Curiously, Blockbuster Online seems to have recently cut back on what had appeared to be a very aggressive system of throttling. The change seems to have begun near the beginning of 2010 and has continued to the present time. For whatever reason, Blockbuster appears to be easing up a bit.
This sounds like a positive story, but it is not. Blockbuster should not be praised for sending out DVDs in a reasonable timeframe. This is what they should have been doing all along. Praising Blockbuster for not throttling for a few weeks would be like praising a thief for walking out of a mall without stealing anything.
So, why would Blockbuster Online ease up on throttling their customers? At this point, the answer is unclear. It is possible they found themselves getting into legal jeopardy. Maybe too many customers were canceling their subscriptions. Maybe outraged customers were speaking out and tarnishing the Blockbuster brand. Who knows?
If you have noticed changes in Blockbuster Online's behavior during 2010, please post your comments below. More importantly, if Blockbuster Online is still throttling you, please let everyone know right away.
2/09/2010
1/30/2010
Blockbuster Underground Site Upgrade
To improve the overall experience for Blockbuster Undergrounders, Blockbuster Underground is currently in the process of incorporating several site upgrades. The appearance and functionality of the site will be going through some enhancements during the next several days. The full text of the original articles and comments from readers will be preserved and accessible as usual.
12/04/2009
How Blockbuster Is Throttling You to One Set of DVDs per Week
If you are a Blockbuster Online subscriber, you may have noticed a curious pattern of delays on your account. Sometimes, you will return a DVD to a Blockbuster store, and it will take a surprisingly long time to clear your queue. Often, you will have DVDs--that are apparently being processed--sitting in your queue for multiple days. Frequently, your DVDs will take days longer to arrive than they should have.
If these strange events are routinely occurring on your Blockbuster account, you are not just a random, unfortunate Blockbuster customer. You are most likely a victim of throttling. Blockbuster may be systemically limiting the number of DVDs you receive by employing a combination of delay tactics against your account.
Below is a summary of Blockbuster Online's more common throttling tactics. Each tactic creates only a small delay, but when Blockbuster uses two or more of these tactics together, they can easily place tight limits on the number of DVDs you can receive in any given month.
Delayed Store Check-In
If you are being throttled by Blockbuster, you may have noticed you can return a store DVD to a Blockbuster store, but it might not clear your queue for hours (or days). You may have noticed the returned store DVD almost never clears your queue in time for another DVD to ship that same day--even if you returned the store DVD as soon as the store opened. Blockbuster can use this delayed store check-in tactic to slow down your DVDs by at least one extra day.
Processing Delays
One of Blockbuster's favorite throttling techniques is the processing delay. Blockbuster may indicate they are processing your DVD for shipment, but they will actually not ship it out until the following day. Blockbuster just claims to be processing your DVD so you will be less likely to complain. If you do complain, they will just defend themselves by saying, "We are processing your next DVD. We will ship it as soon as possible."
How long does it take to process a DVD anyway? How could it possibly take a full day or more to turnaround a DVD? There is no legitimate reason for this type of delay. The purpose is to slow down your shipments by an extra day or an entire weekend, therefore decreasing the number of DVDs you can watch for your monthly subscription fee.
Long-Distance Shipping
If you are being throttled by Blockbuster, you may have noticed, when Blockbuster ships a DVD to you on a Monday or Tuesday, that DVD takes an extra couple of days to arrive. This is because Blockbuster is shipping DVDs to you from shipping centers far from your house. Blockbuster could be intentionally exploiting USPS transit times to ensure that your DVD takes longer to arrive at your house. Blockbuster pays the same whether they ship a DVD to you from down the street or 3,000 miles away. By shipping DVDs from remote shipping centers, Blockbuster can add days to your turnaround time and then blame USPS for the delay.
What This Means for You
By using a devious combination of multiple throttling techniques, Blockbuster has made it nearly impossible for throttled subscribers to get more than one set of DVDs in any given week. If you are being throttled by Blockbuster, expect to be hit with a variety of delays. No matter how quickly you watch and return your DVDs, it appears Blockbuster has stacked the deck against you. Blockbuster is simply not going to send as many DVDs to you as they should.
If you are a Blockbuster subscriber, know that you are dealing with a shady company that is willing to take your monthly subscription fee while providing very limited benefits. This is just what Blockbuster is doing to subscribers now. Imagine what other sorts of unscrupulous business practices Blockbuster will be employing in the future as this increasingly irrelevant company continues to lose market share to its competitors and finds it more difficult to generate enough profits to sustain its outdated and bloated business model. For Blockbuster subscribers, things are bound to only get worse from here on out.
