Turned away on Christmas Day by Blockbuster

Sorry you had a less than fun Christmas...I dislike full screen
versions too.

With people stealing things then returning them without a receipt,
it's unfortunate that stores have to make policies to protect
themselves. It sucks that the few tacky ruin it for the majority. I
think the manager was just trying to follow the rules and avoid
anxiety and job stress...I can't blame them.

As for the Christmas present, regift it to someone you're 'meh' about
next year. Problem solved! (just kidding) take care!

A couple of questions come to mind.
Did the DVD even come from blockbuster originally or were you pulling
the same scam on them that target fell for?
After your experience at target do you see why blockbuster has this
policy?

I know I'm getting in late in the game, but forgive me, I wanted to
add my 2 cents. :)

Sometimes asking for something that seems simple/easy to the customer
isn't so simple/easy. And just because it means it'll save a customer,
doesn't mean corporate will back it up. I work in customer service,
and I can get away with a lot. I know what I'm allowed to do, what I
need approval from my direct sup for, and what I need approval from on
high for. My customers don't know the distinction unless I tell them.

I don't presume to know Blockbuster's policies for exchanges, but it
is possible that if she did the exchange, she could get in trouble, or
even lose her job. I have very few customers at my job I'm willing to
get in trouble for. Go the extra mile? Yes. But to break rules that
for all you know could result in disciplinary action? Heck no.
Especially not when I'm already getting paid only minimum wage,
working a holiday with limited staff and no way to get the boss's
approval.

The other thing I noticed (and I'm not the only one) is the lack of
focus in the complaint. I understand you're trying to make a point
about Blockbuster, but if the complaint is about this incident, don't
bring switching to Netflix into the equation. It's unneccessary.

The reason people have been "attacking" your letter? You're upset that
someone wouldn't bend the rules for you. You are not entitled to
anything beyond the store's policy, and because you weren't treated
the way you wanted to be, you pouted and ran off to Target, who let
you exchange the movie. While I don't necessarily agree that this was
the ethical/moral/right thing to do, I can see why you did it.

Then again, you could have tried a different BB, or gone back on a
non-holiday when there was a full staff and tried again. You could
have asked to see their return/exchange policy. You've said so
yourself that you could have gone back and had it exchanged, you're
aware that it could have been authorized by someone higher up.

Basically, the reason I take no issue with your being "attacked" is
that you did leave yourself wide open. You state in your initial
letter that you are aware that she would have been "bending the
rules," yet you are upset that she followed policy. You did something
that may or may not be against policy and hurtful to another store,
depending on which of the differing Target policies is the real thing,
and that was definitely not the most ethical thing to do. Rather than
returning to BB and speaking to her boss, or calling BB, or anything
else that might have had an effect, you posted on a public forum,
asking for sympathy, which you weren't going to get, and hoping that
it would be addressed quickly. Honey, this is not the way to get a
quick response, especially when you easily could have called the
store/corporation.

Yes, it sucks that BB was busy enough with a short staff on a winter
holiday that no one was able to answer the phone when you called. Yes,
it sucks that you got the wrong format of the DVD and that your
roommate did not keep the receipt. Yes, it sucks that the manager was
unable to exchange it for you. But at no point in this "ordeal" were
you really and truly wronged.

OK Adam,

I am brand new to this site, brought here by an entirely differnt
issue, and caught up in what people have to say. Before I got to this
posting, I saw your previous posting (newer than this) about how this
place just opens people up for attack. Well, true, they are stating
their opinion, just like you are stating yours. I will admit I am
impressed with your stalwart responses to all your critics.

Now I understand some of your aggravation, but you lost all
credibility once you admitted to your illegal action of returning the
movie to Target. (Yes, illegal) OK, wait, time for you and your
supporters to defend your actions. Feel free, I am curious what you
will have to say. But I have one quesion for you (and this may have
been asked before earlier in the thread.)

When you walked into Target, went to the customer service, did you
say " Hi, this is a christmas gift my friend bought for me at
Blockbuster, but it is the wrong format. Can I exchange this item here
since Blockbuster won't do it since I don't have a receipt?"

If that is what you told Target, and they exchanged the movie for
you, then you are redeemed and did nothing wrong. If not, then you
have done wrong, and as I said before, you have lost all credibility
as a person who can be trusted.

Back to the beginning, I understand your aggravation, and some of
the actions you took I would have done the same, but I would not act
like the wounded consumer and then admit to an action that is A)
Illegal (yep, there is that word again) and B) Is the reason retail
outlets have to raise prices. Your action was minor, but combine that
with the same actions from several thousand other wounded consumers,
and you do impact the business.

