Blockbuster eliminating late charges?

[Ro]

From IMDB.com:

Blockbuster Ends Late Fees


Tacitly admitting that one of the greatest attractions posed by its online rivals is that they permit customers to rent movies for an unlimited time, Blockbuster announced Tuesday that it is eliminating late fees -- sort of. The movie rental company will continue to set due dates for the return of videos, but customers will be allowed a one-week grace period. After that period expires, the entire price of the video will be charged to the customer's credit card at the lowest price offered in the store. Even then, the customer will be able to return the video and have the charge removed less a $1.25 "restocking" fee. In related Blockbuster news, Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has increased his stake in Hollywood Entertainment Corp, parent of the Hollywood Video chain, to nearly 10 percent of the company. He also holds an undisclosed number of shares in Blockbuster and is pushing for a merger of the two companies. In an SEC filing, Icahn said, "Because of the synergies that would be involved in a combination of Blockbuster and [Hollywood], Blockbuster would be in a position to offer the greatest amount of consideration to [Hollywood's] shareholders." But media analyst Dennis McAlpine told Video Store magazine that he doubted regulators would allow a Blockbuster/Hollywood merger to go forward. "The interest in the industry would pretty much dry up because there would be no competition," McAlpine said. "As much as Blockbuster has said all these wonderful things [about a merger with Hollywood], they are the same things I would say if I thought I had a problem [with federal regulators]. And I think they do."

[moon]

Does this mean they will wipe out all of my charges that I currently have?

If so I will be back there in a a heart beat.

[Tron_fdc]

pffft

no freaking word of a lie, I just got a call 5 minutes ago reminding me my movie was late. We shall see about this "no late charge" crazy talk, now won't we.

[arsenal]

I know in the states in certian markets they were testing this out during the summer.
Lafayette LA was one test market.

[Eagle Eye]

It isn't supposed to start unitl Jan 1 in the US and sometime in the new year in Canada

[Indi]

VHQ is kind of doing something similar. They mail you the dvd, you watch it at your leisure, and mail it back, postage already paid. No late fees.

heres the link

vhq

I think the intent is to actually get you to buy the flick, rather than rent it. It actually makes good sense, from an economic standpoint. I just did a whole management course about Blockbuster......they are trouble, actually the whole video rental industry is in trouble. With the movie studios selling directly to you and I, and with TIVO and movies on demand becoming more mainstream, profits are dwindling at your fav neighbourhood video store. Ever notice the large amount of gaming titles appearing. The only thing that will help them asap is the addition of new formats ie BLueray and HDDVD

jc

[Fire]

Read carefully... Blockbuster will eliminate late fees but will ASSUME you want to buy the DVD/game is you do not return it in time! Thus charging you credit card for the full amount of the DVD/game. Is this suppose to be good news?

[Heaton]

Originally posted by Fire@Dec 16 2004, 01:23 AM
Read carefully... Blockbuster will eliminate late fees but will ASSUME you want to buy the DVD/game is you do not return it in time! Thus charging you credit card for the full amount of the DVD/game. Is this suppose to be good news?

this is after 16 days of being late, and yes it starts on jan. 1st.

[greyshep]

Originally posted by Heaton+Dec 15 2004, 07:39 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Heaton @ Dec 15 2004, 07:39 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Fire@Dec 16 2004, 01:23 AM
Read carefully... Blockbuster will eliminate late fees but will ASSUME you want to buy the DVD/game is you do not return it in time! Thus charging you credit card for the full amount of the DVD/game. Is this suppose to be good news?

this is after 16 days of being late, and yes it starts on jan. 1st. [/b][/quote]
So you can keep movies that you rent for 15 days without penalty??

How can a video rental operation ever expect to know when titles will be returned for other customers?

Maybe this isnt an issue anymore with the mass numbers of copies they have of each title though??


How about older titles where they only have a few copies?



Very strange.

[BlackArcher101]

After a week late, they charge you the full price.

If you wish to return it after a week late, they will give you a partial refund of the full cost. I'm guessing the longer you wait after the 1 week, the smaller the refund you get back, or the larger the cost you pay.

So they are basically still charging late fees, it's just that they are delayed 1 week now.

[RatherDashing]

The article clearly says that when you return it, you only pay a $1.25 late fee, and if they do charge you for the movie, its the cheapest possible price that you could buy it for at blockbuster. All in all, sounds like a pretty sweet deal, plus who keeps a rented movie for two weeks?

[metallicat]

I don't use Blockbuster anymore anyways. I am one of the many that get suckered into buying all of my DVDs.