If you are a charter Blockbuster Online subscriber, you will soon be losing your $14.99 three-out plan. In the near future, probably on your next billing date, your monthly subscription fee will automatically increase to the standard $17.99 price that everyone else pays.
The $14.99 price was guaranteed only through January 31, 2006. Blockbuster quietly extended the plan for a couple of months, which was probably a measure to retain charter subscribers while Blockbuster attempted to lure them into voluntarily modifying their plans to take advantage of the four-per-month rental coupon deal that Blockbuster launched during SuperBowl XL.
As a charter member, you will still have the option of using your two free monthly rental coupons for games; however, if you make any changes to your plan, you will most likely lose the right to use your coupons for games.
Be sure to check your account information on Blockbuster’s Web site to determine your next billing date. If you think $17.99 is too much to pay for your Blockbuster subscription, you can cancel your service before your next billing date at www.blockbuster.com. Make sure to notify Blockbuster that you are canceling due to the price increase.
4/05/2006
Blockbuster Sued over Business Model
Blockbuster is being sued by their major competitor over its business model. A major issue is whether Blockbuster’s queue feature, used to select and distribute DVDs to subscribers, is a patent violation.
The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco and is likely to launch the biggest legal battle yet in the DVD-by-mail industry.
Read the full article here.
“Netflix Sues Blockbuster for Alleged Patent Infringement”
The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco and is likely to launch the biggest legal battle yet in the DVD-by-mail industry.
Associated Press:
Online DVD rental service Netflix Inc. on Tuesday accused Blockbuster Inc. of illegally copying its ideas in a patent infringement lawsuit challenging the video store chain's recent Internet expansion.
The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, focuses largely on the online wish lists that prioritize the DVD desires of about 5.4 million people who subscribe to either Netflix or Blockbuster's Internet service.
Netflix also believes its patents cover perhaps its most popular feature -- the option of renting a DVD for an unlimited time without incurring late fees.
Read the full article here.
“Netflix Sues Blockbuster for Alleged Patent Infringement”
3/30/2006
Responding to Blockbuster Online Shipping Surveys
Occasionally, Blockbuster Online emails shipping surveys to subscribers. These shipping surveys are generally about a specific title recently returned by the subscriber. The shipping survey simply asks the Blockbuster subscriber to report the date the DVD arrived at the subscriber’s home.
The concern is over what Blockbuster intends to do with this shipping data from subscribers. Blockbuster claims to be using this data to improve shipping times; however, Blockbuster could also use this data for negative purposes. Since rapid delivery of DVDs can actually have a negative impact on Blockbuster’s profits, subscribers have a right to be suspicious of Blockbuster’s motives. Is Blockbuster actually striving to decrease shipping times thereby allowing subscribers to rent more DVDs, or would Blockbuster rather increase shipping times to limit the number of DVDs a subscriber can watch each month?
Have you received shipping surveys from Blockbuster Online? If so, did you respond? How did you respond? Since the day of your response, have you noticed any changes in the speed of your Blockbuster Online service?
The concern is over what Blockbuster intends to do with this shipping data from subscribers. Blockbuster claims to be using this data to improve shipping times; however, Blockbuster could also use this data for negative purposes. Since rapid delivery of DVDs can actually have a negative impact on Blockbuster’s profits, subscribers have a right to be suspicious of Blockbuster’s motives. Is Blockbuster actually striving to decrease shipping times thereby allowing subscribers to rent more DVDs, or would Blockbuster rather increase shipping times to limit the number of DVDs a subscriber can watch each month?
Have you received shipping surveys from Blockbuster Online? If so, did you respond? How did you respond? Since the day of your response, have you noticed any changes in the speed of your Blockbuster Online service?
3/16/2006
Contacting Blockbuster via Email Is Unproductive
When Blockbuster Online first began, the Customer Service Department did a more than adequate job of supporting subscribers via email. In those early days, a subscriber could expect thoughtful and helpful solutions to a wide range of account problems.
Blockbuster customer support via email began to show a noticeable decline in mid-2005. Currently, the email support system has deteriorated to a point where it barely serves an actual purpose beyond handling only the most routine problems.
If you have contacted Blockbuster Online via email in recent months, you have probably received overly generalized, boilerplate solutions that might leave you wondering if a real person actually read and understood your inquiry. It appears that the customer service associates are just glancing at customer inquiries and then pasting catchall solutions for the responses.
