| Blockbuster is
evil....do I really need to say more? Well, yeah I assume I do or this will be one short,
pointless article. Well worry not, I can rant for days on this subject. I loathe
"Cockbuster" with a passion that is rivaled by few. Blockbuster is the Microsoft
of rental establishments and it's gone unnoticed for way too long. I know many mindless
consumers will scratch their head and say "what's wrong with Blockbuster?" Many
f-ing things. I've got some complaints, and they go a little something like this.... -Blockbuster is the Wal-Mart of movie renting. Am I the only one who sees this? Why does Wal-Mart succeed? Because they have the money and clout to offer nearly every product under the sun. And with this power and sheer size comes the ability to have ten of everything and priced lower than any small "competitor." I put competitor in quotes, because can anyone really compete with Wal-Mart besides other clones, ala K-Mart, Target, etc. etc. I come from a family of small business owners, my family owns a few Ben Franklin stores which pale in size to even half of a Wal-Mart. I don't want to get on a rant here :), but how can the mom and pop stores compete? There's no doubt in my mind that our stores have more higher quality products than Wal-Mart and a more personable staff, but it doesn't matter at the end of the day. People will flock to Wal-Mart because it's huge, open 24 hours a day, and has every product under the sun. We simply can't afford to have a supply of condoms, fishing supplies, motor oil, personal massagers, and what not. It's just not feasible on a limited budget, and nothing is limiting Blockbuster and Wal-Mart. I know everyone hates Wal-Mart already, but why doesn't this disgust continue on Blockbuster. How are they not exactly the same? They win via pure size, nothing more. They have 200 VHS copies of Hannibal ready for marks to pick up, can Buttfuck Video in your hometown boast that? Hell no! But they can have a staff that actually watches movies and doesn't hype up the latest releases...just because they are the "latest releases." At smaller chains, I've even had the clerks advise me not to rent a movie, this isn't going to happen at Blockbuster. They want your money....not your happiness. Whatever came out that week is going to have a poster up, a TV advertising campagain out for it, and mailings sent out. And they only hype the biggest movies, not the best. You're not going to see TV ads for Memento's release, but you certainly saw a shitload for The Mexican, didn't you? -Blockbuster takes the skill out of capitalism. This point was pretty much proved in the previous one, but I'll elaborate even more. The reason people go to Blockbuster is because they can guarantee that movies are in. They do this just because they're so damn huge. I went there just this week, and they had 10 copies of Joe Dirt on DVD. Now, tell me WTF is wrong with this picture? Everytime a new DVD comes out, they get dozens of copies and just bombard you with it. -Old movies get no love. Have you ever went to Blockbuster looking for an old movie from your past that you want to relive again? Case in point, Killer Klowns from Outer Space. My girlfriend and I went to Cockbuster looking for this classic horror/comedy movie. After dodging miles of new releases, we finally got to the "old" horror section and the boxes aren't even displayed correctly. They are just shoved sideways so you practically need the Dewey Decimal system to find the movie you're looking for. After spending ten minutes trying to decipher their organization, I quickly found out Killer Klowns wasn't a part of BB's supply. They have 200 copies of Hannibal...but no Klowns....sickening. If the movie didn't come out in the two months, BB isn't going to have it, and if they do, you aren't going to be able to find it. I understand it's not going to get the rentals of say "Joe Dirt" this month, but god damn it, movies that were filmed before 1990 still hold some damn merit. Even the classic Godfather movies aren't even on display. BB has no sense of history, and I just am not down with that. -Their pricing is just plain robbery. Do you know what it costs to rent a DVD from BB? Over 4 dollars and change! And you only get the DVD for 2 damn days! I remember the days when you could snag a movie for 2.10 at my hometown movie store. Has inflation brought all prices up 200% in 5 years...I don't think so people. BB is jerking you, there's no other way to say it. -Their return policy is also robbery. On new releases you get 2 days, and on older movies you get 5. But what they don't tell you is the movies are due back by noon. WTF? I don't know about you, but the only time I get out of bed before noon is for school or work. I'm not about to rise from the dead on a Sunday morning just to get my precious copy of Josie & the Pussycats back to the devil that is Blockbuster. (Note: I never rented Josie, seriously). At local stores you'll get a time more like 8pm or even 10 pm in some cases (Hollywood Video gives you until midnight...nice.). With rentals due this early, you might as well scratch a day off what they tell you, because if you're like me, you aren't going to get to BB before noon. Better shit to do...better shit. -You have to pay to get decent rental benefits. As some of you may know, BB has a membership program where you get one free movie rental a month, in exchange for a $10 or so annual fee. F that. This isn't some select pimpy private club and I ain't paying for shit. They say it benefits their best and most valued customers. Well if they value their customers so much, what's with the expiration dates on all the coupons? Why do the best customers only have 2 weeks or less to get their "free" rental? And you can earn additional free rentals for renting like a half dozen or so movies, BUT you only have until the end of the month. After the month runs out, you start back at zero. It's BS! If you join up with these bastards you're just throwing more money into their coffers and getting f-ed in the ass without even the courtesy of a reach-a-round. -BB is pushing Hollywood for a rental window for DVDs. This means that they will have a month or so to rent out a DVD before it's available for purchase, just like how VHS works now. They're claiming this will benefit the studios as they will make more money off of rentals, and then sell it to the true fans again at a later date. This is just Blockbuster trying to make some bucks off a new format. A DVD costs BB an average of $30 or less a copy. They rent that out a mere 8 times EVER and it's profitable. And rumor has it that BB gets discounts from studios for buying in such bulk, so lord only knows how little they pay for discs. Yet they want more money. DVDs are being accepted at an amazing rate, and BB is trying to stop that. Also no disc ever really has to meet that quota. BB as you know sells used DVDs and nearly any DVD would sell for 5 bucks. BB would never give you that good a price though, but they could. Well, that's about it for my rant on the evils of Blockbuster, I could go on forever, but I think I got my point across. So next time you want to be entertained for a while, go to the theater, or go to a mom and pop video store, you'll get better service, better pricing, and you won't give in to the movie Nazis. I've said enough, do you have anything to say? |
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-Now that you've read something, he's written. Wouldn't you like to find out more about The Goc? Here you go. |
