No more late fees at Blockbuster!, could be worse (1 Viewer)

[MikeAlletto]

I'd bet that more people here don't shop at wal-mart because they are over crowded, dirty, product is always on the floor or scattered around, and its a major pain in the butt just to check out.

Blockbuster because its annoying having to get up and go down to a blockbuster, the selection is limited, and its expensive.

I could care less if they refuse to carry certain products. I care more about the above points.

The new Blockbuster thing is just too confusing for normal everyday folks to understand (I refuse to use the term joe 6 pack, its degrading and elitist). There are going to be just as many complaints about this new program as there is for the old way of doing things. I'm slowly converting everyone I know away from the Blockbusters and video stores and onto Netflix.

 

[Chris Atkins]

I'm not in favor of companies controlling what I'm allowed to buy. But I'm not going to complain if I have to pay a premium for product that they don't carry if I have to find it from a more expensive source.

 

[Jesse Blacklow]

I think that what Eric and Tony are trying to say is, that because so much money is made off of the larger distributors, certain films or content within those films have a harder time in terms of editing or even being made, because the studio that's producing it sees little chance for making money. That, combined with outdated morality rules on the behalf of the MPAA (like homosexual "behavior" is almost always an automatic R), scares some people into letting the market dictate their work.

 

[Chris Atkins]

I understand where they are coming from, but if you aren't doing it for the money (or the "market") then Wal-Mart probablly doesn't concern you, right?

 

[Eric Peterson]

You're getting closer, but that still isn't the entire problem. Everyone making art is doing it to some degree for the money (Especially movies & music, as they have to be financed by third parties). Now these smaller musicians or filmmakers are deemed unworthy by the megaconglomerate companies because they won't be able to make ENOUGH profit off of them, or because the content is too controversial and might scare off 0.5% of their customers for one week.

Most music & movie consumers are the complete opposite of HTFers. They simply decide that they're going to buy a movie, a CD, etc... with their expendable cash and go to the local retailer (more often than not Wal-Mart) in order to browse the available titles and make their purchase. For Wal-Mart, Blockbuster, or whomever the company to limit their stock based on profitability or content, they are in fact determing what the market is and not what the market wants. I've heard statements similar to "We only supply what the customers want" so many times, that it makes me want to scream. What they are doing is stocking a limited number of pre-screened items and then the biggest sellers are deemed to be what the public wants.


Myself, I grew up in a small town in downstate Illinois and growing up I wasn't much of a music or movie buff because most titles at the store didn't appeal to me. In all honesty, I thought that was the extent of what was available (This was pre-Internet). You could imagine my surprise when I went to a giant record store in the city in my late teens. (It was an absolute revelation!) Music and movies are now one of the centerpieces of my life and can hardly imagine being without it.

I understand that Wal-Mart/Blockbuster can't afford to carry all titles, etc... etc.. as that is not their core business, but when they act as censors, that makes me extremely angry.

Personally, I have no objection to paying more for a smaller title or having to do some hunting around. However, I often think about the uninformed masses who are just consuming what is handed to them without even knowing about the vast number of titles in existence.

In the end, I'm just tired of the middle-customer (i.e. Retailer) determing the market and not the end-customer.

 

[Chris Atkins]

That is your right, but you have to acknowledge that the board of directors of Wal Mart also has the right to control their own image and offer only the products and services of their choosing. This right is just as important as the right to make movies with content you deem appropriate as well.

 

[Grant H]

Movie Gallery is only 5-Day rentals. No 2-day BS. Only problem with that is it might take you a few trips to find your movie in if it's a newer release.

So glad I have them as an alternative.

 

[Rakesh.S]

what a scam..anyone who doesn't read the fine print could easily get suckered in

this is definitely going to piss off a few people, that's for sure

it's fairly obvious that blockbuster hopes to transition to their online rental service..hell the in store movie pass is $10 more than the online service..only a fool would pay 24.99 instead of 14.99

but when you start trying to con your own customers, that can't be good.

