News For You

I think everyone is interpreting this incorrectly. First of all, to clarify, Blockbuster only charges the restocking fee if you bring the movie back after 30 days. They refund the price of the movie. So if you kept it more than 30 days and decided to return it, you'd actually only play $1.75 worth of "late" fees. If you compare this system to the one before, where they charge you something like $5.00 every week that it's late--on an endless scale--it's quite better.

Sure, it's not quite Netflix, but you can get everything cheaper on the internet. We pay a premium to have the ability to pick up products at the store. A convenience fee, if you will.

What do you really think you can keep the movie forever..hahah. I think this lawsuit is moronic. OMG we can't keep our movies we rented forever!! OMG I have to return my movie within 7-days of the already 8 days they give me, so I only have half a frickin month to bring it back!!! O NO!! It's the end of late fees, they aren't charged anymore. You can't compare the restocking fee of only $1.25-$1.75 to the late fee you would have accumulated of around $15-$20. You people need to stop your whine'n.

The problem here is that you can't advertise the "end of late fees" but still have late fees under new names such as "restocking fees".

Essentially, this re-stocking fee is a late fee because it only happens if you return the movie after a certain time limit. Sure it is lower than what it used to be, but it isn't the "End of late fees"

Like Edwin Points out, the true end of late fees is something like Netflix has implemented, where you don't have to worry about restocking fees or automatically purchasing items. With Netflix, you could keep a movie forever if you really felt like it.

What it boils down to is instead of having their slogan be "the end of late fees", it should be "If you keep the movie past the due date by a week, you automatically get charged on your credit card for the full purchase price of the DVD. If you try and return the DVD, you will be charged a fee."

No. What it boils down to is...if you don't like Blockbuster, don't go there. If you think they should be exactly like Netflix, use Netflix. If there is some benefit to using Blockbuster, and you absolutely have to use it, then it is good business for Blockbuster to charge you for that--and I don't hold it against them.

I never said you had to go blockbuster and I wasn't saying that Blockbuster shouldn't charge late fees like netflix. I personally don't care what the business practice of Blockbuster is. I wouldnt care if they charged 100 dollars for a late fee as long as they made it clear to the consumer that there is a fee.

I'm perfectly happy with them charging late fees, but they should tell the consumer that there are still fees when you return the rental late. I was using Netflix as a comparison of a service that does truly does not have late fees to what Blockbuster's slogan purports they have not as a model Blockbuster should go to.

What they're doing here with the "end of late fees" would be like McDonalds launching a "free food campaign." Then after ordering your food, they would charge you a service fee for order taking and delivery of food.

I don't know how many of you that have posted comments actually work at Blockbuster but as an employee I have a unique vantage point. The restocking fee ($1.25 and not $1.75) is valid because once the movie is charged to the account holder (previously viewed price minus rental fee) it is taken out of inventory. If the new owner decides to return it, a manager must go into the system and add that title back into inventory and the labor would certainly cost the $1.25. Late fees were for profit mainly but this restocking fee is legitimate coverage for this new service.

Point is...it's false advertising and they shouldn't be charging customers for something they didn't make customers aware of. That's the insurance industry not an entertainment industry. I currently have late movies to return. If I get charged a "restocking" fee (which I've never heard of before I read this board) it will be the last time I ever rent a movie at Blockbuster and I'll stick with my local Rogers outlet. At least they give me one free movie a month. Blockbuster is a rip off...it's cheaper to buy or burn folks.

NEED INFO

My daughter had 12 checks bounce including her car payment and house payment do to Block Buster.
Is there a class action lawsuit? How do I find out about this?

Comment to Edwin:
Actually the restocking fee is charged if you bring the movie back after the charge has gone through before the 30 days. After 30 days you own it. I was charged the "restocking" fee after I brought back a movie on the 8th day. I received a store credit for the balance minus the 1.75. My problem is I don't recall signing any new agreement with these terms.

It's still deceptive advertising and $1.25 is way more than the cost of labor, unless of course the managers are making $75/hour, which I doubt.

I don't know how everyone's local Blockbuster is, and if people pay attention or not BUT at my store they had a nice disclaimer posted at the front counter laying each and every rule out to the "end of late fees". I am sure if in the small little town I live in posted the rules to the deal then it would be available else ware. Oh I did happen to see the stipulations posted on their website as well. I would not be one to just jump in on a deal without finding out more about it. I just blame each and every person out there that thought they could just keep something basically forever after they pay a rental fee, that's just absurd!

