Blockbuster Video prepaid electronic gift cards consumer ripoff

I'm pretty sure there should be numbers on the receipt that corrospond with numbers on the gift card.

The second scenerio is not possible. There is no way to charge for a gift card without activating the gift card. The two things happen at the same time, and there is no way to do one without the other.

I'm pretty sure there should be numbers on the receipt that corrospond with numbers on the gift card.

The second scenerio is not possible. There is no way to charge for a gift card without activating the gift card. The two things happen at the same time, and there is no way to do one without the other.

I'm pretty sure there should be numbers on the receipt that corrospond with numbers on the gift card.

The second scenerio is not possible. There is no way to charge for a gift card without activating the gift card. The two things happen at the same time, and there is no way to do one without the other.

First of all, I am the first to admit that the sister may be trying to run some sort of scam here, but I doubt it. I feel that we have two possible scenarios.

1. The customer service person rang up both both sales, ran through a card for the $20, and returned a blank card to the customer. The agent kept the valid card. Does BBV's system keep track of the cards that are swiped?

2. The agent messed up and did not swipe the card. An honest mistake.

i am an employee of bbv, if her receipt said 25.00 then she left with 2 valid giftcards, but that's not to say she also didn't take an extra 20.00 one that wasn't activated, ok i'll say it stole it. she probably uses the activated one and gave her brother the non activated one. i really get tired of everyone busting on bbv, really are we that bad. if we were we wouldn't have so may customers. believe it or not there are customer out there that try to get away with as much free stuff from bbv as possible, and unfortunatley it ruines it for all the reall customers that tell us the truth.

Gift cards have two barcodes to scan. the first one is to basically take the card out of inventory, the second is to actually activate the card and charge the customer the denomination of the card. If the second barcode is not scanned then the monies or money is not charged to the customer.

Thus, there are two senerios to this delima. first, it could be consumer theft or secondly, employee theft. If the customer has the actual BB receipt (which will detail all purchases on the day in question) then that will be proof enough to warrent a replacement card or refund.

If all that you have is credit card receipt which does not give specific purchases then it s your word against the company. Maybe the employee who sold the card should be investigated but in all honesty it is very difficult to rip the company off in this manner.

Every thing is documented and if there is any discrepency then the customer is almost always (from my standpoint) given the benifit of the doubt. Gift card theft is very hard to commit because of the way the system is set up to sell them. Good luck and I hope you get this resolved.

Gift cards have two barcodes to scan. the first one is to basically take the card out of inventory, the second is to actually activate the card and charge the customer the denomination of the card. If the second barcode is not scanned then the monies or money is not charged to the customer.

Thus, there are two senerios to this delima. first, it could be consumer theft or secondly, employee theft. If the customer has the actual BB receipt (which will detail all purchases on the day in question) then that will be proof enough to warrent a replacement card or refund.

If all that you have is credit card receipt which does not give specific purchases then it s your word against the company. Maybe the employee who sold the card should be investigated but in all honesty it is very difficult to rip the company off in this manner.

Every thing is documented and if there is any discrepency then the customer is almost always (from my standpoint) given the benifit of the doubt. Gift card theft is very hard to commit because of the way the system is set up to sell them. Good luck and I hope you get this resolved.

Gift cards have two barcodes to scan. the first one is to basically take the card out of inventory, the second is to actually activate the card and charge the customer the denomination of the card. If the second barcode is not scanned then the monies or money is not charged to the customer.

Thus, there are two senerios to this delima. first, it could be consumer theft or secondly, employee theft. If the customer has the actual BB receipt (which will detail all purchases on the day in question) then that will be proof enough to warrent a replacement card or refund.

If all that you have is credit card receipt which does not give specific purchases then it s your word against the company. Maybe the employee who sold the card should be investigated but in all honesty it is very difficult to rip the company off in this manner.

Every thing is documented and if there is any discrepency then the customer is almost always (from my standpoint) given the benifit of the doubt. Gift card theft is very hard to commit because of the way the system is set up to sell them. Good luck and I hope you get this resolved.

I have been reading several of these complaints and have noticed all too often how people refer to the employees as "stupid, brats, etc." I think it is important for everyone to recognize that many of these kids who work for BBV are probably similiar to your own kids. Would you want someone to refer to your own child i that manner??? Also, it is true that mistakes happen. Why is it that when they do the employee is stupid rather than human? We're human, we make mistakes. Keep in mind that many of these kids have never had a job before so they may be a little "wet behind the ears." Finally, several of the employees at BBV are just young kids trying to help pay for college. Obviously, they arent stupid, or they wouldnt be in college to
begin with.

Warning: the following contains the words "stupid", "dork", "Bridget Jones", "idiots", "screwed", and "doo-doo-head." Reader discretion is advised.

This is a great example of how some people have the attitude that the "customer is always wrong." However, this is a stupid employee, not a corporate conspiracy. Let's be honest; Blockbuster cannot be as bad as we like to think. They have a gazillion employees and customers, and only a handful of complaints here.

