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Blockbuster Sued Over Late Fees Claim
DesiVideoGamer writes "CNN has a story about Blockbuster's violation of New Jersey's consumer fraud act in which they made false claims in their "No More Late Fees" campaign. New Jersey Attorney General Peter Harvey filed a lawsuit today in hopes that Blockbuster would stop misleading their customers into thinking they could keep their movie rentals as long as they want without penalty."
These services seem like good deals on the outside, but when you really look at the prices they charge, better deals can be found elsewhere. I'd like to see a decline in the high priced rental stores like Blockbuster, and a move to lower priced store with good selection. In my town, there are several small convenience stores that do very good business renting DVD's for cheap prices($2 Canadian after tax compared to the $6ish the Blockbuster charges). One store in particular always has many copies of all the new movies, plus tons of older ones. Plus, having the movies at a convenience store gives the added benefit of a large variety of snack foods to fill up on.
Boxing Equipment Reviews
An advertiser using borderline misleading statements in order to sell a product or service? I'm shocked, SHOCKED!
By the way, what, exactly, does this have to do with my rights online?
I mean if people today are so dumb that they think Blockbuster's commercials meant they could just keep rental movies forever then we have reached a new level of stupidity not equaled in quite a while.
My local Blockbuster kept calling multiple times a day when I decided to press the new policy. By shear nagging alone I gladly returned the movie.
Fuck, I'm just glad they got rid of those commercials with the hamster and the rabbit. Fraud is nothing compared to how annoying those lil' fuckers were.
I'm thinking that if they priced it right, this could be one way to sell dvd's and games. You can rent all you want, if you like it, keep it.
Free electronics!
Let's see.
I can get a free cell phone almost anywhere. 3 years and $2000 later it's paid for.
I can buy a car at 0% interest....but if I pay cash it's $$$thousands$$$ less than if I do credit.
How come none of these advertisers are sued? Does the government really need to protect me against the cost of a DVD because I didn't read the fine print while ignoring far larger issues?
You're telling me that you can take the time to browse their selection, wait in line to check out and sit on the movie anywhere from 14 to 44 days, but you can't find 5 seconds in that time to slip it back in their drop box?
No sig for you!!
Right... because it only takes five seconds to drive to the appropriate Blockbuster store and return it.
Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia.
Yes, it IS a news-flash, you CANNOT keep movies you've rented, forever.
But since when have advertising campaigns been free of ambiguity and deceit?
I'm really confused, what's your problem? People like you are gonna ruin this great deal for the rest of us.
You can keep the movie for 7 days in ADDITION to the normal rental time of the movie. Then, after that seven days, you have 30 days (from the orignal rental date) to return it only beeing charged 1.25$ restocking fee.
Before this, you kept the movies for their rental times then the big late charges piled up. For the price of keeping it one day, you've already got more fees on your account than keeping it up to one month with the new system.
How much do you think you'd pay for a movie keeping a new release 30 days with the old system? I bet it would be more than the movie is worth and you'd still have to return it. Now if you keep it that long, you've payed and you now own the movie.
How you got +(x) informative for saying yuck to a deal that charges you signifigantly less money with no catches is beyond me.
It's easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.
The problem is the damn ads say NO LATE FEES...
When I was at Blockbuster recently, the customer in front of me asked about the "the end of late fees". This is exactly what the employee told the customer, word for word...
"This lets you keep the rental for a couple of days extra, just to allow you extra time."
That was pretty much about it, nothing about the restocking fee, which was just appeared on their price list one day. Nothing about after 30 days, we charge your credit card on file for the rental value of the rental.
The reason for the lawsuit is simple... they changed the way they do their rentals, because they suspect that you could accidentally forget aobut the rental and then keep it too long, but then since they will debit your credit card, by the time you find out, it's too late.
Now, here is the problem, you were NEVER told about the restocking fee or the 30 days late we charge you. That is down right wrong. They should tell you EXACTLY what will happen. Even in the commerical, there are no little words at the bottom of the screen or some crazy fast talking guy.
It's riding VERY close on false advertising, but it is the end of late fees... they just have restocking fees and purchase charges!
THANK [Fill in god of your choice] FOR NETFLIX!!!
