Confessions From Former Blockbuster Employees

We all worked at Blockbuster Video together, so we have some pretty funnies stories about our time there. We reflect back on our time at Blockbuster Video and tell you what went on behind the scenes
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The Game Chasers are 2 friends hunting for retro video game in flea markets, garage sales, game stores and people's homes! And they are a bunch chodes

[@SpookyBeatsMemphis]

Damn, I've been telling the story of how I met Sting at Blockbuster for years now

[@rogregg29445]

Rumplepimpskin what?

[@pika23]

Steve Borden sting or rock star sting

[@pika23]

James gandolfini came to the local one and mine a lot

[@rogregg29445]

pika23 Steve Borden sting

[@randomninja]

Man, these stories make me miss the 90s so much!!

[@Untouchaable]

This is great stuff. A bunch of my friend's worked at the nearby rental store & always hooked me up with the first dibs of new movies & gave me the posters. I used to spend about an hour just looking through the horror section, video games or just talking with people there every time I went.

[@VinceBaleka97]

I worked at Blockbuster for a couple years I put a warning on my friends account saying only allowed to rent Steven Seagal movies he got so pissed when he tried to come in to rent something it was hilarious I was off work he called me he was so pissed

[@volkswag12]

He didn't wanna see Steven Seagal run like a Pillsbury Dough boy lololol

[@NMack-is3nb]

You guys should film your old blockbuster store location sometime.

[@marcoscastellanos4114]

Nick Mack it’s a Game Exchange now.

[@linkmaster6486]

Always preferred Hollywood Video. They always had the best selection of Horror movies.

[@santoscalavera]

Proud to be a blockbuster veteran 📼

[@Valnoten]

Damn, I really enjoyed this video. Just guys sitting and having a good talk. Lovely!

[@liquidt3ch]

god, so many weekends we'd get stoned, get some fast food, head into blockbuster to rent some video games and a movie. good times. just the act of picking out what you wanna do on the weekend was as fun as the media itself. can't replicate that nowadays

[@jeffbandy7065]

Blockbuster was the shit. These kids and their Netflix and chill will never understand the struggle of the tape rewinder lol

[@EQOAnostalgia]

What happened to the stream last night? I went to take a piss and it was taken down. Hey listen, i had a 12 pack all lined up, some crisp, dank nugs... with the intention of pulling an all nighter, in the end it was just me, my cat, and Star Wars Battlefront 2, and i don't mean the good one from 2005 either! BRUTAL!

[@retrogameraaron4778]

This is why I love buying VHS tapes and having them around...they bring back strong memories of my childhood and the video rental stores.

[@ToxcynTV]

This was fun. I coulda listened to these stories for hours

[@Rambeard]

Those are the jobs you'll remember forever. The people you work with are the reason they're so special. I worked at Walmart for just over 3 and a half years and the only reason I stayed as long as I did was because of the people I worked with. Overnight stocking was the best times.

[@BlueW0rld]

My Blockbuster memories range from renting Tekken The Motion Picture in 98 to just hanging around in 2011

[@gunnerseven7724]

i was a store manager for Blockbuster for 15 years. Damn everything you guys said is spot on. We also had a power crew.

[@andrewoid84]

I worked at a blockbuster for a while myself. I was there a little later than you guys, like 2004-ish I think when I started, during the PS2/Gamecube era. We were all DVDs by that point, VHS had been phased out. There were 2 other blockbusters and a couple Hollywood videos in town at that time. I was dumbfounded at how often we would get not only returns from the wrong blockbuster, but people would drop off Hollywood video returns in our box as well. Also people would return boxes with no discs in them all the time. It wasn't a bad job, but we didn't have as many shenanigans as you guys.

[@8thLife]

So many great stories in this; glad you put this video together!

[@madisonavenuemadman1387]

I forgot how handsome Billy is when he doesn't look like a big foot

[@brianrichardson3744]

I worked at a mom and pop video and our place had an adult room. I have 3 hours worth of stories of that alone. That and the day i decided to watch Clerks in the store and a mother and son came in. It was a Randle Graves moment for 20 minutes with this lady.

[@TerryParr]

My favorite Blockbuster memory, a friend and I were trying to rent As Cool As Ice to make fun of it. We asked the clerk and he said very loudly "Ew that Vanilla Ice movie". We were cracking up.

[@interghost]

Loved that. These real life story videos are some of my favs. I used to work at a few stores, Toys R US, Woolworths, Argos etc.... might have to make a video of some stories?

[@michaeltaylor5137]

3 years later and every time I watch this I miss video stores more and more.

