# The Professor at Blockbuster **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 9, 2003, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-at-blockbuster/174031 "2003-05-09T02:28:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Grim\_Beaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Grim\_Beaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grim_Beaker)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-at-blockbuster/174031/21 "2003-05-09T16:10:27Z")
Correct me if I’m wrong here **Scylla** but I thought the point was that Femme Fatale was a 2 day rental and Corky was a 5 day rental. The 2 day rental _would_ have been late but since it was Corky he was returning it was actually 2 days early. If so, your brother didn’t turn in _anything_ late. He turned a movie (Corky) in that would have actually been due in a couple more days. Am I missing something here? Also, just to trash Blockbuster… I recently purchased a previously viewed DVD only to find out once I got home that they had not removed the anti-theft device which makes it damn near impossible to open the DVD case. Gah! Took me about 30 minutes, a couple of sharp knives, and a lot of elbow grease to get that piece of !#$% open! Now I double check _everything_ they do. Grim ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-at-blockbuster/174031/22 "2003-05-09T16:10:50Z")
Did Scylla say that the rental period for Femme Fatal was shorter than that for Corky Romanov? This wasn’t quite clear, but I thought he meant that nobody was denied renting Corky because he returned it within it’s rental period. Of course, BB couldn’t rent Femme Fatal either, because they didn’t have the box, and had lost the tape, but that’s their mistake. OTOH, bringing it back on time would have saved you a lot of grief - next time it might be worth your while. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-at-blockbuster/174031/23 "2003-05-09T16:12:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by XJETGIRLX \* > … but in all fairness you did return it late. How so? _Corky Romano_ was not a new release. It wasn’t due back for a week. How was his return late? > [@](#): > > The late fee should still be considered valid, because although you did not get the movie that you wanted to see, the store still could not rent out that copy of Corky Romano either, so they lost whatever they might have made had it been on the shelf to rent while it was out late. It’s not an even-steven situation. The store lost income, yes, but it was due not to the customer but to their own error. - Rick ---
**Author:** ![Leifsmama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a698b9/32.png) [@Leifsmama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leifsmama)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-at-blockbuster/174031/24 "2003-05-09T17:15:51Z")
Gaaah, this is precicely why I do not patronize Block Buster and haven’t for over 10 years. I quit going the day I recieved a “collection notice” for $50 on a movie I hadn’t ever seen, let alone rented. Aside: I told this to a Hollywood Video manager once and he replied that his best advertisement was Block Buster themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Frank\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Frank\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank_2)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-at-blockbuster/174031/25 "2003-05-09T17:47:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Grim\_Beaker \* > \*\*Correct me if I’m wrong here **Scylla** but I thought the point was that Femme Fatale was a 2 day rental and Corky was a 5 day rental. The 2 day rental _would_ have been late but since it was Corky he was returning it was actually 2 days early. If so, your brother didn’t turn in _anything_ late. He turned a movie (Corky) in that would have actually been due in a couple more days. Am I missing something here? > \*\* They already scanned it! I think what the BB employees were trying to say was that regardless of what DVD was in the box, the box said Femme Fatale and that was what was scanned. Scylla’s brother was charged for the rental of Femme Fatale and when it was brought back it was late. They didn’t care what was actually **in** the box, F.F. was marked down and F.F. came back late. True, Corky was the actual DVD but that wasn’t what the computer said, and computers are always right. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-at-blockbuster/174031/26 "2003-05-09T17:53:37Z")
That makes sense, **Frank** ; they don’t scan the disc, of course. Just the box it came in. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-at-blockbuster/174031/27 "2003-05-09T18:09:26Z")
I don’t know how many times I’ve remembered shortly before a movie was due that my time was nearly up, grabbed the rental and hurried to the Ballbuster store to return it on time and, then, the very next time we try and rent they hit us with a late fee for the previous flick. And not even the same effing price as the original rental but a HIGHER one, one including a penalty. Wait… I do know how many times this happened. It was one too many. Never. Ever. Again. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-at-blockbuster/174031/28 "2003-05-09T18:12:18Z")
Same store? Or more than one? Never heard of such a thing - if it’s on time, don’t know how they could charge you anything extra. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-at-blockbuster/174031/29 "2003-05-09T18:19:16Z")
Same store using the dropoff chute outside built into the wall. Apparently just because I got it there on time doesn’t mean they’re under any obligation to check it back in on time or in some way acknowledge that fact. Nowdays we either buy the good movies or PPV. And like Scylla said, talking to the checker can be like conversing with a walnut. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-at-blockbuster/174031/30 "2003-05-09T18:41:08Z")
