the big lie:blockbuster no late fee rental policy

[painnfull]

I have been a loyal blockbuster customer for decades- well at least since the first franchise was built. this summer between illness and other calamities-- i made the grievious mistake and took my rental back late.. 30 days late. And therein lies THE PROBLEM. confident that there was NEVER A LATE FEE, as advertised both on my internet account and store account, i was schocked to learn that i now OWNED the movie!! owned it because it was late... i relied on the fact that the late fees DID NOT EXIST,that the FTC ie., consumer watchdogs, would not allow blockbuster to lull the public into thinking that fees truly did not exist when clearly they did!!! and blockbuster was using a backdoor to charge people. to be fair, b.b. is a business and thrives on profits.... so they should not use the no fee ad.- alternativly b.b. should say "never a late fee until after 30 days and then you own it!" why are they not obligated TO DO that??....am i missing something ?
i am going to pursue this, having contacted the FTC and i wish and hope that any other people who have experienced the B.B. LIE, would get together and go class action. when i do-- if ever, resolve this,(which has effected my credit because i refuse to accept an old ratty movie rental copy that has been rented and rerented since this begain), i have been charged with the purchase, and believe that thru rentals,my movie has already recouped its cost. it is not on a shelf suspended in time--- it is an active rental!! ain NEVER A LATE FEE BUT YOU OWN IT AFTER 30 DAYS! the advertisement should read. i am just so sick and tired of big corporations ripping and ripping rhe consumer apart..... anybody else paid late fees?

[Im Just Saying]

It's true the "No late fee" policy should be explained in much clearer terms, even Blockbuster's new CEO Jim Keyes says ever policy the old CEO rolled out was poorly done, but to be fair, they do say no late fees so you can keep it a few extra days. 30 days is a little more than a few. I challenge you to find any place that rents out it's product that has a fairer return policy. Try returning that rental car 30 days late and see what you pay.

[painnfull]

Im Just Saying wrote:

It's true the "No late fee" policy should be explained in much clearer terms, even Blockbuster's new CEO Jim Keyes says ever policy the old CEO rolled out was poorly done, but to be fair, they do say no late fees so you can keep it a few extra days. 30 days is a little more than a few. I challenge you to find any place that rents out it's product that has a fairer return policy. Try returning that rental car 30 days late and see what you pay.

while i respect your comment my beef is they should say " never any late fees unless you keep it more than thirty days!" or bypass the whole entire no late fee scam altogether. if the rental said never a late fee, i would of course take advantage until they changed the policy... a lie is a false advertisement....thats like no interest fee for something you buy and than oops that is until 30 days... im just so sick and tired of bizs that only try to rip off the customer, and as you know - many are guilty. i experienced a product that was returnable up to 60 days..only then did i find out a complaint upon product had to be made within the first 10 days...again another way to charge the back door anyway i know if i told a lie within my community to make money, because of the smaller area- i'd get reamed.. i did get an actual 180 day trial for a select comfort bed.....and then gave it back!!! thanks for your response

[Steve]

How long did you think you could keep your $5 rental? 30 days is a long time to keep a movie without being charged and there has to be some limit as to how long you can keep it. Do the math: You paid about .17 cents a day for your rental. That's a deal! It's not fair to other customers and to Blockbuster if people like you keep movies out so long. As for policy, I am sure that it is posted somewhere on your receipt or at the store--so they are covered legally. Even Netflix charges their customers if they keep movies beyond their subscription expiration date and they too advertise no late fees. Blockbuster is a big company and I am sure that if you contact them they would be more than happy to help you. They don't want to lose you as a customer.

[Jose Sanchez]

You see it's people like you who are always trying to beat the system. The fact is you were careless didn't return your item, and now you have to pay. O'h and actually the 30 day policy doesn't actually kick in to after the initial rental period, so you actually had more than 30 days to return the item. Stop complaining and just pay up!!!

[UGH]

7 days past the due date the rental is converted to a sale. You then have 30 days from the sale date to return for a refund minus the $1.25 restocking fee. You have either 39 or 46 days to get your rental back depending on whether it was a 2 day or 7 day rental. The policy is on every receipt. If you can't get your rental returned in 5 weeks you have no one to blame but yourself!

[MILK]

I'm glad someone isn't oblivious and uses their head.