Maybe before you post your next complaint (be it against PFB or
another consumer) You should think long and hard about what you are
going to admit to.

Why waste your time with Blockbuster? There are other video rental
places out there (Hollywood Video springs to mind), and a whole array
of supermarkets, all of which seem to have a pretty good selection of
stuff.

I can understand some measure of customer loyalty, but be ready and
willing to go somewhere else.

I'm not sure why they refused to do the return for you, but your title
sounds like a Christmas carol.

(to the tune of I Saw Three Ships)
I was turned away on Christmas Day
on Christmas Day
on Christmas Day
I was turned away on Christmas Day
on Christmas Day at Block-Bus-Ter

Feel free to add stanzas!

Maybe they were busy with other customers.
think of that??
If you dont have a receipt they wont excahnge it.
Its not taht lady being a bitch its callled store policy
&& she could lose her hob.

x3
Nicole.

I can't believe how everyone is jumping on this guy! Who cares what
day he went to Blockbuster? The store was open which means customers
are invited to come in if they like. Secondly, he did not want to
return the DVD, he wanted to exchange it for the same title, different
version. It was unopened, therefore, undamaged. In this case, the
store would have not lost the money as they would have been able to
sell the other DVD in its place.
Ok, maybe taking it to Target wasn't necessarily the right thing to
do, but they did not lose either, as they will just sell the one he
brought back.

You had no receipt, therefore you had no proof. End of story, you are
in the wrong.

this is the only year i have heard the "well screw you i don't
celebrate christmas". ok fine, but i am sure you celebrate other
holidays that even if i don't know about them, i still have to
respect. get over yourself. second the manager told you no because you
didn't have a receipt, that is their policy. you are all upset because
you didn't get your way. just because managers are nice and helpful
doesn't mean that they will bend the rules for anyone. you probably
thought she was being rude just because she said no. typical in people
that write letters just because.

i am not one to defend the company, but i will defend it against
people that complain just to complain and to get free stuff. you
criticize the site because we didn't agree with you. i simply don't
agree with you because your letter is like many others. you are just
unhappy that you didn't get your way, you are adding things that
didn't happen or you just want them to be viewed that way. if you
would have gotten your way you would not even have bothered to write
any kind of letter. just because she said no now you are complaining
that some videos came late, something you hadn't bothered with
before.

i personaly hate the blockbuster i go to. most of the employees are
extremely rude. so i just try not to go unless it is totaly necessary.
the one time i had an issue i called and spoke to the manager about
it. big companies have a "standard" for customer service, but they
hire employees that don't really care, and being the big companies
that they are, they really don't care if they loose 10 customers. that
is why i don't expect much form companies like these.

i have been wronged by companies before, and i have fought to the end
to get it right. i don't waste my time with little things as i could
not bend their policies even if i say i spend a gazillion dollars with
their ocmpany.

Who returns a movie on Christmas Day? Obviously someone who doesnt
have a life.
Not only are you trying to exchange something on Christmas Day you
dont even have a receipt!!!!
Talk about self absorbed and a sense of entitlement!

Unfortunately, it is usually required to have a receipt in order to
get an exchange. However, I do see your point as your DVD was not
opened and I think it should have been a simple exchange.

I never really liked blockbuster to begin with. I think blockbuster is
annoying and their service is subpar. However, people go to them and
that is why I go to Netflix or a Hollywood video.

Simple letters turn into something more, even more so into "not
everybody celebrates Christmas" discussion....I'm kinda impatient, who
cares if they wanted to exchange it on Christmas at blockbuster, their
open 365 days a year....I would just call and speak to the store
owner. So I guess now someone will attack my opinion, grammar, or
sentence structure. Life is not that serious, for me at least.

I didn't even know there were any stores open on Christmas day. I
still don't see why your dire film emergency could not have waited a
day; even if your DVD had been smashed, scratched and burned, it
wouldn't have required immediate attention on the holiday. Also, why
in the world are you throwing a tantrum over the manager asking for
the recepit? Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't most stores require
the receipt to return or exchange something?

I have a feeling Blockbuster won't be in tears if they lose you as a
customer.

I just came back from vacation and noticed the big change in the top
20 list on PFB. I read this post and all the 260 comments that have
been posted on it. I know this post has probably already been beaten
to death, but after thinking long and hard, I really don't understand
how the exchange at Target can be called a scam/cheating, etc. Let me
clarify why.