 

[TonyD]

yea it's a scam.
rent a movie for 40 days and pay less then $6.
the only catch. RETURN THE MOVIE.
what a scam they have going.

 

[Carl_G]

Blockbuster's model is falling apart. They are sitting on a ton of great location property. Maybe we'll see someone else swoop in and suck them up for nothing more than the dirt they sit on?

 

[TonyD]

movie gallery buys hollywood.

http://www.videobusiness.com/article...1&catType=NEWS

may need to free register for that.

"JAN. 10 | Movie Gallery on Monday announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Hollywood Video for $850 million.

The deal, which still must be approved by Hollywood's shareholders, appears to put an end to a chaotic and at times acrimonious scramble on the part of multiple suitors to acquire the No. 2 video rental chain.
"

 

[Stephen Brooks]

This is a good thing.

Blockbuster's intention as I understood it was to dissolve and assimilate Hollywood. Movie Gallery plans to keep us open as a seperate division. Perhaps together we can crush the evil blue and yellow empire lol.

 

[Jimmy M]

Well I'd pay more if I could walk into the store, get the movie(s), walk back in later that day after watching what I rented, exchange what I have rented, and then possibly even do it all over again. The other way involves signing up for the movie(s) online, get the mail in a few days, watch wwhat I rented, return them in the mail and then get more movies in several days.

Yep. No difference at all. [/SARCASM}

Jimmy!

 

[Brian_cyberbri]

Say you return the movie after 40-45 days. You pay $1.25 to "restock" the movie when they buy it back. That means you either return it in 30 days after your grace period, or you are charged for it. That's better than missing getting it back 2 days late and paying 2-days worth of late fees (I don't return them late, so I don't know how much it is per day or if there is a cap).

But I guess this protects BB from people who never return DVDs, don't pay the late fees - this way they get money for the DVD once it's "late," but they still agree to buy the DVD back as long as you bring it back within a month.

And some people say they hate having to get up to the go to the store to rent. Here's my take on it:

It's a 3-day weekend. I want to watch a movie Friday afternoon, then one later that night. If I was with Netflix or some other service, and I had 2 DVDs at the time, that would be fine. And if I was on a 3-DVD plan, I could watch one the next day as well. But say I wanted to watch 2 movies on Saturday, and then 1 on Sunday. I couldn't, because you have to send the DVDs in, through the mail, and wait for more to come. And you are also subject to getting whatever's in stock. So you pick out 10 movies one weekend, and get whatever they happen to send you in random order.

Personally, there are times when I want to watch an action movie, or a comedy, or get one of each so if my wife wants to watch a comedy together, that's okay, and if she says she's too busy, I have an action movie to watch by myself. I would rather drive 10 minutes to a Blockbuster, pick out whatever I'm in the mood for, and be able to have 2 DVDs one day, get 2 the next, and 2 again the next day. And I've done this, too. Whenever I get the Freedom Pass, I do it for just a month, and watch on average 5-6 DVDs a week. I'll cancel the pass and wait for another month or two for the selection to fill out again.

Some people only watch 1 or two movies a week. Or live "too far" from a rental place. Or are too lazy to drive. Or never get in the mood to watch a certain type of movie. I could never wait on the mail, or depend on a company to send me random DVDs from a list I chose and hope there's something that I'm in the mood for.

Then there's the people who buy, not rent, and have 100's of DVDs they haven't even watched. I saw one person's "home theater," with a small 4:3 CRT, and literally 200-300 DVDs he hadn't even watched yet. He could get a big, ws TV for all the money wasted on DVDs he doesn't even have time to watch...

To each his own, I guess.

 

[Rick Guynn]

Brian, have you ever actually used Netflix? They do not send you movies randomly off your list. They send you whatever movie you asked for in the order you asked for it. The only catch is if it isn't available at the time -- which generally only happens with very popular new releases. In that case, it skips down to the next one on your list, it doesn't pick another at random.