Sig (appended to the end of comments you post, 120 chars)... oops
From blockbuster's site link:
Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
Netflix is garbage. With longer and longer turn around times on movies, your cost per disk is much higher than mine, seeing as how I can return my movies when I have time. And let's say I'd like to have a movie rampage and watch a stream of 007 movies the same day, that would be next to impossible using Netflix (which I used for well over a year, but just recently cancelled) with their 3-5 day overall turn around (unless you're a new customer.. funny how month to month subscribers rank lower and lower on their totum poll). Compare that to driving around the block and doing a quick exchange at Blockbuster, and I'll take that any day. And before you reply that Netflix has more titles, I'll tell you to save the bandwidth, because they do. That's why it's smart to have a blockbuster, AND a netflix account. BB for fast exchanges and new releases, and Netflix for the stuff BB doesn't have :)
So what was your point?
Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
For years, they advertised, in large capital letters, UNLIMITED INTERNET ACCESS.
After they oversold an insane amount, realized they were going to lose their shirts, they started introducing bandwidth caps. All while still advertising UNLIMITED INTERNET ACCESS.
It's sad that we need lawsuits and regulations to deal with this sort of thing - but I'm sorry, don't advertise something in 100% plain english if you're not going to follow through.
Blockbuster just rolled this campaign out in Canada, and I've been waiting to hear the catch. Call me a hopeless optimist, but NO MORE LATE FEES means, in English, that if I return a movie LATE, there will be NO FEE as a result of my returning it late. Looks like NO MORE LATE FEES just means DEFERRED LATE FEES.
Morons. They deserve whatever they get. This is about as ethical as advertising $25 cars - with small print explaining that there is a $25,000 processing fee.
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
Back on topic a bit.. the real point is they are doing far more than creative wording in their new ads, they are lieing to the customer, which is both immoral and illegal... I think hollywood video will be the ones who have the privilege of ripping me off on game rentals from now on.
Shoot Pixels, Not People!
At Blockbuster, $20 in late fees can mean only one thing.
:)
You're not trying hard enough.
The no-late-fee policy only applies necessarily to corporately owned stores; the privately owned ones are not required by Blockbuster Inc. to honor the new system. Mind you, some are, but it is voluntary on the part of the respective owners.
"WTF? For what??"
"Criminal Copyright Infringement!!"
"Huh?"
"You posted millions of copies of Star Wars III on the intarnat!"
"Yeah... so?"
"That's copyright infringment! You'ze goin down!!"
"Ah, no. I own it."
"???"
"I own Star Wars III. I can do with it what I want."
"Er, no. You may own the DVD, but not the movie. You're coming with us."
"No, I own the movie. I followed the TV ad: 'Own it on DVD today!' By 'it', they mean the movie. So, I own the DVD, and what's on it, the movie."
"Tell it to th' judge!"
later...
"Your honour, I own the movie. Look at the TV ad that caused me to buy it."
"You have a copy of that ad?"
"Sure, watch!"
"GUILTY!"
"WTF, er, I mean, why, your honour? I own the movie, no?"
"The movie, yes. You're guilty of copyright infringement for showing me the ad that says you own the movie. You don't own the ad. Take him away!!"
You could've hired me.
I work for Blockbuster as a manager. I think it's about damned time someone started complaining. They've been engaging in deceptive business practices for years now. I'll outline this new policy for you guys:
You have 7 days after the due date to get your movie back. This means, if it's due monday, get it back the following monday by NOON.
If you fail to do this, you will get charged the retail price (unless it's been out for awhile) of the dvd, game, or vhs.
Bring it back before 30 days (this is where they get really shady, because even I dont know if it's 30 days late or 30 dates after the 7 day thing), and you will get a full refund minus a $1.50 "restocking fee"
This fee is supposedly charged to cover the cost of sending you a bajillion phone calls and postcards reminding you that your stuff is due. Mind you, there's a glitch in the system at the moment that will still call you even if your stuff has been returned. (I might also add that you should call us if you get that call and know you brought your stuff back. It may be on the shelf NOT checked in)
If you don't bring it back before the 30 days, you are STUCK with the movie. Come in and get your cover art, you're entitled to it. There is no way you can get your money back after this point.
So, ending this long reply. No matter what, unless you get your movie back within two weeks (most of the time), you're still getting charged.
Hope this helped you out... I hate this company.
see sig. see sig run. run sig run.
