Holly visited her local FYE store to purchase a DVD. She writes that she was met with such relentless upselling when all she wanted was to buy a single DVD that she is no longer interested in shopping at FYE at all.

My roommates and I wanted to watch a specific movie, so I went to FYE, saw the DVD on the shelf for ten bucks, and brought it up to the counter. Where I had this conversation with the cashier:

“Hi, I’d like to buy this.”
“We have a deal on used movies, buy three and get one.”
“Um, no thanks, I just want this.”
“Would you like to sign up for our perks card? It’s a free trial and you’d get 10% off today and a $20 gift certificate.”
“No thanks.”
“Are you sure? It’s absolutely free and you’d save money right now.”
“No thanks.”
“If you pay with a Mastercard, then you can get a special deal on any of the movies on this sheet…”
“I just want to buy the movie, man.”
“Hey, I just want to keep my job, man.”

It took ten minutes and a rather nasty snarl at me until he was willing to sell me the movie. It’s rude and it’s the absolute opposite of customer service to bother people for more money when they’re already trying to give you their money. I don’t blame him but the company–how insane is it that their official policy is to impede every transaction this way? The stack of mandatory wacky upsells has got to make every transaction a pain for cashier and customer.

Apparently FYE doesn’t value the business of people who “just” buy their merchandise. I’m never shopping there again.

Yes, it’s certainly the chain’s or the store’s management that forces cashiers to ask these things of customers. But it’s more likely to turn people away from the already troubled chain than generate revenue. Sometimes people just want to buy a movie, man.

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.