Blockbuster Going Bye-Bye?

[darth los]

CNet’s gadget blog is predicting that video rental giant Blockbuster is going under…and soon.

Apparently massive layoffs are in store, as revenue slipped nearly 6% in the third quarter, stock prices are down to a $5.06, and 526 stores have been closed in the last year. Plus, Netflix has put a major dent in business…a fact Blockbuster honchos can no longer deny.

Chairman Jim Keyes has even admitted that the focus on Netflix has damaged the company, despite Blockbuster’s own attempt at a mail-in subscription services at an even lower price.

That’s cool though…they never rented porn anyways… :p



http://www.switched.com/2007/11/05/blockbuster-heading-for-the-dustbins-of-history/?ncid=NWS00010000000001

[capncnut]

Yup, two Blockbusters near to me have closed down already.

[AcesandEights]

Didn't Nostradamus write a quatrain predicting this?! :sneaky:

[zombiegirl]

I tried their mail service for about three months and it blew chunks. I was getting wrong movies or the movies were so scratched they wouldn't even play. With service like that it's no wonder their going belly up.

[Danny]

That’s cool though…they never rented porn anyways :p




huh. strange, they do over here, i saw "big knocker pirates" between two disney movies, no ****.
but ive never really dug blockbuster, mostly cus ive applied at like 5 and never got a job:(:lol:

[acealive1]

high prices and the fact their online rental system ala nextflix isnt working. it takes something like 5 days to get a movie back from them. they need to expand that to stay afloat. lets not forget, a 16 year old piss ant tells u that u need a credit card,proof of a bill and TWO valid forms of ID to be a member............how ironic as he doesnt have any of that.

[DjfunkmasterG]

Blockbuster in store pricing is too high right now. In my area it is almost $5.00 for a new release rental. BB was an awesome store back in the day. I even worked for one part time, but the quality of selection and the overall lack of knowledge by most store employees coupled with Netflix... no wonder they might go under.

Side Note. I preferred BB's mail service over netflix. I didn't get nearly the amount of damaged discs I did from netflix.

[acealive1]

Blockbuster in store pricing is too high right now. In my area it is almost $5.00 for a new release rental. BB was an awesome store back in the day. I even worked for one part time, but the quality of selection and the overall lack of knowledge by most store employees coupled with Netflix... no wonder they might go under.

Side Note. I preferred BB's mail service over netflix. I didn't get nearly the amount of damaged discs I did from netflix.



yet i couldnt get a job there and knew my stuff. they hire good people dont they? the discs i get from netflix arent bad at all. in about 70% of the cases,i dont even need to wonder about the quality. if i do,just send it back and say its damaged and they dont give a crap. plus the shipping place is downtown from my house.


lets not forget family video kickin their ass

[darth los]

huh. strange, they do over here, i saw "big knocker pirates" between two disney movies, no ****.




Reason number 7,365 why european media kicks our media's ass. :p

[acealive1]

Reason number 7,365 why european media kicks our media's ass. :p

:lol::lol::lol:

[slickwilly13]

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D This is great news! I have been boycotting Blockbuster Video for a while now. I have been a memeber since 1990 and, yet, I cannot rent any 369, PS3, or Nintendo games. I don't use credit cards. And I haven't seen porn at a Blockbuster since the early 90's. Their game renting policies are bullsh!t! I hope they fall down the crapper.

I do my renting at a local Hollywood Video. I'm treated better and do not need a credit card to rent games.

[SRP76]

I haven't needed Blockbuster since I discovered that public libraries exist.

Let's see...get a movie for one night, at a cost of $3-5....or, get a movie for a week, for free.

Doesn't take a genius....

[DubiousComforts]

I haven't needed Blockbuster since I discovered that public libraries exist.
You can't beat the public library! :D

So why is the public library option considered legal, but downloading the exact same movie from Usenet considered "stealing"? You don't even get an actual disc or a case from Usenet.

