Posted on 08/18/2007 5:14:07 PM PDT by TheKidster
I recieved the following email yesterday afternoon and I am steaming mad. The video chain Blockbuster video has been aggressively advertising thier alternative to the growing success of Netflix. I was pressured by the folks who work at the video stored for months to join Blockbuster Unlimited. They touted the ability to rent movies online just like Netflix but with the added bonus of being able to take a movie back into any store and exchange it free for another title, along with being able to also just rent from the store. This sounded like a great deal and sold me over Netflix. I turned them down on the offer many, many times because it sounded too good to be true but finally broke down and gave them a chance, I trusted they'd follow through on this great deal.
A few weeks into the deal I get the email below basically lowering the service I signed up for by limiting the highly touted "unlimited" instore exhange policy. They were kind enough to offer me the same plan at a higher price of course, since I'm such a loyal customer.
Blockbuster has pulled a bait and switch and I would advise everyone who considering signing up for an "Unlimited" plan with Blockbuster to take thier business to Netflix, or be prepared to get less than they offer. --------------------------------------------------------- We hope you're enjoying BLOCKBUSTER Total Access™!
There are some changes to our subscription plan lineup that introduce a new pricing structure and new plans which limit the number of in-store exchanges.
As a result, your current plan will no be longer be available at the current price.
(Unlimited Online DVDs up to 3 at a time plus unlimited in-store exchanges each month for $17.99)
We'd like to extend you a new plan that includes Unlimited Online DVDs 3 at a time plus up to 5 free* in-store exchanges for $17.99.
In addition, exclusively for BLOCKBUSTER Total Access customers, we have introduced in-store movie rentals for $1.99* per movie should you need more than the in-store exchanges included in your plan.
Your new plan will go into effect on your regular monthly billing date following August 31, 2007. If we don't hear from you by August 31, 2007, we will automatically move you to the new BLOCKBUSTER Total Access plan referenced below as "Your New Plan".
Online DVD rentals delivered to your mailbox
Free* movie rentals and discounted game rentals when you exchange in-store†
Subscriber discount on new and used online DVD purchases
Rental exclusives – titles you won't find anywhere else
Here are some options to choose from: Unlimited Online DVDs with 5 In-Store Exchanges 3 Unlimited 5 $17.99 Your New Plan
Unlimited Online DVDs with Unlimited In-Store Exchanges 2 Unlimited Unlimited $21.99
Unlimited Online DVDs Only 3 Unlimited NONE $16.99
See all available subscription plans
even after the Blockbuster change to unlimited exchanges via mail and 5 in-store exchanges, you can easily get more than 20 movies per month and it costs less than $20 per month. I don’t know many folks more frugal than me and i don’t intend to complain about this change.
HBO did the same thing years and years ago. They promised the moon for a monthly TV subscription, and delivered a garbage heap.
The ads listed the movies for one month, but didn’t say that the following month you’d only get ONE NEW movie, and have to watch the last month’s movies over again.
They also promised college-level courses. All they put on were two shows, with fourth-grade grammar, and a similar one for math.
Then they were the first TV outfit that introduced X-rated movies. I wrote and cancelled the contract.
Thanks for posting the info, I had no idea! Your movie consumption seems to be on par with mine, so I will look for this alternative from now on...Thanks!
Time/Warner billed us for a special TV sports program at $35 a month to which we NEVER subscribed. I got it straightened out with them, but got billed for the same thing the next month. That’s when they told me that we’d be billed for a total of four months, and WE had to call THEM each time to have it removed from our billing.
I find it hard to believe that they couldn’t remove it from the bill for the whole four months. I mean, they DO have computer people, don’t they? I wonder how many people never realized they were overbilled, and paid it.
***Trust me ... you’ll wonder why you sat through so many movies that did nothing for you.***
Knarf, if I were free, I’d be in love with you.
According to a Form 4, Shepherd sold 40.2 per cent, or about 284,000 shares of his Class A Blockbuster stock on Wednesday and Thursday, bringing his remaining holdings to 421,666 shares.
Zine, who announced earlier this year that he will retire in December, sold about 200,000 Class A shares or 46 per cent of his stake on Wednesday and Thursday, according to a separate filing. He now holds 232,278 shares of Class A, the filing showed.
A Blockbuster spokesperson had no immediate comment on the reason for the large sell-offs. Blockbuster shares rose 10 per cent this week, closing up 3.1 per cent at $4.65 on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.
Check with your local library, they have DVD's you can check out for free.......
Ain't that the truth. Sometimes when I movie shows up in the mail, I can't remember why I put it in the queue to begin with. After watching it, I wish I hadn't.
I don’t rent movies.
Yep. They have those here (Minneapolis) in the grocery stores as well. A nice little deal!
I don’t see what the big deal is.
If you don’t understand the concept of keeping one’s word I guess this wouldn’t make sense.
If they go broke and close stores down that’s not my fault, they should have done the financial and market research necessary to set the price point they set.
I just signed up for this deal a mere few weeks ago, if this came up after a year or 9 months I’d understand.
To push a deal aggressively and then change it a few weeks after they have hooked you in is just plain wrong and a bait & switch scam. A thorough market/financial forecast would include inflation.
They can change thier price, and do whatever the hell they want, they can declare bancrupt and use the company 401K and pension money to fund executive golden parachutes, they can raise the price every single month by $20 but non of that makes it right.
If we as consumers sit back and allow companies to pull this type of bait and switch crap while advertising false promises it won’t end.
I’m sure you’d have no problem with a mechanic agreeing to fix your car for $399 and then charging $499 for the same service when you come in to pick it up.
I for one will not allow myself to be an all day sucker and I’d like to warn others so they won’t be suckered in either.
It’s not communism it’s capitolism.
even after the Blockbuster change to unlimited exchanges via mail and 5 in-store exchanges, you can easily get more than 20 movies per month and it costs less than $20 per month. I don’t know many folks more frugal than me and i don’t intend to complain about this change.
You are right, but my complaint is more about the principle of the thing. If my choice was what they are changing to me now I may or may not have signed up. They pushed the unlimited thing as the biggest selling point and now a few weeks later they are reducing service but not reducing price. That’s the point that irritates me. It’s just plain dishonest.
Insider trading at it’s best!
classic!
“If you don’t understand the concept of keeping one’s word I guess this wouldn’t make sense.”
If it was about “keeping one’s word” then it would make sense to me, but I don’t have to read the contract you signed to know that they reserve the right to change the price.
Now if they changed the price without notifying you, or charged you a different price than what you agreed to for services already performed, then I would agree with you.
Under these circumstances, I don’t see what the big deal is.
Is this really FR material?
Here is a portion of my e-mail.
..............................
The following are the details of your new blockbuster.com plan:
you will receive unlimited movies, you will receive up to 3 DVDs at one time. At the end of the gift period, the members payment card will be charged the rate offered to new members at that time.
-3 month GIFT 3 at a time, Unlimited rents benefitDescription1
The price of your new plan is 53.97 per month.
50+ posts would indicate a yes.
OUCH!
It doesn't belong in News. It belongs in Chat regardless of the number of posts!
They are obviously insane.
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