Blockbuster responds to Blu-ray email with HD-DVD form letter!?

[CasualCat2001]

So I sent an email to Blockbuster the other day trying to encourage them to expand the number of local stores that carry Blu-ray titles, and they sent me a form letter talking about their decision to carry Blu-ray over HD-DVD stating that they may carry more HD-DVD in the future... Oh my "favorite" sentence from their response is in red.

Below is my email, followed by their "response."
-------------------------------------------------

Hello,

The closest Blockbuster retail location to carry Blu-ray titles in store is almost 18 miles away from me. The closest store however, is only 1 mile away. There are 6 stores within 20 miles of me, and only one carries Blu-ray. I've asked the local store repeatedly about carrying Blu-ray titles, and I have been told it is not their decision to make. I was told corporate decides what titles they receive and will ultimately decide when, if ever, they receive Blu-ray titles. Please expand the number of stores that carry Blu-ray titles.

I currently use the Total Access plan only for kids movies because I cannot return a Blu-ray title and get a Blu-ray title. I would love to have a higher tier plan, but it is not worth it until I can walk into a local store and walk out with a HD movie. Your Total Access plan is a great idea and offers a competitive advantage to Netflix’s plans, but only for standard DVDs.

Thank you,

My Name

Their response:

Dear Valued BLOCKBUSTER Member,

Thank you for your feedback regarding our decision to expand our Blu-ray inventory in more than 1,700 corporate-owned stores nationwide. Please note that this expansion will not impact the current inventory of HD-DVD titles in store or online. Blockbuster continues to carry HD-DVD in about 250 stores and also offers HD-DVD titles online. Our goal is to offer customers the most convenient access to the movies they want and that means giving them the best availability and the best selection possible in the formats they prefer. Blu-ray rentals have been outpacing HD-DVD rentals in our stores where we’ve been offering the high-definition format 70 to 30 percent in 2007. Additionally, because more studios support the Blu-ray product, there’s a wider selection of titles available on this format to offer to our customers While it is still too early to say which high-definition format will become the industry standard, we will continue to closely monitor customer rental patterns both at our stores and online, so we can adjust our inventory mix accordingly and ensure that Blockbuster is offering customers the most convenient access to the movies they want, in the format they want. That may mean in the future that we will add HD-DVD titles to additional stores.

Sincerely,
Brenda
BLOCKBUSTER Customer Care

[Shiggidy75]

I think you may have confused them when you said "but it is not worth it until I can walk into a local store and walk out with a HD movie." I think that since you put HD in there it threw them off. I dunno. Just my guess.

[JonBidinger]

Seems like a canned response to me. They need to update it.

[Blu Haze]

That is an auto response for shure.

[nycomet]

They should change their name to SchlockBlister.

[Tanman19az]

Brenda doesn't get out much haha

[WickyWoo]

You shouldn't expect anything other than a form letter sending emails

Call, or write a snail mail letter to an executive office and someone who might actually care will read it

[Blu-ray Fanatic]

Originally Posted by CasualCat2001

So I sent an email to Blockbuster the other day trying to encourage them to expand the number of local stores that carry Blu-ray titles, and they sent me a form letter talking about their decision to carry Blu-ray over HD-DVD stating that they may carry more HD-DVD in the future... Oh my "favorite" sentence from their response is in red.

Below is my email, followed by their "response."
-------------------------------------------------


Their response:

Obviously, it's one of those automated responses because they're too lazy to write a personal response to their customers. I've seen HD-DVD titles only at one of my local Blockbusters and had a second thought that Blockbuster was Blu-ray exclusive, guess not.

[g217814]

Sounds like a canned response from 2 months ago. Typical of large corporations these days.

[TheRealBob]

Originally Posted by Shiggidy75

I think you may have confused them when you said "but it is not worth it until I can walk into a local store and walk out with a HD movie." I think that since you put HD in there it threw them off. I dunno. Just my guess.

That's probably right.

One (of the many) reasons I'm glad the format war is over is it got on my nerves how people would just say "HD" or "HD movie" when they meant HD DVD (I just saw it today in another thread on this forum). It was a great example of the power of branding, since Blu-ray Discs are also "HD" or "HD movies" (as the original poster correctly used the term here). I thought there was a real chance that a significant percent of the public wouldn't understand the BDs were high-def, and it appears BDA members thought so as well, since they really started pushing the "high-definition Blu-ray Disc" line in most ads.

[pokerface]

We look at the death of HD-DVD being the end of the "war" but it was only a huge battle. We now fight the main card and take on DVD to become mainstream. As we get bigger market share outlets will be force to stock product. Use Netflix until then, no driving.

[hardcore_canadian]

Is it just me, or does it seem like Brenda is THE name that a computer would have? Like, if that's just an autoreply that picked up certain words you used. Brenda is just the name a computer would have to have...Brenda