Response from District Manager of BlockBuster on OAR! (1 Viewer)

[Robyn Young]

Andy--
Good For You!!!! I work part time at HV, and have done nothing but whine about the mummy returns and cats and dogs as fullscreen only. My co-workers anymore just laugh--you see, we have absolutely NO imput whatsoever. Even the manager has no say. The buying happens at a corporate level. Even then, the story I got was that it was the studios that have the product, Tell us what they have, and don't give us a choice regarding what we buy.
I'm telling you, folks, they won't listen to me(an employee), but they'll bend over backwards to listen to the CONSUMER!
Keep calling and writing!
Robyn

 

[Bill Catherall]

Since Best Buy has entered this thread already I'll relate my experience with one of the media drones at my local Best Buy. I went in last Friday to buy TPM and Cats & Dogs (if they had it in widescreen) to find that C&D was only available in "full screen." So I asked a guy there if they have the widescreen C&D DVD somewhere. He said no. So I asked him when they expect to get it. He told me they have to wait until the end of the month to find out. I asked, "Do you just get shipments and you don't know what's in them? Or does somebody actually place an order?" He said that they do place orders but he doesn't know what's in the order.

I wasn't going to give him a hard time and was about to thank him and walk away when he added, "Some DVDs let you convert it from widescreen to full frame." Remembering what I had already read in this thread I wasn't quite sure I heard him right. So asked, "What?" And he repeated it. Now, while that is correct, I have no idea why he mentioned it since I was looking for the widescreen copy. So I said, "Yeah, you're right but you can't go from full frame to widescreen...which is what I want. I want widescreen. I don't care about full frame. You can't take a DVD that has a cut-up picture and make it widescreen." Then he said, "Yeah, but it sure would be nice." By now I'm completely stumped by any amount of "logic" that once existed in this drone's head, since he made no sense at all to me. So I simply finished with, "Please let your manager know that there are many people who prefer to watch films in widescreen [I wasn't about to confuse him with OAR] and please stock both formats when available in the future. Thank you," and left him at that.
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Bill

 

[Jodee]

I keep hearing in these threads that J6P will eventually see the error of his ways when he gets a widescreen set and sees the gray bars on the side of his P&S dvds.
Wrong!
Do you really think Joe Six Pack will buy a widescreen TV and EVER watch it in "normal" mode?
He'll have that TV set for Theater Wide mode all the time (probably even when he watches an anamorphic DVD.)

 

[Nate Anderson]

"I've been all around the world and found that only stupid people are breeding..."
My head really hurts. How can people be so stupid?
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"This is not a drill. This is the apocolypse!"
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[David Lambert]

On page 3 of this thread I related a rather lengthly story about my experience with a Best Buy associate who told me "there's no such thing as a widescreen tv".

I turned that HTF post into a letter, which I mailed off to Best Buy's Corporate HQ, and dropped off a copy for the store manager on the same day. That day was Saturday, and the time was 6-ish.
I attached a cover letter, explaining the post and my feelings that the person should be educated, not disciplined or fired. I left only my daytime phone #.
This morning I had a voice mail waiting for me at work. It was from the mgr, who called at 7:45 Sat. night! (quick response)
He thanked me for the letter, apologized for the experience, said that I ought to have gotten the price break/rain check on Cats & Dogs, but since I'd missed that then he's give me the same dollar savings on whatever my next purchase was. I intend to take him up on that when I buy Dumbo on Weds.
His message also indicated his agreement with the idea that "To the customer-of-the-moment, she (the employee) IS Best Buy!". He was forced to point out that, since I could not identify the person and that he couldn't guess who she was, one-on-one feedback with that person wasn't likely.
I'm glad for his quick, positive response. He did good, and nothing that follows is meant to detract from that. Simply, he did the best thing he could have based on the letter I gave him. I thank him for everything.
However, when I see him I intend to bring up my disappointment that his message didn't indicate agreement with the ideas that A) training was needed, B) availability of choice was needed among titles stocked...in this case the ability to choose the OAR version of Cats & Dogs, C) Best Buy employees should be *pushing* widescreen support, no matter what dept. they are in, to help the folks who work in the TV dept., and - most importantly - D) NOone should open their mouths when they don't know what the heck they are talking about!
Perhaps he agrees with all of these, but didn't have time in the message he left me to get to any of them. I hope my conversation with him later in the week proves that he's looking out for these factors, and that corporate agrees with them, too.
I enjoy shopping for DVD's, among other things, at my local Best Buy, and I don't want anything to detract from the experience.
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DAVE/Memphis

MORE TV ON DVD, PLEASE!