[@vgsquirrel]

Loved hearing these stories guys! My local Blockbuster unfortunately went under right before I got my license so all of my memories are from my parents taking me there. If I had the opportunity it would have been the first place I would have applied to for a job.

[@kierank1982]

I used to work at Blockbuster at the flagship store in London (2001-2004) when I was at film and TV student at the uni. The disciplinary procedures were so stupid. Lots of 'ROMs' (Record of Meetings) about the slightest of infractions. On the other hand, free rentals. I saw what was coming and tried to alert the manager about the rise of Netflix. I told him that Blockbuster, if it wanted to survive, needed to buy up the competition, especially Netflix. He told me to tell head office, which I did. They gave me the brush off since I was just a gangly student part-time CSR, so what did I know, right? I never understood why in America you had cardboard cases to VHS's! We had plastic clamshells as standard. When I went to America in the Summer of 2001, I went to a Blockbuster store and bought loads of videos that were cut or banned in England (like Last House on the Left). I can't believe they didn't stock NC-17s as a US wide policy. In England, they stocked pretty much anything, including terrible softcore (in typical British understated fashion, they were euphemistically categorised as 'marital aids' on the system!). So the Blockbuster 'family' image didn't matter so much over here, obviously! That's the thing people don't get about England, it's sleazy but all just under the surface! We don't bat an eye at political scandals really. During the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, we were just like "is that it?! That's just an average morning for a Brit politician!". The most painful memory for me was the promo video that just went round and round on the TV screens in store for a whole month before a new one came in. We could recite it word-for-word by week 2! I got in trouble once for putting a sign by the terrible Michael Bay Texas Chain Saw Massacre remake that said "this is rubbish, go to the horror section and rent the superior original'. That's the thing- it didn't take us film buffs long to work out that the bosses just saw movies as a commodity like a stapler or something. They had no interest in quality control. I once rang up head office because they erroneously wrote that a film had an "adults-only R rating in America" in their in-store magazine and I told them that the R rating wasn't adults only, that would be the NC-17. They didn't care! Maybe if they had cared more, they'd still be around. Just sayin'! Oh, and people bringing up the cover box instead of the box behind, then leaving the cover box on the counter, really ground our gears!

[@BuchoRULES]

Good stuff chaps, do more like this

[@danielpina4666]

I'm 18 and got around 4 years of blockbuster and Hollywood video and I really miss those 4 years. I think the world would be a better place with blockbuster still around

[@zombiejlt1]

Billy's chuckle at 14:23 is hilarious, and I'll admit I thought the same thing after hearing what Jay said. Awesome video guys, thanks for sharing. Hope to see more of these!

[@mykedacook308]

Never worked at a blockbuster but worked nextdoor to a blockbuster back in our day. The blockbuster next to me would throw out older movies and games and give us first grabs at it. I have 50% of my collection of VHS for there and like 30% of ps1 SNES ps2 from there. Loved that place

[@Effedup]

Worked at BBV for 3 years from 98-01, from entry level CSR to Store Manager, and I do have to say that it was the funnest, most chill job I ever had. Didn't pay shit, of course, but I never worked so little for a wage in my life. It had it's ups and downs, and there were definitely some shitty times, but all of us were good friends outside of work so it really was just like getting paid to hang out many days. I still have two really good friends I met working there to this day, 20 years later. Great fuckin times, so many stupid shenanigans and drunken after-parties.

[@truskinboy]

great to finish work and find a new gc video

[@Nintendofan-yk4cd]

This is awesome! And I still have my Blockbuster card in my drawer. Used that thing all the time to rent N64 games, PS2 games, wrestling tapes and horror movies.

[@finkaiser3994]

Loved the video guys! Been wanting to hear your blockbuster stories for a while now.

[@GrouchyGonZoGarage]

I worked at the blockbuster York PA in high school. They opened a new store in North York PA. My manager convinced me to dress up as the mascot Rewind..I was out on the corner a very busy road when a school bus load of high-school girls passed me. And yelled NERD...had me questioning life choices.. 😂

[@shane3674]

I used to live in a small town with a Blockbuster and my parents where real good friends with the manager of the store. He would always invite me after hours to watch movies and play video games. I always got to play a lot of the new games that the rest of the town hadn’t yet. Good times!

[@kingez8658]

I loved working at blockbuster! It was my favorite job of all time. I worked there for three years. One memory was rigging the Star Wars life size yoda give away!

