Buzz
For almost 30 years, Blockbuster served as the go-to local video rental spot for film enthusiasts across the U.S., with its staff acting as our personal movie experts. While a handful of independent Blockbuster locations continue to operate today, the brand truly thrived from the 1990s to the mid-2000s, during the era of VHS tapes and DVDs. These employees not only offered film suggestions but also handled our frustrations over late fees, playing a key role in shaping our movie-watching habits and witnessing the evolution of how we consume media. Mental_floss spoke with several former Blockbuster workers to uncover their experiences during the company's peak and eventual decline.
1. THEY ENJOYED FREE MOVIE RENTALS.
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For movie enthusiasts, working at Blockbuster came with numerous benefits. Staff members were entitled to five complimentary rentals weekly and had early access to new releases a week before they hit the rental shelves. Matt, an employee at a Michigan Blockbuster from 2004 to 2009, highlights how the free rental policy benefited both the company and its workers. “This was essential because customers, especially movie enthusiasts and regulars, often sought recommendations,” he notes. “It allowed me to catch up on films I missed or hadn’t heard of, and I discovered some unique hidden treasures this way.”
2. THEY FOUND YOUR COMPLAINTS ABOUT LATE FEES FRUSTRATING ...
Blockbuster tested various late fee policies over the years, including a “no late fees” approach that introduced a perplexing “re-stocking fee.” Former employees recall that handling late fees was one of the most tedious aspects of the job, regardless of the policy in place.
“Customers often struggled with basic math, and despite agreeing to rental terms and nightly rates, they couldn’t grasp how their total fees added up,” says Lex, who worked at a Scranton, Pennsylvania, Blockbuster from 2012 to 2013. “Negotiating with customers trying to avoid payments was a daily interaction with nearly half of our clientele.”
Brie, a Salt Lake City Blockbuster employee from 2007 to 2008 during the “no late fees” period, recalls constant disputes over the $1.25 restocking fee. “Almost every customer argued about paying it,” she shares. “They’d say, ‘Isn’t this just a late fee by another name?’ And honestly, they weren’t wrong—it was a workaround. But I didn’t create the policy, so arguing with me was pointless.”
3. ... BUT THEY WERE MORE LIKELY TO ASSIST IF YOU WERE COURTEOUS.
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The most effective way to avoid late fees was simple: politeness. “Once I became a Shift Lead, I often negotiated with customers and waived fees for regulars or those who were exceptionally kind,” Brie recalls.
“We could reduce or even waive late fees for customers who approached us calmly and respectfully,” says Tim, who worked at a Blockbuster in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, from 2004 to 2007. “If you came in apologetic and polite, your fee might disappear. But if you were loud and confrontational, I’d say, ‘Sorry, sir, there’s nothing I can do. You’ll need to pay your $3.75 before renting again.’”
4. THEY MAINTAINED CONFIDENTIAL RECORDS ABOUT CUSTOMERS.
If you ever noticed an employee giving you a peculiar glance or stifling a laugh during your rental attempt, it might have been due to a note on your account. Blockbuster’s point-of-sale system allowed staff to access customer details and leave internal warnings about habitual late fee disputes or misbehavior.
“Customers frequently argued about late fees, so we used a system to log notes in the computer, such as ‘Waived one late fee, don’t repeat,’ or ‘This person consistently returns tapes late and claims fees are paid,’” explains Mike, who worked at a Blockbuster in Malden, Massachusetts, from 1999 to 2003. “Notes ranged from professional to blunt, like ‘This woman is unreasonable.’ The yellow alert would pop up, and you’d split your attention between the customer and the screen, trying not to laugh.”
5. THEY HAD ACCESS TO YOUR COMPLETE RENTAL HISTORY.
If you rented something awkward, rest assured the staff knew. “When customers returned tapes, their rental history would appear automatically,” says Mike. “For instance, you’d see a teenager renting Titanic for the twentieth time. Of course, we never commented on it.”
