After our first trimester of participating in the Blockbuster Rewards program, I’m not happy, I’m not feeling rewarded and if there was ever any doubt in my mind why this company is financially troubled and young upstarts such as Netflix are so popular, it’s long gone.
First, an introduction. The program offers what seems to be a decent incentive: Join for a reasonable fee (roughly $10, but the cost may vary by store) and you get 1 free rental per month. I’m not the brightest bulb in the bunch, but I know enough to realize this won’t be a new release. Still, their stores are fairly well stocked, and the kids like some of those movies in the middle of the floor, so when the manager-type says that you get to select from anything “not on the wall”, once a month, for an entire year, for just $10, it’s really not a bad deal. Guess again.
The first rental wasn’t bad. The second rental wasn’t either. The third time around was like a mugging, only worse, because you paid for the privilege up front instead of just being jumped in a dark alley. After the joy that is watching your kids fight over who gets to choose that month’s video, you stand in line and are charged for the rental. When you ask if this isn’t free, you then have the privilege of being berated by a high schooler because you don’t have your free rental coupon.
What’s worse is that the kid doesn’t know how to get the coupon. He just says that you’re supposed to get it with your rental each month, implying that you are stupid for not knowing it, or perhaps trying to pull a fast one by not bringing it with you. But what if the last time in the store was to get your free rental last month? Maybe you went to another store, he says. No, we don’t go to any other stores. One bad experience is plenty, thanks. Perhaps check your email? No, we didn’t get it by email, and we’re pretty competent on that front. No, it didn’t get blocked by the spam filter, thankyouverymuch. After several minutes of feeling like a criminal, he finally gives in, prints out something and gives you the free rental.
So with this experience safely forgotten, we try for month number four. The kids mill about, now realizing that the middle of the store videos pretty well blow, and half an hour later find something that isn’t bad at all. So we head for the register to get out while the getting is good. There is one person at the register – perhaps a college student this month – and three or four people in line. It’s not looking good. Once again, we’re charged, and I ask about our free video.
Again with the suggestion that we bring in our coupon, so being the helpful soul that I am, I try to figure out just when we’re supposed to get this coupon. The kid has no idea. He goes to get the manager, who does not improve the situation. I’m generally an easy-going person. But when I start to get impatient, it’s not a good idea to flick your hair and add “my friend” to the end of everything. As in “I’m trying to help, my friend” or “let me tell you how we do that, my friend”. It’s just bad.
So first, the manager tells me how the kids have managed to get a video that isn’t one that we can rent. But it was in the middle of the store. So he proceeds to tell me how they rearranged the store and now the middle of the store is no longer what can be rented for free. So I try and find out what can be had for a free rental. And he goes on about the middle of the store can still be rented for free (“my friend”). Except for certain areas (“my friend”). Finally, it’s three little bins that are in a particular area that are off-limits for free rentals (“my friend”).
The only problem? The movie didn’t come from one of those bins.
It came off the wall of new rentals and someone picked it up and put it down in the wrong area. I have no problem with that – really – but why it took this guy 10 minutes to explain why we picked it up from the wrong place when in fact we picked it up in the right place was not the right tactic. Just say “that’s a new rental”. Don’t try and explain it. Why do people try and go into so much detail making you look stupid?
Back to the little coupon. I was determined to figure out how to get it and avoid this next month. Apparently at some time during the month, Blockbuster physically prints these things out. But they do it at various times, so you have to guess when they do it and you can pick yours up (there’s a waste of money, my friends). So after they do it, and assuming you guess right, and if you have a transaction, and if they can actualy find your coupon, then you will get your coupon and you can then remember to take it with you so that the next time you can come in and hand it to someone so you can get a free rental without all the hassle.
If you don’t, you will need to get a manager to give you your free rental, wasting at least ten minutes of a clerk’s time and five minutes of a manager’s time, not to mention all the wasted paper and the untold hours of people standing in line – all in the hope that they will get you to come in and rent a movie next month in order to get your stupid little piece of paper so that you can then remember to bring it back the following month. Fat chance, my friend.
I am not making this up. I actually asked the overly-friendly manager if he was serious about this and he was completely serious. He said that if we don’t do anything other than pick up our monthly freebie, we should ask to see the manager each visit, because we won’t have the printed coupon. As I mentioned, I understand they want us to come in and rent a movie every week.
I understand that a $4 rental is going out the door for less than a dollar when we don’t do so (12 rentals per year for $10). I get the economics. But surely someone realizes that making $0.83 per rental on movies that otherwise sit there is better than wasting 15 minutes of hourly employee time on top of that with each one, don’t they? I don’t know. I don’t think they do.
In any case, I guess I’ll be checking in with my new friend next month.
The conclusion? If you live in Charlotte, go to the library instead. The selection isn’t as good, but the DVDs are free – at least, they are unless you choose a new release, and even those are cheaper than Blockbuster, and in any case, the lines are shorter and the people are generally nicer and at least you won’t feel bad if you don’t go, because you don’t feel like you’re missing out on something you paid to get. And you certainly don’t have to make friends unless you really want to do so.
