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Author Topic: I hate blockbuster...again  (Read 15180 times)
Susan
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« on: August 17, 2005, 10:24:46 PM »

Ok, so out of that lawsuit settlement i got a bunch of coupons for free movies and dollar offs for Blockbuster and i went to rent. I wanted to get "suspiria" and another older film and i was looking all over for the Horror section. I must have overlooked it so I asked the guy in there and he said they didn't have one, they put it all in the Drama section.  So, right next to Hellraiser is Howards End. I turn around to hunt for the sci-fi section - again, this is all mixed in with the drama.

So basically there are 4 sections: Drama, comedy, action and Childrens. I think there is a half a shelf reserved for foriegn films. Needless to say to make room for all their xbox games and movies for sale, they don't actually rent out good older movies. Back in the day you could wander around and pick up really obscure titles that nobody has heard of, the stores were constantly expanding shelfspace.

so i ended up buying Suspiria at Fry's Electronics. They're the only place that has a more extensive collection of movies to purchase. They were in the middle of reorganizing their shelves and i was a little annoyed when the guys were placing obvious sci-fi movies in the horror section and vice versa. I just wanted to shake them and say 'DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MOVIES??!!"

It should be mandatory that if you work with dvd's/movies you have to know all about movies. So they weren't very helpful in locating the titles i wanted as they scratched their heads as if to say "lady, if I've never heard of it then it can't be a good movie". I almost wanted to say "Why don't you guys go home and let me re-organize these shelves. no charge"

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AndyC
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« Reply #1 on: August 17, 2005, 11:30:11 PM »

That's been a long-time complaint of mine. In Canada, however, sci-fi and horror both seem to be lumped together with action, although there are exceptions. Pretty much any time I go into Blockbuster, I find myself looking through the entire store for a movie. Check the section it belongs in - no. The next most likely section - no. And finally, what the hell is it doing in this section? When the placement of movies doesn't make sense, it's almost easier when they only acknowledge a couple of genres.

That's if they have the movie at all, and the chances are getting less. I agree that those damned console games keep creeping further across the store. I remember when the whole thing was filled with movies. Now, at least half is games and game accessories. Funny, you can't buy a splitter or a piece of cable for video equipment, but there's a pile of hardware for your frigging X-Box.  If they want to get that heavily into renting games, spin it off into a new store chain of its own, or build bigger stores, but don't screw up the movie selection to make room for games. Blockbuster is a movie store first, as far as I'm concerned. Seems like it can't be too long before the only movies in there will be the new releases around the walls, which seems to be where most of the denser clientelle limit their searches. Or perhaps I meant the denser concentration of clientelle. Nah, I meant the denser clientelle. Ever stand in Blockbuster and listen to people pick movies? It's priceless, but scary at the same time.

Whew! Good rant. Thanks.



Post Edited (08-17-05 23:33)
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« Reply #2 on: August 18, 2005, 12:32:53 AM »

I few years ago, before we moved to the town we're in now, we exclusively rented from a locally owned shop.  They had a MUCH MUCH BETTER selection than Blockbuster.

They had the following DISTINCT categories and each was at least one BB sized shelf:

** New Releases (actually, one of the smallest secctions in the store; it had to be NEW to be a New Release, unlike BB here which has movies over 1 year old on the NR shelf).

** Drama
** Comedy
** Action/Adventure
** Horror
** SciFi
** Classics
** Cult Favorites (some dupes with other sections, like ReAnimator would be here and in horror)

** Childrens/Family
** Musicals (including rock videos and such)
** Western
** Documentary/Informational
** Foreign Films
** Employee Picks (with explanations)
** Some General Section (I can't recall the name) that just had a mishmash of good, fun movies.

Man, I miss that store.

Now, in BB, I go in and waste an hour looking for SOMETHING to rent, because I generally cannot find what I really wanted.

I've asked for a Netflix subscription for Christmas this year partly because BB has such a lousy selection.

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« Reply #3 on: August 18, 2005, 12:35:28 AM »

Ugh I'm not a big fan of Blockbuster. Yes I have an account at Holywood Video and Blockbuster but I also have an account at Flix and Pix (mom and pop) Sadly Flix is on the other side of the city.

