Adventures of a former Blockbuster employee
Joe Stumpo
Issue date: 11/9/09 Section: Viewpoints
When the company was big on protecting children by shooting identity videos of them, one customer had one of the employees set up the camera to propose to his girlfriend.
She said yes.
In addition to the Norm Petersons, there was even a Carla Tortelli behind the counter, who didn't get off on being chained to the front register for eight hours checking out customers. She referred to customers as cattle and it was her responsibility to get the herds out the door by any means necessary. Customer service was not high on her list.
When customers weren't at the front door waiting to be let in, they would hang around at the drop boxes, whether they were inside or outside. Sometimes they'd bother other renters near the outside drop box, asking them what movies they were returning. Instead of serving drinks, the clerks were serving movies.
The last time I was inside a Blockbuster Video was last summer and that was to return some late DVDs I had sitting in the car for a couple weeks. I didn't pay the late fee either. Sure, there are several movies I'd like to see that I missed at the box office this year, such as Defiance, He's Just Not That Into You, or Revolutionary Road.
What do I need Blockbuster for when I've got a wireless Internet/cable service provider and can just order the titles from them off their Video-On-Demand stations, record them on DVR and watch them later?
Or if I want, I can just drive to the local Walmart and get the titles from their Redbox machine. Walmart is now the new Blockbuster. With such websites as YouTube, Hulu, and IMDB making older movies and television shows available for download off the net, all one needs is just to open up an account. Since they show R-rated movies at no cost, who needs Blockbuster?
I predict the day will come when that video store I referred to as the place "where everybody knows your name" will play out a scene similar to the one in the last episode of "Cheers." Except in this case, the store will never reopen.
Instead of a patron at the front door wanting a drink, I can easily picture a customer after closing time wanting to check out a movie and like Ted Danson's bar owner, Sam Malone, the video store manager will come out of his office for the very last time to say, "Sorry. We're closed."
She said yes.
In addition to the Norm Petersons, there was even a Carla Tortelli behind the counter, who didn't get off on being chained to the front register for eight hours checking out customers. She referred to customers as cattle and it was her responsibility to get the herds out the door by any means necessary. Customer service was not high on her list.
When customers weren't at the front door waiting to be let in, they would hang around at the drop boxes, whether they were inside or outside. Sometimes they'd bother other renters near the outside drop box, asking them what movies they were returning. Instead of serving drinks, the clerks were serving movies.
The last time I was inside a Blockbuster Video was last summer and that was to return some late DVDs I had sitting in the car for a couple weeks. I didn't pay the late fee either. Sure, there are several movies I'd like to see that I missed at the box office this year, such as Defiance, He's Just Not That Into You, or Revolutionary Road.
What do I need Blockbuster for when I've got a wireless Internet/cable service provider and can just order the titles from them off their Video-On-Demand stations, record them on DVR and watch them later?
Or if I want, I can just drive to the local Walmart and get the titles from their Redbox machine. Walmart is now the new Blockbuster. With such websites as YouTube, Hulu, and IMDB making older movies and television shows available for download off the net, all one needs is just to open up an account. Since they show R-rated movies at no cost, who needs Blockbuster?
I predict the day will come when that video store I referred to as the place "where everybody knows your name" will play out a scene similar to the one in the last episode of "Cheers." Except in this case, the store will never reopen.
Instead of a patron at the front door wanting a drink, I can easily picture a customer after closing time wanting to check out a movie and like Ted Danson's bar owner, Sam Malone, the video store manager will come out of his office for the very last time to say, "Sorry. We're closed."
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