Comments
56 responses to “Blockbuster Rewards Are Anything But Rewarding”
Just checking back for any new posts.It seems that everyone has different experiences based on which blockbuster you go to.Everything has gone up in price so the $19.95 a year membership is understandable.It is still worth it to me being someone who saves over$ 200 year with all the movies I rent and get free.I guess it depends on how much you rented to start with as to whether or not it will actually benefit you
Wow, it’s 2009 and I just had pretty much the same experience.
they doubled the price of the rewards program and didn’t give you anything extra. not even one extra rental, candy bar, nothing. what are they thinking? needless to say I didn’t renew it, and I suspect I’m not the only one.
I just went to my local blockbuster and to my suprise my rewards card expired. The clerk asked if I wanted to renew it, I said yes. They said it’s gone up to 19.95, I said I’m not renewing it. You’d think they would do things to keep the customers, instead of driving them away! For one thing, I only go there if we really want to see something, otherwise we wait till it comes on pay per view. Also, their new movie rentals went up a buck in the past couple of months. That rewards program price hike might be worth it if you could rent a new movie and rent a new one for free, not rent a new one get an old one for free. At our local store they’ve marked a lot of old ones down for 99 cents and keep them for 5 days. I hope me venting this helps someone else. These companies need to think of their customers more! That’s what’s keeping them in business.
Thank you for your post, Chad. I will not be using the program as I would be one to only go in for my once-a-month 83 cent (not really free) rental.
The rewards program is simple and easy for customers, however every one that works for blockbuster does not make it so. I am a current employee of Blockbuster. Every month they get generic coupons for people who just come in for the free rent. Either the staff is not informed or they have ran out of coupons and they have to issue a credit which takes away from the bottom line. The easiest way is to get it through your email. I have the rewards program and that is how i get my coupon since I only use it for the free non new release. You just have to make sure that your local blockbuster has it right in their system. Have them repeat it to you just to make sure.
I hope this was helpful to everyone
There is a blockbuster near my school, which let me use my coupon whether I have it or not. However, after I moved off campus, the blockbuster near my home is exactly, no, worse than what you describe. When I went to the register with my old movie, they tell me the computer does not show any coupon on my account. I will then ask them that I thought I should get a free movie every month, but 10 out of 10 they will tell me that there is no such promotion at all unless I began to drag about it. Somehow, I think some store try to get away with it by not setting their computer right and not telling their employee or something. That’s why I switch to neflix, which I can watch old movie instantly online, too. I also feel like if they want to make the offer, they should make it available coupon or not. It was just not worth the trouble to go through the hassle every month. I lived in Los Angeles, and the two stores are not far from each other.
It’s a pretty nice scam. And, it will re-incarnate in some other corporation soon, too. It works on the same principal as rebates. That is, most people just don’t bother. I have a friend who works for a computer hardware company that offers rebates. He says less than 20% of his customers bother to do what a child can do: Cut Something Out, Fill Something Out, And Send It Through the Mail…and get $40 for their hard work. (I learned a lesson from this and always carry several pre-postaged envelopes in my glove compartment so I can fill them out when I walk out of the store and drive it to the mailbox on the corner.)
Anyway, what Blockbuster does is prey on your gullibility, your greed and your lack of resolve. I think it’s brilliant. A rewards program doesn’t cost anything anywhere else. Think about it. Your grocery store, CVS Pharmacy chain, The Airlines and so on.
So here’s how it goes. 100 people per week pay $10 bucks for what should have been for free. Blockbuster makes 1000 buckeroonies when it should have made nothing.
Instead of making it easy for you to get your “free” monthly rental, as in: SCAN YOUR CARD, THE COMPUTER BEEPS 3 TIMES, WHOPPEE! YOU GET YOUR FREE MONTHLY RENTAL. WOW HOW EASY…
They make you jump through COUPON HOOPS like the little dogs they think you are.
Of the 100 people that paid their $10, how many do you think did it for GREEED, as in “give me my “free” movies that I paid $0.83 for”??? (BLOCKBUSTER COUNTED ON THE FACT THAT YOU THINK THAT 83.3 CENTS X 12 IS FREE…SUCKERRRRRR.)
Here’s where the lack of resolve (that Blockbuster counts on) comes in.
The majority of the people just give up. They paid their $10 and they’re like “durr, I fergot to send my darn rebate form again, oh well…”
One more for corporate ingenuity and for the American people’s ignorance.
They took my $10 and I’m gettin it back…
If you know anyone with an “Entertainment Book” as in entertaiment.com, there is a coupon in there for a FREE Reward Membership that’s good for activation until Dec.31 2008. I’ve put it on my calendar to get my “free” movie every month (that I paid 83 cents for the last time around) and I make sure I get it this time and every time, regardless of who is behind the counter. Payback’s a bitch, Blockbastards. ; )
I was posting my comments to the people about how much I saved that said they only saved $60 a year. Also, I see in the blockbuster terms where it does say that you will get a coupon for a free rental once a month printed at the end of a transaction. I take from this that you have to rent a movie to have a transaction once a month for it to print or it says you can have it emailed or requested in store so if they don’t email it or give it when you request, that store does’t know what they are doing. This blog wasn’t meant to be annoying when the person started it I don’t think,its just a space for people to share their experiences. Its interesting to see how people react
I don’t know if you have resolved this yet, but when you sign up for Blockbuster Rewards you are supposed to give your e-mail address. The free rental coupon is then e-mailed to you just before the beginning of the month, meaning you don’t have to rent anything to get it.
So far I have gotten my coupon by e-mail each month, and it has been quite worthwhile. Perhaps you should ask your local manager if you can sign up for electronic coupons.