I don’t ask for much in life.  However, when dealing with a business that requires your money for its survival then I certainly do not think it is too much to ask for them to do their job competently.

Remember when Blockbuster was flourishing and had a monopoly on the video rental business?  Back in those days they had a pretty good trade-in system that gave you a minimum of $3 credit for each DVD you traded in.  Here’s how the process worked in Memphis:

• I handed the cashier the DVDs I desired to trade in.
• The cashier scanned the DVDs.
• $3 credit per DVD was added to my Blockbuster Value Card.
• Both the cashier and I went home happy.

That was it.  No fuss.  Minimal hassle.  Autographs all around.  Well, apparently my star status didn’t go quite as far in Texas.  One day while on a trip to the Lonestar State I had some DVDs with me that I wanted to unload and decided I’d stop by a local Blockbuster and trade them in.  Here’s how THEIR system worked:

• I handed the cashier my DVDs and explained my desire to trade them in.
• After filling out the necessary 10 minutes of paperwork, the cashier scanned the DVDs and informed me they weren’t accepting Malibu’s Most Wanted (can’t blame ‘em), and they could only give me $2.50 for Mute Witness.
• Disheartened that I couldn’t rid my hands of Malibu’s Most Wanted (a movie MUCH funnier the first time around), I reflected upon the $2.50 credit for Mute Witness.
• Despite the fact that I could get a MINIMUM of $3 in Memphis, I decided to go ahead and take the $2.50.
• I handed the cashier my Value Card and kindly asked him to add the credit to it.
• Looking as flummoxed as Lindsay Lohan during a sobriety test, the cashier acted like I had just requested that he share his thoughts on electromagnetic field theory.
• The cashier explained he hasn’t handled a trade-in in a long time and called the store manager (who was at home) in an effort to decipher this seemingly complex process.
• Claiming he has now cracked this nut, the cashier attempted to add credit to the Value Card but erred in some manner.
• Rather than even attempt to find a resolution to the problem at hand, the cashier said he’d just have to add it to another gift card.
• I began to lose patience but politely smiled and held my tongue.  I took a deep breath.
• The cashier proceeded to mess up his attempt to add the credit to a separate gift card and defeatedly added it to my account… without my consent and against my wishes.
• Flustered, I explained that adding it to my “account” meant I could only use the credit at that Blockbuster location.
• The cashier confirmed that was correct.
• I explained that I lived in Memphis, TN and would only be in town for a few days, therefore, this wasn’t an ideal situation.
• The cashier asked, “Can’t you find something here you want for about $2.50?”
• I ignored the obvious sarcastic comments that came to mind, immediately took them captive, and handed them to the Lord so that He could handle them in an appropriate manner.
• I asked if he could just remove the $2.50 from my account and give the DVD back to me.
• The cashier replied, “No, once it’s in the system it can’t be removed.”
• Not in the mood for further confrontation, I sighed and said I’d see what I could find.
• The cashier mumbled a half-hearted, “Sorry bout that.”

Is it any wonder that Blockbuster is now bankrupt?  Once it’s in the system it can’t be removed?

The most egregious offense was the guy’s inability to add the credit to another gift card.  What would happen if somebody bought a gift card for Christmas?

“I’m sorry sir, but I messed up when trying to add this to a gift card.  I accidentally added it to your store account instead.”

“But this is for my nephew’s Christmas gift.  How is he going to use it?”

“Don’t worry sir; you can just come in with him whenever he wants to use it, and we can subtract his purchases from the credit on your account.”

“That’s not very convenient.”

“Sorry bout that.”

When I left that Blockbuster store that cold, fateful November day I’m pretty sure I heard somebody in the distant background say to another customer, “You know who that was?  That was The Movie Mark.  If he writes an article about this then Blockbuster can start to count its days.”

At the time I originally wrote this article, I communicated that until Blockbuster improved its desire to meet its customers’ needs then I was taking my video rental business elsewhere, and I encouraged my readers to do the same.

Is it any surprise that several years later Blockbuster is little more than a cluster of kiosks and a few mixed memories?

“Don’t you think the emergence and rise of Netflix and Redbox played a part in Blockbuster’s demise?”

A part, yes, but alas, my dear readers, I believe it’s obvious that the Movie Mark threw the pebble that started the ripple.  That’s my claim, at least.

Let this be a lesson to all companies that rely on customer retention.  I don’t ask for much, but I believe employee competence is a reasonable request.  I never expected a Blockbuster employee to perform successful heart surgery, but I certainly expected him to figure out how to add $2.50 to a gift card.

If you’re going to do something then do it well, otherwise you’re just wasting everybody’s time.

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