TAMPA – The Blockbuster Express may find a new home off campus after a slew of vandalisms have repeatedly left the machine out of order.
Student Government vice president Chris McCarthy said that he has called over and over to have servicemen perform maintenance on the self-service DVD rental machine.
According to McCarthy, the bulk of the issues have been caused by students moving the machine, unplugging it and inserting things into the return slot other than movies.
“I want to make students aware of the vandalism and to discourage it,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy who will take over as SG president at the end of the semester has been instrumental in bringing the Blockbuster Express to campus and maintaining its functionality on campus. Thus, he is doing everything he can to keep it on campus.
Plans to install a camera are already in place. The wheels of the machine will also be removed to prevent it from moving around and different ways of locking the electric outlet are being looked into.
Currently, the kiosk is in the middle of its six month trial period and if things keep going in the way they are going, company officials said they may have to remove the kiosk from campus, McCarthy said.
McCarthy also said that officials noted that this location is one of the higher grossing kiosks in the area.
Within five miles there are three other Blockbuster Express kiosks. One located in the Publix at 3838 Britton Plaza, another in the Publix located on 1313 S. Dale Mabry Hwy., and in the Publix located at 3615 W. Gandy Blvd.
According to their website, Blockbuster Express began in 2008 and they say they will have 10,000 locations in 2010. Blockbuster Express has been a joined effort with the NCR Corporation, a world-wide leader in self service devices.
At the time of printing this article, The Minaret was unable to reach the NCR representative for UT. Please check theminaretonline.com for updates on this story and the response from the NCR representative.