Here is a the letter I wrote to Blockbuster detailing my bad experience:
I am cancelling because of a bad experience in-store, and constant policy changes online. I have had an account with the Blockbuster store in Eastlake, Oh. Since 2002.
I've always paid my late/restocking fees promptly and have been a loyal customer. Over the past year I haven't been that great about returning my movies on-time because I have a one-year-old daughter, and it's hard to get out of the house. That's what I liked about blockbuster, I've kept movies a long time before, but I could always return them and pay whatever restocking fees I owed.
Today (11/18) I tried to return 2 movies I had for awhile to rent new ones. For the first time ever I was met by complete rudeness by the staff and informed I could not return the movies, that I "owned them." As the rudeness continued I asked to speak with Matt, the store manager who knows my family and I.
The rude employees informed me that he was in an interview and that they were not going to get him. My wife became extremely upset and we wanted to leave. So I asked for the movies I now "owned, " and they wouldn't give them back.
So now I have a 50 fee on my account and nothing to show for it, is that fair business practices? I don't think so. When I returned home I called the store and spoke with the store manager. While he had always been pleasant in the past, he was unwilling to budge on the so-called new policy that had been in affect for 6 months.
Why was I not called when my movies were late or informed of this policy? He told me the new policy was on the bottom of the receipt. Can you honestly tell me who reads the bottom of a receipt? He also said there were signs posted on the door. Do you have any idea how many signs there are on the blockbuster windows? A lot. How am I expected to pick out a small sign denoting a policy change amongst all of that?
Bottom line, the effort to inform customers was half-baked, and if the policy had been in effect for 6 months then why in the recent past have I been able to return movies that were out over 20 days?
Your online store constantly changes policies, charging more for less. So now I'm paying 21 a month for a lot less than I got a year ago. The blockbuster in Eastlake wants me to pay 50 for movies I don't even have anymore. So is 50 really worth it to your giant corporation?
Let's do the math. If I'm paying $21 a month for online and about $15 in-store plus $5 in late fees that's $41 dollars a month. That adds up to $492 a year. Over the next 5 years you could have made $2460 from me.
Now, I know that may not sound like a lot to a big corporation like yourself, but it sure beats the measly $50 you want me to pay. I'm switching to Netflix and Hollywood Video, and I'll never set foot in a Blockbuster or pay for Online again.
When Asked How They Can Improve I Wrote:
You can improve by including provisions in new policies that give store managers discretion in allowing long-time customers to circumvent those polices, at least once. There by not only keeping your customer happy, but also keeping more revenue flowing into your company. My small account my not seem like much, but I'm not the only one upset with blockbusters shady practices. Keep it up, and eventually my one account will turn into many.in an economy like that you need all the customers you can get, and you just lost a loyal one. Let's see what the better business bureau thinks about all of this.
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