Blockbuster customer’s megaphone protest nets refund

Blockbuster recently re-entered administration, despite raking in masses of pre-orders earlier in the year for both the Xbox One and PS4. With its current financials, it announced it would be unable to provide refunds, unless customers wrote to the head office, with all sorts of documentation and receipts. One man was understandably quite put out by this and decided to campaign outside of his local Blockbuster with a megaphone and sign – and it worked.

Adam Sibley paid £450 to pre-order a PlayStation 4 from his local Blockbuster earlier this year and decided he didn't want to go through the rigamarole of contacting the head office and waiting all that time. However his local store only offered him the equivalent value of DVDs, CDs and Blu-Rays and said it was unable to give him a monetary refund.

Mr Sibley decided to not take this lying down and camped outside the store with a placard that read: “Blockbuster robbed of £450 for a PlayStation 4 that I will not get.” He also used a megaphone to advise passers by not to use the store, which is set to remain open during the company's administrative period.

It didn't take long for the store to agree to his demands and refund him the full £450, despite the official word from the Blockbuster higher ups that local stores would not be providing refunds. In reality it sounds like if you shout long enough you'll get what you want.

KitGuru Says: While you could easily point the finger at Blockbuster customers for handing their money over to a company as outdated as Blockbuster, it was a really nasty move to continue taking pre-orders until the last minute and then deliberately make it difficult for people to get refunds. I'm glad this guy got his money back.

[Cheers BBC]

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