Sometime late last summer, I was in London, UK for a three week onsite
assignment. I was finally face to face with a team that that I had
been working with, primarily through phone/email for almost 6 months.
Over the three weeks that I was there, a lot of us became very good
friends and colleagues and when it was finally time for me to return
to the US, they gave me a Sony 5.0 Mega Pixel digital camera as gift
at the airport.

When I got back here, the technology buff that I am, I wanted to
exchange that for a even better product (I wanted an 8 Mega Pixel). It
is pretty evident that I did not have any kind of receipt. In any
case, I took that sealed product to the local Best Buy and asked about
an exchange. They mentioned that they could no do it and I got the
same response from Sears and few more stores. Keep in the mind that
none of them asked me where I got the product from and I did not tell
them anything more than it was a gift. There did not seem to be a need
too to do that. It did not seem to bother me too much that they did
not exchange it even though it was sealed, although I did wonder why.

Anyway, finally I had Wal-Mart and Comp USA that said that they would
take it back. Both the stores also mentioned that they would give me
an in store credit for the lowest price that the product was sold for
within the last three months. I choose Comp USA since they had a
better variety of camera and more specifically they had the exact
model that I wanted. Comp USA also mentioned that the acceptance of my
camera was subject to an evaluation of the product by their
technicians which was their policy.

They checked the camera in front of me and even went to the Sony
website to validate the authenticity using the serial number (how, I
do not know, I guess they may have some vendor relationship service or
something) and issued me the in store credit and I immediately went
and bought the camera I wanted.

Now here is my question. At no time did they ask or even seem remotely
interested in knowing where I got the product from. They stated the
conditions (price and validation of product) of their policy, which
was not written/displayed anywhere in the store, so I am not really
sure if it is really a policy or was it a manager exception to please
a customer. In any case, I agreed and we completed the transaction. So
did I scam them? Did I cheat? Did I do something immoral? At least, I
don't think I did.

To me Adam's case seems to be similar. He did not get what he wanted
from one store, went to another and within their stipulated
guidelines, he got his work done. Where is the cheating/scamming?

Did he go there and try to give them a fake DVD and get a original one
in exchange (scamming) or did he try to ask for more than what he
should have got (cheating)? Did he pull a gun on them and force them
to do something? Seems to me that everything he did was within
stated/stipulated boundaries.

What am I missing?

i love how you ASSUMED BB was open even when you called and no answer.
and honestly, if i worked there.. and you COULNDT WAIT until the 26th
to exchange it.. i think i woulda turned ya away too.. and did i read
somewhere else that you took it to target to exchange it? isnt that
fraudulent? tisk tisk on you... hope u jump everytime u hear a siren
now hahaha.

I didn't reply under a thread where this erroneous info was posted
because I think it is important for all to see and it mnight get
missed down there. At one time when Blockbuster was a private company
owned by a right wing crazy christian named Wayne Huizenga (owned or
may still own the Miami Dolphins) there was talk they edited movies.


Blockbuster is and has been a publicly traded company for years now.
First it was part of Viacom corporation (CBS, Nickelodeon, MTV, etc.).
About 3 years ago it spun off by itself but is still traded on the
New York Stock Exchange. I can assure you that at least for the past
five years that not a single movie that entered a Blockbuster
Corporate store (I can't speak for franchise) was ever edited.
Blockbuster may have chosen to get the "R" rated edition rather than
the NC-17 edition of a title like Crash (the weird sex/car accident
movie not the oscar winner). Both versions are put out by the studio
and Blockbuster does no editing. In fact over the past few years
Blockbuster has consistently carried the unrated versions of such
movies as 40 year old virgin, Hostel, Van Wilder, etc. In fact THIS
sometimes gets complaints.

The bottom line is that customers need to know that Blockbuster in
it's current form does NOT under any circumstances edit movies and in
fact carries the unrated versions when available. They do however
choose not to carry NC-17 titles (IMO stupid but that's another
battle).

interesting...

The return policy you cited is for Australia.

The one for the US, which is where I assumed you were, is at
http://www.target.com/gp/browse.html/ref=br_bx_1/601-3201964-3292162?i
e=UTF8&node=13685491

As you will see, they are supposed to either get a receipt or verify
in the computer that you bought the thing.

So if you do live in the US, you did get the clerk to violate policy
and you did fail to disclose that the DVD wasn't bought there despite
the fact that they clearly don't want the stuff you buy at other
stores, and I do think that's scamming.

If you are in Australia, I apologize for assuming you were from around
here.

If you are somewhere else, we can try to find the policy for that
country.

...you opened yourself up for this...you should've read the board
before you posted your letter. This is a site of opinions and that is
what you will get. If you can't handle the opinions of others, don't
let the door hit you where the good lord split you.

