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Hey guys I'm new to this forum, but once I saw it and read some posts here remembered some very gold incidences that happened to me when I worked at BlockBuster Video a few years back. And before I start, yes I know everyone hates BlockBuster, believe me so did I when I worked there.
A note about late fees
Working at BlockBuster is no picnic, the number 1 issue that people get red in the face about and scream over is the hallowed "Late Fee". I have heard that the company has since done away with them, but back in the day it was like war in the trenches with customers hurling all manner of bile at me over their $3.19 in late fees. One guy even threw money in my face. Another peculiar thing is people that owed insane amounts like 50-100 dollars would come in and pay their late fees relatively quiet-like, but anyone with 2-4 dollars would claw my friggen face off.
It seemed like a typical dispute
One day myself and my manager were taking care of our standard video store duties when a rather homely looking kid of about 15 came waddling up to the counter to rent some Nintendo 64 games. I dropped the mountain of movies I was returning to the shelves and went over to help him check out. I greet him, get the membership card and scan it. DING DING DING late fees, of course, about 6 dollars worth for a previous games being overdue and the account showed one of them was still rented at their house. I informed the kid who then furrowed his brow and silently stormed out, leaving me a bit confused as to what would happen next. Out the window I see the kid at a car talking into the driver side window. The door opens and out comes mom... strap in for the ride.
Mom comes in and without hesitation starts ripping my head off! Her son NEVER returns his movies late, clearly it is OUR mistake somehow and the game must surely be on the shelf.
Now, we have a Found on Shelf report we do every day. It's a list of EVERY late movie or game from our store and we go around the shelves making sure they didn't get past the counter without being checked in. Of course I humor them and check again. The game isn't in our store. Mom puts her hand on her hips and continues to call me stupid and incompetent, meanwhile her fat lazy son stands behind her like baby chicken nodding and agreeing. I call the Assistant Manager down to jump in front of the barrage of insults for me, which she does. It's not an uncommon scene, but you never get used to the feeling of being de-humanized by these people, it's just awful and sometimes containing the rage is unbearable. Most customers treat me like I personally gain from their late fees, as if I get commission for them and go out to enjoy extravagant lobster dinners each night while laughing heartily about my sabotaging of their accounts. Thank god for comeuppance.
The kid is dumber than I thought
It's about a half a week later when Fatty McGoober kid comes waddling back in. I instantly recognize him. I do my best to ignore him from where I am behind the main counter, and continue to prepare some new releases for shelving. He hovers around the toy racks where all of the action figures are for an awful long time, then patrols the rest of the store briefly and walks out. I decide to run some returns back to the shelves which is right around the toy shelves when I notice about 4 opened packages of action figures... all of the actual figures are missing from inside. I get my Assistant manager who is up in the office and show her the packages. I should mention at this point we have security cameras all over the store, one pointed squarely at that spot. Dumbass. Me and the AM review the tape and clear as day this kid is shoplifting! Now the thing is, he could have gotten away with it, no consequences, if he had been an anonymous customer. We have so many people come in and out everyday there is no possible way to keep track of anyone but the real regulars. Unfortunately for him, just days before, this kid and his mom made such a fuss I couldn't help but remember the NAME on their account. Yes that's right, I phoned the police immediately.
The glorious payback
Apparently the police went to the kid's house with the security tape, I can only imagine mom's reaction. Mom and son were forced to come to the store and pay for action figures and the son had to give us an apology.
One interesting thing about that day, right before the son shoplifted? That "missing" videogame was in the return bin. Lovely.
A note about late fees
Working at BlockBuster is no picnic, the number 1 issue that people get red in the face about and scream over is the hallowed "Late Fee". I have heard that the company has since done away with them, but back in the day it was like war in the trenches with customers hurling all manner of bile at me over their $3.19 in late fees. One guy even threw money in my face. Another peculiar thing is people that owed insane amounts like 50-100 dollars would come in and pay their late fees relatively quiet-like, but anyone with 2-4 dollars would claw my friggen face off.
It seemed like a typical dispute
One day myself and my manager were taking care of our standard video store duties when a rather homely looking kid of about 15 came waddling up to the counter to rent some Nintendo 64 games. I dropped the mountain of movies I was returning to the shelves and went over to help him check out. I greet him, get the membership card and scan it. DING DING DING late fees, of course, about 6 dollars worth for a previous games being overdue and the account showed one of them was still rented at their house. I informed the kid who then furrowed his brow and silently stormed out, leaving me a bit confused as to what would happen next. Out the window I see the kid at a car talking into the driver side window. The door opens and out comes mom... strap in for the ride.
Mom comes in and without hesitation starts ripping my head off! Her son NEVER returns his movies late, clearly it is OUR mistake somehow and the game must surely be on the shelf.
Now, we have a Found on Shelf report we do every day. It's a list of EVERY late movie or game from our store and we go around the shelves making sure they didn't get past the counter without being checked in. Of course I humor them and check again. The game isn't in our store. Mom puts her hand on her hips and continues to call me stupid and incompetent, meanwhile her fat lazy son stands behind her like baby chicken nodding and agreeing. I call the Assistant Manager down to jump in front of the barrage of insults for me, which she does. It's not an uncommon scene, but you never get used to the feeling of being de-humanized by these people, it's just awful and sometimes containing the rage is unbearable. Most customers treat me like I personally gain from their late fees, as if I get commission for them and go out to enjoy extravagant lobster dinners each night while laughing heartily about my sabotaging of their accounts. Thank god for comeuppance.
The kid is dumber than I thought
It's about a half a week later when Fatty McGoober kid comes waddling back in. I instantly recognize him. I do my best to ignore him from where I am behind the main counter, and continue to prepare some new releases for shelving. He hovers around the toy racks where all of the action figures are for an awful long time, then patrols the rest of the store briefly and walks out. I decide to run some returns back to the shelves which is right around the toy shelves when I notice about 4 opened packages of action figures... all of the actual figures are missing from inside. I get my Assistant manager who is up in the office and show her the packages. I should mention at this point we have security cameras all over the store, one pointed squarely at that spot. Dumbass. Me and the AM review the tape and clear as day this kid is shoplifting! Now the thing is, he could have gotten away with it, no consequences, if he had been an anonymous customer. We have so many people come in and out everyday there is no possible way to keep track of anyone but the real regulars. Unfortunately for him, just days before, this kid and his mom made such a fuss I couldn't help but remember the NAME on their account. Yes that's right, I phoned the police immediately.
The glorious payback
Apparently the police went to the kid's house with the security tape, I can only imagine mom's reaction. Mom and son were forced to come to the store and pay for action figures and the son had to give us an apology.
One interesting thing about that day, right before the son shoplifted? That "missing" videogame was in the return bin. Lovely.
I can only hope that the cops gave Teenaged Shithead a good scare. I shoplifted some gum once as a small child (not that it's any excuse, but I did it because I wanted gum and my mom wouldn't buy it for me, not because I was trying to be a badass) from a local grocery store, and I don't know how I was found out (this happened way back in the early '80s before cameras became standard, and it was a small store), but one day my mom took me back to that store and we went in the back, where I got a good, long talking-to by Mr. Policeman. I never shoplifted again after that.
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