Blockbuster changes In-Store Exchange Terms

GrilledWitOnions

GrilledWitOnions

CAGiversary!
Feedback
2 (100%)
Couldn't find anything relating to this, and didn't see any talk in the BBV/GR thread besides trade stuff.
I don't know if anyone has BBO anymore, but the exchange terms are changing (and don't thread crap here, I know Netflix is superior, but I had a way of making it work for me... let me just leave it at that).
So yesterday I head to the BBV store to exchange my 3 DVD's, since a new month had began. If anyone doesn't know, BBO allowes a certain amount of exchanges of online envelopes for regular store rentals, depending on the plan you have. It was previously calender-month to calender-month, but I was informed last night that it had switched to billing-cycle.
Well, this causes me a few problems. For one, I had exchanged all my movies thinking that in the new month I would get 5 more (my plan allows 5). I was eagerly awaiting Iron Man, and it was releasing on the 30th. I even held my online envelopes an extra day instead of returning them, so I could exchange them, only to be told this in-store. There was never an email, nor are the terms updated.

BLOCKBUSTER Total Access.
All BLOCKBUSTER Total Access plans allow a subscriber to return BLOCKBUSTER Online Rentals to a participating BLOCKBUSTER store in exchange for one (1) free in-store movie rental or one (1) discounted game rental for each BLOCKBUSTER Online Rental returned to the store. These free movie/ discounted game in-store rentals are in addition to the number of DVDs out at a time allowed under the BLOCKBUSTER Online membership plan. Some BLOCKBUSTER Total Access plans offer an unlimited number of free movie/discounted game in-store exchanges, while other BLOCKBUSTER Total Access plans limit the number of free movie/discounted game exchanges per calendar month. For plans which limit the number of free movie/discounted game in-store exchanges, the number of exchanges is calculated based on a calendar month, not the monthly subscription billing period. If a subscriber's Membership Term begins or ends at a time other than the beginning of a calendar month, the subscriber receives up to the full number of allowed free movie/discounted game in-store exchanges during that portion of the calendar month included in the member's Membership Term, without proration. For example, if a subscriber begins his or her Membership Term on August 10 in a plan that allows three free movie/discounted game in-store exchanges per month, that subscriber will receive three free movie/discounted game in-store exchanges per month through August 31, than another three in the calendar month of September, October, etc., throughout the Membership Term, even though the subscriber's anniversary date for Membership Term purposes is the 10thof each month.
In addition, for plans which limit the number of free movie/discounted game exchanges per calendar month, once the subscriber has reached the applicable monthly limit the subscriber may continue to exchange BLOCKBUSTER Online Rentals for discounted in-store movie rentals. However, once the subscriber has reached the applicable monthly limit the subscriber may not exchange BLOCKBUSTER Online Rentals for additional discounted in-store game rentals.

The FAQ says different
The free in-store movie exchanges are based on your billing month rather than calendar month. Whenever you sign up or change plans, you will receive the maximum amount of free in-store exchanges for that billing month, dependent upon your specific subscription plan which you can view via "My Account."
At the beginning of each succesful billing month, your pre-determined number of free in-store movie exchanges is reset to zero.
, but that's not the terms I am under.

I know this will apply to almost no-one since they started upping prices and everyone jumped ship for netflix, and yes, they can change the terms at any time, but they didn't change the terms, just denied me. It was really inconveniencing, and Iron Man is like the first movie this whole summer I've wanted to see.

I wrote them an email, which is mostly what I've already said, so I'll spoiler it.
I just went to the Blockbuster store near me, and they said the in-store exchanges are now based on billing-cycle instead of calander month. I make my exchanges and rent movies based off of the old system of calander month exchanges, and then without notice it was changed, although the terms still say "For plans which limit the number of free movie/discounted game in-store exchanges, the number of exchanges is calculated based on a calendar month, not the monthly subscription billing period", so I don't know what happened or what to believe. I was all set to rent three movies since it was the 1st and I was denied; I even waited to return the movies so I could exchange them, and thus didn't get to return them and get new ones shipped immediately.
So, the terms were changed without physically changing the wording on the website and without even notifying me of the changes via email. I don't even know if they were really changed or if the person at the store was just wrong. At any rate, I would like my in-store exchanges back, or at least some coupons or something.
Their response:
Hi GrilledWitOnions,

Thank you for contacting Blockbuster Customer Care.