This is to the comment to the person who needs info. I thing it sounds like your daughter needs to stop writing bad checks! Okay if she got charged the 20 bucks for the movie after renting a movie for $5.99 (or whatever it is) and then keeping it for the month that it takes to get charged the purchase price, I could see her having one bad check but to have it bounce 12 checks, sounds like someone has a problem! You can not just go and blame a company for not making a house payment and a car payment and everything else that got missed, that's just plain poor money management if you as me and at no ones fault but her own!

So, just to clarify for all of you. I'm a higher up in the Blockbuster Corp and I've been scanning all the forums to explain to people what exactly is going on. Simply put, you rent a movie from Blockbuster, you have a due date. You can keep your movie 7 days, 7 days past the due date and then you will be charged for the used, not new retail price of the item, minus the cost of the rental, meaning the cost of the movie to buy minus 4.98 depending on the tax in your state. Now to clear this up, you are buying the movie. Its yours. Bringing it back anytime within a month after that (our policy is that you can returned used merchandise up 30 days past the purchase) means you are selling the movie back to us. Normally it would require that you trade the item back to us, meaning you get a fraction of what you payed. The fee that you pay is not so you can watch a movie for longer. Its to compensate for the hit we take when we buy a movie back from someone at face value. THERE ARE NO LATE FEES! Hope this helped.

you know that the place is going down but they are not saying it, they are low on money, low on staff. imagine now that they have no more late fees, theres is less money going in for the company, they are now cutting a lot of stuff in stores. in the year 2004, blockbuster Canada made about 44 000 000 $ in canada only on late fees, where did that money go. staff is leaving becasue they wont get raises from they minimum salaries. they are overworked and underpaid, seriously overworked and underpaid. me as a former employee know that the costumer will not be left alone when they go in.They are pushing promotions like crazy and you will get fired , terminated instantly if you dont sell anything for a whole week. they dont care about the costumers needs, they only care about making money and screw the costumer. after working there for a year and a half i know that the rewards card is worth shit, DO NOT BUY THAT SHIT. UNLESS you spend 150$a month, youll save a 150$ a year. sux, i made the calculations. the only thing worth buying is the gift pack aroud november, there you save 250 dollars for a year and you dont spend as much. your better off having the giftpack where the rewards card comes free. if ever you need advice on what you need to know e-mail me at bluemarce@hotmail.com, ill give you information on everything you must know about blockbuster corp.
Ciao peeps, and make the right decisions.

Seems like places like blockbuster have a limited future. Right now they're feeling the heat from netflix, but both of them will be in trouble soon with streaming technology. In fact I think the whole DVD industry might be in trouble in a couple years or so.

Right now with Comcast, I can stream TV shows, Free Movies, Pay movies, HD content all through my DVR box. The HD quality is better than DVD.

Who's going to want to drive to a store or wait for the mail to come when you can stream a better version right away.

I just wanna know who waits around in life for a reason to take a lawsuit out on someone?! And come on if you are going to do that atleast make it believable to the people in this world that actually use their brain to think logically. And for those of you who think they are going down fast... think about that for a minute. If they made so much money from late fees how could they afford to get rid of them? If you use your brain and know anything about financing then you would know that a company as big as blockbuster would not take a risk without looking at the ups and downs of a situation. And to the guy that used to work for Blockbuster, people get paid minimum salaries for a reason. If you don't get a raise it is probally because you don't deserve it. What did you expect to get paid? You were renting out DVDs to people not doing rocket sience. Go get yourself a college degree and stop your wining.

Thats the thing, they didn't get rid of late fees.

Use YOUR brain think about it. They see that they make the most money due to people turning in movies late. So what do they do? They make it so that instead of being late, you automatically buy the movie. Then when you realize and you try and return it, you're slapped with a fee. Either way, they're still making money with a chance to make a lot more if they force you to buy the DVD.

Get charged $20 or $1.25 within a period of thirty days hmmm let me think, or I could turn my movie in on time and not be charged at all! Here is a brilliant idea why don't they let everyone keep all rentals for no matter how long and never charge them! I mean gee if car rental places did that you wouldn't even have to buy a car. You could just pay a little money and keep it as long as you want! If someone rents anything for a week and keeps it for a month they should be charged for being plain stupid.

Stephen, read my previous points.

As I've said before. I'm not against the late fees. I'm fine with them charging 100 dollars for a late fee. I just want them to be clear.

Currently, if you return the movie past the due date, you will be charged a fee for returning the movie late. What does this sound like?

