blockbuster: a series of rheotorical questions

Started by pookiethecat, October 04, 2003, 03:31:58 PM

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Jeremy Blackman

Quote from: Weak2ndAct
Quote from: Jeremy BlackmanBe nice to Blockbuster employees, though. They're truly oppressed people. It's completely the top level management that makes Blockbuster so corrupt.

I left out the part of the story explaining why I blew up.  This sort of late-fee mix-up has happened before, but what made me go nuts was that before getting rung up, I had to hear the ten minute sales pitch about why I should buy the Games pass or whatever it is, and how there's no late fees, blah blah.  I politely declined several times, but the guy wouldn't let up.  Then when I get the late fee, he turns to me all smug and says "looks like you should have listened to me."  And this douche was the manager.

I know the feeling. That's part of why I never want to go back, ever. I hate being a salesman. And they made me be a salesman. My manager (though she was nice) made me sell DirecTV, because no one else would do it, and she was getting a lot of pressure from the district manager. And every month they pile on more crap for the employees to sell. Instead of motivating with incentives or commission, they really put pressure on you if you don't sell enough. I felt like a corporate pawn, and I absolutely hated that feeling. The only way to get through it is to place yourself in an alternate reality and pretend that the people you're harassing aren't getting pissed off and annoyed. Which is probably what your manager friend was doing every day of his life.

Weak2ndAct

Know exactly what you're talking about.  I have a friend who works there now and is so miserable.  It's all he complains about.  

Side note: After all these years, I'm still astonished how many people still bring up the right boxes for what they want to check out.  Every trip I made there, I spent 75% of my time having to stand in line hearing the employees explain that you have to bring up the blockbuster case behind the box.  Or how you have to bring up a dvd case to get a dvd, not vhs.  *sigh* Long live NetFlix.

SoNowThen

Yes, we can all agree on this one. I hate this fucking place. We don't have a foreign section at our blockbusters. They mix in their 3 foreign movies with the rest of the stuff. Of course, this is not to mention their cocksuckingly stupid adherence to pan-and-scan dvds.

Luckily we have two amazing alt video stores in town. I do mean amazing. I was putting on a little Italian week for me and my roomates, and the next time I went to rent from this one place, the counter chick (my age) looks at me, looks at my rent history, and says "gotta big neorealist fan here, huh?". I thought that was so fucking great. Usually video store employees squint at me and say "I haven't heard of that one". Between these two, and my public library (35+ Criterion dvds so far), I'll never have to set foot in a Blockbuster again.
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

pookiethecat

Quote from: SoNowThenLuckily we have two amazing alt video stores in town. I do mean amazing. I was putting on a little Italian week for me and my roomates, and the next time I went to rent from this one place, the counter chick (my age) looks at me, looks at my rent history, and says "gotta big neorealist fan here, huh?". I thought that was so fucking great. Usually video store employees squint at me and say "I haven't heard of that one". Between these two, and my public library (35+ Criterion dvds so far), I'll never have to set foot in a Blockbuster again.

i'm so fucking jealous it's sick.
i wanna lick 'em.

SoNowThen

Where do you live that there's nothing better than Fuckbuster?
Have you checked out the phone book good and thorough?

And the library and university library as well?
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

pookiethecat

i'm gonna hafta do somethin.  ya'll are inspiring the hell outta me.
i wanna lick 'em.

MacGuffin

Blockbuster Faces Changing Media Market

DALLAS - Not long ago, movie and music lovers crowded the aisles of video rental shops like Blockbuster and CD stores like Tower Records.

Now, however, you won't find the likes of Martin Sherman in stores like Blockbuster.

A computer instructor in Las Vegas, Sherman switched to an online DVD service, Netflix, two months ago. His days of combing the shelves for a copy of a hot movie, or queuing up for a cashier, are over.

"I didn't like the hassle of going to the store and waiting in a long line," Sherman said. "A lot of time, they were out of stock."

Blockbuster's fortunes have been spiraling for some time, and it took its latest hit Tuesday when Viacom Inc., the media conglomerate that owns MTV and CBS, announced Tuesday it is getting rid of its controlling stake in Blockbuster because of declining business. It even decided to take a $1.3 billion write-off.