If these strange events are routinely occurring on your Blockbuster account, you are not just a random, unfortunate Blockbuster customer. You are most likely a victim of throttling. Blockbuster may be systemically limiting the number of DVDs you receive by employing a combination of delay tactics against your account.
Below is a summary of Blockbuster Online's more common throttling tactics. Each tactic creates only a small delay, but when Blockbuster uses two or more of these tactics together, they can easily place tight limits on the number of DVDs you can receive in any given month.
Delayed Store Check-In
If you are being throttled by Blockbuster, you may have noticed you can return a store DVD to a Blockbuster store, but it might not clear your queue for hours (or days). You may have noticed the returned store DVD almost never clears your queue in time for another DVD to ship that same day--even if you returned the store DVD as soon as the store opened. Blockbuster can use this delayed store check-in tactic to slow down your DVDs by at least one extra day.
Processing Delays
One of Blockbuster's favorite throttling techniques is the processing delay. Blockbuster may indicate they are processing your DVD for shipment, but they will actually not ship it out until the following day. Blockbuster just claims to be processing your DVD so you will be less likely to complain. If you do complain, they will just defend themselves by saying, "We are processing your next DVD. We will ship it as soon as possible."
How long does it take to process a DVD anyway? How could it possibly take a full day or more to turnaround a DVD? There is no legitimate reason for this type of delay. The purpose is to slow down your shipments by an extra day or an entire weekend, therefore decreasing the number of DVDs you can watch for your monthly subscription fee.
Long-Distance Shipping
If you are being throttled by Blockbuster, you may have noticed, when Blockbuster ships a DVD to you on a Monday or Tuesday, that DVD takes an extra couple of days to arrive. This is because Blockbuster is shipping DVDs to you from shipping centers far from your house. Blockbuster could be intentionally exploiting USPS transit times to ensure that your DVD takes longer to arrive at your house. Blockbuster pays the same whether they ship a DVD to you from down the street or 3,000 miles away. By shipping DVDs from remote shipping centers, Blockbuster can add days to your turnaround time and then blame USPS for the delay.
What This Means for You
By using a devious combination of multiple throttling techniques, Blockbuster has made it nearly impossible for throttled subscribers to get more than one set of DVDs in any given week. If you are being throttled by Blockbuster, expect to be hit with a variety of delays. No matter how quickly you watch and return your DVDs, it appears Blockbuster has stacked the deck against you. Blockbuster is simply not going to send as many DVDs to you as they should.
If you are a Blockbuster subscriber, know that you are dealing with a shady company that is willing to take your monthly subscription fee while providing very limited benefits. This is just what Blockbuster is doing to subscribers now. Imagine what other sorts of unscrupulous business practices Blockbuster will be employing in the future as this increasingly irrelevant company continues to lose market share to its competitors and finds it more difficult to generate enough profits to sustain its outdated and bloated business model. For Blockbuster subscribers, things are bound to only get worse from here on out.
10/22/2009
Speed or Order: Choose How You Want Blockbuster to Throttle You
Blockbuster has added a new feature that allows you to apply new settings to your queue. On the My Account page, under Manage Account Settings, you can designate Shipping Preferences for your queue. You may choose either Speed or Order. If you select Speed, Blockbuster should ship DVDs to you according to which titles in your queue will ship the fastest with less regard to their rank in your queue. If you select Order, Blockbuster should ship DVDs to you according to their rank in your queue with less regard to speed. Furthermore, if you select Order, you will need to select how many extra days you are prepared to wait for the highest ranking titles in your queue. You may choose to wait one to five extra days.
Choose from these queue options carefully, because Blockbuster can use these preferences to their advantage. If you select Speed, you will be inviting Blockbuster to send DVDs that might be low in your queue but abundant in Blockbuster's inventory. If you select Order, you will be inviting Blockbuster to slow down your shipments with no guarantee you will actually receive your most desired titles. Either way, Blockbuster could use these settings to your disadvantage. Either you could get less desirable titles more quickly or more desirable titles more slowly.
At this point, it is unclear how these settings will affect which distribution center will be shipping your DVDs. When Blockbuster ships from distant shipping centers, days may be added to transit times. In recent months, Blockbuster has displayed a strong tendency to slow down the flow of DVDs to some subscribers by shipping from more distant centers. Blockbuster has not yet specified whether or how transit times will be factored based on a subscriber's Speed/Order queue shipping preference.
Here is the safe way to play this new Speed/Order queue feature. Set your preference to Speed, and do not have any titles in your queue that you would not be happy to receive. Keep your most desired titles at the top of your queue, and hope for the best. Blockbuster is still probably going to throttle you, but if you have your preference set for Speed and you have plenty of desired titles in your queue, Blockbuster will not have any legitimate excuses. Yes, Blockbuster will still probably throttle you, but they will have a hard time convincingly pinning the blame for the delays on you.