For every dork who tells the customer they stole a gift card that they obviously bought, I'll bet there are 20 managers who apologize, refund the customer's money, and give them a complimentary gift card. However, the customers who are treated nicely are NOT going to post compliments here; they're curled up on their couches watching "Bridget Jones' Diary" even as you read this.

Why can't the BB employees admit that a very few of their co-workers are complete idiots? Why can't customers who got screwed admit that most BB employees are probably nice guys? I had my own bad BB experience, but I now realize it was just one doo-doo-head and not Blockbuster, Inc. who was at fault.

By the way, on the related matter of "late fees" ...

Tonight I returned two late DVD's, and was only charged an extended viewing fee for one. I'll bet Blockbuster makes lots of errors in the customer's favor that we never hear about.

Sounds like they forgot to activate the card or did not activate properly at the time of purchase.

But there again this is BlockBuster what do you expect they ripp the customer one way or another!

I bet when you took your receipt in to show them they probably had that annoying grin on their face that implys you are trying to ripp them off..

Blockbuster needs a severe shake up!

In Mark's original posting of 2/5 he stated that 2 gift cards were purchased from Blockbuster at the same time, and both were listed on the same receipt. Mark's sister took the receipt to the store where the cards were purchased and presented it as proof of purchase. Despite physical evidence that the $20 card was obtained legitimately, the entire chain of command at Blockbuster, as well as former Blockbuster employee Anais (ref: Rebuttal submitted 2/9) can't conceive of any explanation that doesn't include theft. I will concede the fact that theft and dishonesty are rampant; sad, but true. My concern here is that human error on the part of the Customer Service person that rang up the sale has been declared all but impossible by Anais (former Blockbuster employee) and completely ignored by Blockbuster. Every human being makes mistakes of some kind every day; theft and fraud are committed by a select group, usually on an erratic basis. This makes human error a much more common occurrence.

It seems to me that the evidence that the card was obtained legitimately (physical evidence in the form of a purchase receipt) far outweighs Blockbuster's evidence that the card was stolen(assumption of guilt with nothing tangible to back it up.)

Even if the card was actually stolen (which I seriously doubt,)I think that Blockbuster would do well to give the customer the benefit of the doubt in this case and just eat the $20. Just activate the card, for goodness sake!

I'm certainly not suggesting that Blockbuster should blindly accept every claim that every customer brings to them; that would be ridiculous. On the other hand, customers who are shortchanged and return to request compensation are often treated like con-artists; Mark's sister was (all but) accused of stealing that giftcard, even with a sales receipt. Blockbuster (and many other companies, I might add!) desperately needs to stop treating all of their customers like criminals or inconveniences. Since each customer is unique, each customer's problems and concerns should be approached as unique, also.

Blockbuster currently has one of the worst customer service reputations known to retail. That kind of notoriety isn't obtained overnight, but is earned through years of consistant mistreatment of customers. When you combine millions of petty disputes with deplorable, condescending customer service techniques and a complete lack of respect for your customer base, you have a recipe with the potential to destroy even a giant like Blockbuster.

In Mark's original posting of 2/5 he stated that 2 gift cards were purchased from Blockbuster at the same time, and both were listed on the same receipt. Mark's sister took the receipt to the store where the cards were purchased and presented it as proof of purchase. Despite physical evidence that the $20 card was obtained legitimately, the entire chain of command at Blockbuster, as well as former Blockbuster employee Anais (ref: Rebuttal submitted 2/9) can't conceive of any explanation that doesn't include theft. I will concede the fact that theft and dishonesty are rampant; sad, but true. My concern here is that human error on the part of the Customer Service person that rang up the sale has been declared all but impossible by Anais (former Blockbuster employee) and completely ignored by Blockbuster. Every human being makes mistakes of some kind every day; theft and fraud are committed by a select group, usually on an erratic basis. This makes human error a much more common occurrence.

It seems to me that the evidence that the card was obtained legitimately (physical evidence in the form of a purchase receipt) far outweighs Blockbuster's evidence that the card was stolen(assumption of guilt with nothing tangible to back it up.)

Even if the card was actually stolen (which I seriously doubt,)I think that Blockbuster would do well to give the customer the benefit of the doubt in this case and just eat the $20. Just activate the card, for goodness sake!

I'm certainly not suggesting that Blockbuster should blindly accept every claim that every customer brings to them; that would be ridiculous. On the other hand, customers who are shortchanged and return to request compensation are often treated like con-artists; Mark's sister was (all but) accused of stealing that giftcard, even with a sales receipt. Blockbuster (and many other companies, I might add!) desperately needs to stop treating all of their customers like criminals or inconveniences. Since each customer is unique, each customer's problems and concerns should be approached as unique, also.

Blockbuster currently has one of the worst customer service reputations known to retail. That kind of notoriety isn't obtained overnight, but is earned through years of consistant mistreatment of customers. When you combine millions of petty disputes with deplorable, condescending customer service techniques and a complete lack of respect for your customer base, you have a recipe with the potential to destroy even a giant like Blockbuster.

