Blockbusted: How to Lose a Customer
I had one of my single worst-ever customer experiences today, dealing with my local Blockbuster store manager. At the start of the month, I rented a video (Men In Black 2, I'm ashamed to say) and returned it the next day. Two weeks later, I got a notice that I'd failed to return the tape, and was being charged $46 in late fees and penalties.
In trying to resolve this reasonably I have:
- Visited the store twice (only to find that none of the employees were "empowered" sufficiently to help me.)
- Called the national toll-free customer support number posted in the store -- it was out of service.
- Spoken to the manager for twenty minutes. She suggested I bring in the tape. I pointed out I didn't have it. She said she didn't have it, so therefore I must.
I gently pointed out that unless she could come up with an alternative compromise or resolution, I would simply decline the credit card charge of $46 and cancel my account. She couldn't even suggest an alternate idea.
Basic marketing: the economic value of a customer is generally many times greater than the value of a single transaction. It's never worth losing a customer over $46, when the lifetime value of their purchases is probably $500 or more.
Our local store definitely acts like they have no competition. But I'll be buying my movie rentals off Time Warner Cable's excellent new digital cable video-on-demand channels rather than having to wait for the DVD to be in stock at Blockbuster, and deal with their minimum-IQ staff.
All of this reminds me about Blockbuster's lame class-action settlement regarding inappropriate late return fees back in 2001. Blockbuster settled 23 suits for a total of $423 million, but they got to pay it out mainly as coupons on futher rentals... what a joke.