For those that say "to think you'd never have to return it", its not stupidity. Blockbuster specifically advertises on tv in prime time commercial slots NO LATE FEES, with no extra wording such as "Other details apply" or the ever lasting Read the Fine Print.
Now with that in mind, if I actually used Blockbuster I would go in, and rent a new release movie for whatever X amount they charge. Now within common sense Blockbusters "NO LATE FEES" policy they have advertised, they CAN institute a policy that say within 30 days you must return the video, but within those 30 days you WILL NOT be charged late fees. And they could throw in some clause such as if the video is not returned, your account is forfiet. No late fees doesn't mean "keep forever" but it means that if you forget or just don't give a fuck like most common people when they rent a movie, you won't be penalized for it.
Is that ok? No, of course not. People shouldn't automatically assume you can keep it forever after "Renting" it for $5. HOWEVER, Blockbuster is in the wrong here. They blatantly advertised NO LATE FEES. In their ads, they never mention you must sign up for some special monthy deal or pay a monthly fee, they just say NO LATE FEES. A nickel and dime lawyer could win this case of Faulty Advertisment in court quicker than OJ was aquited.
Aw Frell this
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I just make sure to upload to at least 100% and I never have anyone ask me about returning my copy...
- Claiming "no more late fees", especially in a big splashy ad campaign, and then charging you a fee 7 days later, is false advertising. Plain and simple. I'm with the state A.G. on that one. They deserve this lawsuit.
- BlockBuster makes serious revenue on late fees (or whatever name you wish to call them). Someone on another claimed that 40% of their revenue is late fees, though I did not check this. Anyway, BlockBuster is not going to just give up that huge stream of revenue.
Claiming "no more late fees" was just a bone-headed idea. Hopefully B.B. will see that before too many Attorneys General look their way.If you're up to some fiddling, play DVD's on your PC with mplayer, or get a mythTV box going and (using it's internal DVD player/ripper module) jump straight to the movie, without the ads.
Then, just for **extra spite value**, rip and compress it to your hard drive, so that every time you play it you can say, "Yeah! Take that Blockbuster, you FUCKERS!"
That's what I do... and frankly, it feels good every time I do it.
You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
There is a lot of hype here.
but you can FAST FORWARD through the commercials, if fact if you keep the FFWD pinned, so to speak, it only takes a moment to get to the main menu. I agree that it is utterly frustrating that you cannot "skip" the commercials, but not as bad as you make out. I have yet to see a DVD that does not permit fast forwarding through commercials, if that's even possible in the DVD standard.
Note I have only viewed the Canadian version of Shrek 2, which contains both English and French audio tracks, so the American version might be different.
Sure enough, they have a huge banner ad saying "The end of late fees". There are no asterisks, fine print, or other disclaimers.
However, if you click on the "Terms" button at the bottom of every page, you get a few pages of legal text such as their privacy policy, copyrights, terms regarding their Online Rentals, and .... terms on their In-Store Rentals. Lo and beyold:
-David
They suck now because they're just been completely overwhelmed by demand. The people at the top are too busy raking in the profits to worry about hiring enough people to give decent customer service, or expanding their distribution system. I quit because they were just getting slower and slower at checking it my returns and shipping new discs.
Too bad, too. They had a hell of a company going at one time.
...not that I'm a pirate.. Hell I've never even fired a cannon. - oldwolf13
They just made you pay money if you didn't bring it back it time!
If there is ever a cause for a state to go after fraud, its after Credit Cards. All that fine print usually invalidates anything you can do.. Miss a bill on your car payment even tho its not on your credit card bill? They raise the rates to 25%.
Did you actually believe that no late fees meant you could just keep the movie forever free of charge? A femtogram of common sense would have saved you this embarassment.
Of course nobody thought that, but at the same time, they shouldn't say something in their ads that is clearly not true. Just changing the timeframe and renaming it to "restocking fee" doesn't change that it is, in fact, a late fee.
Bring it back more than 7 days late and they charge you a late fee, no matter WTF they call it.
- Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
It has nothing to do with lazy consumers or anything like that. All they are saying is that there are no more late fees. And there aren't any more late fees.
Furthermore, the new policy IS more forgiving. In the absolute worst case scenario you pay the price of the DVD after 37 days. (And if you come back before those 37 days are up, guess what its $1.25. That has to be better (more forgiving) that the old policy).
