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Blockbuster Settles No Late Fee Suit
fistfullast33l writes "In a followup to a previous Slashdot story, Blockbuster has settled a lawsuit with 47 states and the District of Columbia over its No Late Fees advertising campaign. The New York State Attorney General's Office released the following: 'The Attorneys General alleged that the advertising campaign launched in late December 2004 was misleading because it failed to clearly disclose that, seven days after a movie or game's return due date, the consumer would be charged its selling price if the item were not yet returned. The Attorneys General also alleged there was insufficient disclosure that not all Blockbuster franchise stores were participating, leaving customers of those stores wrongly believing that they, too, would not have to pay late fees.' Blockbuster will be refunding customers as part of the deal." Additional commenary available on MSNBC.
Guess that's some serious late fees for Blockbuster!
Physicist, consultant, science communicator
And this is important to Slashdot readers who probably download their entertainment because...
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
If the late fees exceed the purchase cost of the media, can't i just keep it? I don't want to be caught by my grandmother while returning "Men Alone 2 - The K-Y Connection'
Beat 'Em and Eat 'Em
I keep looking in my mailbox, but there are no Blockbuster DVDs there. The ad shows random people pulling DVDs out of their mailboxes; this is clearly a case of false advertising!
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
Anyone care to evaluate the slogan in the topic?
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
This sickens me. How could we let the government do this?
Clearly, this should have been left to the people. (By people I mean a huge class action suit where lawyers get millions and each customer would get a free rental or some other nominal compensation. That is how the system is supposed to work.)
Stupid government. THEY TOOK OUR JOBS!!!
So like, what if you refuse to pay the disconnection fee. Do they just not disconnect you?
Blockbuster: No late fees.
McDonalds: Our fried lard-balls are fat free!
NBC: Must-see TV
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Napster 14 day trial: Download a million songs for FREE
Nigeria: Give us $14,000 and we'll give you millions.
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On the other side, you have one of the most true ad campaigns in history, for the Eagle car company: "Eagle: Not intended for the general public". The general public wholeheartedly agreed.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Yeah, it's like the DSL or Cable advertising that says "up to 15 bazillion gizomegobytes per second" with the ultra fine print written in molecular-sized inked that says "Under laboratory conditions with cables no longer than 5cm in length and with fifty seven inches of lead shielding and a witchdoctor chanting 'Telco-welco-cable-wable, make this tiny connection ultra-stable!'. Individual user results may vary, and it probably won't work at all in the state of New Jersey."
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
The US says that pennies are acceptible forms of payment. I went to a block buster and a big sign said "5 day rentals". Turns out they really meant 4 1/2 so I had to pay a late fee. They have a history of deception, so they deserve to pay. Why print a big sign or a big ad, when reality is slightly different. So I paid in pennies and counted very slowly and very loudly and never went back. When interrupted, I started the count over. End of relationship with these slimeballs.
I used to wonder what was so holy about a silent night, now I have a child.