BLOCKBUSTER: This is truly goodbye

Got a Rewards coupon in the mail last week. Decided to use it and get my
free Non-New free video/dvd rental. Haven't been in a Blockbuster since
September, when I made the switch to Netflix.

Well, Blockbuster told me that I had a late fee and it was 3.95. I asked
them what the late fee was for. The cashier said he was unable to give me
that information because the account has been locked and put on hold. I
said: 'Well, is it fair to expect me to pay for a late fee that you can't
even tell me what it is over?'

At this point another cashier comes over to help him. She takes a look at
the computer. Apparently it's been over 180 days since I rented and the
late-fee is now 180+ days outstanding. She then tells me: 'You'll have to
call corporate headquarters, not this Monday but next (I don't know why I
needed to wait 9 days) and get a form....because we can't even handle the
late fee at this point. It's in our collections department.'

I was very nice about it and I asked her: "Blockbuster has a collections
department for late-fees?" Her reply: "Yes."

I mean, I could see late fees if it went up into the hundreds of dollars,
but we're talking about one film, at 3.95. Is it really WORTH THIS? Do you
really need to employ people to collect on 3.95? So there was no way I was
going to pay an old late fee of $3.95 just in order to get a film for "free"
that I could've rented through Netflix anyway (and last month I had a total
of 17 titles rented at $1.23 a pop).

I didn't mention Netflix, but I did tell the two cashiers that I was not
interested in going through all the red-tape Blockbuster was putting in
front of me. So I left Blockbuster empty-handed.

Now the truth is, yes a movie was late. I kept it an extra-day just as a
"Screw you!" to Blockbuster because I knew I was going to stay with Netflix
and would never go back. But I *thought* that maybe, just maybe, their
recent mailer inviting me to come back in would provide them with a fresh
opportunity to regain my business. I guess not.

I am now completely through with Blockbuster. I will never entertain the
thought of going back in. They truly have nothing I want that I can't get
through Netflix. I'm watching new releases as well as older ones for tons
less money. Blockbuster has nothing to offer me but headaches.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
ICEBREAKER
"President Clinton was often known as the first black president. I wouldn't
be upset if I could earn the right to be the second." - John Kerry

"John Kerry is not a black man. He is a privileged white man who has no idea
what it is... to be a poor white in this country, let alone a black man."
Paula Diane Harris, Andrew Young National Center for Social Change.

Buttered Puppies Taste Yummy

You're an idiot, especially if you knew you had an outstanding debt. Take
100,000 people that each have 1 or more $3.95 late fee charges, now you have
$395,000 in collections.
"Buttered Puppies Taste Yummy" <> wrote in
message news:...
> Got a Rewards coupon in the mail last week. Decided to use it and get my
> free Non-New free video/dvd rental. Haven't been in a Blockbuster since
> September, when I made the switch to Netflix.
>
> Well, Blockbuster told me that I had a late fee and it was 3.95. I asked
> them what the late fee was for. The cashier said he was unable to give me
> that information because the account has been locked and put on hold. I
> said: 'Well, is it fair to expect me to pay for a late fee that you can't
> even tell me what it is over?'
>
> At this point another cashier comes over to help him. She takes a look at
> the computer. Apparently it's been over 180 days since I rented and the
> late-fee is now 180+ days outstanding. She then tells me: 'You'll have to
> call corporate headquarters, not this Monday but next (I don't know why I
> needed to wait 9 days) and get a form....because we can't even handle the
> late fee at this point. It's in our collections department.'
>
> I was very nice about it and I asked her: "Blockbuster has a collections
> department for late-fees?" Her reply: "Yes."
>
> I mean, I could see late fees if it went up into the hundreds of dollars,
> but we're talking about one film, at 3.95. Is it really WORTH THIS? Do you
> really need to employ people to collect on 3.95? So there was no way I was
> going to pay an old late fee of $3.95 just in order to get a film for
"free"
> that I could've rented through Netflix anyway (and last month I had a
total
> of 17 titles rented at $1.23 a pop).
>
> I didn't mention Netflix, but I did tell the two cashiers that I was not
> interested in going through all the red-tape Blockbuster was putting in
> front of me. So I left Blockbuster empty-handed.
>
> Now the truth is, yes a movie was late. I kept it an extra-day just as a
> "Screw you!" to Blockbuster because I knew I was going to stay with
Netflix
> and would never go back. But I *thought* that maybe, just maybe, their
> recent mailer inviting me to come back in would provide them with a fresh
> opportunity to regain my business. I guess not.
>
> I am now completely through with Blockbuster. I will never entertain the
> thought of going back in. They truly have nothing I want that I can't get
> through Netflix. I'm watching new releases as well as older ones for tons
> less money. Blockbuster has nothing to offer me but headaches.
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> ICEBREAKER
> "President Clinton was often known as the first black president. I
wouldn't
> be upset if I could earn the right to be the second." - John Kerry
>
> "John Kerry is not a black man. He is a privileged white man who has no
idea
> what it is... to be a poor white in this country, let alone a black man."
> Paula Diane Harris, Andrew Young National Center for Social Change.
>
>

Biz

Send them an e-mail. See what they have to say about it.

