I think the new system sounds great. The only thing that gives me pause is, because people can keep new releases a lot longer, will BB make up for this by stocking greater quantities, or will people end up having to wait a week to rent a movie they want?
Abbie, that’s very likely to happen. I’ve been working at Blockbuster for over a month now, and I’ve already noticed that Thursday we got way more copies of the new releases (to be put out on Tuesday) than we did the three Thursdays before. Like, about 50% more. It was very striking.
But then again… I don’t know a thing about whether we’re switching to “no late fees” in January or not.
blinks innocently
Well, I poked my nose into my local Blockbuster again to recheck used DVD prices. There’s lots of brand new price stickers on but the storehands say no policy has changed. Anyway it seems the price range is currently $10-$18(CDN), so I’ll accept BBV’s press release at face value.
I always thought that late fees were fair, but problematic from a customer relations standpoint. This policy seems like a bad move to me revenue wise for BBV but maybe their test markets are right- this is the incentive people need to start mass buying DVDs. I honestly wish them luck.
Hey, they have a business to run, they can’t rent something if you’re using it as a goddamned coaster for your glass of Kool-Aid. If you’re that lazy that you can’t return a movie within a week that’s you’re problem.
When you have to fight your local video about rewind fees on a fucking DVD like I have, then you have something to bitch about.
I’m amazed that we’re 3 pages into this thread, and no one has tried to make this point.
It’s as I feared - I’m talking to myself here. 
Sorry, it was sarcasm on my part.
:smack:
Sorry, it was being whooshed on my part.
Twice in one thread. Time to go to bed.
Well my local Blockbuster did in fact come up with a diabolical master plan to increase the profits. It changed the due time from midnight to noon.
Before this change: no late fees from the Cicada household, ever.
After this change: always late fees, because noon is just not a good time, okay?
Once I saw the movie sitting there, it’s due back on Wednesday, it’s Wednesday, I figure I’ll drop it when I pick up the kid from school–and then I realize, nope, he doesn’t get out of school until 3:30, I’ll be late. So I made a separate trip, was 20 minutes late, got hit with a late fee, and later that day I signed up with Netflix.
Ahhh. I haven’t been back to Blockbuster since. I love Netflix. Incredible selection, no waiting in line, not much waiting ever. You can even put movies that haven’t been release yet into your queue and as soon as they’re released, they’re put in line.
When you think of a movie you’d like to see you just go online and add it to your list!
I usually have one kid movie and one adult movie at my house at any given time, plus one in the mail. I spend much less than I did at Blockbuster even before the change to noon. And they just fall right through my mail slot.
I’m not a big Blockbuster renter, but didn’t this change add 12 hours to the rental?
Christ am I glad to be out of there and no longer dealing with dimwits such as yourself. They changed the due time from midnigh to noon - THE NEXT DAY. Following the old return schedule would still have gotten your movie in on time. I fail to see why giving customers an extra twelve hours to return their films seemed to make most of them hate us even more, but that’s exactly what happened.
Yes, yes it did. It went from Midnight Tuesday to Noon on Wednesday. And Cicada2003’s post is typical of the rants you’d still get from customers.
Diabolical bastards. :rolleyes:
Let’s face it – some people will always think of video stores as Agents of Satan. The video clerk could pay you $100, pick your kids up from school, water your plants, and give you oral sex, and some people will still wonder what their “angle” is.
Logic doesn’t seem to be part of the thought process.
It’s only a matter of time before Netflix will be considered worse than Hitler. Probably for lowering their monthly fees to $16 per month. The bastards.
I think it’s perfectly logical to hate the noon due date because it doesn’t follow anything else you’ve been taught.
Every place else that requires returned merchandise expects it back by the closing time of the due date. Other video stores. Game rental places (when there were separate things), libraries, all of it. If you’re in by the close of business, you’re good.
Blockbuster changed that and promoted it decently, but not very well. There were times when I rented after the change (and I was a very frequent renter then) when I was just told it was due on Monday or Tuesday or whatever. I was not told “This is due Monday at NOON.” And it gets in your head, I have all day Monday to return this.
It also doesn’t help that Blockbuster counts the day you rent it as “day one.” You could rent something on Monday at 11:59 PM and that minute is your first day. Actually you could rent something on Tuesday at 12:59 AM and it still counts Monday as “day one.”
The noon due date gave the illusion that Blockbuster was finally giving full week rentals, but there’s a catch. There’s always a catch.
I could understand your point if it were demonstrated that employees made a point to hide the due date from you, but it’s a) on the door as you walk in, b) on your receipt when you check out, c) the person checking you out will verbally tell you the due date and time, and finally d) it’s on the door again as you leave.
I don’t see how it’s our fault if you’re having problems with following instructions, and I certainly don’t understand the furor over a company changing their policies in favor of the customer. If we switched to a revolving-due date based on an exact calculation from when you rented it, i.e. exactly 48 or 72 hours later, you can bet customers would be even more furious and combative over late fees.
Half of 16 is 8. But 8 twice is 88. 88 is, of course, neo-Nazi code for Heil Hitler. Clearly, NetFlix = Nazis. Duh.
Blockbuster employees just don’t listen when people tell them they were treated badly do they?
I wrote: I was not told "This is due Monday at NOON."
And about those lovely door signs. You worked there so you know they say:
Your rental is due at NOON on MONDAY
Not very helpful.
Ah, but the speed limit used to be 55. 88 minus 55? Clearly the corporate bastards were drinking Rolling Rock when they thought this up.
Would you prefer we went home with you, held your hand, reminded you politely two hours before hand and then paid for a cab ride back to the store to return it? What the hell is your beef? The information is there for you not once, not twice, but FOUR times. Whether you actually pay attention or follow instruction is not the responsibility of the store.
Not to get too far off topic, but you sound just like my boss who yelled at me last week because I ‘only’ recorded the information for his conference call in the public calendar, gave him a hard copy of the schedule, called to remind him twice and sent an email to his blackberry a half hour before the call. So of course that was all my fault when he missed the call because apparently all that ‘just wasn’t enough!’
What the hell do you want, seriously? What do you think would be ‘enough’? :rolleyes:
This would all be logical, IF it weren’t for the fact that what we heard ad nauseum when they were due at midnight was, “But Bob’s House of Cheese lets me return it overnight - as long as it’s in by the open of business the next day, why do you care if I have it overnight? It’s not like you can rent it out again when you’re closed!” Which, actually, has a point.
So BBV changed it to accomodate this very logical customer request. Gave you 12 more frickin’ hours to return it, with big frickin’ signs everywhere (and on the door signs, the NOON is bigger than the day. We change the day with a wheel thingy - the NOON is always there) and printed on your receipt, so even if your CSR forgot, which I have trouble believing because of how frickin’ much it was pounded into our heads to avoid cranky customers five days later until it became a thundering monotony of routine I could do in my sleep, hungover or half dead with the flu, there’s three other places it’s posted! AND corporate was very, very lax with credits when the changeover happened, encouraging us to give refunds for first time offenders, just in case they were blind AND deaf and renting movies for their service dogs.
So, uh, why would this have been a problem for you a *second *time?
Take some goddamn personal responsibility for yourselves, people!
What? No, it doesn’t. What are you talking about?
(And that you all for giving me the opportunity to vent here, which I never would have done to an actual customer. But Gawd! how many times I wanted to say this!)