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  • Report:  #9534

Complaint Review: Blockbusters - Glendale California

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Blockbusters
Glendale, California, U.S.A.
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Blockbusters Glendale is definitely a major rip off when it comes to late fees, I went through a whole year of seeing late charges that I just did not believe I went in there the last time and the straw that broke the camels back was waiting for me

I was told I owed over $17 in late fees I paid up stating there is no way I owe it, the cashiers off course just go through there well trained smirking routine.

I said ok paid them then I rented Galaxy Quest I left with my friend and I said I bet I get charged a late fee on this when I return it so I took it home brought it back at about 3am in the morning before Blockbuster even opened I was with my friend at the time and I said to him watch this, this is Galaxy Quest in my hand I am going to put it in Blockbusters box well before due the next time I go in there I bet it has a late fee.

I slotted it in the box and even looked through the box to see it drop.

I went into blockbusters about 3 weeks later with my friend I actually forgot about the test, I went up to the counter and the cashier stated you still have NOT RETURNED Galaxy Quest, I said what are you talking about I posted it through the box she just SMIRKED and said Sir you did not bring it back.

I HIT THE ROOF in the store I think they heard me in the next city I said these dvd's are coded what is the number of the dvd I rented? How many Galaxy Quest DVD's does this store own? How many are rented out right now? How many are on the shelf?

Well I went through their shelves they stated they had something like 32 there was about 7 totally unaccountable for.

They still insisted I had not returned it but said the manger was coming and would help me the manager turned up he had the same SMIRK on his face which is obviously designed to get what ever customers are in the shop to think I am possibly some low life that is lying and trying to get out of the fee they charge which in this case would be the whole DVD.

I told him to take the SMIRK of his face before I really get pissed at this time all the staff behind the counter were SMIRKING and looking at each other as if to say look another one trying to get out of it, he said he would look into it when they do their inventory in a months time but for now my account is blocked.

I told him you guys have got 30 days to give me an answer that I like, I suggest your staff clean out their DVD collections at home and bring it back in.

I gave them 30 days and then went in just about everyday on my way to work they never came up with an answer just tried to smirk each time I went in and repeated the story, the smirking always stopped when I would question loudly their smirking and asked them what they find so amusing then they would go a funny shade of red, about 3 months later the store had amazingly gone through a management change and now my name was no longer in their computer.

This store definitely with out a doubt charges people fees when not due and I believe their staff probably steals the taps/DVD's, in my case who ever took it obviously did not have the brains to register my account first and put it back on the shelf before taking it.

I believe late fees are caused by the staff NOT scanning the videos and DVD's in immediately when they are returned if the deadline is say 10am and they have not scanned all the returns in by that time the computer is obviously registering the time they are scanned and not the time returned which off course causes a late fee.


2 Updates & Rebuttals

Alex

Glendale,
California,
U.S.A.
I know what you mean

#2Consumer Comment

Sat, May 31, 2003

I had rented a movie from one blockbuster and since i was in a hurry, asked my brother to return it, but he returned it to the wrong one. I asked and they said that if you dropped it off in the wrong store, they send it back to the original. i waited over a month and got a bill for it, i went to every blockbuster in the tri city area and none of them had it. So i waited, i got another letter from a collection agency, when i went to the store where i had checked it out from they said they had just gotten it in and charged me $27 for it, biggest rip-off in the world, do not go the the blockbuster on colorado st. in eagle rock, colorado st. in glenale, and on california st., glenale


Crystal

Springfield,
Illinois,
Don't Take Everything So Personal

#3UPDATE EX-employee responds

Mon, March 25, 2002

First of All Every BB Employee knows that there are standard procedures in place to locate missing items that have been returned. Every day the store is to conduct what is called an FOS report (Found on Shelf) these items are to be check in with a one day grace period. They do not allow more than one day because the not so honest people bring the movies in and place them on the shelf themselves and then try to get out of the late fees. Many times tapes will hit the shelves without being check in, there is no lying it does happen and in some cases it happens way to much. However for the most part you can almost always find out which customers this has happened to and which ones are just once again trying to get out of late fees. In most cases if there is any question at all (after reviewing the account and all daily activities) the fee is negated. The Facts are that most cutomers don't observe the 12:00 NOON time frame and that is where the biggest problems come from. If the movies were returned and it came up showing not checked in then you should have asked them to locate it at that time. Shouts and arguments only make the person behid the counter defensive. So remember to keep your cool. We have better things to do then fight with you too and nice customers tend to get their way a lot faster than shouting beligerant customers. The fact of the matter also remains that 90% of the time there are more customers then employees and with special projects designed by the so intelligent higher ups it does cause problems time contraint problems. However,if you could not get any satisfaction from the employees or the mangers then there is always the District and Regional mangers as well as corporate. They are really easy to contact, in fact you can even contact them by e-mail now a days. As for the smirking. The people behind the counter hear the same stories over and over and over and over, and while you may be the exception it does tend to get tedious hearing the same excuses all the time. But they are more than likely not smirking at you as you perceive. They know that if they do they can be counselled or even fired for that kind of conduct. Eventhough most of the time many customers treat the counterhelp like the dirt they wipped off their shoes they don't deserve that kind of treatment. I fail to see how a person in a customer service related job is automatically lower than others. Many of us work those jobs because we enjoy them. As far as the computer losing your name, if you had asked the person to explain to you the procedure they would have told you for security reasons when a card has not been used in three to six months the system will delete the membership out of the store's data bank, however it is still stored in the national data bank and you would only need to scan the card to get the account back up. However, make no mistake about it if the account is reactiviated it will have the late fee or NRT (Non returned tape) on the account still. For that matter if you were to go to another store (different from the one you are having problems with) the NRT will show up at that store as well. While I am sure that somehow you will find my remarks condosensing in some way they are only ment to inform and hopefully help you see that not all BB employees are horrid people. As a final note if you are still having problems and the store you rent from has undergone management staff changes ask for the District Mangers number and explain the entire situation to him. If there is a question as to the Store Manager or the other Mangers in the store being irresponsible in their duties I am sure that you can solve the problem with the DM. Lastly, if any one is intersted in learning more about the mind set of BB employees (not all of course) check out any search engine regarding Blockbuster Customers are So Dumb. Not to be offensive, yet to be informative.

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