But there are movies that I rent from those first two video stores.

But when I enter DJ's Video in Ashland Oregon, there are TONS of movies I have never heard or seen! Plus there are movies that I know like Evil Dead and Dawn of the Dead and Bad Taste. But it's also like newer movies perfectly blend in with the older movies.

GOD I lOVE DJ'S VIDEO!!!!!!

To hell with you Blockbuster and you're 80% new releases and movies that can be found EVERYWHERE!

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« Reply #4 on: August 18, 2005, 07:17:20 AM »

The only thing my local Ballbuster has going for it is that they do actually have most movies in their proper categories which really amazes me. There are many drawbacks and reasons for me to dislike the place however, but I am not going to rehash that as I think I've mentioned it numerous times.

BTW- Susan, I might be seeming to be nosey and/or stupid here but what lawsuit settlement?

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« Reply #5 on: August 18, 2005, 07:33:41 AM »

My opinion of Blockbuster has been tainted by two different events:

A.  Team America on DVD.  I had seen the R cut in the theater and was looking forward to renting the unrated DVD.  But nooooo, they only carry the rated R cut.  I asked the cashier why that was and she said that management did not want to carry an unrated cut or even the film at all.  They were pushed by the area management to stock the movie.  (Same for "A Dirty Shame")

B.  Stupid stupid stupid f'ing managers.  I already posted this in another thread a while back, but I'll do it again.  I really wanted to see The Machinist when it came out on DVD.  So, I go to Blockbuster on the day of it's release and it's not there.  I figured I was missing it somewhere among the horde of new releases.  I went up to the manager and asked where I could find the DVD.  She looked at me like I was an idiot and said she had never heard of it.  She then asked me if I had the name wrong.  No.  The Machinist.  So, she goes over to her little computer and punches it in.  She finds it in their database and says:

"Oh.  You're right.  I guess it DOES exist"

At this point I'm p**sed off.  I ask her if they carry it and she says no and that they probably NEVER will due to the fact that SHE has never HEARD of it.  Apparently the dumbass manager realized how many OTHER people had HEARD of it since they started carrying it about a month later.

The horror section at the local Blockbuster is terrible as well.  They used to have an extensive collection of horror flicks, but recently it has been reduced to about half of what they had.  The shelf is just empty now, probably waiting to shelve more video games on it.  The biggest shame about their horror section is that they had The Changeling on VHS, which is one of my favorite horror films.  This was one of the films to go when they cut back their horror section.  Its sad that there is going to be kids renting Scream 3 and such never to have seen The Changeling.  

Oh god, I'm ranting.  Can't stop now.

Then, there's the looks that the cashiers give you when you rent a film.  Usually my wife and I rent two films at a time, and quite often they are foreign films.  You have no idea the kind of looks I get when we rent stuff like City Of God/Ichi The Killer.  They look at us like we are from another planet; like they don't understand why we didn't rent White Chicks or Are We There Yet.  When you do rent something they've seen, they always give you their personal commentary on the film:

"You rented Fahrenheit 911?  You know that Moore guy is a communist." - I heard this one once.

"Das Experiment?  That's way too much German for me." - Heard this one too.

I do love when someone asks me what a good movie to rent is when I'm in Blockbuster.  Depending on the person that asks, I'll point at Kinsey or Kill Bill, just something different.  I don't know if any of those people actually like the films that I recommend they rent but I sure as hell like to think they do.  

I just wish that Blockbuster hadn't run the local Mom&Pop shops out of business.  I used to love renting horror flicks from the local shops during the summer.  Most of they had a 7 Movie-7 Day-7 Dollar deal and I would pick up seven horror flicks and have them returned within two days.  

But, those times are gone and we have succumed to the corporation and what they believe we should watch.  It's sad.

DAMN YOU BLOCKBUSTER!