Steve wrote:

How long did you think you could keep your $5 rental? 30 days is a long time to keep a movie without being charged and there has to be some limit as to how long you can keep it. Do the math: You paid about .17 cents a day for your rental. That's a deal! It's not fair to other customers and to Blockbuster if people like you keep movies out so long. As for policy, I am sure that it is posted somewhere on your receipt or at the store--so they are covered legally. Even Netflix charges their customers if they keep movies beyond their subscription expiration date and they too advertise no late fees. Blockbuster is a big company and I am sure that if you contact them they would be more than happy to help you. They don't want to lose you as a customer.

[groovinwith311]

technically it isn't a late fee they are just forcing you to buy the movie, which you get to keep so it's not like you're paying for nothing. plus by keeping it for 30 days they've lost all that money they could've made through renting out the movie to other people who want it. so how bout you quit crying and return your movies so other people can watch them

[Carlos]

I agree with Painnfull, I too returned videos after 30 days, and it was solely because I thought I could. True, the store doesn't get to rent them during that time, but I was under the impression when I rented them that there would be no pressure of this type. Clearly, to claim "no late fees", their business model must allow for an increasingly small % of the movies to remain out longer than usual at any point in time, so I thought. Now BB wants top $ for severely used DVD's. I understand the BB supporters here, but I am disappointed in BB nonetheless *because* their advertising succesfully convinced me that there would be no late fees, only a small restocking fee. That's why I dropped NetFlix and went back to BB.

[painnfull]

Jose Sanchez wrote:

You see it's people like you who are always trying to beat the system. The fact is you were careless didn't return your item, and now you have to pay. O'h and actually the 30 day policy doesn't actually kick in to after the initial rental period, so you actually had more than 30 days to return the item. Stop complaining and just pay up!!!

ok so no one gets the point except carlos...i am not trying to get away with anything. i was ill, in the hospital- all excuses... however THEY SAY NEVER A LATE FEE..if that is thier stance, then stand by it!!!! dont get the consumers to think it ok to return whenever they want...say CHARGES AFTER 30 DAYS! dont just assume the customer will know that 30 days is enough or 17 cents a day is nothing....i have no problem paying when i break the rules.....but when you say never a late fee, again include the fact that you will pay 25.00 and buy the movie if you pass 30 days...thats all-make that info available-- again i hate bait and switch, and i hate false advertising.

[painnfull]

Carlos wrote:

I agree with Painnfull, I too returned videos after 30 days, and it was solely because I thought I could. True, the store doesn't get to rent them during that time, but I was under the impression when I rented them that there would be no pressure of this type. Clearly, to claim "no late fees", their business model must allow for an increasingly small % of the movies to remain out longer than usual at any point in time, so I thought. Now BB wants top $ for severely used DVD's. I understand the BB supporters here, but I am disappointed in BB nonetheless *because* their advertising succesfully convinced me that there would be no late fees, only a small restocking fee. That's why I dropped NetFlix and went back to BB.

why did you go back to bb? and thanks for getting the point about false ads......thats all i am trying to get across...if your gonna say no late fees, say you will have to purchase the movie....

[groovinwith311]

it's not a late fee if you get to keep the movie you are just buying it. no matter what your excuse is if you keep it for over a month you should buy it. and they charge you the new price to buy the movie only if it is in the first week or 2 of the release date since it has only been watched once or twice. otherwise you are charged the used price. how would you feel if someone borrowed your personally owned movie and didn't bring it back for over a month? they are a business, and their business is making money from renting movies, so if you don't return the movie so they can rent it to other people then they can't make money so naturally you should reimburse them.

[Drew]

I have had the same thing happen to me. I rented a game and returned it over the 30 days. I couldn't believe BB would be able to do that without clearly notifying anyone. I was under the false impression that if i brought the item back all would be forgiven for the restocking fee. The store manager couldn't even produce any evidence to support this other than the standard fine print that explained what will happen if it is over the 7 days and under 30. I am wondering if their is a better explanation of how they can get away with this policy if they do not inform the renter before renting?

[UGH]

The terms are on your membership application, your receipt and posted in the store.

[Duh]

We'll it is clearly written on the recipt. You have a 5 day rental, then they give you an additional 10 days after that to return the movie. then you have 30 days after that auto sell to return the movie, then it's a $1.25 "Restocking Fee". Which is not bad considering you had a rental for 45 days...Why would you need 45 days to return a 2 hour movie? It also says on the reciept that you own the movie after the set amount of days. They also call you after the 5th day to remind you to return the movie. If you never got a call, you need to update your account info...

