How to Investigate Artificial Blockbuster Store Check-In Delays

During the last several days, the Blockbuster Underground test account has revealed a peculiar new trend that might negatively affect some Blockbuster Online subscribers. The possible delay tactic limits the DVDs a subscriber can receive each month by allowing or intentionally creating a lengthy delay between the time a Blockbuster subscriber returns a store DVD and the time the Blockbuster Online system updates to reflect the return. The issue could easily add a day or two to the turnaround time for each DVD.

The most troubling thing about these delays is that they have the appearance of being artificial and intentional. Past system update patterns and current system update patterns show some inconsistencies that seem to have no reasonable explanation.

Under this new possible throttling tactic, store DVDs returned at the same time and at the same store may not clear the Blockbuster online system at the same time. This inconsistency strongly suggests the delays are not due to a legitimate system update schedule issue. For example, if the Blockbuster system were updating only once every twenty-four hours, generally all store DVDs returned at the same time should be clearing the system at about the same time. If two DVDs are returned at exactly the same time and they are clearing the Blockbuster Online system at very different times, that suggests the delays are artificial and, therefore, intentional.

Certainly, a Blockbuster employee might scan in one DVD and then not scan in another DVD for hours. This might account for discrepancies of a few hours, but this would not account for delays sometimes far exceeding twenty-four hours, especially since a couple of weeks ago, DVDs returned to the same store were normally clearing the Blockbuster Online system at nearly the same time and in less than a few hours. Often, returned store DVDs would clear in less than an hour.

Another reason the system delays seem artificial is that in-store exchanges (i.e., online DVDs exchanged for store DVDs) still show up in the system rapidly. This feature of the system seems to be mysteriously unaffected by the new delays. In-store exchanges commonly show up in the Blockbuster system within an hour of the transaction. How could the system so quickly update to show when store DVDs go out but then take a full day longer to reflect when those same DVDs came back?

You can test all of this for yourself and see if you are being throttled by Blockbuster in this manner. Here is how to conduct your own investigation.

1. The next time you exchange your Blockbuster Online DVDs for store rentals at a Blockbuster store, make a note of the time, go straight home, and check your Blockbuster Online queue.
2. Your in-store exchanges will probably already be reflected by your queue, indicating the Blockbuster Online system has updated.
3. If the new store rentals do not appear in your queue, check your queue every hour or so until the new store rentals appear in the At Home section of your queue.
4. Make a note of the time.
5. When you later return those store rentals, take them into the store to a Blockbuster counter clerk, and ask the counter clerk to scan the DVDs in front of you. Ask the clerk to verify the DVDs are showing up in the system as being checked in. (The store's system update should be almost instantaneous.) You may even want to ask for a receipt or other form of proof for the return. Regardless, make a note of the time the DVDs were scanned at the store.
6. When you get home, check your Blockbuster Online queue periodically until the store rental DVDs clear the At Home section of your queue.
7. Make a note of the approximate time you notice each DVD clearing your queue.
8. If your returned store DVDs clear at significantly different times, or if the DVDs remain in your queue beyond 6:00AM (Eastern) the following morning, there is a problem, and you are probably being throttled by Blockbuster.
9. Contact Blockbuster, ask them why you are experiencing such long delays on your account, and request a refund. If these delays are the result of a legitimate system delay, Blockbuster needs to offer you a full explanation, a detailed plan for how they are fixing the problem, and a refund for the time you were unfairly deprived of the subscription benefits for which your are paying.

Blockbuster Spins Massive Reduction in TotalAccess Benefits

Click here to see Blockbuster's official statement about the massive reduction in TotalAccess benefits. This is basically what Blockbuster Underground previously reported. The humorous difference is how Blockbuster is pathetically trying to spin this subscription benefit cut as a plan enhancement. Blockbuster is trying to trick TotalAccess subscribers into thinking they are now getting some sort of an improvement to their service when the reality is that TotalAccess subscribers are about to get far fewer DVDs for their subscription price.

Why did Blockbuster not just come out and say,

“Congratulations! Because you have been a loyal TotalAccess subscriber, Blockbuster is rewarding you with far fewer DVDs per month for the same price you have been paying. Lucky dog! Now you have much more time to watch glorified teenage karaoke shows on primetime television. Enjoy!”

Blockbuster Gives Subscribers the Finger with the Delayed Weekend Delivery Tactic

The latest in a seemingly unending string of brazen delay tactics employed by Blockbuster Online is the Delayed Weekend Delivery Tactic. In this sneaky little scheme, Blockbuster limits shipping to at least some subscribers during the first part of the week to DVDs which are likely to spend long times in transit and not arrive until Friday or later. Here is an example of how this tactic works.