The only thing that bothers me is that they proudly claim "The end of late fees" When there clearly is a fee if you return the movie late.

And the even more confusing part is that there are services that won't charge late fees for movies. With Netflix you can keep a movie for as long as you want.

Yeah umm well, Netfix you can keep the movie as long as you want but HOW MUCH DO YOU PAY A MONTH FOR IT?????? Yeah you dont just pay the monthyly fee once and rent a movie and keep it as long as you want and not pay anymore. So you keep paying for the movie with the netflix service as well.

blockbuster is pissing me off. Iv'e been trying to get Mr.3000 for 2 months nowand it still isn't there! They're forcing people to buy the movies!! Bastards!!!

These deals (Netflix, end of late fees, movie pass) are all great if you watch lots of movies and are disciplined. They're all just counting on lazy people who know how great the deals can be but never capitalize on it.

It's amazing, the amount of emotion this has generated here.

your talking about a $1.25 the only way your paying for the whole damn movie is if you keep it for 2 months! i don't know about you but if i keep someone else's moving for that long then i'm being rude and arrogant. if you like it then you should buy it and you two goof balls(above)should get the documentary started-

So is Block Buster losing a lot of money on this? They used to make a lot from late fees, so what's the advantage for them? I can't believe the people are complaining about this new system, which is much cheaper than late fees. Oh I know, lets sue! Sue everyone! YEAH!!!!

ok, well I have something to say. I've been working for blockbuster for almost 5 years now and like every job and company, it has it's ups and downs. I hear people bitch and complain about everything all the time and there is nothing you can do to please them. Yes, blockbuster shouldn't advertise "end of late fees" when they charge a fee after 30 days (jesus people how long do you need to keep a movie?) But when there are coupons for businesses that say "FREE" this or that, there is usually something that has to be done before hand, buying something or paying for something. There's always a catch. People just need to realize that you get nothing for free and every business has to make money. This program has had its problems but my store has been crazy busy, memberships have gone up 50%-80% and it's good for customers too, as long as they don't abuse it. People can now buy off the shelf, trade in, and not worry about being a little late. I am so sick of hearing and reading all these complaints. some people need to stop focusing on the negative and just appreciate a good deal.

I went to rent a movie tonight and thw whole conversation ended in an unwanted arguement, Its wasnt me, the manager at the store said well you have a movie thats overdue and I said well yeah but I can still keep it for a week and not get charged anything.She started arguing that its a privilage and shes doing me a favor by letting me rent another.My arguement was favor is when I rent it for free , as long as I am paying for it, I dont consider no favors and I told her to get her policty about no more late fees.She said thats its the past policy as well and I told her that in the past as long as you paid the overdue amount you could still rent another movie and one arguement lead to another and now I have be be an asshole and write to the corporate office about this.One thing is certain that blockbuster lack customer service, all they basically know is to aggravate customers.I had gone to rent a movie and have a peaceful night but some bitch at the store has now pissed me off just cause she felt like making the policies and telling me what is right and what is not.

I went to rent a movie tonight and the whole conversation ended in an unwanted arguement, Its wasnt me, the manager at the store said well you have a movie thats overdue and I said well yeah but I can still keep it for a week and not get charged anything.She started arguing that its a privilage and shes doing me a favor by letting me rent another.My arguement was favor is when I rent it for free , as long as I am paying for it, I dont consider no favors and I told her to get her policy about no more late fees.She said thats its the past policy as well and I told her that in the past as long as you paid the overdue amount you could still rent another movie and one arguement lead to another and now I have be be an asshole and write to the corporate office about this.One thing is certain that blockbuster lacks customer service, all they basically know is to aggravate customers.I had gone to rent a movie and have a peaceful night but some bitch at the store has now pissed me off just cause she felt like making the policies and telling me what is right and what is not.

1…A Rose by any other name smells the same.

2…A Late Fee by any other name is still a Late Fee.

3…False Advertising by any other name is still False Advertising.

Our Country has made great strides with laws to protect consumers from less than honest business practices. If Blockbuster is not reprimanded for their "The End Of Late Fees" advertising campaign, then the door will be opened for other companies to follow their footsteps.

I feel it is in all consumers best interest to support actions that discourage companies from attempting to get around laws designed to minimize False Advertising and other forms of Consumer Fraud.

I'm personally not opposed to Blockbuster charging a Late Fee. I can count on less than one hand the number of times I've taken a movie back late.

I'm OK with Blockbuster charging a Restocking Fee.

