I would like to report an incident that occurred at a Blockbuster store located at 2394 Lyell Ave, Gates, NY on October 21 at approximately 12:15pm. For starters I have been a customer of Blockbuster for many years and this is the first instance of discrimination and misleading advertising that I have experienced. I have a Gamepass that doesn't expire until 1/7/09.
On October 21, I went into the store to rent a video game. There was a white couple in front of me that also had a video game and they paid cash and were cashed out. I approached the counter with my video game and immediately Brandon asked for a credit card, not my Blockbuster card. I explained to Brandon that I have a Gamepass on my account, in which case, the game rental is free so no credit card is required. He then went on to say that it's a new policy. I asked why the couple ahead of me was not asked for a credit card and he could not answer me. I asked where the policy is in writing and again he repeated himself by saying it's a new policy. If it's a new policy then it should be enforced across the board not because a person is of a certain color!!! I looked all around the store and found no such policy! Another employee, Ryan, whom witnessed the entire situation explained to Brandon that he didn't asked the previous customer so why was he asking me and said that Brandon should just give me the game. Brandon said no!
I immediately left the store. I called Customer Service at 800-406-6843 on October 22 and I spoke to a rep by the name of Mary who was very unprofessional when I explained what had occurred. She stated that she would document my concern and forward it to the regional office. I told her that was not good enough and I wanted to speak to a supervisor. She gave me a ref#903565 and said someone would call me in 2-3 business days and hung up on me.
I called the Customer Service number again at 800-406-6843 and spoke to a rep by the name of Ann. I gave Ann the Ref# that Mary just provided to me less than 5 minutes prior and asked her if I could speak to a supervisor. She was unable to find anything under the Ref# that Mary gave to me and said that it was not valid. She then honored my request by letting me speak to an Escalation Senior Manager by the name of Yasin. Yasin took my complaint and advised that I would receive a call from the District Sales Manager later today. He said that Brandon should not have asked me for a credit card but instead should have asked for my Blockbuster card and he would have been able to see that the game would have been free. He apologized profusely about the way I was treated and said that he has heard about others being treated this way.
I am very upset and disappointed about the way that I was treated as a customer at this Blockbuster store. Not only do they have misleading practices but they can treat customers any way that want and think they can get away with it. Point blank, I was discriminated against! Why wasn't the white couple asked for a credit card I provided my credit card to them when I signed up for my Blockbuster account and again when I added the Gamepass. If they are going to enforce a policy it should be in writing and visible for customers!
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