See, if it’s the same store, it tells me - and I’m generalizing here - that the staff there has been poorly trained. I wouldn’t frequent that particular location again. But I don’t know about where you are, but there are zillions of them here, so I’d go to another. (On the other side of the fence, I’ve returned movies late to my local BB and fully expected Some Kind of Fee when I made it back in later in the week, only to find no such fee. I can only guess they just grabbed the whole bunch that were returned around noon and figured them all to be “on time.”) ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-at-blockbuster/174031/31 "2003-05-09T18:43:43Z")
Yep, I was thinking “but this one goes to eleven” the whole time. ---
**Author:** ![XJETGIRLX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9fc29f/32.png) [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-at-blockbuster/174031/32 "2003-05-09T18:45:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > > (On the other side of the fence, I’ve returned movies late to my local BB and fully expected Some Kind of Fee when I made it back in later in the week, only to find no such fee. I can only guess they just grabbed the whole bunch that were returned around noon and figured them all to be “on time.”) Just FYI, while the tapes are technically due at noon, the computer will not assess an EVF to the account until after 2PM. It’s called the grace period, and it’s not something that’s highly advertised, but just so you know if your tape is returned and checked in before 2PM the day it is due, it is _impossible_ to get a late fee on it unless the manager manually credits one on there. Kinda blows the wind out of the sails of those who say, “It was only 15 minutes late and they charged me for it!” ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-at-blockbuster/174031/33 "2003-05-09T18:48:41Z")
Not highly advertised? I’d imagine they’d want to keep that extremely quiet, else people would just return their tapes at 1:59. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-at-blockbuster/174031/34 "2003-05-09T19:11:25Z")
While I’m not defending the manager’s pigheaded refusal to settle the matter with a simple refund, I don’t understand why the customer didn’t return the DVD the very next day. If I were in his shoes, I would have returned it immediately. Since the movie he _thought_ he was getting was due back on Sunday, he must have expected in the first place to stop by Blockbuster some time over the weekend. Why did he wait? I’ve rented DVDs from Blockbuster more than once that turned out to be so scuffed up that they wouldn’t play in my computer, and I’ve had no problem with getting a full refund. ---
**Author:** ![Winnowill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4491bb/32.png) [@Winnowill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winnowill)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-at-blockbuster/174031/35 "2003-05-09T19:43:27Z")
To my way of thinking, the fact that they went to the back of the store and found the _Corky Romano_ box that contained the missing _Femme Fatale_ movie completely discounts the “lost revenue” argument. It hadn’t been rented - it was there in all of its “glory”. Sure, it contained the wrong movie, but nobody knew that, did they? ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_E\_Dec\_Esq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/48db29/32.png) [@Francis\_E\_Dec\_Esq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_E_Dec_Esq)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-at-blockbuster/174031/36 "2003-05-09T20:11:29Z")
For all you folks who live in large cities, try the public library. I can get almost every video that interests me for **free** at ours, although sometimes I might have to wait a week for it to arrive. * * * - this post courtesy of Worldwide Computer God Frankenstein Controls ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-at-blockbuster/174031/37 "2003-05-09T21:50:59Z")
You can get it for longer, too, but I’m guessing you won’t get nearly the variety that you would at an actual store - no salacious Femme Fatale there, perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-at-blockbuster/174031/38 "2003-05-09T22:30:51Z")
Not sure how common they are across the entire US (maybe they’re only in the south), but Hastings is a much better alternative. They don’t dictate morality and are cheaper. Plus, if you return your new releases withing 24 hours, you get $1 credit on your next purchase. That adds up if you see a couple of movies. The downside is that they’re not open as late as BB and they only do five day rentals versus seven, but everything else is an improvement, IMHO. I also like that their catalog section only costs .49 and stuff that falls in betweeen lists for 1.99. Not to mention, you can buy books and CDs as well. In other words, I have rented so very little at BB that in my mind, Blockbuster = The Great Satan! :::shudder::: Oh, and good on yer brother! He absolutely rocks and the manager, obviously, was a moron. Lost profit on Corky Romano indeed. :::splutter::: ---
**Author:** ![Leifsmama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a698b9/32.png) [@Leifsmama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leifsmama)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-at-blockbuster/174031/39 "2003-05-09T23:09:19Z")
**hopefool** Hastings in indeed a better alternative. That’s where we rented while we lived in TX. There were 3 Blockbusters in town and the Hastings did much better business. ---
**Author:** ![Zenham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a5b964/32.png) [@Zenham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenham)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-at-blockbuster/174031/40 "2003-05-10T00:20:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GMRyujin \* > \*\*… > “Triumph of the Scyll” \*\* You, sir, have just made my night. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-at-blockbuster/174031.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-professor-at-blockbuster/174031.md?page=3)