[capncnut]

Yeah, and public libraries build their collections up instead of ditching most of the titles a few months later for space conservation. I have seen many a rare old black and white horror movie at the library on dvd or vhs, the oldest movie you'll find in a UK Blockbuster's is 'Dude, Where's My Car? :rolleyes:

[MikePizzoff]

First off - I didn't know they had Blockbusters in the UK. Interesting.

Secondly - I was recently wondering how much longer Blockbuster would still be a company; like within the past week or two. Even though I go in there probably like twice a year, I'd still be sad to see it go.

[capncnut]

First off - I didn't know they had Blockbusters in the UK. Interesting.
Yeah, when they outmuscled all the mom and pop rental stores in the US, they did the same thing here about a year later.

[Danny]

yep it used to be all quick stop type places, but there, to quote my grandad, "rare as rockin'-'orse ****" now.

[acealive1]

First off - I didn't know they had Blockbusters in the UK. Interesting.

Secondly - I was recently wondering how much longer Blockbuster would still be a company; like within the past week or two. Even though I go in there probably like twice a year, I'd still be sad to see it go.


yep it used to be all quick stop type places, but there, to quote my grandad, "rare as rockin'-'orse ****" now.



:lol::lol::lol:

[Danny]

use it whenever you can.;)

[AcesandEights]

That one's goin' in the notebook!

[Danny]

id also like to add a term for a cheap person "hes tight as a camels arse in a sandstorm" :lol:

[DeadJonas190]

high prices and the fact their online rental system ala nextflix isnt working. it takes something like 5 days to get a movie back from them. they need to expand that to stay afloat. lets not forget, a 16 year old piss ant tells u that u need a credit card,proof of a bill and TWO valid forms of ID to be a member............how ironic as he doesnt have any of that.

Thats not true at all, about the online or the required ID for membership. All you need is 2 forms of ID, not all of that. He probably worded it wrong. I have a lot of people come into my store and not listen when I answer their question of "What do I need to get a membership"... Sure they are a bit restrictive, but they have the requirements to make it harder for scammers to set up fake accounts, unfortunatly it makes it hard for normal customers to set them up sometimes also. Oh and the stores in my area don't hire 16 year olds, only 18 or older due to labor laws.

As for Netflix, they did damage our businessat first, but in the past year Blockbuster Online has kicked their ass with the in store exchanges, we stole a confirmed 300,000 subscribers from them in the first half of this year. As for the damaged disks, a lot of it is caused by the post office sorting machines and not enough protection on the envelope on Blockbusters part. Of course, when I used netflix it took nearly 10 days for my movies to come, but it was a new service and didnt have many distribution centers at all. Blockbuster has converted some of the stores they closed to distribution warehouses for BB online, so around me it only takes about 2 maybe 3 days for the next movie in the mail, but then again, watching that free in store rental while waiting is sure better than waiting a week for the netflix movie. Netflix simply can not offer that.

That plus Blockbuster recently acquired the largest company that does digital downloading of movies and they are going to implement that into the online program not too far down the road, so you won't even have to swap the movie in the store, you will be able to watch your next movie online right away. It will probably cost more though, they are asses as far as pricing.

As for the company going under, thats not going to happen anytime soon. They are closing stores, but at the same time they opened a lot of stores too close together for them to remain profitable, so they have done what every major company does when that happens, they close the less profitable stores (except Starbucks, they literally open stores across the street from other stores so people don't have to close the street).


:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D This is great news! I have been boycotting Blockbuster Video for a while now. I have been a memeber since 1990 and, yet, I cannot rent any 369, PS3, or Nintendo games. I don't use credit cards. And I haven't seen porn at a Blockbuster since the early 90's. Their game renting policies are bullsh!t! I hope they fall down the crapper.

I do my renting at a local Hollywood Video. I'm treated better and do not need a credit card to rent games.