However, when Blockbuster first started airing their commercials with people bouncing off the walls ecstatically praising the "End Of Late Fees", I did not get the impression that if I bring a movie back late I will be charged a Fee. I did not realize 'till weeks later that "No Late Fees" really meant...


"Bring it back late and you've bought buster…

and further...

if you don't want to buy it, we'll gladly buy it back from you...

for a nominal Fee, of course".

The new "The End Of Late Fees" Fee is still less expensive than a "Real" Late Fee, if you're just not able to bring movies back on time.

However, I feel the details of the new "No Late Fees" Fee could have been communicated better and/or more clearly to consumers.

I don't understand why the people at Blockbuster who approved this new policy didn't see this Lawsuit coming. I would have thought that would have been a "No Brainer".

See lines 2 and 3 above.

Blockbuster was profiting from late fees, which was in fact the entire point of them in the first place other than to compensate for the business they lose if you keep a movie that you rented out. The way they see it, someone else could have rented that movie if you had returned it on time, and therefore they could profit more.

I can understand simply not being able to return the movies if something pops up in the last minute, but to know you are going to be exceptionally busy on the day it's due and not bothering to return it before then seems to be just stupid. And anyways, unless it's a matter of life and death, going to the Blockbuster you rented at and dropping off the movies while on the way to wherever you need ty be going isn't a big hassle, frankly it takes maybe twenty minutes of your time, max, unless you rent somewhere far away from your house, and if so then you should have thought of that.

A late fee should be paid because, if anything, you said that you would return the movie the day it was due when you rented it, and by not doing this and potentially losing them business, you should compensate for that.

Despite all this defense of late fees, however, I do understand the people sueing BB. In a way, it is false advertising, and sounds to me like a way to cheat people out of their money by saying "No Late fees, but if you return it late you buy it from us because you were late". Same thing, different name, and it seems that this twisting of words is responsible for misconceptions among customers.

But then, it's really a matter of common sense. To "rent" something and then keep it as long as you want is oxymoronic, and to think that after a month you could return it and not be charged implies ignorance in how business works. As someone said, if car rentals did that, you'd never have to buy a car. Blockbuster is first and foremost a corporation, and is trying to make money.

If you want to keep a DVD as long as you want, buy it. Taking it from them and not paying a fee for holding for a month+ doesnt make sense from a financial standpoint. For all they know, you could've stolen it.

As for the $1.25 'restocking' fee, it's to cover the labor of not only going back into the system, but perhaps of ordering a new copy of the DVD from the manufacturer to compensate for their lost copy. If you return it they have to go and cancel the order, and that plus the system changing is worth $1.25. And it's a hell of a lot less than what we used to pay.

Lets just all do what I did...I talked to all of my friends and found out about 24 of them had a blockbuster membership and I told them about my situation that I returned 2 movies 7 days late and got charged $40. They all closed their accounts with blockbuster and whenever I run into someone with a membership...I am usually good about convincing them to close their accounts. Most of the people that I talk to are already iritated with blockbuster anyways.

PEACE OUT AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

MOST OF YOU ARE STUPID!!! SMART PEOPLE REALIZE IT. jUST SIT AND THINK ABOUT THE REST OF THESE PEOPLE AND THERE RETARDED LIES/CONFUSION...PEOLPLE ARE IGNORANT AND DONT WANT TO KNOW THE TRUTH.... I WILL LAY IT OUT FOR YOU...TAKE IT HOW YOU WANT...
8 DAYS PAST THE DUE DATE THE MOVIE WILL SELL TO YOUR ACCOUNT MINUS THE RENTAL FEES, YOU THEN HAVE AN OPTION TO RETURN THE MOVIE, IF YOU WANT TO THERE WILL THEN BE A RESTOCKING FEE OF 1.25.. THE OPTION TO RETURN IT IS GIVEN UP AFTER 30 DAYS PAST THE DUE DATE! HMM YOU HAVE THE OPTION TO RETURN IT RIGHT?? THERE ARE NO FEES GET IT?? FUCKING RETARDS!! YOUR IN AMERICA...IS ANYTHING FREE, STUPID PEOPLE KILL ME... I DARE ONEOF YOU SONS OF BITCHS TO COME TO MY STORE I'LL EAT YOU ALIVE WITH THE TRUTH....AS CARLOS MANCIA SAYS, "For those of you who are smart enough to get it thank you, for the rest of you.... you should die for being derr-da-dr!!!