In Mark's original posting of 2/5 he stated that 2 gift cards were purchased from Blockbuster at the same time, and both were listed on the same receipt. Mark's sister took the receipt to the store where the cards were purchased and presented it as proof of purchase. Despite physical evidence that the $20 card was obtained legitimately, the entire chain of command at Blockbuster, as well as former Blockbuster employee Anais (ref: Rebuttal submitted 2/9) can't conceive of any explanation that doesn't include theft. I will concede the fact that theft and dishonesty are rampant; sad, but true. My concern here is that human error on the part of the Customer Service person that rang up the sale has been declared all but impossible by Anais (former Blockbuster employee) and completely ignored by Blockbuster. Every human being makes mistakes of some kind every day; theft and fraud are committed by a select group, usually on an erratic basis. This makes human error a much more common occurrence.

It seems to me that the evidence that the card was obtained legitimately (physical evidence in the form of a purchase receipt) far outweighs Blockbuster's evidence that the card was stolen(assumption of guilt with nothing tangible to back it up.)

Even if the card was actually stolen (which I seriously doubt,)I think that Blockbuster would do well to give the customer the benefit of the doubt in this case and just eat the $20. Just activate the card, for goodness sake!

I'm certainly not suggesting that Blockbuster should blindly accept every claim that every customer brings to them; that would be ridiculous. On the other hand, customers who are shortchanged and return to request compensation are often treated like con-artists; Mark's sister was (all but) accused of stealing that giftcard, even with a sales receipt. Blockbuster (and many other companies, I might add!) desperately needs to stop treating all of their customers like criminals or inconveniences. Since each customer is unique, each customer's problems and concerns should be approached as unique, also.

Blockbuster currently has one of the worst customer service reputations known to retail. That kind of notoriety isn't obtained overnight, but is earned through years of consistant mistreatment of customers. When you combine millions of petty disputes with deplorable, condescending customer service techniques and a complete lack of respect for your customer base, you have a recipe with the potential to destroy even a giant like Blockbuster.

In Mark's original posting of 2/5 he stated that 2 gift cards were purchased from Blockbuster at the same time, and both were listed on the same receipt. Mark's sister took the receipt to the store where the cards were purchased and presented it as proof of purchase. Despite physical evidence that the $20 card was obtained legitimately, the entire chain of command at Blockbuster, as well as former Blockbuster employee Anais (ref: Rebuttal submitted 2/9) can't conceive of any explanation that doesn't include theft. I will concede the fact that theft and dishonesty are rampant; sad, but true. My concern here is that human error on the part of the Customer Service person that rang up the sale has been declared all but impossible by Anais (former Blockbuster employee) and completely ignored by Blockbuster. Every human being makes mistakes of some kind every day; theft and fraud are committed by a select group, usually on an erratic basis. This makes human error a much more common occurrence.

It seems to me that the evidence that the card was obtained legitimately (physical evidence in the form of a purchase receipt) far outweighs Blockbuster's evidence that the card was stolen(assumption of guilt with nothing tangible to back it up.)

Even if the card was actually stolen (which I seriously doubt,)I think that Blockbuster would do well to give the customer the benefit of the doubt in this case and just eat the $20. Just activate the card, for goodness sake!

I'm certainly not suggesting that Blockbuster should blindly accept every claim that every customer brings to them; that would be ridiculous. On the other hand, customers who are shortchanged and return to request compensation are often treated like con-artists; Mark's sister was (all but) accused of stealing that giftcard, even with a sales receipt. Blockbuster (and many other companies, I might add!) desperately needs to stop treating all of their customers like criminals or inconveniences. Since each customer is unique, each customer's problems and concerns should be approached as unique, also.

Blockbuster currently has one of the worst customer service reputations known to retail. That kind of notoriety isn't obtained overnight, but is earned through years of consistant mistreatment of customers. When you combine millions of petty disputes with deplorable, condescending customer service techniques and a complete lack of respect for your customer base, you have a recipe with the potential to destroy even a giant like Blockbuster.

As an ex-employee of Blockbuster I felt I had to write. Regarding the gift cards, the only way that a card can be valid is at the time of purchase.

As soon as the card is scanned, it is activated and the person is charged for the amount of the gift card. If the person who receives that card attempts to use the gift card, then it WILL go through with no problem.

I've had customers who have brought me gift cards for $50.00 and have not gone through. Now the reason for this is because the cards were not activated, and they were not paid for. The gift cards are left in a place in the store where everyone (customers) have access to them. It is extremely easy to rip them off, but it extremely difficult to use them because they are not activated unless they are paid for.

They never deactivate (once purchased) and lost or stolen cards can't be replaced. It is simple, if a gift card is paid for, then it is activated and can be used. If the gift card was NOT paid for, then it is not activated and WILL NOT go thorugh! I'm not saying that your sister took the card without paying it, if there were other gift cards that were present (for the same amount) at the purchase then it is possible that the cards were mixed up.

ALWAYS, and I repeat always purchase items on your blockbuster account, even if it is just candy, I recommend use your account. That way if there are any problems, then it is easier to look back to see what the problem was.

Good CSR's will ask you if you want to purchase the item on your account. Always make an effort to let the CSR know ahead of time that you want to purchase the item on your blockbuster membership account. It's a pain in the butt to explain the customer why you ask them that question, but in the long run, it's better for the customer.