Blockbuster Video

I’m at work… myself and my beloved 8 male clients. If it wasn’t work… I’d be thinking «score…living with 8 decent looking guys 3 days a week is SWEET» Then I remember I’m at work… damn.
We get bored at night… me and the 8 guys. So we visit the local Blockbuster to obtain some entertainment. We pick out 3 movies… go to check out. I know I have a Blockbuster account… so does one of the other guys… but we don’t have our Blockbuster card. Damn. Lady can’t find us in the system. WTF?! She wants us to open another account… but they’re having a problem with their computer system… can we come back in 30 minutes? Heck no!!! Sorry Blockbuster… your $ 5 to rent ONE movie is a little overpriced… and heck no – I’m not waiting to open an account.
Do yourself a favor… go to Wal Mart or Albertsons that are in the same shopping center and visit my new BFF – Redbox. $ 1 per night for a movie… sweet! I’m there!!! I have found my new love… thank you very much! :)
Sorry Blockbuster… I will be visiting Redbox from now on! :)

Ok, so I haven’t rented a dvd in a while, which helps explain why Blockbuster has the smell of death all around its brand. I did venture into the San Clemente (Pico) store last night with great anticipation of finding the movie «Yes Man» with Jim Carey. When I walked in, the employee near the door looked the other way rather than make any acknowledgement of my existence. I think he was hoping I wouldn’t bother him with anything that required an effort.
I continued into the store and quickly found that they were out of the movie already. So here’s a question, if you make money renting movies, wouldn’t it be a good idea to have more copies available to rent?
I had my family with me and we were pretty excited about watching this movie since we saw it at the theater. Anyway, I did what most people would do, I approached my unfriendly person that avoided me when I entered. I asked if they might have any copies behind the counter that someone just returned. The response, without looking at me was, «No.» Now, I don’t really expect much in the way of service anymore, but wouldn’t this have been a nice and surprising response, «Sorry, no we are out it. That one really flew off the shelf. Can I get your name and call you as soon as one comes in? Do you want me to see if we have one for purchase? Can I show you a couple of other Jim Carey movies that you might enjoy?» Wow what a missed opportunity to establish some positive brand image and loyalty.
So, I continued to mill around looking for something else. Then to my surprise I found a copy of the movie for purchase. So I bought it. Here’s a little tidbit, Blockbuster made 4 times as much money on me buying vs. renting. It was $ 22, which is crazy, but I wanted to see it so I spent the money.
I am not sure if Blockbuster executives read these things or even care, but your unmotivated staff really blew it. I believe your existence as a business is in fact dying. That said, if you plan to work towards staying in business, you might start focusing on improving the customer experience with better training, a more helpful attitude and a motivated staff.