6. THEFT WAS A MAJOR PROBLEM.
Customers devised countless inventive methods to pilfer merchandise. Matt recalled “slashers” who “carried hidden boxcutters, sneaking around the store to slice open DVD cases and swipe discs,” while Lex described a man who mastered removing magnetic security strips. “He’d always take the strangest, most random films,” she says. “He’d steal sequels but not the originals, or single discs from TV show sets. I couldn’t tell if he was trying to dismantle the system piece by piece or just had peculiar tastes.”
Mike shared that the most infamous thief at his Blockbuster was a 10-year-old boy. “We had a full security setup—cameras, gates, magnetic locks—but someone kept stealing video games. Our manager was stumped and even suspected an inside job,” Mike explains. “It turned out to be a young boy. His mom discovered the games under his bed and returned them. We agreed not to press charges, but she wanted us to scare him straight, like a reality TV intervention. The manager and I ended up in a back room with this sobbing kid, unsure how to handle the situation. Our security system had been outsmarted by a child.”
7. CORPORATE DECISIONS OFTEN DEFIED LOGIC.
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Individual Blockbuster stores had no control over inventory; corporate headquarters made all the decisions, often in puzzling ways. In the early 2000s, this meant stores were flooded with hundreds of copies of new releases, which later became hard to sell, or stocked with books and magazines that customers barely noticed.
“Gladiator was the most significant release during my time at Blockbuster. We were inundated with copies—entire walls filled with them. Later, we couldn’t sell them, ending up with around 200 unwanted copies,” Mike recalls. “We also stocked video game guides and magazines that never sold. At month’s end, we’d tear off the covers and discard them. Sometimes, I’d take them home instead of throwing them out—I still have a collection of coverless books to this day.”
8. THE DECLINE BECAME INCREASINGLY APPARENT.
By around 2012, as the chain struggled to survive, Blockbuster stores often received random shipments of movies to sell, Lex explains. They’d display these on large tables throughout the store. “The selection was completely haphazard,” Lex remembers. “We’d have 50 copies of a forgettable romantic comedy from five years ago, two copies of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (with no other films in the series), and 12 copies of some obscure indie film. There was no rhyme or reason to it.”
“The strangest part,” he adds, “was having 135 copies of Dinner For Schmucks. I dedicated an entire table to it. On Black Friday, we ran a ‘doorbuster’ sale with select new DVDs priced at $5 each. We only had 24 DVDs to sell—not 24 different titles, just 24 discs. Six of those were Dinner For Schmucks. The 135 copies were already priced at $3 each. Needless to say, our Black Friday rush was underwhelming that year.”
9. THE TRANSITION FROM VHS TO DVD WAS UTTER CHAOS.
Long before Blockbuster’s battle with streaming services, the company faced a major technological upheaval: the shift from VHS to DVD. Ben, who worked at a Blockbuster in central Pennsylvania from 2001 to 2002, recalls the struggle to offload surplus VHS tapes as the format became outdated. “We pulled hundreds off the shelves and put them on sale,” he says. “After a few weeks, we started destroying them. It was bittersweet but oddly satisfying. We smashed them behind the counter, leaving a mess of black plastic and magnetic tape. Later, we donated unsold tapes to charities, but that first massive purge was unforgettable.”
10. BEING A FILM ENTHUSIAST WASN’T MANDATORY ...
Working at Blockbuster didn’t require a deep love for movies. Managers prioritized reliability and punctuality over encyclopedic film knowledge. “You didn’t need to be a movie fanatic,” Mike remembers. “You just had to show up on time.”
11. ... BUT MANY STAFF MEMBERS WERE TRUE MOVIE LOVERS.
Still, many Blockbuster employees were passionate about films. “My interview was basically confirming I could read and function as a human,” Lex jokes. “But everyone I worked with was deeply into games, movies, and TV, and we spent hours discussing them.”