/end rant

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« Reply #6 on: August 18, 2005, 08:08:14 AM »

I get comments too, Skaboi. I've even had them try to talk me out of renting some things like as if they were trying to help save me from the junk I was renting. They've since fired those people and brought in a whole new crew (there must have been more to it but I don't know) and now they're a little better but they still give the looks. I also get annoyed with them trying to sell me some kind of deal package every time I set foot in the place. I get tired of saying "no" and having them continue to try and convince me of what a great deal I'm passing up.

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« Reply #7 on: August 18, 2005, 10:25:15 AM »

Susan, I first read your post in the middle of the night on my cell phone. Blockbuster just p**ses me off!!!!! But strangely I had problems with the mom and pop store 6 blocks from me during the last 3 years it was open in the late '90s. It was just that I had been shopping there for 10 years, very loyally, when I tried to get a job there, yet they wouldn't hire me. To make a long story short, even though I shopped there for eventually 13 years (the last 3 years while also shopping at 3 great Hollywood's), they never hired me because 'they only hired people they knew'. WTF?!?

Also, the Hollywood I've mainly been going to for the past eight years has distinct sections which is great! Even Sci-Fi and Fantasy have their own sections.



Post Edited (08-18-05 14:31)
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AndyC
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« Reply #8 on: August 18, 2005, 12:29:09 PM »

The staff at the nearest Blockbuster to my house are actually not bad, but there is still one thing they do that annoys me - the greeting. It's obviously store policy for them to say hello. Not that I mind that, of course. The problem is that the way the entrance is set up on the stores, the greeting is coming from twenty feet directly behind me. My first reflex, naturally, is to stop in mid-step like a startled doofus and crank my head around, because it takes a second to realize it's not somebody who really wants to talk to me. Of course, part of me also feels kind of rude when I just bark "hi" without breaking stride or shifting my attention, so I'll often make some equally awkward manoeuvre even when I anticipated the greeting.

The one thing I dare not do is ignore it. This has never happened at the current store, but the staff at the BB store I used to use would get all p**sy if I failed to return the greeting. Hell, it was so half-hearted, far away and occasionally slow in coming, sometimes I wouldn't notice it at all, or wouldn't be sure it was for me. The snide comment (of the 'pardon me for living' variety) from behind would confirm that it was.

I mean, what to they care? They don't know me. Somebody's making them say it. They don't even have enough respect for me as a customer to be polite beyond what is mandated. What do they care if I say hello? I don't care if they say hello to me.

I'm a polite person, but I just don't see the point in turning around after I'm halfway across the store just to return a greeting that wasn't even sincere. I'd be more than willing if the store was set up so that I approached or passed by the counter on the way in, because I would at least have an opportunity to actually make eye contact. As it is, it just seems ridiculous.

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« Reply #9 on: August 18, 2005, 04:14:09 PM »

I haven't been into a Blockbuster or Hollywood video in years.  Basically I stopped going when my video collection became bigger than theirs.  It didn't take too long either.  There isn't a thing they have to interest me that I dont already own or am planning to buy at some point down the road.
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Susan
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« Reply #10 on: August 18, 2005, 08:16:53 PM »

Unfortunately mom and pop video shops have all but closed except in the lower income areas of town where they are mostly converted into makeshift porno rooms where they gross most of their profit. I used to love my mom and pop shop, after blockbuster began taking over i noticed fewer people in there and the porn room was renovated to take up 1/3 of the store. Then late one night a man approached me in broken Russian..... "meednight veedeeo?" he asked as he pointed to a newspaper clipping of a video store advertising XXX films. I realized at that moment that blockbuster would take over the world and i was stuck in a store with pornofreaks. I quit going when I rented "mission impossible" and during the scene when he's being lowered into the room i began to hear the audio quite clearly of a narrarator talking about the mating rituals of sea otters. Apparently they were struggling and taping over used videocassettes, they began overcharging and i gave up.

I used to have a membership with Hollywood since they had a larger selection of movies, but not by that much. But they screwed me bigtime when they changed their due date without any notice. I quit going. Now it's the library or i buy my own movies. I saw netflix is advertising for $9.99 a month, i'm seriously considering.