 

[Hank Frankenberg]

Admins, there have been several suggestions that you mount a campaign and write to the executive level of these companies. Getting the studio people, like Peter Staddon, to join in would be a great strategy, and the resultant voice would be taken seriously. Please do it. Your time investment would surely be worth it. Complacency and assuming the status quo will continue as we like it are very DANGEROUS attitudes, as hopefully people in our society are waking up to with recent events on a much more serious level.
Also, there have been some good suggestions in this thread on educating everyone in your circle of influence. Having pictures of screenshots with you is the best method, as someone pointed out, a picture is worth a thousand words about aspect ratio, P&S, anamorphic, etc.
Admins, please take up the challenge for action. Members, please take up the challenge to educate.
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"Do you expect me to talk?"
"No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!"

 

[Brian Kidd]

As great as it would be for the studios to join our mission to educate the masses on the benefits of OAR, it's not going to happen.
1. The studios are never going to disparage their product. That would be foolish. They can make a lot of money off of the MARred discs right now and even more money when J6P buys OAR discs when widescreen tvs become the norm.
2. The studios aren't going to spend time or money on a campaign when it won't benefit them.
In the end, it's going to be all up to us. We can either get organized or we can continue hanging out on HTF and whining about the upsurge in MARred discs. The letter-writing campaign is a good idea. Let's do it. Emails are fine, but too easily ignored. Same thing with online petitions, unless someone prints them out. In the end, our money will do the talking. If our requests are ignored, we withhold cash. It's as simple as that.

 

[Jack Dawson]

Yes, I can attest to the option of setting your DVD player to view moives in 16:9 DOES NOT aloow you to view a standard screen DVD in widescreen format. It is simply an option to allow you to compress the already formatted 16:9 format into a tighter picture. It has NOTHING to do with the DVD format. Again, You cannot, under any circumstances, view a standard 4:3 formatted DVD in the 16:9 format.

 

[Zbigniew]

Did my part.
Went to Best Buy, fond a rack full of "Full Screen" Cats & Dogs, talked to store manager & follr rep, explained that:
1) I will not buy full screen version, only widescreen,
2) that I usually spend close to $800 /year for DVD only, not counting other gear,
3) that I will not buy in BB untill they change their policy regarding FS vs OAR;
4) called 1-888-BESTBUY and repeated above to nice layde there.
I encourage you folks to do this same.
_zjt

 

[Justin T]

I think Chad R hit the nail on the head. I think the Blockbuster, or Best Buy, guy was thinking about the zoom feature that's on some DVD players and on some TVs. My Pioneer TV has the same feature. I am concerned about this. Everyone asks still to this day why those "black bars" are always on the widescreen versions. I do explain to them and tell them that this is one of the things about home theater that's a must. You want to have as much of the theater experience (ie: big screen, surround sound, the director's "vision" etc., etc.) reproduced in the home as possible.
The sad situation is how misinformed Joe 6pack is because the very little knowledge that salespeople these days have. Do you know what it's like for someone you're trying to help to look back and reply "He should know he's the salesman!" Talk about rubbing me the wrong way! I think studios should have both versions (P&S-WS) available.

 

[David Lambert]

I got a VERY NICE resolution from the Best Buy manager for the problem I had last week, which I posted in this thread. Here's a link to the details of that resolution, if anyone cares:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/uub/Forum15/HTML/032323.html
MORE TV ON DVD, PLEASE!