We're sorry to hear that you were not able to exchange you movies in store. Let me clarify this to you.

The store you went in to is right, there was a change on our policy regarding in-store exchanges. Store exchanges will now renew on the customer's next bill date.

I already cleared your "shipped" list and we will now arrange the movies from your you queue to be shipped. However, as I checked on your queue, I noticed that you have two movies that are in "Short wait" statuses and might cause the delay of shipments. I strongly suggest that you keep at least 20 "Available" titles at the top priority of your queue.
I hope this helps. If there's something else that I could be of help, please let me know. Thank you for making us you source of home entertainment.

Respectfully,
P.J.
Blockbuster, Customer Care
Click to expand...
This does nothing for me since I already returned my movies in-store, so the next ones ought to ship out right away. There is apparently one short wait movie, which I think just changed; I recently bumped a bunch of crap up since it was taking forever to get my movies shipped and most at the top were unavailable. But the point is, they can't get that day back for me, and that means less rentals, not to mention not even a coupon or something for the trouble and unclear terms, which are still not updated.
I have previously left the service a few times; each time, I get offers for a free month so I stay (and then usually forget about the renewal and it renews before I cancel, so it's like half price for 2 months :p) This is it though, come my renew date, I'm outta there. I like Netflix so much more, I just was working BBO's system pretty well and made it worth my while.

Just wanted to rant. I know I'll get all kinds of "It's just an inconvenience it doesn't matter", but that's not really the point. The new CEO hates the online cause it's draining them and he wants to force people out of it, thinking they will jump to the higher-priced in-store program. :roll:
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I enjoyed their program for several months, mainly because of that feature. Shame they continue to cripple it.
 
Luckily, I have never had a limit on how many in store exchanges I could do. Hopefully, that is still the case.

I did not know that I could use an in store exchange to get a discounted price on a game rental though. I may have to try that.
 
[quote name='Lice']It's just an inconvenience it doesn't matter.

Thought I would get that over with...[/quote]
Lol, yah, it really is just an inconvenience. And it doesn't change the service much from here on out; it will just be billing cycle to billing cycle instead of month-to-month, so same difference really. It was the terrible rollout of the idea, like everything else, that got me most. I looked forward to Iron Man all summer, and then was denied. I will try to get it from the online service itself, but I usually mix it up by having online for foreign/anime (barely)/obscure stuff, and in-store for more mainstream. It was a nice balance. Netflix, when I've had trials, was pretty good in selection and speed, and the web site was soooo much more responsive and user friendly (especially to firefox users). So I'll be giving them a more long-term shot.

Also, just thought I'd give everyone here a heads up, even though I think everyone else has given up on them. :p

For anyone interested, more email conversations...
Thank you for your response, however Blockbusters' handling of this has been as poorly executed as previous attempts at changing things. The terms have still not yet been updated and I never received an initial email regarding this, allowing me to allocate rentals towards the middle of this month; I was expecting new exchanges at the first of the month. Clearing my queue to ship doesn't really do anything, as I had already returned the movies to the store, so the next ones in my queue should ship automatically (and they have). However, this is the most recent blunder in what appears to be an attempt by the new CEO to drive customers away from online and into store promotions. I am not sure why he believes miscomunications and constant changes to the service in this manner will do that. It has, however, confirmed my plans to cancel at the end of this billing cycle and go to Netflix. I appreciate your help in this matter, but I do not agree with the way this change was rolled out, and I'm feeling less and less happy with Blockbuster as a whole.

