Blockbuster Video

I all of a sudden felt like getting a couple of movies after dinner so I went down the street to the store. and now I know why it’s SO going out of business.
1.) They only do one-​day rental now. (I used to really enjoyed its 7-​day grace period so I could rent a whole bunch of movies all at once and keep them for a week) It’s just a bad business model. Who would go to a DVD store daily to rent/​return movies??? C’mon be realistic there’s Internet.
2.) The computer system is waaaay too slow. At least the clerk kept apologizing to me. But that doesn’t excuse the fact that it wouldn’t locate my information in the system. he even tried my DL’s number. -.-

All the employees are super friendly and are always greeting you as you walk thru the door. They’re very helpful and have great input on the movies. I don’t think it can get better than that.

Go to the one on San Pablo in El Cerrito if you can — this one sucks and the staff are rude.
No, I do not want to buy a movie which is scratched and I don’t care about your promise that it will play — I don’t want it and I do not appreciate you attempting to pressure me into buying it — Hey Mr big blob of a guy, either find me one which is not scratched or we do not have a transaction because your promise is worthless, as is your customer service.

I went there with a very bad attitude, but it really was quite OK. I am a customer largely because I’m pretty sure they are the cheapest you can find. If you buy the «rewards card — $ 15 annually — and go Mon-​Fri you get a free older movie when you rent a new one or another old one. You also get one free at the end of the month, and one free if you rent five during the month. If you do all that it’s a big bargain.
The selection of newer ones — $ 2.99 or $ 4.99 — is pretty good. It’s somehow not loaded with those creepy «direct to video» movies like some other stores.
The selection of older ones– 99 cents to $ 2,99 — is not terrible, but not close to Five-​Star or the (gone) Reel Video.
This could all result in around $ 1.40 per movie if you avoid the $ 4.99’s. If you really got carried away and stuck with the 99 cent ones you could end up with 40 cents per movie, but it would be hard to keep finding good 99 cent ones.
I think that the service is fine, no prob, but the line can be awful if you come at a busy weekend time. Bring a book or watch something you like on your fancy-​schmancy phone while you’re waiting.
Four stars for price, two or three for selection and service, so I’ll say three. If price is no object, you should probably go somewhere else.
NOTE — Three stars should be called «OK», not «A-​OK». Four is «Yay, I’m a fan», and in my neighborhood (MLK and Cedar) that’s just about the same as A-​OK.
«OK» seems to go all the way back to 1790. I’m surprised it’s that old. It may be short for «OLL CORRECT», or maybe not. Sorry about the digression.

I have been going there for the past 5 years, since i have a month past. I think it’s awesome that it’s in downtown and i can walk there whenever i want.
The place is open pretty late and they do have lot of choices. The staff is also helpful and friendly. They are always there to help you. Although, sometimes there is only one person trying to help and the line keep getting longer and longer. Other than that .it’s great…

i hate blockbuster. anyplace that puts red dragon and 27 dresses under the same ambiguous category (drama) deserves bankruptcy (and probably worse). their stock is EXTREMELY, POORLY ORGANIZED. NOTHING is alphabetized properly, if at all. and the movies are distributed between 5 useless categories. why even bother. they might as well have their movies in one big pile in the middle of the room and say ‘dive in’.
i have netflix (thank goodness). but every once in a while i get the urge to see a specific movie immediately. i used to go to reel video (truly heaven on earth), but they closed. depressing.
i’m stuck with blockbuster for my immediate movie rental needs. even more depressing. every time i go in there, i have a specific movie in mind. and EVERY TIME i spend at least 20 minutes finding it. it’s the most frustrating experience ever.
for example, a few weeks ago my bf and i went to the pixar exhibit at the oakland museum. afterwards, we decided to rent the incredibles and ratatouille (i hadn’t seen the incredibles and he hadn’t seen ratatouille). category? for the first time i actually had a clue where to start, children & family (oddly enough it’s right next to the horror section). i started searching, looking for i. apparently i is somewhere between g & h. so close. and ratatouille? o goodness. l m n o p q r s t. that’s how the alphabet should go. it wasn’t even close. they were all mixed up. even all of the r’s weren’t together, let alone in the right order. i could probably throw up alphabet soup and get closer to the actual order than they do at blockbuster.
regularly, the dvds are scratched or skip. the employees are pretty useless too.
i only go here when i’m desperate and prepared for endless frustration.

