Complain about a product or service

Blockbuster Late Fees

Blockbuster • Late fees • Misleading Claims • Blockbuster Online • Insider's View --- News • Blockbuster Abandons Customer Data on NYC Street • Loss Of Late Fees Hurts Blockbuster • States Settle With Blockbuster • New Jersey Sues Blockbuster • Blockbuster "Eliminates:"Late Fees • Blockbuster Settlement

John of Scottsdale, AZ January 23, 2009

John of Scottsdale AZ (01/23/09)
I received a call from the manager of Blockbuster store at Grayhawk saying I failed to return 2 movies & that I was going to be charged for both plus late fees. I called my wife & she said she did in fact return both movies in 2 days after they were rented, I called the manager back & had him check the shelves, he did in fact find both & verified that they were returned 48hrs after being rented so he said they were probably not scanned in so he did remove the cost but did not remove any late charges! ripoff!! will not be useing BB anymore !!

Jessica of Noblesville, IN January 21, 2009

Jessica of Noblesville IN (01/21/09)
I received a letter in the mail today stating that I owed about 35 to blockbuster. Now, I did rent two moves and returned them 2 weeks after the due date. However, I have done this many times because there are NO LATE FEES. I called the store to see why I owed this money. I was informed that I now own the movies that I returned late. I explained that I had returned the movies. He informed me that they had the movies in the store but I sill had to pay for them.

I told him that both movies were awful and I had no desire to own them. He said that, conveintly, I dont have to take the movies but i have to pay for them regardless. I told him they should be informing their customers in the change policy of late fees. His response was that it was on the receipt. How many people do you know that read the receipt from anywhere let alone the video store? I am done with Blockbuster.

Tammy of Ocala, FL January 11, 2009

Tammy of Ocala FL (01/11/09)
I went to return my videos that were about 3 weeks over due. I thought it didn't matter because their were no longer any late fees, they are trying to keep up with netflix. But the cashier said hold on because you might own these now. She looked at my account and said you own these. All 80.00 dollars worth. I said I thought their were no late fees. They changed their policy 3 years ago she said. I told her that they should have informed their customers about their policy change.

The customer standing next to me said oh yeah, they quietly changed their policy a few months ago the cashier said it's been that way for 3 years now. I said I will never shop at Blockbuster again. I paid 15.00 toward the balance of the 80.00 I now owed with my gift card and told her I would pay the balance as soon as I got the money, took my receipt, and I left.

I looked at the bottom of my receipt and noticed their *NOTICE*. It said this....

Starting Tuesday, October 6, 2008, rental terms at this store have changed. And it went on to explain the change in terms. It didn't change 3 years ago like she said, apparently it changed in October. She didn't even know and she works their!

For a family that lives pay check to pay check, 80.00 is a lot of money. I have not yet paid the fees, except for the 15.00 gift card I put towards it. I don't think we will. My husband refuses. He say's their practicing unethical buisness practices. They would not even reduce the amount of money we have all ready paid for the cost of renting the video.

Cs of West Linn, OR January 7, 2009

Cs of West Linn OR (01/07/09)
Two weeks before Christmas our town was hit by a HUGE winter snow storm, our Children were out of school for five days because of the weather.

Blockbuster is located up a very steep hill (I couldn't even make it out of my flat cul-de-sac). When the weater finally let up, two weeks later, we were able to go grocery shopping (by the way Safeway, right next to this Blockbuster, hadn't had a delviery for over a week and was completely out of produce) and return the videos and rented games.

BUT, after New Years, when we went in to rent movies, we were told that we owned two games and that our account (a debit card mind you) had been charged 160!!! There was no phone call, no warning, no concern for the making the charge.

Now, I know the policey, it is on the receipt. I also have a huge amount of compassion for the young people that work there, they are professional and very helpful. BUT this is too much! I disagree with this business practice, it is on the verge of cruel and unusual punishment and almost crooked.

There is no way around the policy, there is nothing that allows the employees to wave the practice due to bad weather or for making an exception for weekly customers.

We have decided as a family to never offer Blockbuster our business again, we are canceling our membership and will try Netflix now. What a shame for them and for us, noone wins.

What a horrible time for this to happen to us. We cut back on Christmas this year in a big way, things are very tight for us, as they are with everyone. And then to be charged 160 without any warning, against our debit card has frightening results of even more cutting back. What a shame, noone wins, but it would seem that some goodwill on the part of big business would matter to them.

Charles of Largo, FL January 2, 2009

Charles of Largo FL (01/02/09)
I went to Blockbuster today in order to trade in a DVD from their mail-order program of which I have been a member for about a year. When I went to the register I discovered that I had a 4 late fee assessed to my account. It was never made known to me that Blockbuster started charging late fees again when I rented this, but I was still charged. I'm very glad I returned it before it got to be bigger than this, but this is absolutely ridiculous. As soon as I arrived home, I canceled my Blockbuster account and signed up for Netflix.

I had to pay 4 that Blockbuster did not deserve, but I definitely feel like I was cheated out of this 4.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Share		Follow us on Twitter.

Back to the top |