Bob returns all three of his online DVD rentals to a Blockbuster store on Sunday. As soon as the Blockbuster store clerk scans in those three DVDs at the counter, Bob will have three open slots in his queue. If Blockbuster were honoring their obligations to Bob, they would ship three new DVDs to him on Monday. When Blockbuster Online uses the Delayed Weekend Delivery Tactic, however, Blockbuster ships to Bob only DVDs from shipping centers outside of Bob’s standard shipping area. Since these DVDs travel greater distances, they take longer to arrive at Bob’s house. The result is that Bob may not receive his new DVDs until Friday or later. Since Blockbuster’s last shipping day of the week is Friday, Bob will find it impossible to return his DVDs to a Blockbuster store in time to have more DVDs shipped that week. The situation forces Bob to wait until the following week for any more DVD shipments. Unfortunately, Blockbuster will, once again, delay Bob’s DVD shipments during that following week. Essentially, Blockbuster has made it virtually impossible for Bob to receive more than three DVDs from Blockbuster Online in any given week.

If your DVDs are consistently not arriving until Friday or later, Blockbuster Online is probably throttling the flow of DVDs to you using the Delayed Weekend Delivery Tactic. Even though, you are paying full price for a full subscription, Blockbuster has cut your benefits roughly in half.

Blockbuster Keeps Finding New and Exciting Ways to Suck

At first, Blockbuster Online was breathtakingly amazing at sucking. When Blockbuster Online first became available in 2004, it was an absolutely horrible service. The unstable Web site was a flashback to 1996. DVDs were limited. They took too long to ship. They took too long to arrive, and when they finally did arrive, they were often the wrong discs in the right envelope. The service was so unbearably bad that subscribers were practically tripping over each other to cancel. The subscriber cancellation problem was so severe Blockbuster had to beg subscribers not to quit. Many disgruntled customers got discounts, free months, and other benefits in exchange for being patient with the hapless new online service.

As time went on, the Blockbuster Online team got their act together. Service gradually got better with each passing month. Eventually, Blockbuster Online subscriptions became pretty good values. Subscribers began to enjoy the service, people were getting all the movies they could want, and the party lasted for a while.

Apparently, Blockbuster determined that offering a good value may make customers happy but does not necessarily translate into a profitable business model. Suspiciously, as if it were planned, service began to gradually decline at Blockbuster Online.

The first thing to start sucking was online customer service. Whereas online customer service used to be tolerable and a reasonable avenue for pursing resolutions to account problems, online service soon became ridiculous. Subscribers in need were greeted with delays, form letters, and boilerplate solutions. Online customer service became mindless. To this day, it seems like the average online service representative does not understand the most basic customer inquiries. Don’t you just love it when you fill out Blockbuster’s online support form to ask why a title has been sitting at the top of your queue for six months and you get a reply telling you to add more titles to your queue?

A new nasty surprise came in the summer of 2006 when Blockbuster quietly eliminated all weekend DVD processing. This was an unwelcome turn that considerably reduced subscriber benefits by increasing turnaround times. USPS works weekends. Why can’t Blockbuster be at least as good as their carrier?

In the summer of 2007, Blockbuster found an absolutely spectacular new way to suck by dramatically raising prices and limiting in-store exchanges for many online customers. Blockbuster basically, turned their standard plan into TotalAccess Premium and then created a lesser plan, which was then presented as Blockbuster’s new standard plan: Total Access. What sort of company does something this outrageous?

Toward the end of 2007, the most egregious of Blockbuster’s sucking initiatives came in the form of tremendous cutbacks on Monday shipping. With the new reduction in shipping days, Blockbuster decreased its normal (full) shipping days to Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. That’s nearly half the week! The limited shipping days make it extremely difficult for subscribers to get two sets of DVDs in a week. Way to go, Blockbuster. Not only is this an excellent way to suck, it’s a bit sleazy too.

Within the last few weeks, Blockbuster found yet another fun new way to suck by eliminating in-store rental e-coupons for many subscribers. Even those who were getting two coupons per month, got downgraded to one per month. This is just the latest in a series of declines in Blockbuster Online subscription benefits.

When it comes to delivering bad service, Blockbuster has spared no creativity in finding new and exciting ways to suck. What’s next? How much worse can Blockbuster Online get? In the near future, maybe Blockbuster will start limiting online customers to selecting movies from the remnants of Blockbuster’s pan and scan VHS collection. Don’t be surprised when you look into your mailbox and see a thick yellow and blue envelope containing a severely worn tape of Beverly Hills Cop 3 (Full Screen Edition). Oh, and by the way, it will probably arrive postage due.