On May 11, I went to rent some video's at the Blockbuster Video store that I have been using since 1997. I was told that I owed $8.38 for late charges. I said that was impossible since I have health problem's and don't work. I have nothing better to do than remember to return tapes on time!
The young man said they had a system of checks and balances and that I must have been late. (He basically said I was lying like everyone else that claims they are never late.) I put the three tapes back that I was going to rent, pulled out a $20.00 dollar bill and paid the $8.38. I then said that I was not late, and that I would never do business with Blockbuster again.
The next day, I was still mad about the charge and decided to go in and get more information as to when they said I actually returned the movies. They said their computer timed the return of my movies as approximately 5:00 pm, May 5, a Sunday. The movies were due back May 2, a Thursday.
Upon returning home, I checked my calendar, and now I know that there is no confusion on my part, because my husband and I were 110 miles away in Fremont, Wisconsin for the whole weekend and didn't even begin to return home until 4:30 pm on that day. We didn't get into Brookfield until 6:30 pm to 7:00 pm. How could I have been at two places at once? There is no one else living with us, and we did not give those movies to anyone else to watch and return for us! I did return those movies on time, but because I don't have a receipt for returning them, I have no proof.
I urge everyone to keep their original receipts and walk their movies in and have them signed off on by a real human being. Don't use the drop boxes. Protect yourself, and if you are really smart, you will not take this kind of business practice lightly. Vote with your feet, out their door and don't let a company with "class action" suits regarding this very issue take your money.
They are so sure that they are right, that they are basically calling me a liar. How do they account for the fact that we were not even in town at that time?
If Blockbuster was so concerned about keeping me as a customer, the young man that I first spoke with, and the Manager I later spoke with, should have looked up my account, and they would have seen that I have never had a late charge since 1997. Future behavior is usually predicted by past behavior. There was a opportunity for a customer to be kept, not lost. They blew it! But of course, there is nothing wrong with their system!
Mary
Brookfield, Wisconsin
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