What records do you keep of your videos or DVDs?
We keep the title, price, year of release, age restrictions, genre, code number as well as the starring actors.
How do you find whether or not a video or DVD is being rented?
We have to go through the customer’s records. This takes very long, and we have considered using separate records for this, but decided against this as it would take too much space.
What sort of things do customers ask for when looking for a video or DVD?
Customers ask for all sorts of information, including the age restrictions and genres. However, the most common information asked for is the title and price.
Do you find that sometimes there is incorrect or missing information on one of your customers?
There are often mistakes on the details of the customers and it causes confusion, but if they are noticed, mistakes are generally rectified the next time the customer comes into the shop.
How do you find information on one of your customers when you need it in a hurry?
We only have one method of looking for information, and that generally takes a very long time, unless you are very lucky and the customer whose details you are looking for is one of the first pages that you pick up. We look through all the pages until we find the customer we need information on.
How do you add a new customer to your system?
New customers, as well as videos or DVDs, are written on pieces of paper and put at the end of the pile. There is no order because it would take too long to have to write everything out again on separate pieces of paper – even if it would help in the long term.
How do you send letters to all your customers?
We only send letters when it is unavoidable because it would take far too long to have to write the letters about 350 times and then to have to address all the envelopes. If we do send letters, we only send it to a few customers about seriously overdue videos or DVDs.
How do you keep your accounts?
We have an accounts book and we write everything in by hand.
How do you do your calculations in your accounts book?
We use a calculator because it saves time and is easier than doing it by hand.
Do you find that there are mistakes in the accounts book?
Yes, there are sometimes mistakes in the accounts book, however these are normally rectified or ignored.
