I stopped by Hollywood Video tonight to pick up a couple of movies for the holiday weekend. X-Men 2 had an "in stock gaurantee", but they were out of DVD though they had VHS. I ended up renting Terminator 3 & Mondays in the Sun*. I asked for a certificate for X2 since they were out of DVDs, and while the girl was getting it ready a guy behind the counter said "we have VHS", so the girl went back to the shelf and brought back a VHS tape. "We have a lot of these" she said, "would you like to rent this?" I declined, pointing out there were a lot of them on the shelf because nobody rents VHS anymore, and that I didn't even have a tape player (OK, I do, but it is used for kids movies only, I haven't rented a tape in 3+ years). They refused to honor the "in stock gaurantee" since they still VHS tapes. Does this makes sense? I asked if the policy was written down anywhere so I could see the details, they said no, but that I could call the 1-800 Blockbuster number and ask them (which I will do, haven't had the chance yet).

Of course, this particular store only charges $0.99 for all DVDs (else the Family Video across the street would kick their butts, competition is good), so I only "lost out" on a $0.99 rental, but still.

Is this how your local Hollywood Video of Blockbuster operates? Is there a corporate policy?


* "Mondays in the Sun" was Spain's controversial entry for the Best Foreign Picture last year, controversial because it was chosen instead of Almodovar's "Talk To Her". Mondays in the Sun didn't make the final cut, Talk To Her won best original screenplay and "Nowhere in Africa" won best foreign picture (to be honest though, I think Nowhere in Africa would have beaten Talk To Her, Nowhere in Africa has a lot of qualities of past oscar winners).

You moaning about 99 cents? Dear god...

Anyway, I beleive there in-stock guarantee is that they would have either VHS or DVD, and they did have VHS. Im assuming the Family Video was all checked out as well....

Also, when was Hollywood video and blockbuster the same corporation?

The store near me has never done that. If it's not on DVD, I get a rain check.

The thing I do not get is that they guaranteed Dumb and Dumberer but they didnt do the same for Bruce Almighty.

At my neighborhood HV the guarntee is for DVD and VHS, meaning the title will be available on both, and you get no rain check or whatever unless it's sold out on both. They do make exceptions if you tell them you do not have VHS though.

Well, I called customer service (the 877 number) as recommended by the manager at Hollywood video. The customer service rep had never heard of this practice before (not honoring guaranteed in-stock for DVDs if VHS is available) and called the store to confirm it.

The customer service rep said that it didn’t sound right and would bring it up to her managers to look at, and in the meantime sent me a coupon for the movie in question (X-Men 2) (or it was a coupon for any movie, I'll know in a few days).

So… I’ve confirmed that there is no nation-wide policy regarding this issue, and that this particular store’s policy is to not honor it unless both DVDs and VHS are out, even if the renter doesn’t have a VHS (or DVD) player.

I’m not going to lose sleep over it. This store does charge only $0.99 per rental, even for new releases, so I can’t complain too much, but their policy does seem out of whack.

I can only tell you what we do. Say you want the dvd X-2. It's not in. You request a raincheck for the dvd. Great, I give you one. The only stipulation is that if you request a dvd raincheck, and a vhs comes in, you cannot use the raincheck for the vhs. Not only will the computer not let us do that(they're different codes), but we specifically ask when issuing the raincheck, and the computer will only let us issue one or the other.

I've never heard of all copies(vhs and dvd) having to be out of stock before issuing a raincheck.

DVD and VHS should not be considered the same and they should honor.

Allright, now I'm pissed. After questioning their "in stock gaurantee", I just received a postcard saying that the two movies I had rented that night were never returned (they were due on Dec. 1). I returned them, and I have been back since and the "late" movies were never mentioned.

I called them up to tell them that I had returned the movies, the guy said he was going to check the shelves. He returned a few minutes later, said the movies were there and everything was OK, then hung up on me. I'll stop by a different Hollywood Video whose manager I trust (Abob Teff) and make sure my account is clear, I'm assuming the different Hollywood Videos are interconnected.

Ok, I have a question about Hollywood Video.

Here is my situation.

1 weeks ago I went into my local HV and asked the guy "What are the best games out right now for Xbox? I am going to rent them for my little brother since he's gonna be on Christmas Vacation for a while."