Now, I don't recall excatly the pricing of Blockbuster's old policy, but I don't think they stopped charging you late fees after 37 days, or ever (until you returned the video). And I'm sure after 37 days of not returning said tape you would have easily paid for the tape and then some (Feel free to whip out some numbers here if you want). They said no more late fees, you get no more late fees. They aren't trying to pull the wool over your eyes, they ARE being more forgiving.
Why not fork?
By the way, what, exactly, does this have to do with my rights online?
You have the right to use Netflix, which doesn't suck.
My other first post is car post.
New releases were only 2 day rentals last time I rented (back in August).
"I'm not impatient. I just hate waiting." - My Dad
Those of us in "reality" will stick with the notion that "no late fees" means "no cost, at all, under any circumstances, if you return your rental late". Now, if they'd said--
"NO LATE FEES (but only if you bring it back within a week of the due date)"
or even--
"NO LATE FEES*
*only if returned within a week of the due date"
We wouldn't be where we are right now.
If Pepsi says every person who buys a 2 litre bottle of soda gets a million dollars on 8/7/2005, they don't get to make all sorts of exceptions unless they advertise those exceptions. Businesses shouldn't advertise things unless they're willing to live up to their end of the bargain (which is where consumer protection laws, like those being enforced here, come into play). Otherwise businesses would just advertise anything to try and put their competitors out of business.
"Oh hey, who needs to use NetFlix when going to the corner Blockbuster is so much easier, and cheaper now, I mean, it's not a big deal that I return 'Fried Green Tomatoes' a few weeks late! Whoohoo!"
All I know about Bush is I had a good job when Clinton was president.
Quote from TFA:
The company said it was "surprised" that Harvey did not contact company officials to allow them to explain the new policy.
The average customer doesn't get any special explaining... If they're judging an ad campaign, how can they judge it, save by looking only at the campaign?
Repton.
They say that only an experienced wizard can do the tengu shuffle.
I think you meant to say "worked"
Signed,
Your Area Manager
;)
If ignorance is bliss, knock the smile off my face.
I never saw an ad that said "No more late fees as long as you return your rental within 3 days." I didn't see a commercial that said "Oh by the way, if you don't bring your movie back within a week, we'll charge you the retail price for that title." Nope. It was all about "no more late fees." That's what they advertised, and they aren't delivering.
I'm not sure how the average consumer would see the ads other than the obvious interpretation. What I took from the ad campaign was that I don't have to pay a late fee, even if I can't find 5 seconds to return the video to Blockbuster. The ad campaign said no more late fees.
If they're charging fees anyway, that seems rather gauche, and perhaps illegal. Don't you think?
Maybe it's a good thing that I download instead of rent...
"BSD: Free as in speech. Linux: Free as in beer. Windows 10: Free as in herpes." --Man On Pink Corner in #52607549.
They say no late fees. They mean no late fees. It doesn't say anything about other fees.
Get the point?
When a new release movie hits the shelves, it can cost as much as $100 to the store. These movies can't be had for the same prices that you as a consumer pay when they hit DVD on the retail shelves.
The peak demand for the movie occurs in the first week, but then it rapidly drops off. This is because everyone who comes into the store always wants to rent the very latest thing.
As a result, in order to recoup their investment in any given movie, they have to rent it out at least 17 times at $6 a pop, and that's not even taking into consideration their other running costs. Ideally they want to rent it out to a different customer every night of the first week after release, and then hopefully as often as possible after that. Even so, it can be up to a year before all copies of a given title end up paying for themselves.
Consider a really big title of which they might have 100 copies. That's $10,000 tied up in a single movie. They need to do a lot of rentals before they make up their outlay. Some titles never make a profit, but the store has to carry the losing titles as well as the winners so that people will feel like there's a good selection available.
It should come as no surprise, then, that the "No late fees" campaign does not mean that you can rent a new release on the day it comes out and keep it for as long as you want. And just say you kept it for a few weeks and decided that you liked it, how will you feel when you see that the true cost of the movie to Blockbuster ($100) has been billed to your credit card?
It's just painfully obvious that this is the way things work. I admit, sounds like they should be clearer about the "restocking fee", but I can't fault them for doing things like making telephone reminders. It is a business after all, and its purpose is to make a profit.
The majority of their rentals are 5 days. You get a week in addition to that. If you can't stop by the video store on your way home to drop your movies off in 12 days, they should charge you.