HDTV games lists and discussions
http://www.hdtvarcade.com

"Buttered Puppies Taste Yummy" <> wrote in
message news:...
> Got a Rewards coupon in the mail last week. Decided to use it and get my
> free Non-New free video/dvd rental. Haven't been in a Blockbuster since
> September, when I made the switch to Netflix.
>
> Well, Blockbuster told me that I had a late fee and it was 3.95. I asked
> them what the late fee was for. The cashier said he was unable to give me
> that information because the account has been locked and put on hold. I
> said: 'Well, is it fair to expect me to pay for a late fee that you can't
> even tell me what it is over?'
>
> At this point another cashier comes over to help him. She takes a look at
> the computer. Apparently it's been over 180 days since I rented and the
> late-fee is now 180+ days outstanding. She then tells me: 'You'll have to
> call corporate headquarters, not this Monday but next (I don't know why I
> needed to wait 9 days) and get a form....because we can't even handle the
> late fee at this point. It's in our collections department.'
>
> I was very nice about it and I asked her: "Blockbuster has a collections
> department for late-fees?" Her reply: "Yes."
>
> I mean, I could see late fees if it went up into the hundreds of dollars,
> but we're talking about one film, at 3.95. Is it really WORTH THIS? Do you
> really need to employ people to collect on 3.95? So there was no way I was
> going to pay an old late fee of $3.95 just in order to get a film for
"free"
> that I could've rented through Netflix anyway (and last month I had a
total
> of 17 titles rented at $1.23 a pop).
>
> I didn't mention Netflix, but I did tell the two cashiers that I was not
> interested in going through all the red-tape Blockbuster was putting in
> front of me. So I left Blockbuster empty-handed.
>
> Now the truth is, yes a movie was late. I kept it an extra-day just as a
> "Screw you!" to Blockbuster because I knew I was going to stay with
Netflix
> and would never go back. But I *thought* that maybe, just maybe, their
> recent mailer inviting me to come back in would provide them with a fresh
> opportunity to regain my business. I guess not.
>
> I am now completely through with Blockbuster. I will never entertain the
> thought of going back in. They truly have nothing I want that I can't get
> through Netflix. I'm watching new releases as well as older ones for tons
> less money. Blockbuster has nothing to offer me but headaches.
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> ICEBREAKER
> "President Clinton was often known as the first black president. I
wouldn't
> be upset if I could earn the right to be the second." - John Kerry
>
> "John Kerry is not a black man. He is a privileged white man who has no
idea
> what it is... to be a poor white in this country, let alone a black man."
> Paula Diane Harris, Andrew Young National Center for Social Change.
>
>

Ollie T

"Buttered Puppies Taste Yummy" <> wrote in
message news:...

> Now the truth is, yes a movie was late. I kept it an extra-day just as a
> "Screw you!" to Blockbuster because I knew I was going to stay with
Netflix
> and would never go back.

But you did go back, and blockbuster got the last laugh.

JWB

On Sat, 3 Apr 2004 18:12:10 -0400, Biz wrote
(in message <_EGbc.17299$>):

> You're an idiot, especially if you knew you had an outstanding debt.

Yeah, but even if he wanted to pay that debt right there, in cash,
immediately, he couldn't. Blockbuster has such an asinine system, he'd have
to wade through more red tape than it could possibly be worth to both him and
Blockbuster.

He'd have to wait NINE DAYS. Call their corporate office (probably and 800
number, but that would chop away at any money BB hopes to make on the late
fee). Then what kind of arrangement could he make? Send them a check? For
three bucks???

Not worth it for either party involved.

Cernovog

In article <_EGbc.17299$>,
says...
> You're an idiot, especially if you knew you had an outstanding debt. Take
> 100,000 people that each have 1 or more $3.95 late fee charges, now you have
> $395,000 in collections.

You're right... It makes good business sense to pay someone $8/hour to
collect $3.95. Not to mention all the money spent on notices, postage
and getting a collection agency involved.

I hope that Blockbuster continues such sound business sense. It would
serve us all right if they went out of business and we couldn't grace
their presence any longer.

Dave Navarro

"Dave Navarro" <> wrote in message
news:...
> In article <_EGbc.17299$>,
> says...
> > You're an idiot, especially if you knew you had an outstanding debt.
Take
> > 100,000 people that each have 1 or more $3.95 late fee charges, now you
have
> > $395,000 in collections.
>
> You're right... It makes good business sense to pay someone $8/hour to
> collect $3.95. Not to mention all the money spent on notices, postage
> and getting a collection agency involved.