He suggested I rent Max Payne 2, GTA 3, and GTA Vice City.

So the total came out to 19.06 and I charged it on my debit card.

Well, I dropped the games off at my Mom's so my brother could play them.....30 mins later I get a call from my Mother telling me to take these games back because she felt that they were a bit too extreme for my brother to be playing. He's 11 by the way.

Ok, so I go and get the games back and go back to HV to return them and ask for either a refund or store credit. This is where the nightmare begins.

The guy said that he most certainly could not do a refund because it was done on a debit charge. So I said "Fine, then give me store credit."

Then he says "I can only give you credits in the amounts of $3.99 each(4 movie credits)which comes out to $15.96. He explained that he could not issue more because the amout would have gone over $19.06 that I originally charged. He then said he would make notes of the situtaion and asked me to come back in the morning when the manager is there to adjust the credit.

OK...so I go back several days later and FINALLY catch the head manager there. I told him of the situation and he says "I am not supposed to do this but I am going to go ahead and add another credit to your account making it 19.95...so you got a little more money back than what you should have." I thanked him and left the store.

I came back the next night with my wife telling her that I have almost 20 bux in store credit and she can pick out 2 dvds!! She was all happy so we went in, chose our movies and went to checkout.

The clerk said that I cannot use my store credit towards purchases. IT HAS TO BE USED TOWARDS RENTALS!! Ok, I am puzzled. The way I see it HV has almost 20 DOLLARS of my money that they pulled from my account and they are telling me how I can and cannot spend it in their store! We were VERY mad, but instead of complaining to the clerk I just walked out(hell, the manager is never there at night anyways!)

What should I do?? I dont want to call the 800 number and make a fool of myself if I am in the wrong.

Thanks

Heat--Hollywood videos really aren't connected like that. More than likely, someone just didn't check in the movies right. It's unfortunate, but mistakes happen. The employee just checked the movies in FOS(found on shelf)which alleviates any late fees. If you are concerned, just call the store back and ask to check the account. Unfortunately, you can't do that at another store.

Jessecrx--I sympathize, however here are some points to consider..

1) You originally rented 3 games. Most stores would have gladly exchanged the games, no questions asked because of the situation. I know we would have. A refund on your card would have taken 5 days to process, and from what I understand, it is a very huge hassle that would have likely annoyed you. We really would try to compensate you based on what your intentions were, which in this case was to rent 3 games. An exchange is what I would have suggested first.

2) The credits that they put on your account should be able to be used for any rental. Without exception. Therefore, unless it is a policy for your store, they should have put free movies/games on the account, to compensate you for the three games that were inappropriate, thus enabling you to replace the games. I have never heard that a free rental placed on the account is worth a specific dollar amount. It isn't at our store. We place a free rental, and then note on the account what they may be used for. This would have been my second option for you.

3) It appears that the whole store credit thing was misrepresented just a bit. I honestly don't know how we could have issued a store credit without going through guest relations. Therefore, if you want 20$ back, you should call them and request it. They will look at the notes on your account, call and ask what has been done, and go from there. You still probably won't have store credit--I would expect that they would just try to refund your card, but I don't know that for a fact.

Ultimately, you have gotten enough free rental credit in the store to rent 5 games, which is about 30$. I would suggest that you call the 1-8speak-to-us number to verify that. Also, they are who you could possibly speak to if you are upset with this. It is thier job to try to bring this to a satisfactory conclusion.

I asked my store director, and although he agrees with me on what we would have tried to do, he also recommends that you call and speak to someone, if for no other reason than that the store credit thing was explained badly to you. I hope this helps.

r

He tried to buy movies, not rent them. They said the credit had to be used for rentals only.

I understand that. What I am saying is that as far as the GSR's are concerned, that is what free RENTALS are. Again, he should call the 1-8speak-to-us number if he wants what could be considered a true "credit" on the account, because as far as I know(in the 2 1/2 years I've worked there), there is NO way we can do that.

What I was saying is that there is essentially $30 in Rental credit on his account--rental being the operative word.

I think I understand (jessecrx's situation). On the computer for HV there is a notation that says he has 5 free movie rentals, period. The value of those rentals at that HV is $3.99 each, but that is just the value at that store and is not a cash-out value.

I guess he could just speak with the manager and explain the situation and ask to buy a couple used DVDs.