Or better yet, go back to the old policy and autodraft late fees from the customers. See which policy causes people to bitch more.
http://jayceecorder.blogspot.com
>But if you bring the movie back after 7 days but
:P), what would you rather have happen?
>before 37 days, they charge you $1.25.
Semantics aside (BBV has actually not had "late fees" for a long time -- ever since that lawsuit a few years ago they're supposed to be "Extended Viewing Fees"
Say you rent a copy of Shall We Dance, which is currently a two day rental. You keep it a week past its due day. On the old system, a late fee of $3.99 plus tax (let's say $4.23 for the sake of argument) would be accrued every two days, so if you return it 8 days later, meaning that it's around six days late, you would have to pay a $16.92 EVF balance.
Under the new deal, if it was six days late, it probably wouldn't charge you anything at all! But if it's one more day late, yes -- the price of the movie is charged to your account (the price of the movie less the rental fee) which is about $18.00 for a new movie like Shall We Dance. If you've a credit card on your account, it's charged to that. If you don't, it's just slapped on your account.
When you return it, the $18.00 is refunded to the account minus the $1.25 restocking fee. So if you had that credit card, you'd show a negative balance of around $16.75, or if you had no credit card, you'd have a "late fee" of $1.25.
If you have that negative balance, you can have the MOD refund it to the credit card on your account or you can use it as money within BBV and not have to worry about paying for stuff for the next few weeks. Choice is yours.
I don't know about most people, but if it's a choice between having to pay $12.69 for keeping a 2 day rental a few extra days or having a net loss of $1.25, I'll choose the latter.
Also, even on the old system, if you kept the movie long enough (around 15 days), the movie should be sold to the customers account plus the EVF charges accrued until that point. So even if they charge the PRP price of the movie (probably $12.99 or $13.77 after tax), you have to pay the EVFs that have accrued to that point as well. Keeping a two day rental out for two weeks will give the account a balance of about $25.38 (the price of about six movie rentals). So if you "got stuck" with a movie, you would end up paying almost $40 for it, rather than the $18.00 you pay under the new policy.
But heck, misleading commercials aside, if you prefer to pay $3.99+ for only having a movie a few hours late, that's your perogative. If I wasn't a BBV employee (;)), I definitely would prefer the new plan. Of course, TEOL has other drawbacks, including the fact that NOBODY brings ANYTHING back on time anymore, so many "righteous" customers who think they're entitled to see the latest Hillary Duff movie right now get all pissy at us because their fellow customers want to keep it a "few extra days."
Maybe they didn't do a great job of explaining the program for customers but blame is a 2 way street here. All their signs refer to the phamplets available at each cash (and throughout the store) which explains the program in detail.
The way it is now, you have around 37 days extra to keep a movie and return it for the same cost as 1 day late fee before the program. I swear to god some people here can complain about anything.
One person above was paying their monthly fee to netflix and kept one of the movies for 3 months. You could have bought the damn movie but you'll complain about blockbuster?
Yikes...
"Thanks to the remote control I have the attention span of a gerbil."
This is a MUCH better deal than before, so to the fucking jerkoff suing them: "STOP IT"
Despite the misleading ad, this is way better than before, and i dont want to lose it because of some whiney malcontents and a money grubbing lawyer.
So companies should be allowed to lie in exchange for giving customers a better deal? I don't think so. And you're not going to lose this because of lawsuit -- Blockbuster can't afford to go back to the old system. The lawsuit seeks only to change the advertising to something more honest.
As for the "money grubbing lawyer," he happens to be the Attorney General of New Jersey, doing his job by enforcing the laws of that state. Oh, and he doesn't get any money out of this either -- just the same paycheck he gets whether he sues Blockbuster or not.
It doesn't matter if it's a better deal or not. They can still offer the deal while changing their advertising. They are using it to reap profits and it's misleading and the cost is being borne by the consumer and competitors who are losing business.
Maybe it's me, but WTF is so hard about returning a rented movie on time? Granted, I haven't rented anything since laserdics were popular, but I *never* had a problem returning a movie within three days. As for DVD's, I just buy the ones I want. Between the DVD club, buying used DVD's, and just finding good deals, I'm averaging right around $10 a DVD, and I get to watch it as many damn times as I want. And yes, I have watched most of my DVD's more than once.