The game policy sucks, I even have to have a credit card on my account as an employee, but at the same time there were too many people setting up false accounts and not returning the games. Since they are in the business to make money and not just give away $60 games for $7.99 on their release day, they make it so you have to have a credit or debit card on the account to rent a new system game so that they can charge if the game doesn't come back.

Let's put it this way, if you rent a car and don't return it on the day it supposed to be returned, thats grand theft auto and you see the inside of a jail cell, but if you rent a game and don't return it that is petty theft which won't be prosecuted by the authorities. Too many thieves caused the credit card policy, hate the thieves, not the company trying to protect their investment... and no, they do not get games at a discounted price like a lot of people belive.

Actually, Hollywood Video has been on the outs for about 3 years now, they are continually losing money and BB tried to buy them out when Disney dropped them due to them always being in the red, but the government stepped in and said it would be too close to a monopoly.

Also all the Hollywood Videos by me that are still in business (About 8 left out of around 15 two years ago) now require a credit card to rent the new system games as do the Family Video stores. Don't be suprised if you see it hit yours soon too. They had too many people not returning those $60 games.

And honestly, if I didn't work at Blockbuster, I would go to Family Video even though the ones near me hire people who know nothing about movies. I had a kid at one of them butt into my conversation with my friend to tell me that Dawn 04 was not a remake. I told him he should be fired because he is an idot. I hate when kids try to school me on zombie movies... I school them lol

[kortick]

i wasnt too impressed when i asked if
they had "inland empire" the new
david lynch film and they didnt even have it in their system

plus the look the guy gave me when i asked him if
they had any black lesbian porn
didnt warm my heart

and they got mad when i was standing in line and the guy behind
me was talking real loud on his cell phone in spanish
and i yelled at him "talk english this is america"

blockbuster not a fresh scent
thank goodness there are some underground stores in the area

[DubiousComforts]

plus the look the guy gave me when i asked him if
they had any black lesbian porn
didnt warm my heart
Ha ha, I'm surprised given some of the people that work at Blockbuster he didn't ask you where he could get some when it was mentioned. :D

[slickwilly13]

Hollywood would turn me in to a collections if I fail to bring it back. If they start asking for a credit card, then they too, will lose my business. I don't feel I need a credit card to rent from them or any other place. I have all the proof of who I am with other forms of I.D.. And a damn good history with Blockbuster or any other place. If that's not good enough for them, then they can go f#ck themselves.

[DeadJonas190]

i wasnt too impressed when i asked if
they had "inland empire" the new
david lynch film and they didnt even have it in their system

plus the look the guy gave me when i asked him if
they had any black lesbian porn
didnt warm my heart

and they got mad when i was standing in line and the guy behind
me was talking real loud on his cell phone in spanish
and i yelled at him "talk english this is america"

blockbuster not a fresh scent
thank goodness there are some underground stores in the area

Inland Empire is in the computer system, we have had it at my store since long before it came out, it is under David Lynch's Inland Empire as that is the title on the dvd. The person you had was just an idiot who doesn't know the product or was in a store that did not get it as it was a small release.

I would have given you directions to the closest porn store, hell we used to have one right next store to us and I sent them a lot of business :)

The phone conversation was just rude, but there is no reason to cause problems in a business with other customers. As for this being America, you are right, it is, and that is why people speaking any language is fine. Most people don't realize that we do not have a national language. Look it up if you don't believe me. This is America, a place where we have freedom of speech.

Some Blockbuster suck. If you were near me you would love my store, we know our product, treat our customers well for the most part (there are a few assholes) and you wouldn't have a problem with Spanish speaking people, we don't have a lot of customers who speak Spanish.


Hollywood would turn me in to a collections if I fail to bring it back. If they start asking for a credit card, then they too, will lose my business. I don't feel I need a credit card to rent from them or any other place. I have all the proof of who I am with other forms of I.D.. And a damn good history with Blockbuster or any other place. If that's not good enough for them, then they can go f#ck themselves.

