19-02-2005 13:05									#1
	New Jersey calls Blockbuster on BS "No Late Fees" Claim! Support Apolyton, buy Civilization III: Complete

I love my home state . If you want to claim "No Late Fees", make sure there aren't any. You can't just lie through your teeth!

http://money.cnn.com/2005/02/18/new...dex.htm?cnn=yes

quote: NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - New Jersey Attorney General Peter Harvey sued Blockbuster Inc. Friday, claiming the video rental chain is deceiving customers with its new 'No More Late Fees' rental policy. The lawsuit accused the movie rental chain of deceptive advertising and violating the state's consumer fraud laws. "Blockbuster boldly announced its 'No More Late Fees' policy, but has not told customers about the big fees they are charged if they keep videos or games for more than a week after they are due," the attorney general said in a statement. "There is no question about it – there is a violation of New Jersey's consumer fraud act," Harvey told CNN/Money. Under Blockbuster's (Research) new policy, put into effect on Jan. 1, customers can keep a rental for one week past the due date at no additional charge. After that, they are charged a restocking fee of $1.25. And if the overdue item is kept for more than 30 days, Blockbuster will charge the customer the retail value of the item. In a brief statement, Blockbuster defended the new policy, saying it was surprised and disappointed by the lawsuit. "The fact is there are no longer late fees at Blockbuster," the company said. "We're disappointed he (Harvey) took this action, because we believe our end-of-late fees program is a terrific program and we've received tremendous feedback from both our customers and employees." The company said it was "surprised" that Harvey did not contact company officials to allow them to explain the new policy. According to the Attorney General, investigators from the division of consumer affairs began examining the matter as soon as the policy went into effect as part of a pro-active consumer effort. "Our principal goal is restitution to the consumer," Harvey said. When asked if he ever rents movies from Blockbuster Harvey responded, "my kids do." Dallas-based Blockbuster (Research), with some 9,000 outlets in the United States, is reportedly facing growing opposition from antitrust enforcers over its hostile takeover bid to acquire Hollywood Entertainment Corp (Research)., its smaller rival. Hollywood Entertainment's board on Thursday rejected Blockbuster's bid in favor of a lower bid from Movie Gallery (Research), saying the Blockbuster deal "raises significant antitrust issues" that could cause delays or a rejection of the transaction by the Federal Trade Commission. Blockbuster shares closed modestly higher on the New York Stock Exchange Friday.

	20-02-2005 02:50									#2
	Got spare money?

WTF? How can they be that stupid?

	20-02-2005 02:51									#3
	Full PM-box? Change here!

If you keep it for 8+ days past the due date, why shouldn't they mark it as sold?

	20-02-2005 03:37									#4
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Do I understand Blockbuster's position correctly? If you're past the grace perid, they don't charge you a "late" fee, they charge you a "restocking" fee. But a fee is a fee is a fee.

Go gettem, New Jersey Attorney General Peter Harvey!!

	20-02-2005 03:41									#5
	Increase Your PM Length

Fah, anybody who bothers to read the stupid sign at Blockbuster knows what Blockbuster is doing. I guess the fine folks at the NJ AG office didn't bother (or care to) check out the details.

	20-02-2005 03:55									#6
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An AG looking to make a name for himself in the national media.

	20-02-2005 04:26									#7
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"No late fees" is very misleading though when it is not exactly true...they should have phrased it differently.

	20-02-2005 04:28									#8
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From what I understand, there aren't any fees... if you don't return it, they mark at sold (at "previously viewed" price if it applies) and you have a month to return it for your money back.

	20-02-2005 04:31									#9
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quote: Originally posted by Zkribbler Do I understand Blockbuster's position correctly? If you're past the grace perid, they don't charge you a "late" fee, they charge you a "restocking" fee. But a fee is a fee is a fee.

If they are charging restocking fees in addition, that still is quite different from a late fee. A late fee keeps adding up untill you return it, a restocking fee is for replacing the video which you have "bought" by not returning it.... what do people think, that you can check out a movie and never have to return it, basically buying videos for $2 (or whatever the hell they charge)?

