No shit, Einstein. The argument wasn’t over whether tapes are still considered ‘late’. But you’re not charged a late fee. The movie is sold to you flat out. A late fee would mean the tape still belonged to the store, and you were being charged a fee for keeping it for an additional period of time.
Now, they just say fuck it, it’s yours. How the hell is that a late fee? If anything, it’s like you’re getting a test-drive. Pay $4, get a week to determine whether you want to keep it and buy it.
This would make a great marketing campaign for car rental places.
Sir: “I’m here to return my rental car.”
Alamo: “It was due back at noon.”
Sir: “I know, but traffic was bad. So, do you charge me a late fee?”
Alamo: “Oh no sir, we don’t have late fees.”
Sir: “Really, that’s great!”
Alamo: “No, we just charged you $22,000 for the car.”
Sir: “Can I get a refund?”
Alamo: “Sure can! Along with a restocking fee.”
Sir: “Well allelujah! At least there was no late fee!”
Spare me the attitude.
You are being charged a fee because the movie was late. That’s a late fee. No, it’s not the same as the previous “late fees”, but it is still a fee for being late.
Um, so no one thinks it’s possible that Blockbuster changed their policy not for the purpose of incurring even more fees but simply to attract new customers? Everything is not a conspiracy, people.
From reading this thread, I’m under the impression that most people’s beef isn’t with the policy itself, or its purpose, but with the way it is marketed.
No, you are having the movie sold to you. It will belong to you, you can take it home and pet it and love it and stick whatever you want in the little hole in the centre. It ceases to be Blockbuster’s property and is now yours. For some perspective, the $16.99 you pay for the film (if you choose to keep it), is equivalent to just 6 days of “late fees” under the old system.
We have had people forget to return two films and go away on vacation. When they came back, they had $40 or $70 of fees on their account, and they got absolutely nothing out of paying that money to us, other than the assurance that their credit rating would not be affected. Now, there is absolutely zero possibility of that happening.
And if you choose to return it after that, you’re selling it back to Blockbuster? 
You’re returning it for store credit, no?
So, when I return an purchase to Best Buy and am charged a 15% restocking fee, that’s a late fee? Or do the same at Circuit City? Or at any other place that charges a restocking fee for returning items?
Do those other places only charge a fee when you return an item after a certain date? If so, then it is a late fee.
The real question is, of course, will Blockbuster be charging fair prices for movies? If so, how will they keep afloat? I was led to believe that they paid extremely high prices for their videos from the distributors.
LaurAnge, that’s not true anymore. It used to be, back in the days when rental videos were released several weeks before the same title was available retail. This inflated the price of “rental-purpose” videos. Now that rental is available at the same time as retail, distributors can’t get away with inflating the price for rental outlets to buy.
In short, if we end up selling the film to the customer, the customer will likely be paying approximately twenty bucks per film (and that’s IF they choose to buy it instead of paying the measly restocking fee).
The reason why the restocking fee is not a late fee: because it covers the cost of transferring the item from rental to retail and back again. It’s not a penalty; it goes to cover our admin costs.
No, they only charge you a fee when you return the item AFTER PURCHASE. Same as Blockbuster. If you return the movie to Blockbuster before they make you buy it, you will have no fee beyond the initial rental fee.
Are you people that fucking obtuse?! How long do you think Blockbuster should let you keep a RENTAL before making one pay a penalty (be it a late fee, or making you buy the damn movie)? Why do you all seem to have a problem with a RENTAL company wanting their property back after the contracted time of rental or being given some sort of compensation if you elect to break the contract? You should be thankful they didn’t decide to start charging people with theft.
How many fucking people have to post to this thread and accuse people of wanting to keep movies for free? Is this issue so complex that it takes a fucking genius to understand it?
Yeah, and the library too. :rolleyes:
Uh huh. If you return it after a certain date, they “make you buy it” and then you’re returning something you “bought” and paying a fee. You would not pay that fee if you returned it a few days earlier.
BTW, I don’t know what kind of Best Buy stores you’re going to, but I’ve never been charged a restocking fee there. A couple weeks ago, my mom even returned something to Best Buy without the packaging it came in, and they didn’t charge her a fee.
The major point I see being made in this thread is that BBV shouldn’t claim they’re eliminating late fees when, in effect, you still pay a fee when you return a movie after a certain date, but not before. If it looks like a late fee and quacks like a late fee, then it is a late fee, even if it’s called something else.
It’s not a late fee, it’s an involuntary post-deadline acquisition reimbursement and/or obligatory restocking contribution. But it’s not a late fee!
Do you know any other stores that give away a free DVD with every late penalty?
Okeydoke, if you say so, but the difference is that instead of paying a shitload of money and getting dick-all, you either pay for the movie and keep it, or you help BB pay its admin costs.
Late fees were a punishment. They were gravy for BB. Now, if a customer is giving us their money, they are actually getting something out of it.
All I know is people bitched and bitched in multiple pit threads about that gasp horrible company Blockbuster and how dare they charge me a late fee for keeping a movie past the contractually agreed time frame. Now, when instead of charging you late fees, they just say, hey - you’ve got a seven day grace period (which seems pretty damn fucking generous to me considering it’s a loss of revenue for them). If after all that time, they just assume you love the movie so much you want to buy it and hug it and name it ‘George’. That’s not a late fee - it’s a purchse. And, if you say, ‘hey! I don’t this movie’, they’ll even let you return it. All they will do is charge a minimum restocking fee (which is neither unheard or, or unreasonable). That’s still not a late fee.
Sure - why not? It is theft if you don’t return someone else’s property. The library will charge late fees. And if you tell them you lost the book - they charge you the cost of replacing the book. I know for a fact that some college libraries won’t even let you register for classes if you have any unreturned books at their library. I don’t see anything wrong with that.
No, you wouldn’t, because you wouldn’t have purchased the item if you’d returned it a few days earlier. I asked a question in the post you quoted some of:
How long do you think Blockbuster should let you keep a RENTAL before making one pay a penalty (be it a late fee, or making you buy the damn movie)? Why do you all seem to have a problem with a RENTAL company wanting their property back after the contracted time of rental or being given some sort of compensation if you elect to break the contract?
Why don’t you answer that instead of trying to make Blockbuster into the bad guy for wanting either 1) their property back or B) reasonable compensation to replace said property?
As I said directly above - a seven day grace period to return a movie late without any penalty whatsoever is pretty fucking generous.
I don’t know about Best Buy because I’ve never had to return something there, but I’ve seen plenty of return policies that spell out a “restocking fee” for certain merchandise. Again, it’s not unheard of, nor is it unreasonable.
But they did elimanate late fees. You have a seven day grace period to return your movie late and you pay nothing beyond the initial rental fee. After that period of time, they sell you the movie. It’s not a late fee - it’s a SALE, a purchase. If it was a late fee, you would not receive goods in exchange for this charge, but you do receive goods - you get the movie. If you decide to return your purchase, they charge you a restocking fee to offset their administrative costs. Still, it is NOT a late fee, but again I’ll ask you - how long do you think they should let one keep a movie past the CONTRACTED agreement before seeking compensation of whatever sort?