Morons at the Movie Store

The BBQ Pit
1

Mmmmkay. Now just forget the “newbie posting new threads” bullshit, as I think this a valid argument and will hopefully precipitate some heated debates.
What the hell is wrong with these customers at the movie store? They can’t keep track of the films they rent, so they will spend up to half an hour debating with employees about the cost of late rental fees. I think it is ridiculous to see these weary workers explain over and over again a 3rd grade math problem and still get rude, indignant replies from the customers.
My favorites:

  1. Well, then the computer’s wrong.
  2. Let me speak to the manager.
  3. But I didn’t check it out on (any day of the week).
  4. $1.95 for one day late? I just don’t believe that. That’s ridiculous? When did that change? It used to be less, I’m sure of it.

The list can go on forever.
Have you ever taken more than 3 minutes debating over some stupid late fee, even if it is more than $20, when you know on the inside you are at fault?
I think that the fault lies in responsibility. Somewhere down the line, I learned about being responsible for my actions, and to be honest in thought, word, and deed. I could never imagine doing something so rude, and if I genuinely believed there to be a mistake, I certainly wouldn’t raise my voice. Sometimes I think there should be a chalkboard and chalk installed at the registers so the cashiers can literally write out the problems for the jackasses.
I know some of you people have done this. I know some of you people have flipped your shit at some hapless cashier. How do you justify yourself?

PS:I don’t work at a movie store.

2

I can agree with most of this post, but let me posit one scenario which explains a $120 late charge, which is more than the damn tapes cost if I bought them new in a retail store.

My husband returned 4 videotapes to our local video store. The clerk, who was apparently busy, never bothered to check them back into the computer. THREE FREAKIN WEEKS later (and yes, I meant to shout), the videos were located (under the counter) and checked back in; thus, the large late charge. :mad:

The store attempted to charge me for the full $120, I said, sure, I’ll pay it, but I want the tapes back, since I paid for them. They said no way. I said, do you have any proof that I returned the tapes late? They said, no, that’s what they have to assume. Finally, the offending clerk fessed up. The late fee was wiped off the account. I STILL refuse to go in that store.

Now, whenever I rent movies (which isn’t that often, but still) or library books, or whatever, I stand there and watch the clerk check the items back in. Those movie bastards get enough of my money, I’ll be damned if they get any more.

Robin

3

I used to go to a large video rental place…probably the largest in the United States. I turned in a couple of videos, on time. A couple of weeks later, I go to check out another movie. I was informed that I needed to turn in my old movies and pay the late fee. We went round and round on this, over several days. The manager was never in. I called the store and went in several times. On my last visit, I read (upside down, and rather unethically, I must admit) a confidential memo about a group of store employees who were NOT checking movies in, and were taking them home. So I know what happened to my videos. The memo said to give the customer the benefit of the doubt. I wasn’t given such benefit. So I don’t patronize that place any more. Granted, my family wasn’t a huge customer, but we spent anywhere from fifty to a hundred bucks a month on rentals there. Now, of course, we spend that money at another place, but that’s another story.

4

Same here – I finally stopped renting after paying for the same movie three times.

My fault for not bothering to get and keep the receipt the first two times, I guess. So I’m a moron customer.

I wasn’t rude to the clerks – ever. The third time, I said “I can’t believe this is happening again” and that was it. I just got the receipt, shook my head and left. Never went back.

5

Well, I see the trend here is not exactly what the OP’er had in mind; but I’ll go ahead and add to it. I, too, was charged a late fee for a movie I returned well within the allotted time frame. So, I also make a point of watching the clerk check it in. Sometimes I think they get too busy hanging out to attent to their job properly.

6

I’m a cashier, not at a video store, but a cashier nonetheless. I’m very sympathetic and understanding of other cashiers when it’s my turn to be the customer, with the exception of video store clerks. On repeated occasions they have REALLY pissed me off, and that’s hard to do.

Justifiable? I’m not sure, but I’ll say;

Yes, if they insult your intelligence.
No, if they’re just doing their job.