Hello Grilled,

Thanks for contacting BLOCKBUSTER Customer Care.

I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused.

I appreciate you taking the time to write us with your feedback and suggestions. Your comments are taken very seriously and we welcome them as a valuable tool needed to improve the quality of our service. I'll make sure to forward your feedback to the appropriate department for review.

Please let me know if there's anything else I can help with.
I know the problem wasn't major, but I was expecting at least a coupon for a free rental. Losing $5 vs losing $20 every month... hmm. Tough call.

But I'm sure they saw I wasn't profitable at all, and are fine with seeing me go. It's the mentallity the CEO has; I understand it from a business point of view but to make it so clear to customers is bad business sense.
 
I was with Blockbuster online from '04 to '07 and I finally got to the point where I was sick of them continually increasing the cost and decreasing the service so I just went ahead and cancelled it.
 
[quote name='GrilledWitOnions']I know the problem wasn't major, but I was expecting at least a coupon for a free rental. Losing $5 vs losing $20 every month... hmm. Tough call.[/quote]

I think the problem is you flat out asked for a coupon. I'm still a BBO subscriber (at least until Netflix on Xbox Live rolls out), and the two times I've sent complaints, I've gotten a free rental coupon. Once was for a movie that sat at the top of my queue with "available" status but was still passed over 3 times. The other time was for when an empty spot in my queue sat for 3-4 days without anything shipping.

I simply emailed a complaint. Told them that if the service didn't improve, I would be utilizing the free Netflix trial I had just received in the mail, and voila...free coupon. I think when you blatantly ask for it, they probably feel like you're intentionally trying to squeeze them. Of course, it could also just be luck. But either way, you gotta be careful with what buttons you push and when you push them.
 
[quote name='n8rockerasu']I think the problem is you flat out asked for a coupon. I'm still a BBO subscriber (at least until Netflix on Xbox Live rolls out), and the two times I've sent complaints, I've gotten a free rental coupon. Once was for a movie that sat at the top of my queue with "available" status but was still passed over 3 times. The other time was for when an empty spot in my queue sat for 3-4 days without anything shipping.

I simply emailed a complaint. Told them that if the service didn't improve, I would be utilizing the free Netflix trial I had just received in the mail, and voila...free coupon. I think when you blatantly ask for it, they probably feel like you're intentionally trying to squeeze them. Of course, it could also just be luck. But either way, you gotta be careful with what buttons you push and when you push them.[/quote]
I knew the risk I was taking with asking, but I also knew I was leaving before any of this even happened. I figured I could try not asking for anything, but I would most likely have gotten exactly the same response as I did - the service has changed, sorry for the inconvenience. It's really not much more than an inconvenience, so I wasn't expecting a coupon - I thought straight-out asking for one might get me more than not. Could have gone either way. I at least tried to be firm and clear, but not rude; being outright rude is the quickest way to not get what you want.
 
They've been enjoying changing policies on the fly lately. They never felt the need to mention to anyone that they only have 5 days after the due date to return a movie, and only 5 days after that to return the now-purchased movie instead of the previous 30.

More relevant to BBO, they decided last month to cut me down from two game/movie rental coupons to one with no notification. Unfortunately I'm still getting a good enough grandfathered deal (3 at a time, unlimited in-store exchanges, free game rental for $20) where it doesn't make much sense for me to complain and switch to Netflix.
 
[quote name='botticus']They've been enjoying changing policies on the fly lately. They never felt the need to mention to anyone that they only have 5 days after the due date to return a movie, and only 5 days after that to return the now-purchased movie instead of the previous 30.[/quote] Wow I had no idea they did this. What a crappy change in policy, from a crappy policy to begin with, and without notification.

