Disturbing Blockbuster Situation (1 Viewer)

[Jason Roer]

1. The reason I was so upset was because the agent actually admitted Blockbuster was wrong and they were still asking me to pay for it. That was what got me so upset. I own HD - obviously, I'm not hurting for the buck and change. But this sort of thing rubs me the wrong way. I've never been so upset at customer service. I pride myself at being able to laugh it off. I think because of high stress levels right now, that's where it came from. But really - they coul dhave just offered up a free rental coupon or something. That would have taken care of the whole thing in my book. It would have showed that even though there was a glitch, they were willing to take care of the situation. That goes a long way with me.

As far as why I still have the disc - well, I cancelled the account. Then I was going on vacation and didn't have time as I had lots to finish prior. Then away for a couple weeks. When I came back I had lots to do to catch up - and the plan was to watch it this weekend and have it in the mail a full 3 weeks before I was told it was due. And I'm still going to do that. So no - I don't hold grudges, but I sure won't shop there anymore.

2. Yeah - I'm not sure. They said there was no way they could do it and then after 20 minutes of her telling me this (very mean by the way) she said if I fax her the e-mail, she might be able to do something. Who knows what she's going to do. Like I said above, she could have just given me a free rental coupon and been done with it. Instead she's wasting more of her time, company time, and my time.

3. Not sure why they allow you to cancel before sending everything back. They say it's standard to allow you to keep the films out for a month before they're due back. Maybe because lots of folks rent from them with sya the 3 at a time plan and have discs just sitting on their tables for months at a time before they get to them. The majority of renters do not watch movies like we do on the forum (or rather how I used to!). They tend to get maybe 5 movies a month even on the 3 at a time plan. It's why Netflix does so well.

Cheers,

Jason

 

[JohnRice]

Jason, if this is the second worst customer service situation you have ever experienced in your life, you should really count your blessings. I've had more than 2 far worse examples in the last week alone.

 

[Jason Roer]

Doug - thanks for that. Very FUNNY!

I know it sounds absurd, but I didn't appreciate the supervisor telling me that Blockbuster had made the error and they expected me to pay for it. That's what really got to me. I don't care about the dollar and change. It was the principle.

Oh - and Doug - I didn't post this here, it was moved from the other spot. We can still round up the townsfolk if you're game!

Cheers,

Jason

 

[Jason Roer]

Believe me - I know how lucky I am in every aspect of my life. Not just the customer service department!

I'm sorry you've had some troubles yourself and I am sure they are far worse than mine today. Like I've said a few times, I think I got so angry more due to additional stress in my life right now - I usually laugh these things off because they are SO absurd. But today, that didn't happen. Too bad - cause this one was very funny! I'm laughing now - does that count?

Cheers,

Jason

 

[bobraleigh]

i used to work for bbv and trust me , they don't care. if i were you i wouldn't let that $1.25 sit out there too long. when i worked in the store we had to send people to collection agencies over fees. i wouldn't put it past bbv to send you also. you'd be surprised how many people had their credit messed up by having a collection agency report from bbv show up on their report. it was up to the store mgr to set a cut off. some said they would write off $5 and below, some wouldn't write off any. it affected their bonus.

half the time we'd find movies had been returned, but the employees were too lazy or high or whatever to put them back in the right place.

one of the happiest days of my life was when i quit

 

[MielR]

I think Netflix has a similar policy, where you can cancel your membership while you still have DVDs in your posession, but the DVDs must be received by them by a certain number of days after you cancel or they charge you for the full price of the DVD(s).

 

[Jason Roer]

Apparently Netflix makes you return the DVDs within 1 week of cancelation. As I learned today, Blockbuster gives you 30 days. Sometimes they tell you 60 - but don't let that fool you - they mean business with the 30 day thing!

Cheers,

Jason

 

[seanOhara]

I have to say, this is a perfectly reasonable response. The point of offering discounts/vouchers/freebies to dissatisfied customers is to make sure they don't stop doing business with the company -- you've already canceled your subscription, so there's nothing in it for Blockbuster. The adage "the customer is always right" doesn't apply here because you're no longer a customer.

 

[Jason Roer]

I had told her I was having a baby soon and needed to cancel my subscription currently because we simply don't have as much time for movies right now. I then reminded her I'M HAVING A BABY! I'm going to have lots of evenings in and then I'm taking a wild guess here, but perhaps my son will be interested in seeing a whole heck of a lot of movies. I made it very clear my cancelation was a temporary status. I probably wouldn't have even used that free month. Heck she could have offered me a free coupon for one rental (which I also probably wouldn't have used)! Anything to show me they care about their customers. But that didn't happen and now I'll be using Netflix in a few months when we're ready to sign up again. She did lose a customer and a whole lot of business for her company. I'm one of those suckers who went in to return using the Total Access and still ended up spending more money renting more movies. I'm exactly the type of customer they love. In fact, they know me by name in my local store.

Cheers,

Jason

 

[Jason Roer]

Actually, I was wrong - in a way. While legally I have every right to hold onto that disc until Sept. 23rd, it was ethically wrong. I wasn't thinking of others. I should have found the time to watch it before my vacation because there are others out there who might be waiting for that disc. And they should be - it's a great film!

I'm not happy with how Blockbuster treated the situation, but I've been trying to think outside myself for a while now (just trying to prepare myself to be a daddy) and in this particular situation, I failed. Luckily, I learned from my "ethical" mistake here and won't make the same one again.