Choose from these queue options carefully, because Blockbuster can use these preferences to their advantage. If you select Speed, you will be inviting Blockbuster to send DVDs that might be low in your queue but abundant in Blockbuster's inventory. If you select Order, you will be inviting Blockbuster to slow down your shipments with no guarantee you will actually receive your most desired titles. Either way, Blockbuster could use these settings to your disadvantage. Either you could get less desirable titles more quickly or more desirable titles more slowly.
At this point, it is unclear how these settings will affect which distribution center will be shipping your DVDs. When Blockbuster ships from distant shipping centers, days may be added to transit times. In recent months, Blockbuster has displayed a strong tendency to slow down the flow of DVDs to some subscribers by shipping from more distant centers. Blockbuster has not yet specified whether or how transit times will be factored based on a subscriber's Speed/Order queue shipping preference.
Here is the safe way to play this new Speed/Order queue feature. Set your preference to Speed, and do not have any titles in your queue that you would not be happy to receive. Keep your most desired titles at the top of your queue, and hope for the best. Blockbuster is still probably going to throttle you, but if you have your preference set for Speed and you have plenty of desired titles in your queue, Blockbuster will not have any legitimate excuses. Yes, Blockbuster will still probably throttle you, but they will have a hard time convincingly pinning the blame for the delays on you.
10/21/2009
Blockbuster Cops out with Partial Fulfillment
Since late-September, Blockbuster has become more aggressive with one of their more cheesy throttling tactics. For some reason, the minds at Blockbuster have assumed they can get away with shipping fewer DVDs to subscribers by partially filling empty queue slots. Blockbuster may not ship all of the DVDs they are supposed to send to you, but they will at least send one or two, so you cannot accuse them of letting your account sit idle for days at the time.
Here is how Blockbuster's partial fulfillment works. On Monday, you have three empty queue slots, but nothing ships that day. On Tuesday or Wednesday, Blockbuster ships two DVDs to you. These DVDs have been sent from far enough away that they will almost never arrive until Thursday or Friday. If you are lucky, Blockbuster will ship the third DVD to you by Friday, but they might hold off on shipping until the following Monday or Tuesday.
Here is the important thing to realize: By trickling out partial shipments, Blockbuster will have the ability to claim--at almost any given time--they either recently shipped something to you or will be shipping something to you soon. At almost no point is Blockbuster living up to the terms of the subscription agreement you have with them. Blockbuster is perpetually leaving one to three of your queue slots empty while hiding behind the illusion they are shipping DVDs to you on a regular basis.
Now, here's the deal. If you have three empty queue slots on Monday morning, Blockbuster should ship three DVDs to you by Monday afternoon. If Blockbuster does anything else, they are cheating you out of your subscription benefits. Just because Blockbuster ships a DVD to you on Tuesday, it does not mean they are absolved from sending another DVD to you for the next few days.
Do not let Blockbuster trickle out DVDs to you and con you into thinking you are getting the subscription benefits for which you are paying. When you complain to Blockbuster about delays and they try to appease you by telling you they just shipped a DVD to you, fire back with, "Okay, congratulations for partially living up to our agreement. Now what about the other DVDs you should have sent to me days ago? What is Blockbuster going to do to compensate me for this delay?"
Here is how Blockbuster's partial fulfillment works. On Monday, you have three empty queue slots, but nothing ships that day. On Tuesday or Wednesday, Blockbuster ships two DVDs to you. These DVDs have been sent from far enough away that they will almost never arrive until Thursday or Friday. If you are lucky, Blockbuster will ship the third DVD to you by Friday, but they might hold off on shipping until the following Monday or Tuesday.
Here is the important thing to realize: By trickling out partial shipments, Blockbuster will have the ability to claim--at almost any given time--they either recently shipped something to you or will be shipping something to you soon. At almost no point is Blockbuster living up to the terms of the subscription agreement you have with them. Blockbuster is perpetually leaving one to three of your queue slots empty while hiding behind the illusion they are shipping DVDs to you on a regular basis.
Now, here's the deal. If you have three empty queue slots on Monday morning, Blockbuster should ship three DVDs to you by Monday afternoon. If Blockbuster does anything else, they are cheating you out of your subscription benefits. Just because Blockbuster ships a DVD to you on Tuesday, it does not mean they are absolved from sending another DVD to you for the next few days.
Do not let Blockbuster trickle out DVDs to you and con you into thinking you are getting the subscription benefits for which you are paying. When you complain to Blockbuster about delays and they try to appease you by telling you they just shipped a DVD to you, fire back with, "Okay, congratulations for partially living up to our agreement. Now what about the other DVDs you should have sent to me days ago? What is Blockbuster going to do to compensate me for this delay?"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