Are people really so stupid to think that by saying "No more Late Fees", that they can keep rentals forever without penalty?
If you can't be responsible enough to return a rental product on time, maybe you shouldn't be renting them in the first place...
The dry fish swims alone.
Now instead of watching the same cheap movies over and over we have a great selection that includes foreign films, documentaries, TV (including British TV series), special interest and, somewhat ironically, the series from the recently disposed premium subscription channels.
I couldn't imagine going back to anything as primitive as a video store, especially Blockbuster. *urp*
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
Seriously, if the retards at Blockbuster marketing had just said "we've added an extra week to all rentals" - which is really what they've done, then there wouldn't be any of this hassle for them. They deserve everything they are about to get for a stupid marketing gimmick that just obfuscates their real policy.
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
I have a question: am I alone here in thinking that I actually like Blockbusters(BB) new policy? Now, let's make things clear, I am from the club that thinks that BB is evil. I don't like how they use their corporate clout to force censorship, they are over priced, and they are abusive to their underpaid staff.
Whrn I saw their new ad campaign that said you could keep your movie for an extra "day or two", immediately I thought the worst. I figured that on day three they would charge you for all three days missed and continue to abuse you. When I read the deal (look it up,I am not gonna explain it here) I thought it was extremely fair.
Lets be clear, you are still renting something, and you are expected to return it. If you do not, they do have to restock it. They may have to buy a new copy. It will require paperwork. These things take an employees time, who is being paid money.
I use Zip, so I am still not about to switch, but if I really want to see something, or I need to rent a movie for whatever reason, I would consider using BB. I would like know that if I like the movie, I can just keep it, and I can return it at my leisure without having to worry about things. A week is a long time people. A month is even longer, and an extra $1.75 for those 3 weeks isn't that mutch.
pk
Engineers arn't boring people, we just get excited about boring things.
What does it have to do with Nerds ? It's not even Blockbuster Online that we're talking about.
I signed up for a Blockbuster account, just so I could rent some videos to test out my new HD television. I recently moved to this area, and Blockbuster was the only video store around.
I signed up because of their "no late fees". After I filled out my application, I was handed a small piece of paper with likewise small text, stating that the videos had to be purchased at market price if beyond a 6 days late. Then I looked up and saw the price of $4.29 per rental. I was fumed.
So I voted with my dollars and never rented a video there. I now drive back to Philadelphia to rent from TLA, which has supperior selection, prices, and deals.
You need to shop around. Hell, get your free phone and pay the $150 cancellation fee if your money management skills are so bad its somehow going to cost you $2000.
If you buy a car telling the sales guy "I want a payment of $x a month" or "I want the zero percent financing" you've already broadcast "sucker who can't manage his money" to the sales guy in blazing lights. Last car I bought I took the 0% financing, knowing exactly what the alternate discount was if I didn't take it. And the dealer made $400 on the vehicle, after their holdback (it was $600 under dealer *cost*, after all the incentives, almost $7000 off MSRP.
Its easy to get all those deals and not get screwed if you take some time and do your research. I went in knowing the exact (to the dollar) cost the truck I bought cost the dealer, exactly what the suggest prices for all the hundred different options on it cost, and precisely what incentives to the dealer and the buyer were available at the time, as well as checking what a five-star dealer's holdback was.
is that Blockbuster extended the due date by a week and changed the late fee to $1.25.
It's obvious that this is a shakedown. We had a late video, but my wife believed the ad campaign. "They don't charge late fees anymore," she'd tell me. Then I received a bill from Blockbuster for the two videos I rented. One had been returned because I didn't believe Blockbuster. One was still in it's 7 day grace period. I called the store and spoke with a manager. He assured me it was just a reminder. I had to inform him that the "reminder" claimed I had decided to keep the videos and that I would be charged for them. I could get a refund if I returned them within 30 days but be charged a $1.25 restocking fee. The odd thing was that my account hadn't been charged yet, and he could clearly see that one of the DVDs was not due yet. If I was a pushover consumer, I would have assumed that I had already been charged, blamed myself for being stupid, and left it at that, not called to check on my account.
This is criminal. They obviously plan on people forgetting about the rentals, then scare them into believing they've already blown it so they get charged fullprice for the discs. I'm glad somebody's suing them. Not only was this the most stupidly worded commercial campaign but it was the most deceptive one I have seen in a long time.