RE: LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT:
Click HERE to read more about it.  Basically I noticed they were overcharging me for late fee's. Then I got into it with an employee when they were slapping a late fee on me when i returned the movie ON TIME, I called the manager over and it got really ugly as we began arguing. Someone behind me was saying "Just pay the guy already" and that made me furious because they were trying to screw me out of money and refused to let me rent a movie until I paid the fee. Some guy jumped in saying the manager should honor the customer and I declared i was through with that store as I threw my money over the counter and stormed out. For the most part i am, i go maybe once or twice a year at most. And i'll only be returning to redeem these stupid coupons.



Post Edited (08-18-05 20:22)
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dean
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« Reply #11 on: August 19, 2005, 01:15:32 AM »


My local blockbuster is brilliant.

This is all to do with the fact that the managers basically don't give a damn about blockbuster head office.   They were a different chain of video stores until getting taken over a few times.

Not only do they have great deals [except on video games] of 6 weekly movies for AU$6 [which is by far the best I've seen anywhere] they also have a pretty tidy selection of films, ranging from a large Arthouse section [where most of the foriegn stuff is put] a small, but well maintained Martial Arts section, to the usual drama, action, horror/thriller/comedy/kids/music and a section titled 'favourite actors' featuring movies from people like Arnie, De Niro, and all the big guns really.

They also don't give me funny looks and try and talk me out of renting movies, especially when I walk up to the counter with copies of Breakdance, Breakdance 2: Electric Boogaloo, Footloose, Glitter and such combined with horror titles.  

I'm sure that if I went to rent Gigli, one would appreciate someone trying to talk you out of it, but these guys probably don't mind at all if you do, and the fact that they play great movies in store when I'm there is a bonus of course!

The annoying thing was, I could have got a part time job there a few years back, but unfortunately they needed people to work when I wasn't available and couldn't offer me a position.

Ah well...

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« Reply #12 on: August 19, 2005, 02:52:24 AM »

Susan, My friends father went through the same thing. They kept charging him for late fees when he was bringing them back on time and then they finally after aruging they gave him some coupons too.

I don't like BB either due to their to attiude. Meanwhile they never seen a movie before 1999 and think they  know everything. But they do have that 2 candy for a $1 that really helps me out when I am broke and need some sort of food.


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Susan
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« Reply #13 on: August 19, 2005, 07:10:27 AM »

Rich - at least they gave him coupons. They didn't give me "JACK SQUAAAAT" (as chris farley would say). I hate to wait until the settlement and I still feel shortchanged, it's not enough.

Rich - you can go to the dollar store and get the same candy for a dollar (sometimes 2 or 3 for a dollar if it's a single small sized box) So your money goes further there. I also hate how the blockbusters here overwhelm you with FORCING YOU TO STAND IN LINE.

In the old days you formed your own little lines, now they have a line roped off with massive shelves of crap they want you to buy. These are called "impulse buys", groceries stores do it too. They probably tell store employees to check out people slower (because frankly they have gotten alot slower since they started this whole candy line thing) so that they will look at the items in the line and buy them.  When they became the kind of company that was more about making money than loving movies, i hated them.

All the snotnose kids in there barely 19 working their summer jobs who don't know anything about film. I remember back in the day video store workers knew about films, they often hired people who where enthusiasts about film.  I even walked in blockbuster the other day and a kid was standing up from so he could give every person who walked in a speech about their movies that they sell and how i need to buy one. I told him i can buy them cheaper on the internet and the movie hasn't been viewed a jillion times.  He had no response.

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« Reply #14 on: August 19, 2005, 08:46:31 AM »

Susan wrote:

> I even walked in
> blockbuster the other day and a kid was standing up from so he
> could give every person who walked in a speech about their
> movies that they sell and how i need to buy one. I told him i
> can buy them cheaper on the internet and the movie hasn't been
> viewed a jillion times.  He had no response.


Once, one of the clerks was trying to tell me that I could buy 2 DVDs and get 1 free.  I looked at him dead in the face and said:

"That's why I have a dvd burner"

He didn't say anything after that.



Post Edited (08-19-05 08:46)
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