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Blockbuster drops late fees
No. 1 video rental chain to give 1-week grace period; says increased business will offset lost fees.
December 14, 2004: 9:23 AM EST
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Blockbuster Inc. announced Tuesday it is abolishing late fees on all its video tapes, DVDs and video games as of Jan. 1.The world's largest video rental company will still have due dates for their rental products -- one week for games and two days or one week for movies, depending on whether it's a new release.
But customers will be given a one-week grace period after that to return the product. After that grace period ends, the chain will automatically sell them the product, less the rental fee. If the customers don't want to purchase the movie or game, they can return the product within 30 days for a credit, less a restocking fee.
Blockbuster (Research) has been competing with the growth of by-mail rental services such as Netflix (Research), which allow customers to keep movies as long as they want in return for a monthly fee. In August, Blockbuster started offering that kind of monthly rental service itself. It said Tuesday that service will continue in addition to this new individual rental policy.
"For the past year, the company has been testing a variety of rental options in markets across the U.S.," it said in its statement. "In no-late-fees test markets, the increased rental transactions and retail sales offset the lower level of revenues resulting from eliminating late fees."
Follow Ups:
I tried netfix about 2 years ago and the movies I put in my queue were never in stock. Has this changed?
They have been gourging customers for so long it became part of their policy. Now with competition from Netflix and the like, I imagine their profit margins are certainly thinning. I have been with Netflix for two years now, and I ain't looking back.
NETFLIX--no comparison. set yourself free!
It seemed that most of the times that I rented DVDs from them and returned them ON TIME or even very EARLY, I would be charged a late fee. I thought this was a problem with one local Blockbuster in my community so when I moved to a different city I figured I would give them a try again. Same problem.....I return the DVDs on time or even a day or two before they were due and still, they would try to charge me a late fee on my next visit. I got all kinds of excuses like the employees who checked in the DVD may not have recorded the return properly or whatever.
My issues was that it wasn't a problem at just one store but at a couple stores 50-miles apart. And I could only imagine that this was a much bigger problem and wide-spread throughout many Blockbuster stores. I dropped them completely about three years ago and have never gone back.
Accuphase DP65V cdp or Denon DVD-5900 Universal
PS Audio PCA-2 Pre - Krell KSA50S - Tannoy D500 spkrs
Wow, I thought it was just me. That's too bad. Apparently its a national problem since I get charged all the time. I thought I did return it late but then I made the conscious effort to make sure it was early and I woudl still get charged. Bums...Too bad, they're ubiquitous and a reliable source for foreign films I like. I guess I'll have to rely on my grocery store...
Vik
I will never rent from Blockbuster, to wit:
(1) In Lansing, Michigan, Blockbuster ran a promotion that when you rented a film, they stamped your card. After six stamps, you got a free rental. On one visit, I paid for the video, and as soon as I left the store, I realized I forgot to get my card stamped. So I went back in, and the "manager" told the clerk to stamp my card, but told her, for my benefit, that once the customer leaves the store, they cannot get their card stamped.
(2) In Cincinnati, my parents, on an afternoon, rented a video that was marked closed captioned. My father cannot hear, and so needs closed captioning to appreciate the film. My parents started to watch the movie that evening, and found that it was not closed captioned. They returned the movie to the store to exchange it for one that was closed captioned, and were told that the store would exchange it this one time, but in the future they would need to check the video when they get home, and then bring the movie back immediately.(3) In Cincinnati, at a different location, I returned a video, while the store was still open, and on my next visit was told that the video was returned late. I explained that I returned the video while the store was still open, and because they close at 12:00 a.m., the video must have been returned on time. I was informed that the computer has an automatic timer, and once the clock strikes midnight, you are charged the late fee. Which begs the question of whose fault is it if the clerk does not clock the video in before midnight.
I can only conclude that Blockbuster has a corporate ethos of insulting and failing to appreciate their customers. Perhaps the recent class action lawsuit has given them a change of heart. I now go to Hollywood Video. Every time they have made a mistake relative to the late fee, they did not argue, but merely removed the charge. On one occasion, I lost the movie. They did not charge me.
I recently heard that Blockbuster is seeking to purchase Hollywood Video. If that happens, hello Netflix.
I can't remember having been charged an illegitimate late fee. So that is not my complaint.My complaint is that THEIR SELECTION OF MOVIES IS SO LIMITED. I have admit, when they have 40 copies of Rush Hour, I usually only rent it 20 times or so. By then, I've memorized the plot, credits, etc.
Don't get interested in anything out of the ordinary--they won't have it. They don't carry many foreign movies, and when an older American movie is finally released on DVD, well, don't expect them to carry it. THERE ISN'T ENOUGH DEMAND TO CARRY ANYTHING THAT DOESN'T HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BE RENTED 50 TIMES OR MORE.
No, I'm not into Netflix, because I don't rent enough movies (no, I don't rent 4 or more per month) to justify the expense. But Netflix is becoming more affordable, thanks to competition. I just hope the 800 lb gorilla--Walmart--doesn't drive them out of business. Netflix offered great service, from what my friends tell me.
all the best, townsend
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