Blockbuster - should they be held accountable?
Discussion
Our Sunday night brush with the truly awful "4 Brothers" film prompted a discussion about rental and accountability. We only made it 30 minutes of the way through that particular one and its not the first time we've reached for the eject button well before the end of a film.
What rights do you have as a consumer where video/DVD rental is concerned when the film is so bad that you don't watch it? I'm aware of the subjective nature of the "quality" of a film and I consider myself a reasonably informed customer. But, Blockbuster do market the films to the cosumer by means of their magaizine and also in-store TVs showing trailers and capsule "reviews". So should they be accountable? Am I allowed to take it back and demand my money back? If not their fault, who's fault is it? How would you go about getting recompense for a truly awful film?
Anyone ever tried? What about cinema? Ever asked for your money back?
Edited, while scratching head : Erm, this should've gone in Pie & Piston. Someone wake a mod up and get them to move it for me, cheers
>> Edited by The Dude on Monday 27th February 13:51
What rights do you have as a consumer where video/DVD rental is concerned when the film is so bad that you don't watch it? I'm aware of the subjective nature of the "quality" of a film and I consider myself a reasonably informed customer. But, Blockbuster do market the films to the cosumer by means of their magaizine and also in-store TVs showing trailers and capsule "reviews". So should they be accountable? Am I allowed to take it back and demand my money back? If not their fault, who's fault is it? How would you go about getting recompense for a truly awful film?
Anyone ever tried? What about cinema? Ever asked for your money back?
Edited, while scratching head : Erm, this should've gone in Pie & Piston. Someone wake a mod up and get them to move it for me, cheers
>> Edited by The Dude on Monday 27th February 13:51
I don't see how they can be accountable. They made the film available to rent and you rented it.
It's your fault for not doing your research. Try www.imdb.com
Edit: Although given that it rates 6.8/10 (from 9,432 votes) there, perhaps you are in a minority by not liking it?
>> Edited by JonRB on Monday 27th February 14:13
It's your fault for not doing your research. Try www.imdb.com
Edit: Although given that it rates 6.8/10 (from 9,432 votes) there, perhaps you are in a minority by not liking it?
>> Edited by JonRB on Monday 27th February 14:13
JonRB said:
I don't see how they can be accountable. They made the film available to rent and you rented it.
It's your fault for not doing your research. Try www.imdb.com
Edit: Although given that it rates 6.8/10 (from 9,432 votes) there, perhaps you are in a minority by not liking it?
>> Edited by JonRB on Monday 27th February 14:13
I read a lot of film reviews Jon, including IMDB but its law of averages. Almost everything comes out at 50-60% score, unless its really universally hated or loved.
And for the record, the film is atrocious.
The Dude said:
Err - are you joking?
Not at all.
If you rent entertainment you'd expect to be entertained, surely. If not, the product has failed to live up to your expectations.
Yes but they are supplying a selection of products which would only suit people to their own personal choice! Why should they be blamed becuase you were incapable of picking a film that you like?
I cant blame you thinking like this though due to the fact nobody wishes to take any responsibility for their choices or actions these days...
While not answering your questions (sorry ) I recently read an interview with the head of Blockbusters UK. He was being questioned about the drop in profits by BB in the past year and what he's going to do about it.
His answer was simple. Their strategies and approaches have all got better and more efficient. The biggest single problem is that the quality of movies being released means people are not wanting to rent movies as much as they used to. There are side issues (for example with Sky Box Office or Teleport capturing some of their market) but, as I say, his biggest reason was that crap films are being released.
) I recently read an interview with the head of Blockbusters UK. He was being questioned about the drop in profits by BB in the past year and what he's going to do about it. His answer was simple. Their strategies and approaches have all got better and more efficient. The biggest single problem is that the quality of movies being released means people are not wanting to rent movies as much as they used to. There are side issues (for example with Sky Box Office or Teleport capturing some of their market) but, as I say, his biggest reason was that crap films are being released.
