, before you start accusing minimum-wage BB drones of standing on the grassy knoll and shooting Gus Grissom who was at Area 51 because he was on Clinton’s Hit List, please at least consider the possibility that it may have been a well-intentioned – and even well-researched – marketing ploy that inadvertantly backfired.

Or put on your tin-foil hat and realize that Enron was behind my previous run-on sentence.