Blockbuster launched an advertising campaign a few years ago featuring a rowdy mob charging a local store demanding "no more late fees."
The crowd was momentarily silenced when they saw the blue-uniformed man unfurling a banner already stating the end of such fees.
"Some day, you'll remember where you were the day when you first heard that there are no more late fees at Blockbuster," the commercial said. "If you need an extra day or two with your movies or games, you go right ahead and take them. Relax; enjoy more time and less stress."
Ah, how commercials can come back and haunt you.
After a few days extra with Matt Damon's "The Informant" and George Clooney's "The Men Who Stare At Goats," a friendly letter in my mailbox notified me of a $12 late fee penalty from the video store.
So much for that, then. Blockbuster, a company bogged down with $1 billion in debt and sagging subscriber rates, has brought back ever-important late fees to the equation to try and stay in business.
Well, as of today, I will no longer rent from Blockbuster.
The company has a history of biting its customers while at the same time trying to stay in business.
It seems the customer experience plays second fiddle to the poor choices of its management.
Shortly after its Blockbuster On Demand service launched, the company increased its rates and put a restriction on the program. It could have been so good, too – the company allowed up to three rentals at a time, like Netflix, but you could return the mailed ones for free, in-store exchanges.
For a while, I defected from the other guys and went back to Blockbuster.
Once that novelty wore off, they upped the price. And I went back to Netflix.
Now, Blockbuster is again attempting to woo back those who have fled elsewhere.
In recent deals with movie studios, the company has signed one month exclusivity agreements, giving their stores priority over Netflix and Redbox.
This means "Sherlock Holmes," which came out earlier this month, is only now available elsewhere to rent.
Such deals hamper consumer choice and I won't be held hostage by them. It is unfortunate the movie studios would allow such an agreement to exist. In exchange, Netflix got access to archived materials from certain studios and Redbox got cheaper rates to rent movies.
Such hijacking of media is against consumer interest, and should Blockbuster continue the same path as it has for the last decade, it's bad for the studios, too.
Consumers are being forced from their emerging adoption of renting by mail – which saves time, money and travel to and from the store.
Netflix is popular because people have to think less about what they're doing to enjoy the product.
Simply go online, click add, and a movie will eventually make its way to the mailbox. Watch it, seal it, send it back.
Done.
Redbox, on the other hand, is convenient if you're at the grocery store – such as Kroger or Walmart – and see a movie as you pass by. Daily rental fees are $1, so you pay for whatever time you have it up to the final cost of the movie (then it's yours).
Redbox rentals are located at the doorway of a local store, so you can simply pick up a movie as you go and find the peppers for tonight's Philly cheesesteak.
By forcing customers to head back to the brick-and-mortar store, you're making them change the way they want to consume media.
The development of DVD meant we didn't have clunky cassette tapes with strips of tape holding us hostage. Movies could be shipped more efficiently, allowing operations like Netflix to exist.
It gave the customers something else and it obviously stuck.
It's not like Blockbuster didn't have its chances, either. In 2005, current board member Greg Meyer suggested the company move into similar kiosk operations like Redbox.
There are a few of the company's kiosks at Sheetz around town.
But hardly enough to satisfy the city's want for "Avatar."
I used to be a big fan of the store. I kept renting from the store when I was queued up with television shows from Netflix and just wanted to watch a movie.
Over the years, however, I have had to adjust to a company's ever-shifting approach, and now it's to the point where I have absolutely no idea when it's likely to change again.
Holding new movies hostage, reinstating fees and diminishing the trend of customer experience with media isn't going to save Blockbuster in the long run.
A brand I once long associated with entertainment has now shifted to one of distrust.
And that is a costly thing to change.
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13 comments
They have the internet srvc, the rental boxes, the stores & the new releases.