"THE END OF BLOCKBUSTER!"
by Mark Faulk

It was a dream come true......No longer would we have to stay up until 3 in the morning watching three movies in a row just to avoid the dreaded "late fee" for movies that invariably weren't even worth the $4 we paid to rent them in the first place, much less the additional $4 for returning them past the due date.

"THE END OF LATE FEES!"

It screamed at us from the TV commercials, in print ads, and in multiple giant posters plastered across the front of Blockbuster stores. After being lured to Hollywood Video a year earlier by longer rental periods and a wider selection of those hard-to-find quirky little movies that we so love,and because Blockbuster had unceremoniously dismantled their "Sundance" movie section, scattering them across the store into the generic categories of "drama", "western", "science fiction", and "whatever", we boldly ventured back into Blockbuster that very evening, the prodigal sons returning home. We picked out three movies.....oh, what the hell, let's get four, because "NO LATE FEES!".

And when it took us a few extra days to watch the last movie, it didn't matter, because (you guessed it) "NO LATE FEES!" We returned the movie feeling secure in the knowledge that at least we wouldn't be paying $8 to see a movie that was barely worth $4. And then, we learned the truth about advertising....there is no truth in advertising. "THE END OF LATE FEES!" really meant "THE END OF LATE FEES....BECAUSE YOU JUST BOUGHT THE DAMN MOVIE!"

That's right, suckers....I mean, fellow Americans....we weren't charged a late fee, we were instead charged $30 for the cost of the video (or was it $20? I can't remember because I was so pissed off at the very concept of such blatant deception that I went deaf after my wife explained the basic scam to me.). I do remember saying, even before she was finished with her tirade, that it was a lawsuit waiting to happen, and that millions of customers would be just as incredulous across the country as we were in our little corner of it.

My wife, in beautiful "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take it anymore!" fashion, bitched until the store manager promised to credit our account for the overcharge. Two days later, we drove to Blockbuster to rent another movie.....and turned left and pulled into Hollywood Video instead. For us, it the was "THE END OF BLOCKBUSTER!".

And sure enough, in the first of what promises to be dozens of lawsuits, New Jersey Attorney General Peter Harvey filed suit against Blockbuster, saying that "Blockbuster's ads are fraudulent and deceptive". Duh. It doesn't take an attorney, much less an Attorney General, to figure that one out.

Blockbuster spokeswoman Karen Raskoph said (with a straight face, no less), "We are disappointed he took this action because we believe the end of late fees program is a terrific program, and we've received terrific feedback from our customers and employees." Thanks, Karen, that's just, uh, terrific! She also said that they had done everything to explain to customers how the scam.....sorry, the "program" works, utilizing three shells, a two-headed coin, and a magic wand as visual aids. Okay, I added that last part, but you get the idea....IT WAS A CON! NO ONE, I REPEAT, NO ONE EXPLAINED A DAMN THING TO US.....until AFTER we returned our video. "Good news, Valued Customer, now you can watch 'Stupid White Chicks' over and over again without having to worry about paying a late fee....BECAUSE YOU JUST BOUGHT IT, SUCKER!"

Wait, that's not even the best part. While we (and, I'm guessing, millions of other Blockbuster customers) "take our business elsewhere" by renting from Hollywood Video instead, Blockbuster has been busy trying to take over.....anyone care to fill in the blank here?....Surprise!....Hollywood Video. That's right, folks. Can't beat the competition? No problem, we'll just BUY the competition. God, I love this country!

Hmmmm, I wonder what's on TV tonight. Nothing? Damn! Wait, I know! Let's watch "Stupid White Chicks" again!
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Taken from this blogger: http://www.faulkingtruth.com/

Knew it was gonna end in some sort of court proceeding.

Hmmm. Well, as with anything, it's always good to look at the fine print. Funny, I read about this Blockbuster program and understood the basics of it right off. If you keep the movie seven days past the due date (or is it the rental date?) you own it. But they give you a full month to bring it back for a 'refund' - less stocking fee.

I prefer Hollywood Video anyway.

If not that, the public library system loans out pretty much anything I would want. For free.

Netflix! Not perfect, but so much better than the alternative.
The library would be nice, but selection varies pretty heavily from region to region. My library has none. Some just historic movies or documentaries. And what's the late fee? A dime?

This is maybe the worst advertisement move in corporate history since New Coke.

New Coke was a brilliant business decision.

Why is this so confusing?

You keep it longer than a week and they charge your account for the movie. If you bring it back within 30 days of them charging you they take the charge off, less $1.50 for restocking it. That means you get up to 37 extra days with your movie for (at most) $1.50.

Blockbuster is Satan and I refuse to go there ever again.

It was, at least in one version i have heard from a Coke employee.

The reason for New Coke:

Coca-Cola's 100 year patent was about to expire.. meaning any company could then steal and market the formula. (and as we all know, the cheap store brand Cola's are a lot closer to Pepsi than Coke.). The only thing they could do was to pull the product from the shelves... thereby being able to get a new patent on it as a "New Product", with that new product being Coca-Cola Classic. New Coke was just created to fill the market void temporarily during the period they had to wait before the could apply for a patent for Coca Cola Classic.

Boy, too bad they're trying to limit frivilous lawsuits huh?

OOOOH I get it!

I dont know if its true, but its definately an intresting theory.

There can't be any other explanation for it. It was just ... awful. Awful. It happened when I was young and I still remember how gross it was.

I don't think "confusing" was the best term. The complaint is that Blockbuster's ads were deceptive. All that stuff you wrote there might be true, but it hardly constitutes "NO MORE LATE FEES." Of course, this would make a lousy banner:

You keep it longer than a week and we charge your account for the movie. If you bring it back within 30 days of our charging you and we'll take the charge off, less $1.50 for restocking it. That means you get up to 37 extra days with your movie for $1.50, and we make buku bucks selling movies to people that didn't want them, but forgot they had them.

I don't think it had anything to do with patents. It was just a huge blast of media exposure at a time when Pepsi was selling more soda. "Oh, you like Pepsi better? Well then .... we're taking Coke away." Queue the public, "NOOOOOOO! I want what I can't have! Give me Classic Coke!" The same thing happened this year with the flu shot.

Actually, I think it's a good deal. Without some kind of backup, there'd be no movies at Blockbuster to rent because they'll all be 'out' all of the time.
Any movies that aren't there for an extended period of time, they need to replace in order to keep the buisness open.
$1.99 is a lot cheaper than their old late fees (Like $3 every two days) and I think is more than fair to have to cover payment for whatever poor slub's job it is to take a movie out of their computer system only to have to put it back in again.

Same basic idea as before - if you rent the movie, take it back, and there won't be a problem. If you're not responsible enough to handle a task THAT simple, you don't deserve a card. Sheesh.

Well, aren't we judgemental of those who have other priorities in their life that do not involve Blockbuster rentals.

Anyways, you're right, that probably is a better deal, but then their commercial should say "We've changed our late return policy to make it a better deal for you." Not. "We've abolished all late fees!"

Well, if you're life is so incredibly busy and important that you can't handle that one extra super small responsibility of sliding a DVD through a slot, don't rent the movies.

And they did. You don't get charged just because it's a few days late anymore. Just because it doesn't mean you can take their movies and keep them free forever is no reason to get your panties in a twist. If you want a movie for $3, buy a videotape and wait for it to come on cable.

I could see Blockbuster making TONS of money off this. Because they charge these credit cards, they're making interest with everyone of those charges being in there account. I'm sure those numbers add up to something really large in a matter of weeks across the country.

All in all, it's not confusing. At least not to me. But some are easily misled, just look at the last election.