OK Adam, you didn't lie at Target, but you went in there with full
knowledge that the DVD wasn't purchased there. Why couldn't you wait
until you heard back from Blockbuster? Were you in such a hurry?

And yes, I think BB should have given you the exchange . . .and if the
one you wanted was more money, they could have charged you the
difference.

Here's what i think. I don't think it would have killed the manager
to let you exchange the movie. You were exchanging like for like,
just a difference in the screen size. They were getting an unopened
product. I honestly can't see why she wouldn't let you trade it out.
I think you are right when you say that from time to time it is okay
to bend the rules a bit, especially for a long time customer. I don't
buy the adage that the customer is always right, but in this instance
i simply fail to see the big deal.

Let me just note that while one part of being a smart customer may be
a willingness to jump from one company to the next at the slightest
provocation, another part is being nice to people.

The people you're dealing with are going to be able to influence your
experience in a great many cases, and if you stand out -- at either
end of the good customer/bad customer spectrum -- they are likely to
act on that.

You are creating some of the problems you're complaining about and
exacerbating others, and when I read comments like "Why should I be
nicer to her on Christmas than I am the rest of the year?" I realize
just how clueless you are about the impact your behavior has on your
life. The question isn't why you should be nicer on Christmas, it's
why you behave like this on *any* day of the year.

She's a person. That means something.

And that has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she was right
and you were wrong. If she had been wrong she would still deserve to
be treated with basic respect.

I'm Sorry Adam, but I just have to get in on this "Customer is always
right" thing. There was a case a few years ago where a guy whet to a
ticket counter at an airline. I can't remember what exactly happened,
but the guy got pissed, jumped over the counter and BROKE THE NECK of
the ticket person. That person, that is now parilized (sp?) from the
neck down, sued. The guy WON and the judge said it was bad customer
service and the guy was justified in his actions. You seem to my the
type that would agree with the outcome of this case. The custome is
NOT always right. And just because some one says "No, we can't do
that" does NOT make it bad Customer service. To the stores a favor
and stop scaming them and stop shoping. I hated customers like you
when I worked in Retail.

I hate Blockbuster. They will never get another dime of my money.

I know high end stores like Nordstrom's take back items that they know
weren't purchased there (at least they used to) to keep you as a
customer, but Target!!! You just scammed them ... you should have
gone to the next level of management at Blockbuster to see if you
could have exchanged the DVD. You almost seem proud that you were
able to exchange the item at Target, even though it wasn't purchased
there. Adam, it's customers like you that cause stores to have such
restrictive return policies.

And, when I buy someone a gift, I do save the receipt in case they
need to bring it back - maybe it's a lesson you should teach your son.
Instead, you taught him it's OK to scam a store to get what you want.

"return policy and a managers unwillingness to bend the rules"...well
my dear, this little statement just did you in. If you bend the rules
for one, you must bend them for all. Granted, you have also bended
the rules, but it doesn't make it right. After my experience with
Wal*Mart I say, companies should ALWAYS stick to the rules. Too many
customers got away with returning WAY too many things that should not
have and, well, my husband and I tried to return one thing that was
not acceptable. It ticked me off, but I was in no mood to argue with
the manager whom I had worked for in years past. I have since then
asked them to remove the "Mountain" signs around the bikes.

He bought it at Blockbuster!!! He didn't buy it anywhere else. He is
20 years old. He doesn't save receipts. Maybe you people do. He
doesn't! He knows that I exchanged it!

Just out of curiosity, did the DVD have the pricing sticker still on
it?

I used to work at Blockbuster and the DVD's don't have any identifying
marks on them other then the pricing sticker which is unique to
Blockbuster. Without a pricing sticker and with no receipt, that DVD
could have come from anywhere.

When I worked there (and granted I haven't worked at BB for almost a
year) all of the receipts from returns and exchanges were kept in an
envelope on the front counter. The next morning when the credit report
printed out, the morning manager was responsible for verifying that
each credit had a corresponding receipt, if it did not then the
employee responsible was written up. I, unfortunatly, was not as
adament about the policy as I should have been and it ultimatly led to
me being fired.

If it's that important to you then remember that the manager on duty
is not the highest working person there, ask when the store manager
works next, or you can ask to speak with the district manager. There
are other routes.

Your tale of woe has inspired me to write a new Christmas carol. Well,
maybe not so much a new Christmas carol per se, as a revision
of a preexisting carol to suit your particular experience. Anyway, let
me know if you like it so we can discuss the divvying up of song
royalties.

