blockbuster service

Almost four years ago I decided that I wanted to subscribe to a by-mail DVD rental service. At the time, the three options available were Netflix, Blockbuster, and Wal-Mart. I avoided the Wal-Mart service because I knew that it couldn't succeed without a serious uptick in subscribers, but I did expend some energy in the decision between Blockbuster and Netflix.

At that time Blockbuster offered the best deal. For the same price as Netflix, you could get the same number of movies shipped to you, plus there were free in-store rentals. I wasn't naive, though. I knew that Blockbuster and Netflix both would raise rates at some point and something about the in-store rentals would change. I went with Blockbuster anyway, though, because the ability to go to the store and pick up a new release was too appealing.

In that short time both Blockbuster and Netflix have tweaked their offerings and prices quite a bit. Netflix now offers online movie viewing, though this has not completely appealed to me because it is not available for all movies and my online connection at home is on the very slow end of what is acceptable for broadband. Blockbuster has restructured how it offers in-store movies and has increased prices several times. I have remained loyal to Blockbuster mostly on the value I place on being able to pick up a movie quickly somewhere with a better selection than Redbox.

Recently, it was rumored that Blockbuster is investigating the possibility of going through bankruptcy, but the company claimed the rumor was false. Regardless, I am considering contingency plans in case the situation does go to bankruptcy.

In the meantime, though, I have noticed a drop in the quality of Blockbuster's DVD mail service lately. It is absolutely possible that this is due to some glitch in Blockbuster's processing center, and I am giving the company a little bit of time to see if the situation improves. I have a little more patience because my schedule over the next couple of months will probably prevent me from watching many movies. My patience will not be long-lived, though. Because of the degradation I have noticed, I sent the following note through Blockbuster's support system this morning.

Sir or Ma'am,

I have noticed a degradation in the service provided on my Total Access account recently. As an example, Blockbuster received two movies from me via mail on Tuesday, however, this is Friday morning and I have not seen evidence that any further movies are being shipped or will be shipped. I have seen this same sluggishness in movie shipments for about the last three weeks.

I understand that things do not always run perfectly and that on rare occasions the service that will be provided will be subpar. This is unfortunately the nature of any business. However, I would like an assurance that this experience is the exception to the rule rather than the new rule. If this is an example of throttling or a strategy of shifting customers back to in-store rentals, I understand this as well, but I am not comfortable or happy with it as an online customer. I do not wish to pay for a service that I cannot trust will be provided.

Please provide me either an assurance that this is due to temporary conditions that are being addressed or with an explanation that this is due to less temporary things such as throttling, cost-cutting, etc.

Thank You,
Shake Dust

Really, the main thing that irritates me is that I have given what amounted to a recommendation of Blockbuster on this blog in the past, and I think that has influenced some people to use their service. I apologize if anyone else listened to my advice and is now seeing the same performance issues that I am.

Update (3/17/2009):

The following is the email chain as of today. Obviously, the names have been obfuscated.

Blockbuster to Me:

Dear Shake,

Thank you for contacting Blockbuster Customer Care.

I am sorry for the service delay. We work to send out the next movies in your queue by the end of the next business day after receiving your last returns or reports, provided you have enough "Available" titles at the top of your queue. Our shipping days are Monday through Friday.

We normally have a healthy amount of returned items on the weekend. If an item is checked in on a weekend (including Friday,) then the next expected business day for a new shipment would fall on the following Tuesday, with limited shipments on Monday.

To ensure consistent, prompt shipments please try to keep 10 to 15 "Available" titles near the top of your queue.

Should there be anything else I could help you with, please feel free to contact us.

Always here to help,

<Blockbuster Employee Name>,
Blockbuster Customer Care

Me to Blockbuster:

<Blockbuster Employee Name>,

Thank you for your reply. I apologize that I was delayed in replying myself.

I definitely have more than 15 "Available" titles in my queue, but several near the top of my queue are listed as "Long Wait" or "Very Long Wait." Do you know whether this will have an impact on the speed with which movies will be shipped? The delay seems to occur even when no "Long Wait" or "Very Long Wait" movies are shipped, so I had written that off as a potential cause.

Thank you for your assistance.

Shake Dust

So, it is possible that the structure of my queue is causing some delays. Hopefully, I'll find out more.

Update #2 (also 3/17/2009):

Here is what will be the last email in the chain.

Blockbuster to Me:

Hello <Customer Name>,

Thank you for contacting Blockbuster Customer Care.

I apologize if you are having some issues with regards to our shipping process of your requested titles.

I've reviewed your account and see that you're waiting for your DVDs to be shipped. We want to send you the movies that are most important to you as reflected by the priority you've set in your queue. If your top selections do not show an "Available" status and you have fewer than 15 "Available" movies in queue, we may wait an extra day or two before we send something out so that we're always shipping the titles you want most. May I suggest that you drag down the titles that reflects "Long and Short" wait status to give way to those that are ready for shipping while we wait for the above to be "Available".

Also please be reminded that due to the new policy which was recently implemented; in order to eliminate due dates, the free in-store exchange from participating Blockbuster stores will now count towards the number of DVDs you may have out under your Blockbuster Total Access plan. Once you've returned your in-store exchange, we'll then ship you the next available title in your queue.

I hope this information helps. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you today.

As a reminder, Please also remember that we use your queue to provide service and ask that you keep 15 or more "Available" movies at the top of your queue listed at all times to ensure there are no delays in shipments.


Always here to help,

<Different Blockbuster Employee>
Blockbuster Customer Care

Needless to say, this gives me a lot to think about. Where movies are in my queue could be causing my problems and I will need to test moving things around a little. Also, in-store rentals count against the total rentals I have out at any time. That does damage most of the value that Blockbuster was providing for the slightly higher cost I am paying for the service over Netflix. If I really need a new release, I can always use Redbox for a dollar or two (which is the main reason I ever cared about in-store rentals). I'll have to give this some thought over the next month or two to determine if there is any compelling reason to stay with Blockbuster.

One further comment. I do think that the Blockbuster Customer Care people generally did a good job of explaining the policies I was requesting information about. I asked some pointed and direct questions for which I did not expect there would be a direct answer. They provided me with something that I can test for a few weeks and if that does not work, I will still have far more information than I did before.