Thank you for your support though. I appreciate it. I only posted the happening of this event here so others could be aware of Blockbuster's policy and not to be baboozled themselves should the same situation arise.

Cheers,

Jason

 

[DeanWG]

I'm wondering if a simple browse through your customer agreement (namely, that thing that you probably just checked "I agree" when you signed up for the service.) If, in that agreement, it says you have 30 Days, that's the legally binding agreement you have with Blockbuster, and that's what should be enforced.

 

[Will_B]

Because it costs more than that to run the credit card transaction.

 

[Jason Roer]

I disagree. The e-mail that was sent to me specifically stated I had until 9/23/07. It could therefore be reasoned, even if it does say differently in an earlier contract, that this is an addendum to the earlier contract. Policy changes. I used to go the local movie theater all the time on Friday morning to see the new movie of the week. I always paid full price, which here in Manhattan is up to $11! Yikes! Anyway, one day I strolled on in and swiped my card through and found out I was only paying $6. Well - they went ahead and changed policy - and it worked out in my favor. As far as I'm concerned - the same thing happened here (if, in fact, it did ever say in the original contract that you have only 30 days after termination).

You have to go by what the latest information tells you. I have a written document telling me 9/23/07. That's the information I used to make my decision.

Cheers,

Jason

 

[PerryD]

I think you would have a lot better chance of getting the late fee removed if you would return the movie first.

 

[Jason Roer]

It's not a late fee that was charged to my account. They charged me the purchase price for the disc. When I return the movie, I will get the purchase price refunded to me, LESS THE RESTOCKING FEE. That's what I'm being unjustly charged for. Admitted by the supervisor, this is an error on the part of Blockbuster and yet they still want me to pay for it. That's why this whole thread was started. So people would be aware of what happened and could watch out for themselves should a similar situation arise.

Cheers,

Jason

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Jason, might I suggest you draft a letter (not an email) to the CEO of Blockbuster? In my experiences, whenever I've had a customer service issue with any large corporation that wasn't satisfactorily resolved through normal channels, writing directly to the head of the company has always yielded favorable results, for both large and small matters. I never come right out and ask for any special favors or reward for the trouble, but I almost always wind up with something regardless.

Having spent more time than I care to remember in customer service, it's my experience that people working in lower positions (even a supervisor at a call center) do not have the mechanism available to them that would allow these mistakes to be fixed. The primary purpose, again from my experience, seems to be to explain to customers why they're being charged or why it's not the company's responsibility, while hopefully not upsetting you too much. Emails rarely in my experience seem to go to anyone who might have the power to do something. On the other hand, each and every time I've written a letter directly to the CEO's office of a company, I've gotten a favorable response. I always make a point of being polite (even when deep down I don't feel like it), don't understand why I'm being charged for this, confused that the email said I had until the 23rd but I was charged now, etc.

I bet if you do that, within a month you'll be getting a phone call from a much nicer sounding customer service person who will be more than happy to work with you to settle the problem. It costs the company more money to recruit new customers than it does to keep existing ones, so once it reaches the top, they'd probably much rather spend the $1.25 and throw in a gift card or something to keep your business. Financially speaking, it's smart business for them. If you're pissed off and stop shopping there, chances are you're going to tell people, and they might lose a couple extra people. On the other hand, if they throw you a bone, you're more likely to continue doing business with them and also likely to share your overall experience with other people. They'd rather have you telling your friends that even though the company did make an error that they more than made up for it, instead of telling your friends that the company sucks and doesn't care about their customers.

Blockbuster Online is by credit card subscription only, correct? The bottom line, at least for me, is that you don't EVER want unauthorized or inappropriate charges to be put on your credit card. When you provide someone with that number, you're signing up for a specific service or sale and authorizing them to bill you accordingly. You place a certain trust in them, and you expect them to honor that. You could also fight it with your credit card company, but I'd go that way only as a last resort. In your case, when you canceled your account, Blockbuster sent you an email clearly stating what was required of you to close out your account without further financial obligation. You've followed their email and done what they've asked. The last email sent directly in response to your cancellation request should supersede any and all previous agreements you may have signed up for.

Generally when things like this happen, companies get away with it because a lot of people aren't looking that close at their bill, or they figure it's not worth arguing over a dollar. But anytime someone puts an unauthorized charge on my card, be it for one dollar or one hundred, I take it extremely seriously.

 

[Jason Roer]

As do I. Thank you for your thoughtful and well written comments. That was the plan. The first step was to fax over the e-mail as requested by the supervisor I had on the phone. I did that today and we'll see how she responds. If she continues to tell me there is nothing she can do, I will follow your course of action.

Cheers,

Jason

 

[King Jeff]

Trust me, Netflix is better, I've had both.

 

[Jason Roer]

Yeah, I have too. And now, when we have the time to sign up again, we're definitely going back to Netflix.

Cheers,

Jason

 

[JohnRice]

OMG folks. Yes, Blockbuster is one among a long list of companies which can have incredibly crappy CS. No, they don't really care if one individual customer becomes so annoyed. They are so big they can't see customers anymore, and they are far from alone in it. Yes, it is remarkable now little a CS rep has to do in order to turn a negative into a positive. My guess is that even if they explained that the system doesn't allow them to credit the restocking fee, but in exchange give you a free rental, odds you would be fine with it, it would save them time, which costs more than the $1.25 and doesn't really cost them a cent. They just don't care, so they don't make the effort or give it a second thought.