I prefer to go to Reel Video down the block on Shattuck, but it was closed! So I went to Blockbuster instead… with my heart set on renting Drumline. (I don’t care what you’re going to say about what a stupid video this is!) Needless to say, I couldn’t find it. And believe me, I SEARCHED. Movies were just completely out of categories and very disorganized. How does anyone find anything here?
It would’ve been one star, but they have a parking lot in the back which warrants another star. :)

They found the video and gave me back the money owed.

Not anything wrong specifically with this location… just Blockbuster in general. They censor movies! How did I not know this before I did a one –year membership plan. I guess some people like the fact that their movies are censored and cut — those who have kids, for example. But since I am an adult, I would like to make those choices for myself and not have someone else decide what I should and should not watch. So forget about it and go to Reel instead!

Wow. Let me just say wow.
We came here last night to rent the last 2 Harry Potter movies. Yes, geek me up please. I plan on seeing the IMAX 3D on Monday and I needed to be refreshed.
So, we figured it was in the family section. No problem, we’ll be in and out of here. Let’s see:
Me: «F, G, H. I found H here!» Scan scan scan, nope no Harry Potter.“
Mike: «Well wait, I’m pretty sure Hustler doesn’t belong in Family and not immediately after G.»
Me: «Darn, so these are out of order in weird little stacks. Fine.»
So we scan through the stacks, then all the A-​Z family stack. Nope nothing. Let’s try drama, no such luck. Action? Nope.
Well, wait we can BUY the previously viewed one for $ 10. No thank you. Let’s ask the guy in the front, he’ll know where it is.
He types in the name. Squints at the screen and says «It’s in family.»
That’s it. That’s ALL the help we get.
We mosey back on to family and again looked through every single DVD in the section.
No. Such. Luck.
So we leave. Check On-​Demand and well, whaddaya know. There it is.
I’m never coming back to this place again.
Disorganized and not a helpful staff.

As someone who worked at a chain video store for over a year I will admit… a blockbuster is a blockbuster… they’re all basically the same… however, the employees can really make or break a place. And I had 1 bad experience with this particular ‘buster which made me get Netflix STAT.
I went on a whim to rent Lord of the Rings for a geekfest with my boyfriend. There was 1 in stock *score!*…The box said it was widescreen *score!*
Upon arriving at home, we open the case only to see that it is the FULL SCREEN version. *mouth agape*single tear*
Now, I know there are some of you out there who do not understand why this could matter to anyone… but I know I speak not only for myself in saying that i believe widescreen is far superior (ESPECIALLY when you have a large widescreen television at home…)
Anyway, we went back a couple days later to return the movie and I felt the need to let them know the dvd was falsely represented by the box. I also was hoping they would maybe offer a free rental for a library movie or at least apologize for the mistake.
When I asked what they could do to help make up the mistake to me as a customer, I was not offered a rental… I was not offered an apology… I was scoffed at and single-​eyebrow-​raised at. The ‘buster behind the counter proceeded to say «No, there’s nothing we can do. Since there isn’t anything wrong with the dvd, and it’s watchable.»
I said «Well, it IS labeled incorrectly, so it will continue to be a huge disappointment to those who think it is widescreen.»
His reply «Actually, I prefer full-​screen. I think it’s much better.»
‘Buster scanned the movie back in, tossed it in the re-​stock pile still labeled incorrectly, and continued along his way.
Classy and classic.

Overall I haven’t had horrible experience here but I did have an incident where I was just flat out ignored. A couple days before I had thought that I had returned the DVD I rented but what I had really done was return the box. I found the dvd later so I came down to the store to return the actual disc. All I wanted to do was go in really quick and give them the CD and walk out, so I stood at the other side of the counter with the disc in my hand. I tried to wave at the counter guy but for a solid 15 minutes I was being ignored. So I got his attention the fool proof way, get in the customer line. When I finally got up to him and handed him the DVD, he looked surprised that I had waited in the line just to hand him a DVD.
Other than that this has been just a regular olé blockbuster.

