Blockbuster Inc. Complaint - Bad business-discrimination - 7 year girl being denied use of the bathroom

Posted by andbran on 2010-11-06:

if it was company policy that bathrooms are not public they did not do anything wrong. they could have made an exception but what if someone else wanted to use the bathroom? any other customer would feel discrimated against.i subscribe to blockbuster online. if you choose the 3 at a time option you could put whatever movie your child would like at the top of the queue.

Posted by leet60 on 2010-11-06:

This was absolutely unconsciounable for the business to deny the use of their bathroom to a child. I would certainly never give them repeat business. While it may be true that the do not provide public bathrooms, and may have a "policy" against allowing customer use there is an exception to every rule.

Posted by Venice09 on 2010-11-06:

You're probably not going to want to hear this, but you should have left the store immediately and headed home as soon as you were told there was no bathroom instead of waiting until your daughter was crying hysterically. If you had left right away, you might have made it in time.

Yes, it would have been great if there was a bathroom and your daughter was permitted to use it, but I understand the reasons some bathrooms are for employees only. Also, I don't understand why you think this is discrimination. If there is a bathroom on the premises for employees only, letting no one else use it is the best way to avoid discrimination.

Posted by Starlord on 2010-11-06:

Contrary to popular belief, apparently, most businesses are not required to provide public restrooms. I remember in Indianapolis, restaurants were required to provide public restrooms, but there were a couple of White Castles that were grandfathered, due to their time of construction. The one I worked at, the restroom was downstairs (pretty unsafe if not familiar with it) In addition, the lockers for the employees clothes and money were there, as well as storage. signs were clearly posted, "No Public Restrooms." No one was allowed to use them, so no one could claim discrimination.

Posted by Anonymous on 2010-11-06:

Sometimes things happen that are out of our control. Unfortunately, this was one of them.

Posted by punxnotdead80 on 2010-11-06:

"While it may be true that the do not provide public bathrooms, and may have a "policy" against allowing customer use there is an exception to every rule. "

No, there is not.

Posted by shayen on 2010-11-06:

I'm confused as to where the discrimination lies, unless this Blockbuster is, as a matter of policy, denying restroom facilities to 7 year old little girls and allowing other customers access.

Basically, what I was able to find is that in New York, restaurants in operation after 1977 and who seat 20 or more people are requied to provide public facilities to the general public. Oterwise, I think if you are considered disabled under the ADA guidelines, you have a right to use a business's private restroom, but even then there are exceptions, which I don't have time to look up right now.

Bottom line for me: I don't think the company did anything wrong and one of the parents should have quickly left and taken the child to a nearby restaurant. If I or my son had been in the store and one of us had to use the bathroom urgently, I would have taken us to the closet public restroom, i.e. a McDonalds, a grocery store, a department store, a gas station, whatever.

I disagree that Blockbuster was discriminatory (this charge is leveled to frequently today, it seems, whenever someone doesn't get their way) and I also disagree that any "bad business practices" occured.

Posted by jktshff1 on 2010-11-06:

What they all said

Posted by rockfishing on 2010-11-06:

There is no law requiring businesses to provide public restrooms. Blockbuster did nothing wrong. There are liability issues letting the pubic into storage areas where the restroom may be.
We also had a bathroom shy child who waited until the last moment at times to tell us she needed to go to the bathroom. There where a few messes to clean up before she finially learned her lesson. It was all part of parenting to teach her that she is responsible for knowing her bodily functions, even at that age. For us to blame others for these incidents would not of been good parenting.

Posted by raven2010 on 2010-11-06:

Here in Ohio, if they serve food, they are required to provide a public restroom.

Many business restrooms for employees are in the back, near stock. A risk for loss.

I dug around on some ADA sites and found nothing mandating restroom use. ADA requires reasonable accomadation, basically meaning disabled folks should be porvided tools, exceptions, etc, that allow them to do a much as the same things able bodied folks can do. That does not include restrooms no one else has access to.

Posted by Anonymous on 2010-11-06:

I get annoyed when businesses dont have restrooms for customers. there are numerous ways to prevent theft without depriving customers of being able to use a bathroom. I think its rediculous that an employee couldnt at least lead you to the employee's bathroom in an emergency situation. I hope you never plan on returning to blockbuster again. Just another reason that company will end up going under in a matter of a few years.

Posted by jktshff1 on 2010-11-06:

I quit going to BlockBasters when they started only allowing people with illegal weapons in there stores and not people that are properly trained and licensed.

Posted by Anonymous on 2010-11-06:

Sometimes common sense dictates that rules need to be bent a little. I feel that this was one of those times. Too bad for your daughter that Phil didn't.

Posted by Skye on 2010-11-06:

That's odd that they would not let you use the restroom. We were at that Patchogue Blockbuster location this summer, the only one located in Patchogue, on East Main St., while visiting family back on Long Island, and they let us use the restroom.