If your account problem happens to be a very basic issue, Blockbuster’s standard solutions might be somewhat helpful; however, if you have a problem that is slightly out of the ordinary, you will be hard-pressed to get it an appropriate response or solution from Blockbuster. If your account problem does not fit the common templates, you will probably have to send multiple emails to Blockbuster over multiple days to get a solution that actually solves your problem.
When you contact Blockbuster via email, you may receive a follow-up email asking you to critique the assistance you received. The comments will be recorded through a Web-based survey that takes a couple of minutes to complete. Make sure to always fill out those service quality surveys from Blockbuster. Currently, this is your main weapon against bad customer service at Blockbuster.
If you receive good or bad customer service from Blockbuster, make sure the company knows. Hopefully, Blockbuster will use your submitted data to weed out worst of the customer service representatives that answer customer inquiries.
Given that Blockbuster’s email support is currently so terrible, it is recommended that you call Blockbuster Online Customer Service directly at (866) 692-2789. For some unknown reason, the Blockbuster employees manning the telephones seem to be much more motivated to solve problems than those behind the keyboards.
Blockbuster customer support via email began to show a noticeable decline in mid-2005. Currently, the email support system has deteriorated to a point where it barely serves an actual purpose beyond handling only the most routine problems.
If you have contacted Blockbuster Online via email in recent months, you have probably received overly generalized, boilerplate solutions that might leave you wondering if a real person actually read and understood your inquiry. It appears that the customer service associates are just glancing at customer inquiries and then pasting catchall solutions for the responses.
If your account problem happens to be a very basic issue, Blockbuster’s standard solutions might be somewhat helpful; however, if you have a problem that is slightly out of the ordinary, you will be hard-pressed to get it an appropriate response or solution from Blockbuster. If your account problem does not fit the common templates, you will probably have to send multiple emails to Blockbuster over multiple days to get a solution that actually solves your problem.
When you contact Blockbuster via email, you may receive a follow-up email asking you to critique the assistance you received. The comments will be recorded through a Web-based survey that takes a couple of minutes to complete. Make sure to always fill out those service quality surveys from Blockbuster. Currently, this is your main weapon against bad customer service at Blockbuster.
If you receive good or bad customer service from Blockbuster, make sure the company knows. Hopefully, Blockbuster will use your submitted data to weed out worst of the customer service representatives that answer customer inquiries.
Given that Blockbuster’s email support is currently so terrible, it is recommended that you call Blockbuster Online Customer Service directly at (866) 692-2789. For some unknown reason, the Blockbuster employees manning the telephones seem to be much more motivated to solve problems than those behind the keyboards.
3/03/2006
Blockbuster: “Read My Lips, No Throttling”
In a March 2nd press release, Blockbuster responded to a large number of inquiries about throttling. Blockbuster has clarified their position on throttling and declared that the online DVD rental company does not throttle subscribers.
Apparently, Blockbuster did test throttling at one point, but decided to discontinue the program in 2005. Perhaps, they realized the repercussions from angry throttled customers exceeded the financial benefits of throttling.
Blockbuster left little wiggle room with their official statement on the issue. Shane Evangelist, Senior Vice-President and General Manager for Blockbuster Online, stated, “Blockbuster Online does not throttle. When we say our service offers unlimited rentals, we mean it."
With such a bold statement from Blockbuster, the company had better not dabble in throttling again at a later date. If they do, Shane Evangelist’s quote will certainly come back to haunt the company. The subscribers are watching, and this is one of those “Read my lips. No new taxes” moments.
Blockbuster Online Press Release
Apparently, Blockbuster did test throttling at one point, but decided to discontinue the program in 2005. Perhaps, they realized the repercussions from angry throttled customers exceeded the financial benefits of throttling.
Blockbuster left little wiggle room with their official statement on the issue. Shane Evangelist, Senior Vice-President and General Manager for Blockbuster Online, stated, “Blockbuster Online does not throttle. When we say our service offers unlimited rentals, we mean it."
With such a bold statement from Blockbuster, the company had better not dabble in throttling again at a later date. If they do, Shane Evangelist’s quote will certainly come back to haunt the company. The subscribers are watching, and this is one of those “Read my lips. No new taxes” moments.
Blockbuster Online Press Release
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