7

I will not even to attempt to justify errors on the behalf of the cashiers. While the horror stories are interesting, true, they are not exactly answering the question. Whatever.
My point is that no matter how stupid the error may be, which is rarely in question, is one still justified in making a scene? I think not.
Also, one thing I noticed is that it seems that people seem to be referring to smaller stores. What about the major chains, such as Blockbuster?

8

DrAss–Of course no one here would ever think of arguing with a clerk if we knew it was our fault. The people who would do that aren’t smart enough to find this site.:smiley:

My son, 13, can check out videos at a major chain near our house. He did, left it at a friends house, I didn’t know, they called me at work and said I had a video overdue. I asked what and when, they said overdue 21 days!

I calmly asked how it could be overdue 21 days before they called me. Clerk said they had tried but couldn’t get me. I asked what policy was. How soon do you call? Clerk said 3-4 days. I said no one called me. I said “When do you call?” Every morning, around 9-10 I was told. I work every day, and there is no one home at this time I said. Well, most of the time, there is, said the clerk.

I sent a letter to the home office with $20 and my torn up membership card, and a letter detailing my complaint. Have yet to hear from them.

9

As it happens, my horror story WAS at Blockbuster. If the clerk is being a damned fool, I’ve found that it’s far more effective to remain calm, until I reach the manager. THEN I make a scene…

And if it’s my fault, of course, I just pay up.

10

Lynn, my bad video store experiences have also been at Blockbuster. I agree you should wait and speak with the manager, as it’s their job to receive all complaints. I’ve never personally made a ‘scene’, but I have gotten really angry. It is worth arguing if you know for a fact you’re right.

11

Quote from DrBadass:
My point is that no matter how stupid the error may be, which is rarely in question, is one still justified in making a scene?

No, of course not.

Reciprocally, are employees justified in making a scene when they know they’re in the wrong, yet they continue to argue with the customer? No. But do they still do it? Hell yes.

National video stores like Blockbuster and Warehouse have a lot of evil employees working for them. Not to say that smaller stores don’t, it’s just been my experience this occurs with the national ones.

I know two people who recently got hired at both of these aforementioned stores. Since they are relatively young and new to the company, their loyalty is not that great. So what do they do? They steal videotapes and videogames that have been dropped into the return bin.

The customer comes back to rent another movie, but the employee who stole their returned tape says they can’t rent it because they haven’t returned their last movie. The customer will adamantly profess they did. The employee will deny it.

You say the error hardly lies on the customer’s part? I beg to differ.

12

The SO and I’ve been screwed like this at our local library - we have received overdue notices in the mail for books that were returned months prior but not checked back in, merely reshelved, so we had to hunt the returned books down at the library. I got really pissed when this happened for the third time in as many months…

–ty

13

Easy. The clerks are usually wrong. I go straight to the Visa people with my problems. The manager always sends a note that the clerks are brain dead. But they won’t admit a 2-decimal point error on a standard rental. Clerks are more stubborn than smart, as your question shows.

14

Highest charge that’s ever been placed on a rental account of mine was about $160. I’d been away to college since January, and when I went back home in May, I went to the little independant video shop in my hometown. Being a small business in a small town, they rented on a phone number and a signature, no fancy membership cards. Turned out that someone had rented “Anal Invaders III” back in February using my phone number and never brought it back. Since my signature was obviously different from the one on that rental, and since I hadn’t even been in the state at the time of the rental, they wiped it out. Still, kinda bothersome…

The video store across the street from me apparently did the “forgot to check 'em back in” thing to me once; they sent a letter, which I took to the store, prepared to argue. An employee and I found 3 of the 4 movies they claimed I’d never returned sitting on the shelves. Sigh…

15

While I have never personally experienced these problems (and I am not doubting their validity), what can be done to avoid them?
Perhaps the customers should turn the movies in to the people directly, and then ask to see it scanned in. Granted, it takes more time to do this and is less convenient than the “drop box”, but it would probably do much more to keep errors like this from happening.
Has anybody tried this?