I hate this place.
Service is EXTREMELY slow, and you can never get a hold of the employees on the phone.
I rented a movie here once and returned it two days late. As far as I know, their policy is that you are allowed to return items up to at least a week late and you will not be charged. If you pass this time limit, then you will be charged the sale of the DVD, but if you return it after that you can still get refunded the price of the DVD less a re-​stocking fee.
What happened to me? I got charged for a late DVD even though I returned it prior to the charge deadline. So of course, I try calling them about it but don’t ever get a pick-​up. Forced to drive all the way to this inconvenient location, I went in and waited in line for a LONG time only to be told that they couldn’t even find the DVD to give to me even though it shows in their system that it had been returned. On top of that, they couldn’t even give me a refund – the best they could do was give me store credit.
But wait! It gets worse. I try to use this store credit at another (better) Blockbuster location and they tell me it’s only valid at the location I got it from. Now I have a $ 10 credit to a store I absolutely hate and I am S-​O-​L.

So tonight we walked to Blockbuster to get a specific movie that we checked online; they had it in stock. Walking to Blockbuster is almost a mile, and it was a cold night, so needless to say we were REALLY excited about this movie.
Got to the doors and there was a handwritten sign that said that their computers were down, so they couldn’t rent unless you had your Blockbuster Card on you… you couldn’t sign up for a new account… and you had to pay with Cash Only.
I realized with dread that I didn’t grab my card. Usually when this happens it’s a non-​issue. They swipe your license and off you go. Asked the woman at the counter who basically told me I was screwed. No apologies, no nothing.
Walked a mile home. Got my card. Walked a mile back. Pissed off the whole time. A multi-​million dollar corporation can’t get someone out to fix their computers when they’re down? Seriously? And a customer who is forced to walk three miles to rent a damned movie doesn’t even get a coupon or an apology for his efforts? Second one-​star rating for this place. When I move I hope there’s another video store close-​by.

I usually use this place since is nearby my girlfriend, you know weekends with popcorn and a movie right?, but there has been a couple of times that I have to drive all the way to Piedmont just to avoid seen the face of this dude name «Thomas». and Here is the story why…
I opened my rental as soon as got home and ^%$#! there was a disney movie inside, so I ran back to the store to exchange it and this guy «Thomas» would not exchange it for free! he wanted to charge me again!, believe it or not he assumed that I either watched the movie or exchanged at home, and this Disney stupid%$@$ movie was one of my own! what a scum bag! I asked to talk to a Manager and here is the funny versus the absurd… Thomas is a manager… so he practically laugh at my face saying «I am the boss here haha». so I went back home and grabbed one of my online rental to exchange in store and well after like 3 hours lost finally got my movie, What a waste of time!
SO when I walk to the store and I see this ^%$# stupid manager on duties, I just head to Piedmont and avoid this guy.
People from blockbuster, is there any way you can educate your managers more than just training them?

In general, I’m not a fan of Blockbuster Video. I have had too many problems with this company when I was in LA, when they repeatedly called my cell phone, leaving lengthy prerecorded messages, during peak time to have me return videos that I had not checked out. I had my cell phone number at the time for over 5 years, so it wasn’t like I was getting somebody else’s messages. Rather, someone had either used my cell phone number or the staff had entered the cell phone number wrong on that person’s account. Either way, I went to my nearby location a number of times in attempt to have the situation rectified, but the calls didn’t stop. I was told I had to contact their headquarters to have the situation resolved. The calls finally ended when I changed cell phone companies and elected to get a new local number here in the 510. This was over a year after the problems first began.
That said, I have found the staff at this Berkeley location to be just about as helpful. I have rented dvds where the disc was damaged and my account was not credited. I have rented dvds where I was only able to watch half of it, because of some problem with the disc, and my account was not credited. How frustrating is it to be watching a great movie when the dvd freezes and won’t play any further? Time and money wasted.
Another time, my bf grabbed a dvd case that had no dvd in it when he got to the register. The guy sent him back to get another one, while everyone else in line waited, and when he returned with another case the guy rang it up without opening it. When my bf arrived home, I discovered the dvd inside did not match the case it was in. He returned it two hours later, and I received no credit because the guy accused us of watching it. We didn’t, we watched another one, which he was returning at the same time. It didn’t matter that we could not possibly have watched two dvds at the same time. I only have one tv, thus one dvd player. Still, no credit. I haven’t been back since.
Moral of the story. Don’t rent from this store. In fact, don’t rent from any Blockbuster if you can help it. Try your local independent store. They not only want your business, they need your business. Or if you are looking for convenience only, use Netflix. They have much better customer satisfaction policies.