ok, so I work at Blockbuster, and I only read about half of the comments posted before mine before I started to get really heated and decided to set all you obviously illiterate people straight.
To Jason: there are at least 3 signs in every store listing the complete details of the "End of late fees" advertising campaign, which because of lawsuits in NJ is not advertised as such anymore. Also, it is clearly explained on EVERY receipt you have recieved since the new policy started, not to mention the flyers all aound the store that you can take home and the person we had at the door handing out the flyers for the first few months. Plus, have you ever asked how it works??? We would explain it in away I'm sure you could understand. So if you don't like Blockbuster, don't agree with our "false advertising" or just want to be a hater, don't come in. Point blank, it's as simple as that. We really won't miss your complaining business, your 2-4 movies a week(on average) doesn't make a dent in out multibillion dollar corporation if you decide not to come in because you can't read.

ok, so I work at Blockbuster, and I only read about half of the comments posted before mine before I started to get really heated and decided to set all you obviously illiterate people straight.
To Jason: there are at least 3 signs in every store listing the complete details of the "End of late fees" advertising campaign, which because of lawsuits in NJ is not advertised as such anymore. Also, it is clearly explained on EVERY receipt you have recieved since the new policy started, not to mention the flyers all aound the store that you can take home and the person we had at the door handing out the flyers for the first few months. Plus, have you ever asked how it works??? We would explain it in away I'm sure you could understand. So if you don't like Blockbuster, don't agree with our "false advertising" or just want to be a hater, don't come in. Point blank, it's as simple as that. We really won't miss your complaining business, your 2-4 movies a week(on average) doesn't make a dent in out multibillion dollar corporation if you decide not to come in because you can't read.

P.S. ALL advertising for ALL businesses that make money in this country have twisted words so you don't know what's really going on. That's why there's fine print, because they know stupid people never read it, because they are lazy and too busy complaining about false advertising to see that everything was explained you just had to use ur head to understand it. To borrow a phrase from Tom Hanks in A League Of Their Own: "Use your head, that's that lump thats three feet above your ass."
thank you and good night

To Gail:

12 CHECKS BOUNCE BECAUSE OF BLOCKBUSTER?!!!! I THINK ITS TIME TO TAKE A COURSE IS FINANCE. NOTE: IF YOU EVER BOUNCE 12 CHECKS ITS TIME TO TAKE AWAY THE CHECK BOOK.

I SENT MY CREDIT CARD PAYMENT 9 DAYS BEFORE DUE DATE.IT DIDNT POST IN TIME.I GOT CHARGED $39 LATE PAYMENT WHICH PUT ME OVER MY CC LIMIT BY $10.I WAS CHARGED$35 FOR OVERLIMIT FEE.MY PAYMENT DUE WAS ONLY $15! NOW I GOT HIT FOR $74! WHOS TO SAY THE COMPANY DIDNT LIE ABOUT TIME $$ WAS RECEIVED !MULTIPLY 1 CUSTOMER BY THE WHOLE LOT!!COULD BE QUITE A SCAM.WHATS THIS GOT TO DO WITH BLOCKBUSTER? I THINK OTHER COMPANIES SHOULD BE LOOKED INTO---AUDITED,INVESTIGATED BLOCKBUSTERS LATE FEES IS NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT SOME CREDITCARD COMPANIES ARE CHARGING!!THINK ABOUT IT

ok to simplify for all the ignorant people out there, walmart and assorted other companies have the same policy, so what you have to pay 1.25 for a restocking fee, would you rather pay the 10 - 20% that alot of stores charge. its not a late fee, its a legitimate cost of business, you kept it way too long, and when you brought it back it had to be re-entered into the system. this lawsuit is crap and should be thrown out, if it isnt then suits need to leveled again most retailers that charge a restocking fee

I am having a different problem with blockbuster who can I contact to help me with this problem

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I just started working at Blockbuster. In the few weeks I've worked there. I get the same complaints. 1. They're never late.
2. They don't have the DVD.
3. Why aren't the new releases ever in stock.
(well that's a no-brainer what with everyone
checking out DVDs for as long as they wish)
4. False advertising on the Rewards Program.
5. False advertising on the Online Program.
and on and on...here's a good one from a hot-headed customer. She wants to sue because we won't honor Hollywood Video coupons (nearly out of business now). Another came in wanting to cash a gift card that was hand written. Another wanted us to honor a fraudulent coupon. She thinks we should honor them anyway. The list goes on and on, but as a CSR you just smile and say I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. The abuse some people pour on low-paid personnel who are just trying to eek out a living is ridiculous.