The Splintered Mind - Overcoming
Better yet, is to use Credit Cards AGAINST bad businesses like Blockbuster.
;)
Talking in a stern manner, whilst using strong terms as : Unauthorized, Theft, Illegal, and other power words and start some serious proceddings against BB.
When this shit starts hurting BB's mail line, awwwwww
Are you serious? Surely you are just trolling (or are an idiot). "Keep them as long as you like." Check, you can. Period. In fact, netflix is happier the longer you keep them. "No late fees." As in, extra fees for turning in a movie late. There are none. You *cant* turn a movie in late. The monthly fee is the same, regardless of whether you return every movie you get the same day, or whether you don't return a single one. I can't imagine a way you can consider that a "late" fee.
-Ted
-=-=- Quantum physics - the dreams stuff are made of.
In addition, they are getting much more strict with late fees. I had one credit card due on the 13th of every month. I get paid on the 14th. So I would send my payment to get there on the 14th. They never cared before. Now, they charge $39 every month if even a day late. I've been forced to go to automatic payments from my bank, with payments sent well in advance, to stop being affected.
First off, every news story I read or heard about the "no late fees" policy explained the caveat that it didn't mean you got to keep the movie forever, no strings attached. I guess I'm naturally distrustful too, so I even read the FAQ's about it on their website. They all said you got 1 week past your due date gratis. After that you automatically "bought" the movie, and it would be charged to the credit card on your account. If you returned the movie after that, the full charge would be refunded minus a restocking fee. This doesn't seem underhanded or tricky at all. In fact, it beats the hell out of Best Buy's "restocking fee" bullshit. I know I'm renting from Blockbuster, and keeping the movie forever is breaking that contract. Your movie is still due on the due date. Just because you don't have to pay a late fee for returning it late doesn't mean the movie doesn't have a due date any more.
Secondly, I know Blockbuster is a franchise system, so not every store is owned by the company. And every time I see an ad for them (or any other franchise system like McDonalds or Subway or something), they always feature the disclaimer "at participating locations." So I didn't assume that every store was going to follow through -- and sure enough, I heard news reports that some stores (to the dismay of the corporate parent) said they weren't going to participate. The stores near me all had big "The End of Late Fees" signs in the window, so that's how I knew they were participating.
Finally, I've been bitten by the late fees thing before. I know when I check out that the clerk always tells me when it's due ("Monday by noon" or whatever), and when I have the movie at home, I keep the receipt in the case as a reminder of when it's due -- so when I forget to return it, I know it's my fault for forgetting. Now I don't have to worry about forgetting occasionally. Recently, I rented a new release (2 day rental) and I only watched half the movie on the first night -- when the due date came and I forgot to return it, I could still watched the second half and return it the next day without paying a fee. To me, that's fantastic.
If Blockbuster hadn't posted a full terms and conditions or if they said something like "no strings attached", then, yes, I would say they were being deceptive. But they didn't do that. They listed their full T&C -- they even posted easy to read FAQ's on the details, and every PR interview or press release they put out disclosed the "automatic purchase" and "restocking fee" disclaimers.
IMHO, it's bullshit lawsuits like this that lead to crap laws like the one Congress just passed. There are people out there suffering real physical harm because corporations want to save $0.03 on a pool drain cover or hide the results of clinical tests that show their drugs are unsafe. There's factories out there that belch carcinogens into the air or drain PCBE's into the ground and some people get their panties in a knot over a $1.75 because they kept "Dodgeball" out for a month? If some little girl has her intestines ripped out by a pool drain, I want the motherfuckers to pay. But I could care less if some 30 year old guy thought he could keep his rentals forever because he was too lazy to read the fine print.
Why does common sense dictate this? It says "NO LATE FEES". If I return something late, say, a month late, and I get charged a fee, isn't that the exact opposite of what their advertising is claiming?
Isn't that unfair to their competitors that they can advertise something they have no intention of living up to?
Oh, and that "whiney malcontent" "fucking jerkoff" suing them is an Attorney General of a state in the United States. It's not a citizen crying foul, it's an AG seeing an obvious violation of consumer protection laws (not to mention unfair business practice; or are we saying it's OK to advertise anything now to put your competitors out of business even if you never actually live up to your offers?).
All I know about Bush is I had a good job when Clinton was president.