That person isn't getting paid $8 an hour to collect on $3.95. That is
"ONE" late charge among many and I doubt it takes that person a whole hour
to deal with it. With that logic, it doesn't make any sense to pay anyone
at Blockbuster to collect money for a $3 rental since that one rental is
less than their hourly rate.

It doesn't make sense for each individual store to let late charges sit
forever and maintain the collection of the amounts themselves. This one sat
there for 6 months. The original poster knew what it was for, admits to,
for some reason, intentionally turning it in late as a "screw you" to
Blockbuster, thinking he'll never pay for it since he just won't go back,
then, when they did get him back in the store with the promise of free
stuff, complained when they called him on the late fee. If he hadn't gone
back, he was eventually going to get a nasty letter from a collections
agency and, possibly, that 3.95 going on a credit report. That really
showed Blockbuster.

Brandon Fisher

On Sun, 04 Apr 2004 12:15:33 GMT, "Brandon Fisher"
<> wrote:

>
>"Dave Navarro" <> wrote in message
>news:...
>> In article <_EGbc.17299$>,
>> says...
>> > You're an idiot, especially if you knew you had an outstanding debt.
>Take
>> > 100,000 people that each have 1 or more $3.95 late fee charges, now you
>have
>> > $395,000 in collections.
>

I don't think ANYONE here actually read the original post properly..
And "Buttered Puppies" certainly is overlooking something.

>At this point another cashier comes over to help him. She takes a look at
>the computer. Apparently it's been over 180 days since I rented and the
>late-fee is now 180+ days outstanding.

It sounds like he returned the video one day late, but that
Blockbuster NEVER booked in the film and thinks that he still has it,
thus it's 180 DAYS late, not just one day at $3.95! I've had an
outstanding one day late charge when I went back after a year when I
didn't rent from Blockbuster. The account hadn't been locked out,
there was no "Collection Agency" on my tail. They simply wanted the
$3.95. And the title of the tardy return was listed against my
balance.

I suspect that the movie return was not credited to BP's account, even
though he did return it That has also happened to me, I rented a
Disney Beta tape (a long time ago) of "Lady and the Tramp" from Thorn
video. I returned it on time the next day, dropping it on the counter
and drawing the clerk's attention to it, and she acknowledged it. I
went back a couple of days later to rent something else, the manager
said I owed them the tape, I pointed to the female clerk who said to
him "Yes he returned the tape and it was booked in". The manager said
"Hmm, Ok." and said he'd fix the error. A YEAR later the
"outstanding" rental was still on the system and I was still being
asked to return or buy the Disney tape whenever I went in to rent
something, and each time I had to explain that the tape was NEVER late
and had been returned. This all ended when they went out of business.

. Steve .

Steve(JazzHunter)

Buttered Puppies Taste Yummy wrote:

> Got a Rewards coupon in the mail last week. Decided to use it and get my
> free Non-New free video/dvd rental. Haven't been in a Blockbuster since
> September, when I made the switch to Netflix.
>
> Well, Blockbuster told me that I had a late fee and it was 3.95. I asked
> them what the late fee was for. The cashier said he was unable to give me
> that information because the account has been locked and put on hold. I
> said: 'Well, is it fair to expect me to pay for a late fee that you can't
> even tell me what it is over?'
>

Gee, I can't remember the last time I went to Blockbuster, summer of
last year maybe. I've built up a good sized (though small compared to
other people's collections) of about 80 DVD's. I let my friends borrow
some of my DVD's at times and in turn I get to borrow theirs. Done this
about a half a dozen times so far. The movies I really want to see I
buy for myself, usually the week they come out to get the sales price,
and toss them into the growing DVD collection. Picking up Matrix
Revolution Tuesday

DigitalDeude

"Buttered Puppies Taste Yummy" <> wrote
in alt.video.dvd:
>Well, Blockbuster told me that I had a late fee and it was 3.95.
[and after several irrelevant paragraphs the truth comes out: ]

>Now the truth is, yes a movie was late. I kept it an extra-day just as a
>"Screw you!" to Blockbuster because I knew I was going to stay with Netflix
>and would never go back. But I *thought* that maybe, just maybe, their
>recent mailer inviting me to come back in would provide them with a fresh
>opportunity to regain my business. I guess not.

Translation: You knew you owed them the money, but you thought you
could get something _else_ for nothing. Yet you feel _you_ have a
grievance?

I hope they put that late fee on your credit report. It'll serve you
right.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Cortland County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
DVD FAQ: http://dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html
other FAQs: http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/faqget.htm

Stan Brown