Wait 3 months for new game releases, get 0 in-store game exchanges, and waste weeks waiting w/ Blockbuster's terrible game service
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- On2ndthought
- added this
Blockbuster recently announced the addition of games to its online mailing service in a move which has been called a "boon", "gamechanger", and a "gamefly killer". What Blockbuster fails to mention is the multitude of issues which plaque its sad desperate attempt at survival. As a former employee, I would like to offer a list of reasons as to why the Blockbuster game service is not worth your time or money. The company is doing its best to appear confident (its stock is worth $.12 and it has the audacity to criticize Netflix whose stock is $130+) by any means necessary including deceitful( to be fair merely omitting important facts is not deceitful but rather convenient forgetfulness) advertising. Yes, Blockbuster has added games but here are the problems:
1)You have to wait at least 3 months for new game releases to be delivered via the mailing service. Want to play Crackdown 2 on Xbox 360? Going to have to wait til October. Want Sin and Punishment 2 which launched in June? Going to arrive next month in the mail(maybe). ---As a side note, Blockbuster's so-called advantage over Netflix is a 28 day head start on some movies. A 90-day delay in new games, that's something the company won't talk about
2)You can exchange a game you received in the mail for an in-store rental. Just don't do something crazy and try to get a game with your in-store exchange. If you only signed up for the Total Access mailing service to get games, no problem you can bring it in store and save $4 dollars off the rental of a new game(the game you probably wanted to play in the first place). Plus with your discount you can get awesome extended rental days(it's not a late fee, or so says Blockbuster) of one dollar per day if you go past the fifth day of your in-store game rental. So $8.99 for one game in the mail and then $4.99 to play the game you actually wanted plus $1 a day if you keep it too long. $15.99 for Gamefly and you can start the month with a new release game. Blockbuster online suddenly doesn't seem like such a great deal.
3)Because the company is so broke, it sold off a large portion of its game inventory in a desperate attempt to raise revenue. Don't believe me, check its SEC filings on its investor relations website. The company mentions how the games were sold off to a third party vendor. So if a game you want to play keeps showing up as unavailable, this is probably the reason
4) Blockbuster can't afford to ship its in-store exchanges daily. At the store I used to work at, we used to have USPS pick up the in-store exchanges daily. Now the company has UPS pick up the in-store exchanges whenever we fill up a box. Sad part is, the company won't pay for UPS boxes so we ship the games out in candy boxes, popcorn boxes, etc. If a game shows up as a long wait in your queue, it will probably be sitting on a store counter for 4+ days just like all the in-store exchanges at the store I used to work at
5) Blockbuster's shipping times for games is laughably bad. I was recently forced into a 2 week free trial of the mailing service by my former manager(he needed his sales goals so he signed my dad up using my e-mail). It has been over a week and I haven't received a single game. I'm pretty sure Blockbuster is hoping that you mix games and movies into your queue so you don't realize how limited their game inventory is and how you will waste at least a week each month waiting for a game to arrive
6) The availability status on games is inaccurate. I have 19 games in my queue and many of the statuses tend to shift from available to short wait to long wait to unavailable as the day goes on. The only games that have stayed available are the 3-4 year old ones which I am honestly not too interested in playing
Overall, Blockbuster is a very poorly managed and outdated company which deserves to go under. The company recently announced a partnership with Comcast for a mailing service called "Dvdsbymail". The CEO of Netflix stated in an interview that he would never call his company the same name because he realizes that dvds will one day be obsolete and that streaming is the future. Blockbuster's digital chief claims that streaming is not the way to go and that Blockbuster can beat bankruptcy and Netflix. If Blockbuster can get its stock over a $1 at some point and make it back to the stock exchange, maybe I'll believe them. For now, I believe it's time for the wise consumers of cinema and gaming to let this sad pathetic fossil of a company die.
1)You have to wait at least 3 months for new game releases to be delivered via the mailing service. Want to play Crackdown 2 on Xbox 360? Going to have to wait til October. Want Sin and Punishment 2 which launched in June? Going to arrive next month in the mail(maybe). ---As a side note, Blockbuster's so-called advantage over Netflix is a 28 day head start on some movies. A 90-day delay in new games, that's something the company won't talk about
2)You can exchange a game you received in the mail for an in-store rental. Just don't do something crazy and try to get a game with your in-store exchange. If you only signed up for the Total Access mailing service to get games, no problem you can bring it in store and save $4 dollars off the rental of a new game(the game you probably wanted to play in the first place). Plus with your discount you can get awesome extended rental days(it's not a late fee, or so says Blockbuster) of one dollar per day if you go past the fifth day of your in-store game rental. So $8.99 for one game in the mail and then $4.99 to play the game you actually wanted plus $1 a day if you keep it too long. $15.99 for Gamefly and you can start the month with a new release game. Blockbuster online suddenly doesn't seem like such a great deal.
3)Because the company is so broke, it sold off a large portion of its game inventory in a desperate attempt to raise revenue. Don't believe me, check its SEC filings on its investor relations website. The company mentions how the games were sold off to a third party vendor. So if a game you want to play keeps showing up as unavailable, this is probably the reason
4) Blockbuster can't afford to ship its in-store exchanges daily. At the store I used to work at, we used to have USPS pick up the in-store exchanges daily. Now the company has UPS pick up the in-store exchanges whenever we fill up a box. Sad part is, the company won't pay for UPS boxes so we ship the games out in candy boxes, popcorn boxes, etc. If a game shows up as a long wait in your queue, it will probably be sitting on a store counter for 4+ days just like all the in-store exchanges at the store I used to work at
5) Blockbuster's shipping times for games is laughably bad. I was recently forced into a 2 week free trial of the mailing service by my former manager(he needed his sales goals so he signed my dad up using my e-mail). It has been over a week and I haven't received a single game. I'm pretty sure Blockbuster is hoping that you mix games and movies into your queue so you don't realize how limited their game inventory is and how you will waste at least a week each month waiting for a game to arrive
6) The availability status on games is inaccurate. I have 19 games in my queue and many of the statuses tend to shift from available to short wait to long wait to unavailable as the day goes on. The only games that have stayed available are the 3-4 year old ones which I am honestly not too interested in playing
Overall, Blockbuster is a very poorly managed and outdated company which deserves to go under. The company recently announced a partnership with Comcast for a mailing service called "Dvdsbymail". The CEO of Netflix stated in an interview that he would never call his company the same name because he realizes that dvds will one day be obsolete and that streaming is the future. Blockbuster's digital chief claims that streaming is not the way to go and that Blockbuster can beat bankruptcy and Netflix. If Blockbuster can get its stock over a $1 at some point and make it back to the stock exchange, maybe I'll believe them. For now, I believe it's time for the wise consumers of cinema and gaming to let this sad pathetic fossil of a company die.