For its part Tower Records, long in trouble, tumbled into Chapter 11 on Monday.

Both businesses, and others like them, are struggling from much the same squeeze. New technology is making movies and music instantly available over the Internet or through cable services. At the same time, big discount outlets like Wal-Mart have begun selling cheap CDs and DVDs to people who can shop at the same time for hardware, clothing or the jumbo box of laundry detergent.

Blockbuster's same-store rentals fell 6 percent in late 2003 from a year before, and its stock hasn't moved much from the $15 level at which it was first floated by Viacom in 1999.

No one is saying the industry is dead, but the days of a real social scene in the stores may be numbered.

"Video stores are still going to be around for at least 10 years, but how well they do depends on Internet subscription services and video-on-demand from the cable companies," said Matthew D. Coppola, an analyst with Atlantis Research Service.

Some of those competing services are doing well: Netflix has signed up 1.5 million subscribers who order DVDs online and receive them in the mail. One of the company's main selling points is the lack of late fees - customers return the DVDs when they want other ones.

Another popular consumer option is video-on-demand services offered by cable companies. Ordering a movie can be as easy as a remote control click or a phone call.

Music buyers are finding better prices at big discount retailers and more titles available on the Internet, sometimes for free. According to some estimates, 20 percent of Americans now download music from the Internet - sometimes legally, often not.

As a result, CD sales have declined for four straight years. The recording industry hopes to reverse the slide by getting fans to pay for digital versions of songs - at prices starting under $1 per song - and by suing hundreds of people who download copyrighted music for free.

Encouraging the legal downloading of songs and movies could help music labels and Hollywood studios adapt to changes in consumer behavior, but it could put even more competitive pressure on Blockbuster and Tower.

At a Blockbuster on a busy stretch of Preston Road in Dallas, employees outnumbered customers during most of the lunch hour Tuesday. A few people stopped long enough to hop out of their cars, shove a DVD or two through the return slot and drive off.

Diane Parsonage of Dallas said she had broken away from Blockbuster for a long time and was still open to other methods of getting her movies.

"I used to do pay-per-view because it was so convenient, and if you have a dish you can tape it," Parsonage said, "but I don't have that service anymore."

One of the drawbacks, customers say, to renting movies is paying a late charge. Blockbuster charges a fee equal to renting the movie again, even when customers barely miss the deadline - sometimes as short as a day for new releases. Parsonage said she had just paid a late fee after missing the noon deadline by 45 minutes.

But David Hall, 24, said he preferred renting over buying movies.

"I know it's probably stupid to rent two DVDs for the same price you could buy one, but I don't want to buy a movie I've never seen - I might hate it," he said.

Hall said he only buys a movie every couple months. When he does, however, "I buy them at Best Buy or Wal-Mart or Target."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

Jeremy Blackman

Death to Blockbuster! Death to Disney!

Everything is falling into place... summon the four horsemen...

Stefen

Netflix competing with blockbuster? What a strange turn of events. Love live Netflix! Long live Madstone Theaters!
Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

MacGuffin

No. 1 Blockbuster Bids for No. 2 Hollywood Video

In an apparent effort to beef up in the face of competition from Wal-Mart and other mass merchants and from growing online competitors like Netflix, Blockbuster has offered to buy its largest competitor, Hollywood Video, for $700 million, the Wall Street Journal reported today (Thursday). The offer represents a 17-percent premium over Hollywood's current stock price. In addition, Blockbuster has agreed to assume $350 million of Hollywood debt. If the deal receives regulatory approval -- a big "if," according to analysts -- Blockbuster would add 1,900 Hollywood stores to its own 5,000. In reporting the deal, the WSJ commented that it reflects "a new aggressive stance taken by the video giant just a few weeks after it was split off from its former corporate parent, entertainment company Viacom Inc."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ

I asked for a copy of the record of movies rented under my phone number at my local Family Video.  It was pretty funny, since my brother and I both used the same account (though he moved out last year).

We'd usually rent things around the same time...if one of us would go, we'd give money to the other and tell them what to rent.