More relevant to BBO, they decided last month to cut me down from two game/movie rental coupons to one with no notification. Unfortunately I'm still getting a good enough grandfathered deal (3 at a time, unlimited in-store exchanges, free game rental for $20) where it doesn't make much sense for me to complain and switch to Netflix.
Click to expand...
Yah that's still a pretty great deal; even if you got 3 movies from online a week, w/as many exchanges, that's 24 movies/month + free game, which you can sorta count as two rentals, so lets say 26, about .75 a disc. Able to go through more per week and it gets even lower.
 
It's not that big of a deal, but not only that it's not like they say exhange limit met sorry about your luck. It's $1.99 for every rental that you trade in after your limit was met. Still cheaper then a bag of popcorn.
 
[quote name='botticus']They've been enjoying changing policies on the fly lately. They never felt the need to mention to anyone that they only have 5 days after the due date to return a movie, and only 5 days after that to return the now-purchased movie instead of the previous 30.

More relevant to BBO, they decided last month to cut me down from two game/movie rental coupons to one with no notification. Unfortunately I'm still getting a good enough grandfathered deal (3 at a time, unlimited in-store exchanges, free game rental for $20) where it doesn't make much sense for me to complain and switch to Netflix.[/quote]


You are so full of it, the policy is you get to keep it 7 days after the due date. On the 8th date of being past due they charge your card for the price of the game and if you return it within 30 days you are only charged $1.33

Seriously are people that lazy and irresponsible that they can't rent a freaking game or movie and have it back within 2 weeks after renting it?
 
[quote name='spinksjinx']You are so full of it, the policy is you get to keep it 7 days after the due date. On the 8th date of being past due they charge your card for the price of the game and if you return it within 30 days you are only charged $1.33

Seriously are people that lazy and irresponsible that they can't rent a freaking game or movie and have it back within 2 weeks after renting it?[/quote]Uh, no. I'll write the terms written on the receipt for you when I get back home. This is written on the front of the receipt (printed), which says to ignore the outdated terms on the back.

You are still only charged $1.25 if you bring the movie/game back, but you don't have 30 days anymore.
 
I guess I'm really lucky. I've had the service since 2005 and havent had my terms changed yet. Still 17.99+tax for unlimited in store, 3 at a time, 2 free games or movies.

I think it's pretty freakin awesome. If I rent 2 games a month, it pays for itself! And the trade-in's count for blu-ray rents too, how do you beat that?
 
[quote name='spinksjinx']You are so full of it, the policy is you get to keep it 7 days after the due date. On the 8th date of being past due they charge your card for the price of the game and if you return it within 30 days you are only charged $1.33

Seriously are people that lazy and irresponsible that they can't rent a freaking game or movie and have it back within 2 weeks after renting it?[/quote]

Different cities have different terms. BBV is running several different test markets simulatneously to try and determine the best set of policies with the least amount of customer dissatisfaction. As far as I can tell, there are at least 10 different sets of test markets out there, as well as the original set of policies for the rest of the nation.

Original policy: due date + 7 days, autosells and 30 days to return for a restocking fee
Test market 1: due date + 5 days, autosells and 30 days to return w/o a restocking fee
Test market 2: due date + 5 days, autosells and 10 days to return w/ restocking fee
Test market 3: due date + 5 days, autosells and 10 days to return w/o restocking fee
Test market 4: Same as 2, but 5 days to return after sale
Test market 5: Same as 2, but 5 days to return after sale
Test market 6: Opt to pay for a day, week, or month rental. If you go over your selected due date, you pay late fees.
Test market 7: Per day pricing.
Test market 8: Rewards members get new releases for $1 less.
Test markets 9 & 10: Different pricing structures on rentals (.99 or 1.99 for old movies, 3.99 or 4.99 for new releases, plus other crap that's so confusing I can't even figure it out)


I know there are other variations of these out there as well (varying due dates [2 days, 5 days, 1 week], different prices for rewards [$10, $15, $20]), but these are the only ones that I know the specifics of. Personally I work in a store that has gone through 2 of these tests in the last year. Cities that I know are/were going through tests include San Diego, Orlando, Chicago, and Seattle. But I'm sure that pretty much every major metropolitan area has pretty much become a test market of some sort by now.
 
