The End Of Late Fees, The Start Of Screwing You A Little More
I've been a long-time movie watcher. I love movies. I dig going to the theater to enjoy the big-screen experience with the crazy surround sound, but also enjoy renting a movie and watching it in the pseudo-privacy of my home. Make up some popcorn, prop up on the couch, and take bathroom breaks whenever you want during a 5-disc 4-and-a-half-hour-long LOTR super extra bonus deleted scenes extended director's cut platinum edition DVD screening. I dig on the movies and I wish I had IMDB implanted in my brain permanently.
With that established, I have been an upstanding citizen of movie renting for many years. When the two movie renting powerhouses of Hollywood and Blockbuster were firmly secured, I quickly scoped each one out to determine which store I would devote years of loyal membership and wads of tasty cash upon. The decision was not difficult. I spoke to a few friends who were loyal customers of one store or the other. To a person, they all agreed Hollywood and Blockbuster were nearly the same, except Blockbuster required you to give them an imprint of a credit card to get a membership, while Hollywood just needed your drivers license. Being a young adult in good credit standing, I had access to several credit cards. However, I had no wish to turn over my card in to the hands of some jackass kids behind the counter at a Blockbuster, with permission to charge anything they deemed greatly overdue to my credit account. So, Hollywood it was.
Years later, Netflix arrived and the choice became clear once again. No late fees, you say? Ship the DVD directly to my door with pre-paid return postage? I can pick every movie I want online and put it in a queue? Hot damn! I stopped renting from Hollywood and enjoyed Netflix for years more, without even stepping in to a video rental store.
When I got the PS2, I began trolling the used rental games for sale at Blockbuster, thanks to the advice from Noland. Sometimes, you could pick up a decent 6-month-old used game there for $5 to $10. A bargain, compared to the $50 price tag on them when they first came out. They built 2 Blockbuster stores close to my house, so I had plenty of ground to pick over, looking for good used games. You don't have to have a membership to buy movies or games there.
What's the point? Ah, yes. So, Blockbuster has just announced "The End Of Late Fees" at their store. When I heard this, my ears began to do that thing where they listen. No more late fees, huh? This was weeks ago and I just kinda put it to the side, thinking "Wow, it looks like they're really trying to compete with Netflix". Then, a couple days ago I'm like, "Wait a minute. They're a bunch of a-holes. There's got to be some catch to this!"
After navigating their web site thru a few clicks and some Flash brouhaha, I came across the fine print -- literally. Let me spill the real bean dip here. When you rent a video from Blockbuster, the return date still shows up on your rental slip. Their rentals are normally five (5) days long. With this "end of late fees" nonsense, they won't change you a late fee if you bring the video back within two (2) days after the rental return date. Essentially, your 5-day rental becomes a 7-day rental. Here's the good part though: if, on the 8th day you haven't returned the video -- they don't charge you late fees (no more late fees, remember?). Instead, they change your credit card with the full amount of the video as if you had purchased it. A "sale", as they put it. Nice, huh? You still have thirty (30) days after that time to bring the video back in with a full re-imbursement to your credit card; minus a "restocking" fee -- which they are vague about, but is bound to be quite similar to their old late fee.
Click here to read the full details
But Mr. Bad Fetch, isn't that just blatant false advertising, put on by a huge, extremely wealthy corporation? Doesn't this happen every day? Yes, I know it does. Shut the hell up. If you have any evil corporation stuff that you would like to share, get a blog and whine about it there, just like I do here. I know, I'm a freaking Sherlock.
With that established, I have been an upstanding citizen of movie renting for many years. When the two movie renting powerhouses of Hollywood and Blockbuster were firmly secured, I quickly scoped each one out to determine which store I would devote years of loyal membership and wads of tasty cash upon. The decision was not difficult. I spoke to a few friends who were loyal customers of one store or the other. To a person, they all agreed Hollywood and Blockbuster were nearly the same, except Blockbuster required you to give them an imprint of a credit card to get a membership, while Hollywood just needed your drivers license. Being a young adult in good credit standing, I had access to several credit cards. However, I had no wish to turn over my card in to the hands of some jackass kids behind the counter at a Blockbuster, with permission to charge anything they deemed greatly overdue to my credit account. So, Hollywood it was.
Years later, Netflix arrived and the choice became clear once again. No late fees, you say? Ship the DVD directly to my door with pre-paid return postage? I can pick every movie I want online and put it in a queue? Hot damn! I stopped renting from Hollywood and enjoyed Netflix for years more, without even stepping in to a video rental store.
When I got the PS2, I began trolling the used rental games for sale at Blockbuster, thanks to the advice from Noland. Sometimes, you could pick up a decent 6-month-old used game there for $5 to $10. A bargain, compared to the $50 price tag on them when they first came out. They built 2 Blockbuster stores close to my house, so I had plenty of ground to pick over, looking for good used games. You don't have to have a membership to buy movies or games there.
What's the point? Ah, yes. So, Blockbuster has just announced "The End Of Late Fees" at their store. When I heard this, my ears began to do that thing where they listen. No more late fees, huh? This was weeks ago and I just kinda put it to the side, thinking "Wow, it looks like they're really trying to compete with Netflix". Then, a couple days ago I'm like, "Wait a minute. They're a bunch of a-holes. There's got to be some catch to this!"
After navigating their web site thru a few clicks and some Flash brouhaha, I came across the fine print -- literally. Let me spill the real bean dip here. When you rent a video from Blockbuster, the return date still shows up on your rental slip. Their rentals are normally five (5) days long. With this "end of late fees" nonsense, they won't change you a late fee if you bring the video back within two (2) days after the rental return date. Essentially, your 5-day rental becomes a 7-day rental. Here's the good part though: if, on the 8th day you haven't returned the video -- they don't charge you late fees (no more late fees, remember?). Instead, they change your credit card with the full amount of the video as if you had purchased it. A "sale", as they put it. Nice, huh? You still have thirty (30) days after that time to bring the video back in with a full re-imbursement to your credit card; minus a "restocking" fee -- which they are vague about, but is bound to be quite similar to their old late fee.
Click here to read the full details
But Mr. Bad Fetch, isn't that just blatant false advertising, put on by a huge, extremely wealthy corporation? Doesn't this happen every day? Yes, I know it does. Shut the hell up. If you have any evil corporation stuff that you would like to share, get a blog and whine about it there, just like I do here. I know, I'm a freaking Sherlock.
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