[@BigRob558]

The last game i ever bought from Blockbuster in the uk was sonic generations . About 5 month later it was gone 😕 It was like a day out going to the movie store and yea 😂 i remember chunky RGB tv on wall mounts not surprised it fell down

[@Night-Jester]

This is STILL one the golden videos.

[@Darko1226]

I swear... all your videos are gold!!!

[@NeoTechni]

That guy with the DBZ shirt, his head reminds me of the alien in the bar sitting next to Uhura in the first JJ Abrams Star Trek movie.

[@psellars2]

I remember customers coming in and the first thing they would do is look at the videos that were waiting to be returned to the floor for a particular movie. When they didn’t see it there they would go and look on the floor. When it wasn’t on the floor they would come back up and look in the return to floor videos again. When they still didn’t see it there they would look up at us and ask if we had that particular movie in

[@Drinkabeerandplayagameofficial]

Whoa, these guys got Ryback to talk about Blockbuster

[@rogregg29445]

Drink a Beer and Play a Game lmao what

[@Drinkabeerandplayagameofficial]

Striker92 when I saw the thumbnail I thought Rufus looked just like Ryback

[@marcuslopez9373]

I used to work at Hollywood Video, back in the day. Those were the days.

[@MasterRoshi8974]

Man i wish i could be chilling with you guys instead of working. But watching your videos makes my day all the better.

[@RetroHabit82]

How have I not watched this till now? (Former BV employee here)

[@iamgrateful2694]

Was hoping there was a new episode for my birthday but this works. Great video!

[@JonKratz]

Really enjoyed this. :)

[@tobycooper5804]

Good time so far. Thanks for the gaming entertainment all these years.

[@karolkaczorowski8660]

Love these kinds of videos! Keep up the good work!

[@christopherlemp]

I used to work at Blockbuster, man I have LOTS of stories I could tell.

[@extremawesomazing]

Will there ever be a place quite like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video again?

[@EliteNirvana]

Sadly no

[@timp52]

I think someday they will make a comeback. Not on the scale of Blockbuster or HV level.

[@gzzzt]

Nah. But if you're ever in Seattle, check out Scarecrow Video. One of the most magnificent places on Earth.

[@mrbee15]

I worked for Blockbuster in 08 up in Canada. Such a fun job... great memories. Twizzlers are 2 for $5 was my go to upsell. LoL

[@SeanShank87]

I was around during the VHS rental days as a late 80's baby who grew up in the 90's I gotta say I'm glad I missed it all as a kid I know there's a experience I missed out on but not knowing if I could get a new release would give me anxiety LOL my mom always told me the reason we never had a card from block buster is cause we'd never bring back the movies. She wasn't wrong, a few years later I rented books from the library and never brought them back. LOL

[@neomerge]

This video was really great. Not sure if u have enough stories for another one but I'd love if you did!

[@eVanDiesel]

I never worked at a video rental store, but a few of my friends did, so I hung out there all the time. They made me like 5 fake accounts with cards and everything. That way I could rent whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. Also, they used to give me boxes of screeners and promotional stuff. Good times.

[@dustysrewind]

My dream job would be to work with you guys at blockbuster lol

[@skabcat242]

I wish that security footage of you guys wrestling still existed.

[@pie_stains]

My local video store rented stuff to my brother who was an adult and lived apart from us. He wracked up a big fine on our account which my Mother paid but she never bought another vhs again or rented anything again. She had probably bought 40+ tapes over the previous 10 years. They were told not to rent to him on the family account but did anyway to get that $1.50, I yelled at the owner as a 17 year old.

[@smeepUCA]

I love Billy.. he's such a likeable and relatable guy. He reminds me so much of my older brother

[@TheGameChasers]

I'm very unlikable but thank you none the less

[@Epsilonsama]

I used to rent games from Blockbuster and other video rental stores. I played so many games back then, if it wasnt for rentals I would have never played all the games I did growing up.

[@falcon8534]

Dudes please make more Blockbuster stories videos, I definetly enjoy watching and hearin y'alls stories.

[@wizballcommodore8466]

Back in the day we use to all work at Pizza Hut. The roof was flat and we use to play football on the roof. Hide and seek. With people hiding in the oven extraction hood. Food fights. It took us hours to clean up but missed one piece of chocolate mousse on the bosses briefcase. Stupid shit like that.

[@marcoscastellanos4114]

I applied for that same Blockbuster but wasn’t even called back for an interview.

[@michaeltaylor5137]

Need more videos like this...

[@gustavolopez2599]

I still have my blockbuster card 🤓

[@Ivan_LFC]

Crazy how Billy has changed From Episode 1 looks soo different.