Away in a Blockbuster,
No exchange to be had.
The little Lord Adam
Was feeling real sad.

The store manager
Saw he had no receipt.
So the little Lord Adam
Was tossed out in the street.

So basically your complaint is: "Your store manager, who got stuck
working on Christmas and having to deal with people like me who think
the rules shouldn't apply to me, wouldn't break your company policy,
so here is a complaint letter to corporate about her to make her
Christmas even crappier!"

Hope you had a great holiday too, Adam.

Well my Netflix experience isn't much better. I got an email stating
my DVD's would be here today and they are not. They just shipped
yesterday so I am sure they will come tomorrow but I don't like being
told they will be here on a certain day and then they are not.

Yet another who feels rules are meant to be broken... but only for
him.

Everyone else summed it up. But be careful with Netflix. Research it
here if you please, but I have heard lots of good things at first, and
from what I have heard, it goes down hill after a few months. Best of
luck!

I assume they have a no receipt - no return policy. Why would they
bend the rules for you? Why wouldn't you just get the receipt from
your roommate?
What does not answering the phone have to do with people not wanting
to work on Christmas.
The bottom line is you should not expect retailers to go past their
policies for you. If they do that's great and you write a positive
note.
If you worked in retail you know the phones can ring and you just
can't get to them. If you worked in retail you know that you are not
the only customer asking to "bend the rules".
Bring the receipt, exchange the gift and go on. Why the implied threat
to go to Netflix?

1. They may have been slammed at the time you called. A lot of
customer service people deal with the folks who have come down to the
store to talk to them before the ones phoning.

2. The fullscreen version of "The Devil Wears Prada" is not the same
as the widescreen version. You obviously recognize the difference
because otherwise you'd have kept the one you had. They have
different stock keeping numbers; they have different bar codes; and
so on. The fact that these are two different versions of a single
film is irrelevant. On Planet Blockbuster they're two different
things.

3. Places do not appear to want to take CDs and DVDs back unless they
are defective and the customer is getting non-defective stuff. I
think their reasons for doing so make sense.

4. If Blockbuster went around doing whatever they had to to make
everybody happy, they would go out of business. So it seems as if you
think you are more special than other people, and that you in
particular deserve rules being broken. I disagree.

I believe that Blockbuster should have exchanged the movie. If you
were trying to exchange for a different title, I'd say no, but in this
case a simple exchange should have been no problem.

In response to the idea that this policy is to protect from loss, I
get it, however, the loss, if any, occurs at the time that the
merchandise is stolen, not when it is returned. At the time of
return, the retailer is simply "buying" the merchandise themselves. I
have been in retail managment for many years and this situation, to
me, seems as though it could have easily been handled at store level.

While I do not support the idea of "returning" merchandise to a
business, other than where it was purchased, the reality is that it
cost the other retailer nothing (even exchage) and bought them a happy
customer for the future.

Lastly, if they don't want to work on Christmas Day (which I
absolutely understand) they need to apply for jobs with someone who is
not open that day. If they elect to work for Blockbuster, then I
think he is right to expect the same courteous service he could expect
on any other day - including answering the phone.

Maybe they didn't answer the phone because they were being visited by
a friend who felt bad that they were stuck in a frigging video store
on Christmas day. I walked into a Fridays on Christmas night and
tried to get served at 8:59 pm. I really wasn't surprised when the
host said "I am sorry, our kitchen is closed now."

You know, you really need a receipt if you expect to get "good
customer service." Umm, err, is their return policy posted somewhere?
It sounds like you were aware of their return policy and were
expecting them to actually break it for you. The fact that they
didn't translates into "bad customer service". Now see, that I don't
care for. Then you found a shabby retailer that takes in merchandise
from Lord knows where, and I guess plans to resell it after adding it
to their inventory. Maybe you should shop at this establishment in
the future, if you can get such "good customer service" there.

Retailers are having to make their return policies stiffer and stiffer
because of people like you. You are a "loyal" customer, yet you left
them "years ago" and are currently trying out Netflix to "see what the
difference was". I am sick of seeing people write letters in to
companies regarding their return policies. It's typically the same
complaint over and over again, "I'm a loyal customer, but one thing
went wrong and I'm ready to drop you like yesterdays news..." Why
should companies be loyal to customers that aren't going to be loyal
back? Bottom line is that this manager followed the rules, you didn't
like it so you are ready to drop them, their loss or yours?

And if you did return it to another retailer that was not Blockbuster,
then you have just proved Blockbusters point. Good Job.

It was purchased at my local store. It was purchased just a few days
ago by my roommate. I wasn't asking much and Blockbuster failed
again.