Like I said before, movies are their business and they want their product back or paid for. Companies are not out there to give away product and being that Blockbuster is the largest movie/game rental company in the world, they have to do somethings that are not the best for everybody to protect their product. Like I said ain my previous post, if you don't return a car to Hertz, you are arrested for grand theft auto. People don't want to take personal responsibility anymore and that causes a lot of problems... and don't take this that I am saying you wouldn't return your movies/games, I think a lot of the policies suck, but I completely understand why they are in effect. I also detest the credit card policy, but at the same time due to the policy we have lost very little product compared to a few years ago. The credit card policy helps to keep our games in stock and on the shelf for people to rent.

As for collections, everybody you owe money too will turn you in if you do not pay. Hollywood video does it also. One franchise near me called Mammoth Video was actually on the news for going a step further and pressing charges on a customer who not only failed to return her movies, but then refused to pay for them stating on the news "They are only movies, they aren't important." She lost and im sure she had to pay a lot more than the bill she had.

I would say thats a lot worse than sending somebody to collections over a and unpaid bill.

I will say this, I am a member of www.ihateblockbuster.com and at one point I was very mad at the store I went to because they failed to check in my movie when I brought it back the same day I rented it. It didn't get checked in for 2 days, the new guy argued with me over it for a few minutes so I told him to "F*ck off" and left. I quit going there because of that and I would go in 2 or 3 times a week before that as$monkey did that.

I went to Hollywood instead... until their employees tried to steal a popular CD I had returned on accident in a game case. I went back about 20 minutes after I left because I realized that I had left their game in my Playstation and my cd in their case. The guy behind the counter told me they didn't get it in the case, that the case was empty. I knew for a fact it was in the case because I had put it there when I played the game so I told him "Ok then, I guess I'll keep the game since your keeping my CD" and he was like "Umm let me get the manager." So then the manager comes up and I tell her what happened and how I know I left it in there and she was like "We didn't get it in the case" so I was like "Ok, then I guess I have a $13 game, sweet" and as I started to walk out she said "Wait a second, was it this one?" and suddenly they had my cd out of a drawer behind the counter. So yeah, I said F*ck Hollywood after that. That store was closed a few months later, but I never found out why, it's now demolished and they built a CVS in it's place. When I wanted movies I just bought them for a while or went to Family Video. I only went back to a Blockbuster after my friends wife got a management positon at one because I knew she would fix any problems that occured, and I don't mean late fees, I never got them, I was anal about returning my movies on time. I can understand frusteration with the place, I went through it.

[slickwilly13]

Hastings tried rip me off back in 1999. I rented Jade Cocoon for PS1. I turned it in at the drop box and they claimed I never did. They wanted to charge me $50 for the game and $45 in late fees. They even turned me in to collections. It took me a 4 months to clear it up and Hastings lost my business as a result. I know damn well an employee stole the game and tried to pin it on me. I knew people who worked there and employee theft was common. Especially, any type of cd. My parents were pissed off, since the account was in my mom's name. We never paid them either. We contacted the D.M. and cleared it up, but it was a hassle. Good thing our record with Hastings was good.

[Mike70]

I haven't needed Blockbuster since I discovered that public libraries exist.

Let's see...get a movie for one night, at a cost of $3-5....or, get a movie for a week, for free.

Doesn't take a genius....

yeah public libraries kick a ss. the one in my town lets you take out dvds for 28 days. so you can get an entire season set of something and actually have the time to watch it.

[acealive1]

Hollywood would turn me in to a collections if I fail to bring it back. If they start asking for a credit card, then they too, will lose my business. I don't feel I need a credit card to rent from them or any other place. I have all the proof of who I am with other forms of I.D.. And a damn good history with Blockbuster or any other place. If that's not good enough for them, then they can go f#ck themselves.



spoken gospel truth!!


most people since the beginning of time have paid for rentals in cash. family video wins cuz they have kids movies free.........or u can just do netflix. $18 and change a month total and unlimited whatever. they rock and their selection gets biger when u search for stuff they dont have. they're even planning a game rental service. SCHWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!