[@itoramos6843]

great episode !

[@shanafan]

So glad to see that Billy finally got a haircut.

[@TheGameChasers]

For like a year...

[@MapleJames76]

Back in My Day.....we had to rewind tapes lol

[@YourGEEKYNeighbor]

I’ve work at three different video rental places in my lifetime. Video rental jobs never felt like work to me. I managed a Blockbuster Video for three years actually. I got stories upon stories. 👍😜

[@dbradford259]

I remember all my friends worked at Blockbuster Video I never been in one before since I always went to the video store next to my house. I went to apply so I could work for them. My luck I applied at Blockbuster Music not video. Best job ever, got so much tail talking to chicks about music instead of movies.

[@davidrivas2679]

I remembered going to a blockbusters and it smelled really good

[@Starscreamlive]

Reminds me of my days working at Pizza Hut.

[@Dara321AAA]

Also I worked there when guitar hero rock the 80s came out, we got that a week early. Rented that the week before it came out and beat it in 2 days.

[@nobeac]

That's hilarious those stories. I remember when I didn't use my card for a long long time they would always make me re sign up for another membership they couldn't just renew it on the computer for some reason. That was a very dumb idea but whatever.

[@frankgonzales115]

We want more! We want more! MORE! MORE! MORE!... please

[@400KrispyKremes]

I worked at Blockbuster video for four months, and I never got paid once. In fact I got another job and got my first check from them before they sent me anything at all. It took two years for them to finally pay me what I earned. Long story short I'm glad they went out of business.

[@johncarolina4950]

Why would you continue working somewhere if they missed even a single pay period. You don't go back until you're paid lol

[@chrisoliver3919]

We use to try and profile someone and guess what kind of adult film they were going to bring up from the back.

[@burningg06]

Great video. More like this

[@Dara321AAA]

Man I remember doing inventory late with a buddy that worked there, we watched doug stanhope no refunds while scanning shit in and I just remember laughing my ass off while scanning X amount of copies of the newest releases.

[@Aces.702]

Awsome video guys reminds me when I use to work at cronic tacos shit bag place don't eat there lol but it was fun with the right set of people always joking playing around 😂 but work hard need more videos like this

[@mzzashley]

Great video guy's

[@leehamilton7788]

If I knew then that earthbound and clayfighter special were going to become would have picked it up

[@pika23]

I used to get a light buzz from the fumes of the melting plastic, when we had to shrink wrap DVD's during that time in 04-05 when that trade in going full DVD was going on

[@MatTheStampede]

More of these please

[@drewbustank]

Still one Blockbuster store left, down in Bend, OR! It's a rad place too. Anyone else catch the Clerks reference...buncha savages in this town. lol

[@elasticbox4421]

at hollywood we got games 7 days before they came out. it was amazing

[@pika23]

So did we, but we couldn't rent new ones til 2 WEEKS after they came out unless we paid

[@bekindrewind4232]

This video was gold

[@fl3x518]

Wish you could edit pictures you draw when you shared the story's like you did in game chaser like when pat was bunking with you and you tried to prank him lmfao

[@Wheels8504]

More videos like this please

[@iDGF999]

Fuck Blockbuster. My parents had a nice thing going before Blockbuster came into town with their movie store. They were offering video games for rental even before Blockbuster did. I'm glad they're gone.

[@nintendojoe2958]

cool memories guys!

[@grants7941]

I worked at Blockbuster and we opened at midnight the night we released Titanic and it was a madhouse

[@reedeema]

Robbie looks like Captain spaulding ... Cheers 😀✌

[@NesSumSimpson]

Would of liked to hear why you guys quit and how you handled thieves trying to steal Movies/Games/Candy... Good Stuff!!!

[@adamortego7499]

I live in Arlington, which location did you guys work at? Pioneer?

[@outpostorange9580]

Great memories

[@leehamilton7788]

Don't forget the selling Disney video contest

[@gingerrevenger]

Worked and managed 2 different Blockbuster from 2004 to mid 2007 during and after the gamerush era. We had a customer who would rent those practically porno movies and when he brought them back for return he would alway make a point to display the cassette tape or dvd to us when he dropped it into the return bin. He was one of the creepiest weirdest customers I've ever experienced in retail. My favorite was alway the customers who returned the wrong dvd in the case. More times than I can count had someone returned a porn dvd in a BB case, and those call back were always awkward.

[@TheGameChasers]

Good times

[@Dara321AAA]

Ugh that "Pirates" movie

[@danielcash5565]

I always wanted to work at a video store