Did You Notice Something Different At Blockbuster?

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Back in August, apparently, something changed at Blockbuster, and I bet you didn’t notice.  I actually went to Blockbuster today, and rented Metal Gear Solid.  I got to stand in line behind a guy who was finding out, like a lot of people I bet, that he had “bought” a movie because he hadn’t returned it on time.  He was not so quietly blowing his top, and I think he had a very good reason.

Here is what happened:  recently, Blockbuster went to an “everything is a five day rental” plan.  This advertisement is everywhere you look.  But behind the scenes, they changed something else:  originally, you had a total of 31 days to return the item.  If you missed that deadline, you would automatically be charged for it.  Now, you only have 20 days.  According to the store manager (whom I talked with after the dude in front of me left), this was because too many people had been taking advantage of the full 31 days, and they had lots of customers coming in getting irritated that their favorite titles were missing.  “So, they just firmed things up a bit,” she said.

Hmm.  In my mind this is more of the same Blockbuster-Think I experienced a while back when they basically kicked me out of Total Access by raising my rates by 40+ percent.  Here is my beef with Blockbuster:  they pull customers in with deals that are very good.  So, good, in fact, that they hurt the bottom line.  And then, when they realize that the customers are taking full advantage of the deals as well they should, they alienate those customers by increasing rates substantially, or changing things behind the scenes to increase profits.  As a customer, shouldn’t I take full advantage of a program that is offered by a business?  If I have a coupon, for 50 cents off, for example, should I opt instead to only get 25 cents off?  Heck no!  And once again, it seems that the customer is being treated as the enemy here.  Sometimes, Blockbuster chaps my hide.

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