[quote name='RedvsBlue']I was with Blockbuster online from '04 to '07 and I finally got to the point where I was sick of them continually increasing the cost and decreasing the service so I just went ahead and cancelled it.[/quote]
Eggzacklee what I did.

I had their biggest plan, next thing I know they increased the cost and stripped me of one movie in my plan.

WTF?!
 
[quote name='spinksjinx']It's not that big of a deal, but not only that it's not like they say exhange limit met sorry about your luck. It's $1.99 for every rental that you trade in after your limit was met. Still cheaper then a bag of popcorn.[/quote]
So I should pay for something I was told would be free? Just because it's cheap doesn't make it right. I have never and never plan to excange for $2 rentals. I've worked this out to where it is most profitable for me (under 50 cents a movie), and doing exchanges this way raises the cost a whole lot, fast. And $1.99 is cheaper than a bag of popcorn at the theater or blockbuster itself, but seriously, have you not seen the boxes of 10 bags for $2 Wal-Mart has? Not sure on exact amounts and prices, but movie theater/convenience store bought popcorn is quite expensive (with little difference in taste to me, although I've been meaning to do a taste-test of my own).
 
[quote name='botticus']Uh, no. I'll write the terms written on the receipt for you when I get back home. This is written on the front of the receipt (printed), which says to ignore the outdated terms on the back.

You are still only charged $1.25 if you bring the movie/game back, but you don't have 30 days anymore.[/quote]


It could be your store is a franchised one, corporate still has the same policy.


[quote name='GrilledWitOnions']So I should pay for something I was told would be free? Just because it's cheap doesn't make it right. I have never and never plan to excange for $2 rentals. I've worked this out to where it is most profitable for me (under 50 cents a movie), and doing exchanges this way raises the cost a whole lot, fast. And $1.99 is cheaper than a bag of popcorn at the theater or blockbuster itself, but seriously, have you not seen the boxes of 10 bags for $2 Wal-Mart has? Not sure on exact amounts and prices, but movie theater/convenience store bought popcorn is quite expensive (with little difference in taste to me, although I've been meaning to do a taste-test of my own).[/quote]


Dude, you are renting the game not buying it. You have a due date, they give you extra days to bring it back with no charge. Seriously don't you remember the old days when if it wasnt returned by noon they charged you the full price of the rental?

I don't see whats so hard about renting a game on the 1st it being due back on the 6th and you can keep it without any additional charge for an extra week.

What makes people think they can rent the game, keep it for as long as they want and not be penalized for it.
 
[quote name='spinksjinx']It could be your store is a franchised one, corporate still has the same policy.





Dude, you are renting the game not buying it. You have a due date, they give you extra days to bring it back with no charge. Seriously don't you remember the old days when if it wasnt returned by noon they charged you the full price of the rental?

I don't see whats so hard about renting a game on the 1st it being due back on the 6th and you can keep it without any additional charge for an extra week.

What makes people think they can rent the game, keep it for as long as they want and not be penalized for it.[/quote]
Try reading the OP again, I never rented anything because they changed the terms and wanted me to pay $2 to rent the movie (not game, which would be full price; discounted, $5 games are only applied when you have exchanges left). I have no idea what your talking about; there was no penalty because I never rented anything because they changed the terms so I HAD no rentals left. Kinda the point of my thread...
 
[quote name='sevin300zx']I guess I'm really lucky. I've had the service since 2005 and havent had my terms changed yet. Still 17.99+tax for unlimited in store, 3 at a time, 2 free games or movies.[/quote]

If mine had stayed like that, I would still have it.

First they stopped the bonus coupons. OK, fine, no big deal.
Then they took my monthly rental coupons. I stayed.
Then they limited my in-store exchanges. I still stayed.
When they raised the price of my plan, it was time to go.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top