 

[Paul E V]

Best Buy has it's grand opening in my area tomorrow (actually I guess that would be today as it's 1am)
I'll be there checking things out and making sure they know I'm dissapointed if they don't have WS.
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'Pioneer 'ing a new level of Home Theater
My Equipment List / Copper & Rosewood Flexi idea

 

[ChrisA]

On top of all of this, we really need HD-DVD as soon as possible. We also need more 720p/1080i (which can be converted to 1080p) HDTV programming. I am tired of using expensive scalers, low 480i resolution, etc... HDTV rear projection and front projection is now reasonably affordable, and continuing to get less expensive, but we don't have any HD-DVD format. The technology and ability is here with working prototypes to provide HD-DVD. And I am still worrying about pan and scan and 480i? We better start seeing some initiative to supporting widescreen HDTV with the release of an HD-DVD format ASAP. After all, what is the use of purchasing HDTV hardware when only playing 480i/p material? HDTV hardware means absolutely nothing without HDTV software. We need 720p/1080i HD-DVD ASAP.
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[Todd N]

...Whoa...

Peace...
One
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Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining!

 

[BrandonG]

I am going to email Best Buy corporate this weekend and talk to them about training employees on OAR. I have a very good relationship with the people that handle media issues for the company and they usually take what I have to say seriously.
On the subject of OAR Cats & Dogs, as of Wed, none of our stores have any on order, but we do have a new SKU in the system. I will do my best to find out the ETA on this movie, but if I were to guess, this probably has more to do with Warner than BB because it looks like no retailer has gotten it yet( I could be wrong). If you guys have any quick training suggestions email me and I will do my best to incorporate it into my email. Anything that can be taught in less than 10-15 minutes would probably be best.

 

[Kevin Webb]

This is truely discouraging. We need to show people what they are missing. I remember when I watched my first laserdisc; once I saw the "whole" picture, I basically stopped renting video tapes unless absolutely necessary.
The only thing management at places like Blockbuster, Best Buy, etc. understand are publicity and the bottom line.
I have not stepped foot in a Blockbuster for over three years because we are fortunate to have Hollywood Video in this area. They carried DVD's for over a year before our Blockbuster got its act together.
My advice: If you can, stop renting from Blockbuster and tell them why you are. If enough people complain, they will get the message.
OR..we can get blue polo shirts and walk around Best Buy all day educating DVD consumers. After all, it seems that whenever I stop by Circuit City or Fry's after work (in a shirt and tie), I've been mistaken for an employee

[Edited last by Kevin Webb on October 27, 2001 at 12:09 AM]

 

[Doug Pyle]

Thought I'd point out that Border's has the same problem: only stocks P&S Mummy Returns & Cats and Dogs.
The clerk I spoke to was as pissed as I was about it and said he and others email their corporate buyer that their DVD customers want OAR, but to no avail. It was nice to have an understanding salesperson -- but disturbing the corporate decision-makers for Borders was as ignorant as Blockbuster & Best Buy.
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• May you be happy and well!

 

[Peter Kim]

'OR..we can get blue polo shirts and walk around Best Buy all day educating DVD consumers. After all, it seems that whenever I stop by Circuit City or Fry's after work (in a shirt and tie), I've been mistaken for an employee .'
Kevin...that's about most hilarious yet best idea I've heard so far.

It's amazing the respect a uniform can command. I wonder if it'll get me access to a bathroom at BB...sigh, never been able to find one there, though.
Work, wonder, rest when you can.

 

[Don Peskin]

If Blockbuster doesn't believe there is enough market for LBX DVDs, why is their t.v. commercial in LBX?

 

[Chuck Blair]

"I think Chad R hit the nail on the head. I think the Blockbuster, or Best Buy, guy was thinking about the zoom feature that's on some DVD players and on some TVs. My Pioneer TV has the same feature."
Due to it's length I haven't read this entire thread, so maybe this was addressed earlier, but anyway I think what is throwing the Blockbuster and Best Buy folks is that all DVD players I'm familiar with do have a setup feature that lists 4:3 Pan Scan or 4:3 Letter Box. It's not the 16:9 setting on all players or the zoom setting on many players that confuses people. I think the average Joe feels that setting a player to 4:3 Letter Box will make all Pan & Scan discs letterboxed on their 4:3 TV, and thus they feel no need to have a letterboxed version of a title if the fullscreen version can be converted with this feature.
I also think that not only the average Joe is ignorant of this feature, but many right here at the Forum. And this just highlights the uphill battle that needs to be fought. For starters, I can't remember a DVD player instruction manual that properly explains the two 4:3 settings, so how can we expect the world at large to understand it.