16

I’m surprised I haven’t seen my experience posted anywhere on this thread.

But first, in reply to the OP: I have argued with video store management about late fee’s much like a person argues over the price of a car. And, I don’t feel one iota of guilt or shame. I mean, $30.00 seems a bit outrageous for a couple movies a few days late. They make more money from late fees than they do from mere rentals alone. It’s like arguing with the bank that covered your $2.00 check and then charged you $25.00 for their services. I actually had a bank rep say that this was their way of showing appreciation to me for having an account with them. Yeah, O.K… That said, I feel I should I have the right to try and talk them down. Outlandish fee’s based on the guise of ‘punishment purposes’, that in actuality create huge amounts of profits for said company, is pure crappolla. They do it because of peoples guilt at feeling wrong. Most people would rather pay the exorbinant fee than argue the point the charge is excessive and unfair.

But, back to my original bitch. I too had an experience with BLOCKBUSTER that left me burned. The scenario: My girlfriend and I rented a couple of flicks for the weekend. Friday to Monday, I think. Come Monday night I drive up and drop of the movies in their drop box. Fine, no penalties here I think. Wrong. Turns out the place went out of business that same day. Sign, movies, everything ripped out within the week. I jokingly said to my gal that we could have kept the movies for free! We both laughed but felt pleasure in our undying honesty.

A month or so passes and while applying for a new apartment I’m told I have a mark on my credit report. Nothing that kept me from getting the apartment, thank God, but troubling all the same. The guy who checked my record said it was a bad post from -drumroll hear- BLOCKBUSTER. The bastards not only went out of business because they suck, but they determined, arbitrarily I might ad, that I still owed them money. Horseshit I said (FYI, trying to find a way to argue with an out of business company is no easy feat, but I did find an open one ten blocks away)I returned the movies that Monday night I said. No you didn’t they said. Yes I did I replied, and by the way, how the hell would you know anyway, your not tied to their computer in the first place, an issue I fought about long before MY store closed. Well, they said, prove you did. What? How the hell can I prove I did when the store’s out of business? Talk to a manager they said. How can I talk to a manager of an out-of-business store? Sorry sir, we’re not affiliated with that branch and can’t help you there you need to take it up with the collections department. Whose collection department I ask. Its been transfered to an out of office company for purposes of collections and we can’t help you there. So, what do I do? Nothing! And proud of it. Two years later I still have the mark on my credit report and BLOCKFUCKINGBUSTER still believes I owe them money. Assholes. If this isn’t like arguing to a brick wall I don’t know what is. Neither their side nor my side will give in. I say prove I didn’t, they say they don’t have to. I say their bankrupt and couldn’t come after me even if I didn’t return the movies. Back and forth and all the while they have the upper hand by besmirching my credit report. Jerk offs.

Sorry to rant and rave but apparently this is still a touchy subject. I’ll go grab a beer and relax.

Anyrate, Didn’t mean to go off but I believe that you should, nay, it’s your right, to argue things you don’t agree with, whether or not your right or wrong. Barbaric fees need to be fought!!!

17

A couple of stories:
[list]
[li]I used to have a membership at a local store. One Friday, I rented two movies. They were due back in 5 days, Tuesday before close of business.[/li]
We watched both on Friday and Saturday, and I returned them Sunday.

Then a month later, I get a letter saying I owe them for 1 night overdue charge. I say it’s impossible that it was overdue, since I turned both movies in 2 days early. They wouldn’t budge. So I basically said, “screw you,” and didn’t hear from them again.

Two months later, they were out of business. I have a funny feeling that a whole lot of other people got this treatment too.

[li]In 1984, I was visiting my parents for a month. To pass time while they were at work and I was through sightseeing, I got a library card at the local library. They lent movies out for two days, and they had some really esoteric titles, so it was a good deal.[/li]
My last week there, I tried to check out a movie. I was told I needed to return my last movie and pay a fine. I told them I had returned it the next day. She argued the point until I asked how many copies of the movie did they have? She said just the one, which was why, she lectured me, it was so important to return things on time. So I asked her to follow me.