	20-02-2005 04:43									#10
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quote: Originally posted by General Ludd what do people think, that you can check out a movie and never have to return it, basically buying videos for $2 (or whatever the hell they charge)?

Apparently people from NJ are that stupid.

	20-02-2005 06:25									#11
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... and LA.

	20-02-2005 12:31									#12
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quote: Originally posted by asleepathewheel An AG looking to make a name for himself in the national media.

Apparently the NJ Attorney General juuust beat three or four other state's AG in filing against Blockbuster for advertising fraud. I'm sure by the end of it, most states will be doing so.

	20-02-2005 13:13									#13
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quote: Originally posted by Provost Harrison "No late fees" is very misleading though when it is not exactly true...they should have phrased it differently.

Yes, the should have said, "Read my lips: No new late fees."

	20-02-2005 14:26									#14
	Suffering from ads?

**shrug** I'm not surprised about strings being attached. Heh. There was enough "fine print" in the commercials I read and saw to know that "No Late Fees" was just a marketing ploy, nothing more.

Gatekeeper

	20-02-2005 15:31									#15
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I use hollywood video

	20-02-2005 15:42									#16
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I refuse to use Blockbuster after they decided to charge my credit card $125, without consent or notification, for not returning a video that I didn't rent. A fact they only accepted when I was able to prove I hadn't been nearer than 16,000km to the store in question in over 6 months.

	20-02-2005 16:45									#17
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Heh, this lawsuit sounds stupid enough to actually be true. But it is amazing, as Ludd pointed out, to think that some people would really believe they could just hold on to rented movies forever without any consequence. That has got to be one of the most retarded things I've ever heard.

You can blame Blockbuster for a lot of things, including their lack of porn titles , but this isn't one of them.

	20-02-2005 21:42									#18
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quote: Originally posted by Dissident I use hollywood video

Which is in the midst of a hostile takeover attempt from Blockbuster. Enjoy!

	20-02-2005 22:22									#19
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quote: Originally posted by Boris Godunov Which is in the midst of a hostile takeover attempt from Blockbuster. Enjoy!

You didn't read the article POSER!

quote: Hollywood Entertainment's board on Thursday rejected Blockbuster's bid in favor of a lower bid from Movie Gallery (Research), saying the Blockbuster deal "raises significant antitrust issues" that could cause delays or a rejection of the transaction by the Federal Trade Commission

ACK!

	20-02-2005 23:03									#20
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This PR disaster for Blockbuster bodes well for Netflix. Who has experience using Netflix? Is it making sense?

	20-02-2005 23:08									#21
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Netflix

we've recently upped it to 5 at a time, so we're (wife and I) burning through about 25 or so dvd's a month.

	21-02-2005 01:02									#22
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quote: Originally posted by Boris Godunov Which is in the midst of a hostile takeover attempt from Blockbuster. Enjoy!

they would own nearly every single video store in the country! You think the FEC (or whoever handles anti-trust suits) would allow this? Yeah sure republicans are in power, and we know they cater to big business. But I still don't think this will fly.

	21-02-2005 02:33									#23
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Netflix is nice. However I figure that I'd need to watch 4 or 5 movies a month to get my money's worth. I don't have that kind of spare time so it's not an option.

	21-02-2005 13:05									#24
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quote: Originally posted by Tuberski You didn't read the article POSER!

Do you understand what a hostile takeover is?

The board recommended the shareholders say no, but that's just a recommendation. The shareholders might go with Blockbuster, because in terms of instant dollars, it's a far better deal.

And yeah, the regulators might nix the deal anyway, but with the GOP in power, who knows...?

	21-02-2005 13:14									#25
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Netflix PWNZ

	21-02-2005 13:17									#26
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quote: Originally posted by Dissident they would own nearly every single video store in the country! You think the FEC (or whoever handles anti-trust suits) would allow this? Yeah sure republicans are in power, and we know they cater to big business. But I still don't think this will fly.

Btw, the FEC is the Federal Elections Commission .

The Department of Justice deals with anti-trust issues.

	22-02-2005 01:15									#27
	Remove this text

I was thinking of the SEC actually. I put the wrong one down.