Shame on Phil. I'm sorry that happened to your daughter.

Posted by leet60 on 2010-11-06:

@punxnotdead80 - perhaps there are not exceptions legally, but if one uses common sense in a situation like this an exception certainly could have been made. I suspect had it been you personally in this urgent situation or your child, you would have a different view.

Posted by punxnotdead80 on 2010-11-06:

"I suspect had it been you personally in this urgent situation or your child, you would have a different view."

I suspect you are wrong.

I would've hustled my child out of there and looked for the nearest gas station, big-box store, fast-food restaurant, anyplace with a public bathroom.

But then again I work in retail and understand not every place has a public bathroom, and that there may be very valid reasons for them not to let people use their employees-only restroom.

Posted by jktshff1 on 2010-11-06:

leet and punx....both good answers. Two sides to every story.

Posted by GenuineNerd on 2010-11-06:

There are probably a good number of gas stations, convenience stores, and restaurants between your home and the Blockbuster store where your daughter could have gone. I never heard of a public restroom at a video store. If the building did have a john, it's most likely employees-only, in which the employees' personal items are kept in there. Allowing the public to use such a restroom, regardless of the reason, would be a security risk. There have been cases where wallets, money, credit cards, cell phones, and other personal items have been stolen from employees-only areas in retail businesses (such as restrooms, break rooms, and offices), and the employees at Blockbuster chose wisely not to take the risk.

Posted by olie on 2010-11-06:

I'd have hustled the child out the door immediately, especially knowing that she has a habit of waiting until the last second to make her needs known. Since both parents were present, one could have fled with the girl while the other paid.

Our Blockbuster has a gas station/convenience store right across the street. Plenty of fast-food restaurants nearby.

Posted by bhskittykatt on 2010-11-07:

At my work we don't have a public restroom. Our employee-only bathroom is full of personal items, cleaning chemicals, and our biohazard disposal containers. It would be dangerous to let a child go in there and possible get hurt. It's also behind our till and office area, and open to our break room as well, so letting people back there opens up a lot of theft risk. There are very good reasons employee-only restrooms are employee-only. Personally, if my kid had to go that bad, I'd find a nearby public restroom ASAP and then come back to finish my shopping. I'm sure the employees would hold onto your selections up front while you could have left to find a public restroom.

Posted by Ytropious on 2010-11-07:

There are PLENTY of reasons there are no public restrooms. As kitty said it's usually a hazard because it's not up to public standards. They are under no requirement to let you use theirs. I'm sorry but you seriously should have left and tried another store as SOON as she said she couldn't hold it. Most Blockbusers are in plazas or strips around me, I'd assume that is the case with yours too. You could have gone to a gas station or larger store nearby if home was too far. Bottom line, not BB's fault at all. Not discriminatory or unethical either.

Posted by Venice09 on 2010-11-07:

Just want to add one thing. I'm not familiar with the location of this Blockbuster, but where I live most places close at 10:00 pm. It is possible that there was nothing open when this happened. That's why I said I would have headed home immediately instead of continuing to shop.

Posted by GenuineNerd on 2010-11-07:

There are some gas stations, convenience stores, and restaurants that are open late hours (or 24 hours).

Posted by PepperElf on 2010-11-08:

"badly needed to use the lavatory. We asked our daughter to wait "

Call me crazy but "badly" needing to use the toilet usually means it's time to pee now.

I'm rather horrified you actually made her wait until she was in pain.

I mean what's wrong with putting the DVDs down and going to another store? I don't know about your BB but the one I use to go to was walking distance from a fast food joint. (and within a 1 minute drive of 2 grocery stores and another fast food joint, so here there'd be at least 3 other areas with public toilets)


Sometimes shopping should really come second. those DVDs will still be there when you get back.

Posted by DebtorBasher on 2010-11-08:

Wasn't there a McDonalds or Burger King somewhere along the several miles you drove between Blockbusters and home? I mean, though it is supposed to be for customers, you could have walked in and taken her to use the bathroom. Many times, I've walked in and used their bathroom before I even ordered anything and they never stopped me. I know it's too late now, but that might be something to consider if you should be faced with this again. And ya could have bought a Coke or something on your way out if you felt you should buy something. There's also places like Kmart, Target and Walmart that has a public restroom. There has to have been some place within those several miles to stop at...even a gas station.

Posted by DebtorBasher on 2010-11-08:

Opps..just read your response Pepper...guess we are on the same page here. LOL!

Posted by Venice09 on 2010-11-08:

It's possible that nothing else was open at that hour, depending on the area. As I originally said, I would have headed home immediately instead of waiting, especially if I knew all the other places around were closed.