It was funny so see a list that looked like

2Fast2Furious
Fisher King
Scary Movie
Do The Right Thing

The list was several years old, too.  It was really cool to see my progression of taste, and it also took me back remembering renting the movie and watching it and what effect it had on me.

If you ever rent anything from anywhere, I recommend getting a print out of your record.
"As a matter of fact I only work with the feeling of something magical, something seemingly significant. And to keep it magical I don't want to know the story involved, I just want the hypnotic effect of it somehow seeming significant without knowing why." - Len Lye

ono

Quote from: Walrus XIf you ever rent anything from anywhere, I recommend getting a print out of your record.
I had something like that from my library.  Over two years time.  Started out with stuff like Shakespeare in Love, Se7en, Magnolia (okay that one doesn't count), Snatch. Gosford Park (maybe this doesn't count too much either).  And near the end of the list I was watching Limbo, La Dolce Vita, Lantana, Sunset Boulevard, L' Avventura, and Aguirre, Wrath of God all on one weekend.

Pwaybloe

Blockbuster drops late fees

No. 1 video rental chain to give 1-week grace period; says increased business will offset lost fees.

December 14, 2004: 9:23 AM EST

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Blockbuster Inc. announced Tuesday it is abolishing late fees on all its video tapes, DVDs and video games as of Jan. 1.

The world's largest video rental company will still have due dates for their rental products -- one week for games and two days or one week for movies, depending on whether it's a new release.

But customers will be given a one-week grace period after that to return the product. After that grace period ends, the chain will automatically sell them the product, less the rental fee. If the customers don't want to purchase the movie or game, they can return the product within 30 days for a credit, less a restocking fee.

Blockbuster (Research) has been competing with the growth of by-mail rental services such as Netflix (Research), which allow customers to keep movies as long as they want in return for a monthly fee. In August, Blockbuster started offering that kind of monthly rental service itself. It said Tuesday that service will continue in addition to this new individual rental policy.

"For the past year, the company has been testing a variety of rental options in markets across the U.S.," it said in its statement. "In no-late-fees test markets, the increased rental transactions and retail sales offset the lower level of revenues resulting from eliminating late fees."

It estimated that late fees would have contributed about $250 million to $300 million to revenue next year.

The company said it also plans to lower its ongoing marketing, operating and promotional costs after implementing the change.

The company said as a result of the move it expects operating income in 2005 to be flat compared with 2004 results after an estimated $50 million it will spend to market and implement the change to a no late fee system.

Analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call had forecast that the company would earn 73 cents a share in 2004 and 67 cents a share in 2005. That works out to about a $6.5 million drop in forecasted earnings between the two years.

Blockbuster, which was spun off earlier this year by media conglomerate Viacom (Research), is in the process of bidding for competitior Hollywood Entertainment (Research), the No. 2 video rental chain. Hollywood Entertainment has entered into a merger agreement with buyout firm Leonard Green & Partners as well as Hollywood's top management to take the company private.

Blockbuster is offering $11.50 a share for Hollywood, or about $700 million, and it has said it would be willing to raise its bid subject to a review of company financial information.

Leonard Green and Partners is offering $10.25 a share for the company. Movie Gallery (Research), the No. 3 video rental chain, is also involved in the bidding.

Jeremy Blackman

This is going to hit Blockbuster where it hurts. What a stupid move.

They'll probably have to stock up gluttonously on popular new releases, which will be a waste of money and a waste of space, which means far fewer "unpopular" movies and shelves overflowing with $15 used copies of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

The time and confusion spent explaining late fees to customers is going to be replaced by explaining that movies are due, but they're really not.

And don't forget that late fees, while they produce disgruntled customers and slow down the line, are one of Blockbuster's main sources of revenue.

You just signed your death warrant, Blockbuster! Ha HA!

Ravi

Quote from: Jeremy BlackmanThey'll probably have to stock up gluttonously on popular new releases, which will be a waste of money and a waste of space, which means far fewer "unpopular" movies and shelves overflowing with $15 used copies of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Which also means that they may charge less for those used copies of Harry Potter.