I led her straight to where the movie in question was sitting on a shelf. I then showed her the check out card in its sleeve. Right below my imprinted ID number and the date I’d checked it out was another patron’s ID and their check-out date, the day after I had checked it out. So I asked her how this person could’ve checked it out the next day if I’d never returned it. She turned shades of pink in embarassment.

But wait, there’s more! I checked out the movies I’d originally brought up to the desk. The next day, I returned them. The librarian on duty then told me I had to pay a one day late fee on both. I then point at the cards that she’s pulled out of the file and ask when I checked them out. She quoted the day before’s date. So I ask her why I’m getting charged for being one day late when I’m one day early. Some mumbling and stammering. Then, after she admits that I owe nothing, she can’t check them in. Seems she’s having trouble with the computer. So she sets my movies aside and says she’ll have her supervisor check them in, since she having trouble with the new computer.

My guess is that she was the one who handled my first movie problem, and had set movies aside that she had problems with. It probably never got checked-in via computer, but she probably put the card back in, and the movie was returned to the shelf. And I’d guess some computer programming error is what gave rise to my second.

18

here in iceland renting a new movie cost somewhere around $7 and an old one aroun $2.
[list]
[li]if you return the movie late you have to pay full fee.[/li][li]every 6th movie you rent is free(hypothesis) but you dont get points for the days you are charged for returning the movie late.[/li][li]i have not found a single letter in the book of law about movie rentals authority to charge you for returning the movie late, granted of course that its a neceessary company policy, but if you return the movies and dont pay the late fee, you havent done any crime. the company can of course refuse to rent you movies from that point, but they can not accuse you of having broken any law.[/li]
i say this because ive had similar experiances to the “left the movie at a friends house”. true that the fault is all mine or my friends, but if i dont want to rent a movie there ever again, its my deal. they have been sending letters threatening to send the case to a lawyer. because of a late fee of $50 or something like that.

bj0rn - post #666: four words: sarcasm sucks!

19

[list][li]bj0rn - post #666: four words: sarcasm sucks![/li]bj0rn - post #666: four words: sarcasm sucks!

20

I used to work customer service for a very large catalog company. I have heard soooooooooo many lame stories from customers it would be laughable if it weren’t so sad. People seem to have such a hard time taking responsibility for their actions and admitting their mistakes.

Now think about it. If you were mailing a $1,000 ring or a CPU through the good ol’ USPS, wouldn’t you plunk down a little bit of money to insure it? Or sent it through UPS, where it can be traced? Of course you would. Not so idiots who would scream at me for 15 minutes because we refused to credit them for merchandise that went missing.

If your fucking brat stuck a PB&J sandwich into the front slot of your VCR, would you expect anyone to give you your money back for defective merchandise? Of course not. Try explaining THAT to a fucking redneck grade school drop out.

Now, I know that some higher-class department stores have a “return it anytime” policy. However, the catalogs we sent out clearly stated that no credit would be given after six months. You would not BELIEVE how many customers order something in June and call us 26 December because they didn’t think to open the box before then and didn’t discover the item was broken til they gave it as a gift.

When someone gets pulled over for a speeding ticket, does s/he take their lumps because they got caught breaking the rules? Nope. Bitch out the cop – it’s his/her fault. After all, you weren’t going any faster than anyone else.

Late fee on your credit card? Of COURSE it’s corporate America being assholes. It couldn’t POSSIBLY be because you mailed your check the day before the payment was due.

$25 dollar fee for a $4 bounced check? Never mind the fact that bouncing a check is AGAINST THE LAW, PEOPLE, and the bank is letting you off with that fee.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ve read the other posts and understand where they’re coming from. The OP was about taking responsibilities for one’s actions and not chewing out the person who calls you on your mistake. Cashiers and clerks and customer service reps don’t get paid enough to listen to you bitch and moan and swear and scream because you can’t follow the rules.