As I said in a similar review, sometimes parents just don't want to put their children's needs first. They want to finish shopping or doing whatever it is they're doing instead of immediately finding a bathroom. I'm not accusing the OP of that, but it does happen. I'm sure I did it myself at some point when the kids were little.

Posted by Anonymous on 2010-11-08:

While I absolutely agree with leet60, that there are exceptions to every policy, and at a minimum the BB employee could have directed you to the nearest public restroom, I do have to wonder why one of you didn't take the child to a restroom and the other one stay behind and finish getting movies? Blockbusters are never located in the middle of nowhere so there had to be something else close by.

Also if your 7 yr old was in so much pain, why did you drive all the way home "several miles" and not stop somewhere else for her? That makes no sense...there is some accountability on your part too, and I for one feel terrible that a 7 yr old defecated on herself, that must have been very traumatizing!

Posted by Anonymous on 2010-11-08:

OK..I know this is going to get deleted, and that's fine....but seriously, WTH is wrong with a parent (no, two parents!!) that would write a letter like this, blaming Blockbuster for their child soiling themselves....and in the same review admit they drove their child home "several miles" away, even though she was in pain and desperately needed to use the restroom??!! Is there absolutely no accountability anymore? Sheesh!!!!!

Posted by Venice09 on 2010-11-08:

Just, that's what I really wanted to say, but I'm trying to be as nice as possible.

Posted by Ytropious on 2010-11-08:

I gave you a helpful vote in the mean time JC

Posted by DebtorBasher on 2010-11-08:

The reason they may not allow the customers to use their restroom is to prevent theft. Not saying the was the case here, but if you think about it, it makes sense. Then I checked it out on the Internet and found this posted by a former employee of Blockbusters:

Restrooms are the perfect place to steal sh-t: during my time at Blockbuster, thieves often grabbed DVDs or videogame hardware, stuffed them into their pants, and entered the bathroom. Inside, they literally had all the time they wanted to remove the numerous security strips and magnetic locks affixed to every piece of merchandise.

One female customer in particular took her baby into the restroom with her and removed the packaging for an Xbox 360 controller, a new DVD copy of Gridiron Gang, and a copy of InStyle before stuffing all three items into her purse. Everyone working the shift that night obviously knew what the woman had done, but we were powerless to stop her...

Read the full so called 10 lies Blockbusters tell their customers:
http://easyonlinejobsreview.com/the-top-ten-lies-blockbuster-video-tells-their-customers/

Posted by PepperElf on 2010-11-08:

There's 2 blockbusters in Pathogue, according to google.


And according to google maps BOTH are within 500 FEET of a public access toilet.


The first is NEXT to a restaurant, and 2 minutes away from a CVS.

The second is across one road from a CVS, and across another road from a KFC & a Friendly's.






yet... it wasn't possible to use any of those other locations when the child first asked?


the dvds were that important?

Posted by Ytropious on 2010-11-08:

Good detective work Pep! There's no excuse then, the OP did not have to run home, they could have gone to the next place over to use the restroom in the event of a potty emergency.

Posted by Venice09 on 2010-11-09:

Yes, but were those places open at the time? Where I live almost everything closes at ten. Blockbuster is one of few places open later.

I guess that's irrelevant though because I don't think the OP even tried to find a bathroom.

Posted by PepperElf on 2010-11-09:

but don't forget... i only looked at stuff that was within one block of the location. there may be other areas nearby that are open 247 or late hours.

and... more importantly... this also depends on when they child first asked to pee and when they finally attended her needs.

Posted by bap2010 on 2010-11-09:

People use the word "discrimination" too frequently. If something doesn't happen their way it is discrimination. Like others posted, I am sure there were other places that had restrooms the little girl could have used. Also you asked your daughter to wait. How long was the wait? You also stated that "almost nearing the time to purchase our order, my husband decided to ask one of the employees if our daughter would be able to use their bathroom". How long after this was it after she said she had to go.
Take some responsibility.

Posted by ticia232 on 2010-11-13:

To all the people saying that they could make an exception, what was going on in back at the time?

I've turned away people with small children (the policy allowed for children under 4) before because an employee was in the back counting her register out. NOBODY but management and the person counting the drawer were allowed back there during that time.

Also I remember the one time I got a complaint to corporate. It was because I didn't allow his child to use the bathroom (and there were restaurants on both sides and a drug store with a public restroom next to one of the restaurants) while the store manager was in the back (where the bathroom was) counting out the day's deposit!

Posted by Venice09 on 2010-11-13:

Ticia, it's nice that your store makes exceptions for children. I really think that's a nice gesture on their part.

