Blockbuster is dead to me

I have complained about Blockbuster in the past, but this recent chain of events just became the nail in the coffin.

Every Friday I do a movie night with my kids. My two sons alternate each week to see who gets to pick the movie. Usually, I am prepared and have a movie on-hand from Netflix or I take my kids to our local Family Video store or a Redbox kiosk to get the movie. But last week was a hectic week and come Friday, I found myself unprepared and without a movie.

My kids summer camp is just down the street from a Blockbuster so I decided to head there instead of Family Video or RedBox kiosk when I picked up my kids at the end of the day. Sometimes it’s just about what is closest.

After about 10 minutes of browsing, my son locked on to Dr. Doolittle: Million Dollar Mutts. I took the movie up to the counter, presented my Blockbuster card to the man behind the counter and turned my attention back to my kids.

Where the trouble began

A few seconds later, the man said to me, “Ok, that will be $5.34.”

I about fainted. $5.34 for a kids movie? I questioned the man behind the counter and he told me the price was higher because it was a new release. His explanation did nothing to make me feel better.

You see, the kids video (new releases included) are half that price at Family Video, only $1.00 at a Redbox kiosk and included with my Netflix membership. To pay $5.34 for one movie is just ridiculous. Especially in an age of digital downloads where new releases in high definition can be instantly downloaded for less from the likes of Amazon Video on Demand, the iTunes Store and dozens of others.

I thought for a brief moment about telling Blockbuster to void the transaction and keep the movie but then had a vision of what would happen when I told my son he couldn’t have the movie he picked out. All of you parents out there will hopefully sympathize with me.

Unfortunately my kids are pretty attentive and could tell I was unhappy with the price of the movie despite the fact that I still rented it. I explained to them on the drive home that I could probably purchase the movie for $15.00. To prove my point, I looked up the movie on Amazon.com when I got home. There it was for $16.99 (I was close).

Would anybody do this?

But here’s the real kicker. I remembered that Blockbuster allows you to keep a rented movie and convert it into a purchase. So I checked my receipt and just about fainted again. There it was, near the top of the receipt. Own It 06/15/09 For Only $21.99 More.

$21.99? More?!?!

So let me get this straight. If I want to own this used (and probably badly treated) movie from Blockbuster, it only costs me the $5.34 I already paid plus an additional $21.99 plus tax again? That’s nearly $30!

The only good thing to come of this entire experience was the feeling I had when I dropped the movie in the return slot the next day knowing it was the last movie I will ever rent from Blockbuster.