As to the Brick-and-mortar vs. mail thing, they are simply aimed at two different types of consumers. Driving to and browsing through a rental store works for alot of people, while others are not in that big of a hurry. Oh, and with Netflix, I have been able to get up to 4 movies a week on their 2-out plan if I desired, and most times I can get new releases they day after they hit store shelves. So it's not exactly a major inconvenience.

RG

 

[rich_d]

Agreed. The only deceptive thing Blockbuster is doing is not explaining what does occur now. They really did do away with late fees but what they seem to forget to mention in their ads (funny how that works) is that you now own the late DVD.

However, the glass half full approach is that it does give you another week to return things so that in our busy schedules it now becomes not such a hassle to return things.

As someone mentioned, this does screw up their business model. It means more people will no longer have an incentive to return DVDs in a timely manner and more likely they might even let a friend borrow the rental (thus Blockbuster will be losing possible rentals) the more people share videos. So it flat out means that popular titles will be harder to find as they will not be returning to the stores as quickly and it also means that back titles (where the DVD is OOP) may not ever be coming back to the stores (almost as if their new policy endorses the practice).

 

[Brian_cyberbri]

No, I haven't actually used Netflix. The concept didn't appeal to me. Okay, it's not "random" per se. It goes in the order you picked them. But that's not much of a difference for me. Sure, you could plan out two weeks' worth of movies, know what you want in order during the week, then on the weekends - assuming you know what movie you'll be in the mood to watch on what days, in order, and then remember to put them in order when you pick your list...

I'm glad you find it convenient. I know not everybody has a video store close. We had one outside our apartments until we moved, so I used to be able to walk outside a few minutes and be at the BB. But even now, I'd rather be able to say "I feel like a movie tonight. Honey, what do you want to see? Okay, I'll check for that," and then go pick out what I want - even if I have to drive 5 or 10 minutes.

 

[Brian_cyberbri]

The incentive to return it comes from the fact that instead of having a charge build up on their rental account for the late DVD, their credit card gets charged $15 or $20 or whatever for the DVD. It becomes theirs, and they can return it, but they automatically have to pay to keep it longer than the original rental period plus the 1-week grace period. So they get their "late fee" rather than having people not return a DVD, and not being able to collect the late charge.

And because they buy so many to have enough to rent out when it first comes out, then whiddle that down to 2 or 3 after a while, it's probably easier to do it along the way by selling people their late DVDs than to try and sell the used ones later on.

I think it's a good idea, personally. If you can't return it after 2 weeks, then keep it and have it charged to your credit card. If after 2 weeks you actually do want to return it, you're free to do so, but since it's yours and you have already paid (been charged) for it, you pay them $1.25 to take it back and get the rest of your money back.

 

[SteveK]

I was surprised to learn that the "restocking" fee is only $1.25. No matter how late you return your DVD within 30 days, you pay only $1.25 for keeping it longer than you should have, and you pay nothing if you return it within 7 days. This seems very generous to me, as fines on overdue books at the library would likely be more than the restocking fee if you returned your book a month late. So I think they're being quite reasonable, unlike before. But I agree that their advertising is somewhat misleading, as they don't mention the involuntary purchase (undoubtedly at full list price or greater). Overall, it's a big improvement over their former practices, and I'm sure other video stores will start doing something similar.

Steve K.

 

[TonyD]

one of the things talked about in the meeting was that a bif percentage of movies or games tha are late, are only a few days late.
so that would fall into the extra seven days area.

so the only people effected by the "forced to buy it" are the people who are keeping them for over 2 weeks and sometimes over a month.

these are the people this is targeting and are trying to recover the cost of the product from.

the price you will be charged is the lowest price that dvd or game is for sale for at the time of rental.

if it is a brand new release it will be the retail price, usually $21.99.
if a older release, the previously viewed/played price.