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Blockbuster Late Fees

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Mark of Fort Worth, TX May 16, 2009

Blockbuster advised me to have their movies back by midnight the following evening or pay a fee. I returned at five minutes till midnight and returned the movies. The next week when I want to rent a movie, they tell me I owe 4.85 in late fees. I told them I returned them on time, but they insisted they could not remove the fee and I would have to be charged. I told them I would not pay, and they said they could make an exception this one time, and said they could get fired if they did not adhere to blockbuster policies. I said their employment was no concern of mine, and I did not appreciate their inabilities to manage their business well.

John of Princeton, WV May 7, 2009

I do my banking online, this evening I noticed that Blockbuster had debited my account for 15.89. I immediately called my bank and they said this transaction was done at 12:33 am today. I knew that everyone in my family was home in bed, so my card could not of been used. The bank contacted the fraud department and put a hold on my account which means I can not use my debit card until I get a new one, which is inconvient for me because I use it all of the time.

Afterwards I called Blockbuster, knowing I had not been there for months, I was informed that my 17 year old son had rented a movie on 4-19-09 and it had not been returned therefore the price of the movie was taken out of my checking account. I asked them how they got my debit card info and was told that I must of rented a game because that is the only time they require a debit or credit card. I told them that was for the one time use only and the card info should of been deleted once the game was returned. She told me it will always be kept on file.

I asked them about contacting me by phone before they just took the money out of my account. They said it is not their policy. She stated when the movie is returned, it will be put back on my account. I will not ever do business with them again. Grant it, my son did rent the movie but it was an honest mistake of forgetting. They could of at least called and I would of made sure the movie was returned.

I plan on seeking legal advise about this matter. This is telling me and anyone else that has a debit card and they have it on file, they can go in at anytime and steal your money. I know where I work, if we take credit or debit cards, we can only put the info in the computer one time and can never keep any type of record with the numbers on it. Blockbuster Movie Rentals is a joke and what gives them the right to take money out of my account without letting me know ahead of time? I had to cancel my debit card, which is inconvenient because I use it all the time to pay bills, etc. It caused me to use about 2 hours of my time this evening trying to get it straight.

Genora of Ellenwood, GA April 14, 2009

Genora of Ellenwood GA (04/14/09)
I had rented two video games for my grandson two weeks ago and had to go into the hospital for surgery. I did not have anyone to return the games in my absence. Blockbuster took 128.00 from my account today and left me with a negative balance. Today, 4/14/09 is my first day at work so I had every intention of returning the games after work today. I leave my home at 6:45am so they are not open when I leave. I figured there would be late fees so I wanted to pay when I brought them back this afternoon.

Blockbuster must return my money to my account and I am going to alert my bank never to allow Blockbuster to be able to withdraw from my account ever again. I do not want to do business with a company with no regard for the consumer. This is a terrible practice. All they had to do was call my home and my phone number is on file for an explanation.

I had 3 checks to bounce because of this action and I now owe my bank 358.66 due to Blockbuster's reckless and thoughtless actions.

Julie of Decatur, TN March 31, 2009

Julie of Decatur TN (03/31/09)
i have an account with blockbuster and after they started the no late fees i noticed something very upsetting. if you rent a movie and it is due three days later (ex. rented on 1/1/09, due back on 1/3/09)they tell you that there will be no late fee if movie is not returned on due date. but what they dont explain is that three days after the due date, if movie is not returned, they will charge the price of the movie to the billing account you have on file, in my case this is my checking account. then when you do return the movie they are to credit the money back to your checking account minus 1.25 for a restocking fee. well once i figured this out, even though i didn't agree with it, i knew that if a movie was returned late i would be charged.

My complaint is this though. one day when reviewing my checking account for several months, i noticed something very disturbing. blockbuster would debit my checking account for a late movie but i could not find where they credited it back minus the 1.25 restocking fee, to my checking account, knowing fully well that the movie was returned. this is not just my word, it is blockbuster's policy that you can not rent anymore movies if you have not returned movies you have out that are late. i went in the store to bring this to their attention and make my complaint and they informed me that they could not pull up my account information in the store if it went back further than 1 month. and they gave me a form to fill out with my complaint and it would be sent to the corporate office and they would handle it.

i also requested on the form that i be sent a print out of my account history for the past 8 months so that i could compare it with my checking account info. to go over each debit and each credit. well that was 5 months ago and i have not recieved anything or has anyone from blockbuster contacted me. i really do believe that blockbuster is taking money from people but not giving it back after they get their product back in accordance to their policy. i am at a loss and i have not given up yet because i really need to know and want my money back. i just wanted to bring this to your attention so that maybe it will be looked into further so other customers are not scammed out of money by this company intentionally or not. thank you

loss of money, that was taken from my checking account, that should have been credited back. aprox. 300.00 to 500.00 is what i have come up with thus far.

Sherry of Arlington, TX March 21, 2009

Sherry of Arlington TX (03/21/09)
I have been going to the BLOCKBUSTER for over 10 years and not one time have I been treated like this before. I rented a couple of movies and I turned then back in per Danny. But he stated that I was a couple of days late. Not one time did I ever receive a phone call, email or even a letter in reference to the late fees. They charged me 1.99 per day per movie. I know I turned those movies in on time. And then they sent the late fee to the National Action Financial Services, Inc which is the collection agency that is collecting on 17.20. How sad that they can stoop so low in doing this. I am going somewhere else and they can take their money and shove it up their @%&!

Nicole of Lansing, MI March 6, 2009

Nicole of Lansing MI (03/06/09)
my movies were overdue due to a death in the family. they charged my credit card 22 dollars. this over drew my account so i am now charged 52 dollars. they NEVER called to let me know i need return my movies. so i went to the store and talked to the manager J. TYLER. she was rude, screamed at me, SWORE at me, and then threw the movies at me. i asked to speak to the store owner and she wouldnt give a person or number that i could talk to.

i cancelled my account and all my family members have cancelled their blockbuster accounts too. they are losing alot of business simply because the store manager was rude and i was very very poorly treated! i now owe the bank an extra 30 dollars because i was never contacted about my late movies

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