Why can't businesses get with the program and ensure consistent interfaces for their stores?

Case in point, Blockbuster changed the "UI" for the movie selection process. You used to have branded DVD cases with the movies in them, with an empty case from the actual movie on top. This was a horrible UI, since you couldn't tell from a glance what was in stock and what was not.

Coming to this conclusion, Blockbuster switched to keeping the movies in the original cases, and having a cardboard placard made that reflected the cover of said movie, which would be placed beneath all of the movies.

This created an easily scanned UI for determining whether the movie you want to rent is likely in or not. Beautiful. This weekend I stopped by my neighborhood Blockbuster to rent a 360 game I am thinking of purchasing. I grab the game, and stand in line for around 15 minutes only to be told by the gentleman manning the counter that they were out of the game in question.

My reaction of course was "no, I have one right here in my hands.", while his reaction was "Yeah, was there a case behind what you have in your hands?" Then it hit me. While showing remarkable cluefulness when revamping the way the movies are handled Blockbuster overlooked the fact that they sell other things in cases.

Bah. So we went to the game section and found where the game was and sure enough there was no case to be found. I wasted 15 minutes of my life waiting in line for a game that was never there because Blockbuster can't get its crap together.

Do yourself a favor if you own a business that deals with the public; read about interface design and be consistent when implementing it!