Posted by Leotvaeh on 2012-01-17:

there's a common sense fact here. I've never managed any Blockbuster but I had a Videogame Rental business, Teenagers hiding disks in their pants (without the box) and even adults hiding them in their 5-10 years old kids clothes. and I obviously never would place security cameras in the bathroom. and I had shelves full of empty boxes. and by the way I ALWAYS, again ALWAYS tell my kids to go to the bathroom before leaving for a long trip

Posted by JustMyOpinion on 2012-06-18:

BB Store Manchester

Gee, I know this post is old and all, but after facing this problem at not only our Blockbuster myself (I suffer from a variety of intestinal diseases. There are some days I can't leave the house.), but has also happened with my children, disabled father, and elderly grandparents, somewhere, at one time, or another. I don't think the OP's point got through here very well, but I *think* I may get what she was *really* trying to say- so let me give it a try. 

To all the guffaws that said she should've immediately left the store, or implied she is somehow a bad parent, judgmental much? You must be inhuman and make perfect snap decisions every day. Cool to be you. Too bad you come off sounding intolerant and cold. Must be nice living in LonelyVille on I-Know-I'm-Perfect St. Let's get real here. We've all, or at least 99.9% of us, have been in a similar situation. If you don't have kids, you have no idea. I'm serious. No idea. I wouldn't comment on anything I didn't have firsthand experience with, but that's just me. 

The whole POINT here, is that corporations or small businesses that decide to have "EMPLOYEE'S ONLY" restrooms are CHEAP. They either don't want to spend MONEY remodeling, or they don't want to fix-up or make improvements for the insurance coverage required to cover bathroom liabilities. They also don't want to pay employees to clean them, or spend the extra cash on necessaries like toilet paper and cleaning supplies. In my opinion, ANY establishment that wants you to stick around awhile, browse, eat, drink, and spend a little time there along with your hard earned cash, should legally be required to have at least ONE public restroom. It's just human decency for pete's sake. It seems ridiculous to have to leave a store you were planning on spending money at, and had been inside for anywhere from 10-30 minutes, where you're encouraged to stay or browse, just to keep bodily fluids from escaping. Places like bookstores, VIDEO stores, definitely any restaurant that offers seating should be required to have public facilities, period. If the stores don't give a crap (no pun) about BASIC human needs (some their loyal customers), why are we giving them our hard earned money and continue to allow them to treat us so indecently? 

We have a construction company, and port a potty's are always available, no matter where the job site. We outright own 3. We built a bathroom / mudroom for the crew to clean up in before they get in their own cars to drive home, it's just BASIC HUMANITY. Stores like Blockbuster seem to have none. Most of the employees I've met at our BB have been kind enough, but if you don't like working with the general public, that's easy, find something else to do buddy, you're in the wrong line of work. If you don't like cleaning a nasty public bathroom? There's a million out of work people who would gladly scrub Blockbuster's customers crap off the walls for minimum wage (a whole other post). So, again, find another job. I would rather hide in the bathroom and clean people's crap off the walls all day long, than deal with the public themselves. Thats WHY I do NOT WORK RETAIL/CSR OF ANY KIND. Easy peasy. Sure, some customers can be truly awwwwful, but so can the employees that have bad attitudes who feel justified in waving their eschewed and backwards superiority complexes around all over the place. For this type of person, the video store (insert biz here) is the only place where they feel they have a little power. They allow customers to stress them out so bad they become jaded, and instead of being snippy to people that actually deserve it, they snip at EVERYONE. We get it dude! You're The King Of Blockbuster. 

All I'm saying is, the businesses that DON'T want to pay for a public restroom and the employees to clean them, are the one's don't give a rat's behind about little 6 year old kids, little old men, people disabled by intestinal ailments, or the public at large, and that's NOT OKAY people. You want my money, but anything else is too much trouble. Crass. Typical corporate greed, and for Mom and Pop owned shops like ours? For SHAME. Some of the responders here should be ashamed of themselves too. I'm sorry to the OP and anyone whose ever experienced this. That's a lot of people. Maybe next time we should just let it fly right there in the store and walk out, leaving the mess for the manager to figure out (or not). It's what they deserve. If they don't care about us, why should we care about them? I'm sorry if you're an employee who works in biz that the owners/corp hogs are too cheap to supply a restroom. It's NOT the employee's fault. But, if enough people start crapping on the floor in Blockbuster, maybe they'll get the point. It seems a basic human right to me, and sometimes, you just cant help it. 

A big giant store like BLOCKBUSTER, has no room for a bathroom? Can't afford toilet paper? Puhlease folks, let's get real here please. To the smarties who want me to run take the kid to another store with a restroom? Yeah, my Blockbuster is in an oasis by itself. That would require a car and at least a 5 minute drive to the nearest gas station, grocery store, fast food joint, or any public restroom. I don't live in Tokyo and our stores aren't piled on top of or right next to each other. By the time you get the car seat game completed, it's game over anyway. Some of these responses are just mind blowing in their assumptions. Some people really have no clue.