[Jason]

Ummmm.....Netflix FTW!!!! They truly have no late fees.

*FTW ( For The Win )

[NRC]

Just informed BBI I am through doing business there. My son was a day late getting two movies back. I went in to rent 4 movies. I am told I need to pony up $36.00 to buy the late movies before I could rent my 4 movies. He returned movies that day had $36.00 removed from account, but they lost the $25.00 I would have paid to rent earlier that day. How dumb can you be!!!

[TEEJ_fort_worth_ TX]

I am being told the same thing. I Called up saying I just recieved this notice from a Credit collector in the mail last night. I actually found the movie behind my couch on Sunday. So I called to say I'm going to bring the movie today and I was informed no, I OWN IT.. WHAT PART OF NO LATE FEES means I BUY THE DANG THING??

painnfull wrote:

I have been a loyal blockbuster customer for decades- well at least since the first franchise was built. this summer between illness and other calamities-- i made the grievious mistake and took my rental back late.. 30 days late. And therein lies THE PROBLEM. confident that there was NEVER A LATE FEE, as advertised both on my internet account and store account, i was schocked to learn that i now OWNED the movie!! owned it because it was late... i relied on the fact that the late fees DID NOT EXIST,that the FTC ie., consumer watchdogs, would not allow blockbuster to lull the public into thinking that fees truly did not exist when clearly they did!!! and blockbuster was using a backdoor to charge people. to be fair, b.b. is a business and thrives on profits.... so they should not use the no fee ad.- alternativly b.b. should say "never a late fee until after 30 days and then you own it!" why are they not obligated TO DO that??....am i missing something ?
i am going to pursue this, having contacted the FTC and i wish and hope that any other people who have experienced the B.B. LIE, would get together and go class action. when i do-- if ever, resolve this,(which has effected my credit because i refuse to accept an old ratty movie rental copy that has been rented and rerented since this begain), i have been charged with the purchase, and believe that thru rentals,my movie has already recouped its cost. it is not on a shelf suspended in time--- it is an active rental!! ain NEVER A LATE FEE BUT YOU OWN IT AFTER 30 DAYS! the advertisement should read. i am just so sick and tired of big corporations ripping and ripping rhe consumer apart..... anybody else paid late fees?

[TEEJ_fort_worth_ TX]

Who Reads Receipts??? If I BUY a movie I file in the the box with the movie other than that, they go in the trash.

Duh wrote:

We'll it is clearly written on the recipt. You have a 5 day rental, then they give you an additional 10 days after that to return the movie. then you have 30 days after that auto sell to return the movie, then it's a $1.25 "Restocking Fee". Which is not bad considering you had a rental for 45 days...Why would you need 45 days to return a 2 hour movie? It also says on the reciept that you own the movie after the set amount of days. They also call you after the 5th day to remind you to return the movie. If you never got a call, you need to update your account info...

[KAY]

Good grief. If you sign up as a member for anything, I advise you read the initial contract AND read any changes to that contract.
It does explicitly spell out the fees all over the store, on the return receipt, on their brochures, on the web.
It is not a late fee- there is a grace period and then it is converted to a purchase. Certainly anyone wanting to keep a movie 30 days OUGHT to by it. Or if they are that hard pressed for time to watch a movie, just don't rent them at all.
Secondly, Blockbuster requires a credit card or debit card to open the account, which is what they bill if you keep the movies. I have never heard of someone being told to pay at the register for late movies- it is auto- deducted - unless you cancelled the card you established the account with and did not inform them. which is another irresponsible thing.
So again - there is a rental fee. There is a due date. There is a generous grace period beyond that due date. If you exceed that, you are buying the video. If you choose not to buy the video, you can return it within 30 days for a refund, less a stocking fee of $1.25.
If you rent a movie for 7 days, and then keep it the 7 days grave period - that is 14 days. If you then allow the 30 days purchase grace period to lapse- you have now been in possession of that movie for a minimum of 44 days. What do you want? How much more can you expect? Do you think if everyone did that they could rent movies? No. They have to keep the shelves stocked, and if there is not turnover by people returning the movies after a month and a half, I think they have every right to charge you and replace the movie within their store.