The Dude said:
in my opinion, if you buy a jar of jam and don't like the flavour you have bought it's tough titty.....i guess the same would apply to a dvd (don't try eating it on toast though)
That's fundamentally wrong. You could take it back and get a refund, every time.
not if it is purely down to not liking the flavour.....it's up to you to determine if you like apricot or strawbleberry
>> Edited by Nick P on Monday 27th February 14:27
Nick P said:
in my opinion, if you buy a jar of jam and don't like the flavour you have bought it's tough titty.....i guess the same would apply to a dvd (don't try eating it on toast though)
That's fundamentally wrong. You could take it back and get a refund, every time.
not if it is purely down to not liking the flavour.....
surely you could only do that if it was faulty/not fit for purpose ?! The ramifications of that being the norm are just ridiculouly huge; "this hot n spicy sauce was too hot n spicy". "apparently i don't like marmite". It's the thin end of the current compensation culture we live in; take responsibility!
lightstepper said:
Err - are you joking?
Not at all.
If you rent entertainment you'd expect to be entertained, surely. If not, the product has failed to live up to your expectations.
Yes but they are supplying a selection of products which would only suit people to their own personal choice! Why should they be blamed becuase you were incapable of picking a film that you like?
I cant blame you thinking like this though due to the fact nobody wishes to take any responsibility for their choices or actions these days...
I do love a bit of patronising - cheers.
Responsibility? What about responsibility for churning out the crap in the first place?
And you're not telling me you've liked EVERY film you've ever watched? And what prompted you to watch the bad ones in the first place? A sexy trailer? A magazine advert? A magazine review? So, you were mis-sold the film by proxy...
I'd wager that if more people demanded their money back, it might float back upstream and studios might think twice about putting out rubbish.
Nick P said:
in my opinion, if you buy a jar of jam and don't like the flavour you have bought it's tough titty.....i guess the same would apply to a dvd (don't try eating it on toast though)
That's fundamentally wrong. You could take it back and get a refund, every time.
not if it is purely down to not liking the flavour.....it's up to you to determine if you like apricot or strawbleberry
>> Edited by Nick P on Monday 27th February 14:27
Nope. Still wrong. Basic consumer rights.
The Dude said:
Err - are you joking?
Not at all.
If you rent entertainment you'd expect to be entertained, surely. If not, the product has failed to live up to your expectations.
Yes but they are supplying a selection of products which would only suit people to their own personal choice! Why should they be blamed becuase you were incapable of picking a film that you like?
I cant blame you thinking like this though due to the fact nobody wishes to take any responsibility for their choices or actions these days...
I do love a bit of patronising - cheers.
Responsibility? What about responsibility for churning out the crap in the first place?
And you're not telling me you've liked EVERY film you've ever watched? And what prompted you to watch the bad ones in the first place? A sexy trailer? A magazine advert? A magazine review? So, you were mis-sold the film by proxy...
I'd wager that if more people demanded their money back, it might float back upstream and studios might think twice about putting out rubbish.
so if you buy a new suit, then half way through a night out you decide you look crap in it, do you return it?
TonyHetherington said:
in my opinion, if you buy a jar of jam and don't like the flavour you have bought it's tough titty.....i guess the same would apply to a dvd (don't try eating it on toast though)
That's fundamentally wrong. You could take it back and get a refund, every time.
not if it is purely down to not liking the flavour.....
surely you could only do that if it was faulty/not fit for purpose ?! The ramifications of that being the norm are just ridiculouly huge; "this hot n spicy sauce was too hot n spicy". "apparently i don't like marmite". It's the thin end of the current compensation culture we live in; take responsibility!
Sorry Tony but this is not Claims Direct.
I have another angle on this.
One of my mates ran his own video/DVD rental for a few years. He point-blank refused to stock certain films on the basis that they were rubbish. Also, he'd often recommend films to people and say "If you don't like it, I'll give you your money back or your next film free".
The Dude said:
in my opinion, if you buy a jar of jam and don't like the flavour you have bought it's tough titty.....i guess the same would apply to a dvd (don't try eating it on toast though)
That's fundamentally wrong. You could take it back and get a refund, every time.
not if it is purely down to not liking the flavour.....it's up to you to determine if you like apricot or strawbleberry
>> Edited by Nick P on Monday 27th February 14:27
Nope. Still wrong. Basic consumer rights.
Which bit of 'basic consumer rights' would that be then?
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