It’s entirely possible that Netflix have started to move the goalposts now that they are a market leader themselves but Blockbuster dug almost to China so they have a long ways to go.
>>>>>Blockbuster dug almost to China so they have a long ways to go.<<<<<
Yep, I think they’d come to rely on late fees as their business model.
So basically their business model was premised on ***shaming and pissing off their own customers*****!!!!
I guess you can do that when you have a de facto monopoly.
It got so out of control that they once dinged me for late fees AND a lost video which I definitely returned, and returned on time (this was from a store that was in process of moving to another location, so it was pretty obvious that *they* misplaced the vids).
Anyway it took weeks for the franchisee/management to refund all those charges.
And that’s when I switched to Netflix. Around 2000 or 2001.
So this is a perfect example of capitalism in action, and why de facto monopolies are only temporary (in a market economy) and why Blockbuster struggles against PO’d former customers to this very day.
Can you imagine if Blockbuster were to get a Federal Bailout from Henry Paulson? They’d still be providing the “valuable market service” of insulting and victimizing their captive customer base.