How would you handle this?

[Troll]

We only have 1 video store in town and unfortunately it is a Movie Gallery. They have now screwed me(or my family) out of money twice. The first time I went in and paid a 19 dollar late fee for 4 movies on my girlfriends account. Then 2 days later her dad goes to rent a movie on the account and they tell him there is a 19 dollar late charge, so he pays it. He tells me about it and I tell him I paid it earlier. I went in to movie gallery and they said that I did not pay it, pretty much calling me a liar. They said that I need a receipt to prove I paid it or else they can not ****** the account or issue a refund. After an arguement I left. Since they are the only video store in town I rented from them again 2 weeks later. I once again rented 4 movies and returned them on July 1st. I go in there Saturday and I have a late charge on the account for all four movies. They were not checked in until the 2nd. The woman at the counter told me "The manager checked these in, and she wouldn't make a mistake. If you want to rent another movie you have to pay the late fee." Well this time I am not paying the late fee, but how should I go about getting this cleared up, obviously going into the store won't work b/c the manager there is perfect.

[JeeberD]

Netflix

Don't ever go into that place again.

[Franklinnoble]

NetFlix

[yabanci]

Is this in Mayberry?

[cthomer5000]

demand to speak to the manager, and at least get the account closed with paying any further fees.

then - NetFlix

It certainly sounds like you watch movies enough to make it worthwhile.

[Maple Leafs]

From experience (I spent some summers in high school working in a video store way back when), I will tell you something you don't want to hear:

Video store owners in general, and lowly video store employees in particular, have better things to do with their time then engage in a concerted campaign to rip you off of a couple of bucks. Mistakes may happen, just like any business, but the odds that they're doing this intentionally to torment you are virtually nil.

There is no late fee so small that someone won't complain about it. People will drive up to the store in their sports car, get out wearing their Armani suit, and go argue with the pimply faced high school kid behind the counter over a 50 cent late fee. Every customer says "I paid it already" or "it wasn't late". Every single one.

Now maybe you're not that guy. Maybe you really did double pay the first time, and maybe your movies really weren't late the second time. It's quite possible. But don't expect them to believe you, because virtually everone else is lying about it constantly to save a few bucks.

[Jets80]

Steel something out of the store worth 19 bucks. Then you're even, Then start returning your movies on time.

[Franklinnoble]

Originally Posted by Jets80

Steel something out of the store worth 19 bucks. Then you're even.

Good one.

Better still, tape over rented movies with cheap porn - be sure to target anything with "Disney" on the cover.

[Jets80]

Originally Posted by Franklinnoble

Good one.

Better still, tape over rented movies with cheap porn - be sure to target anything with "Disney" on the cover.

Even Better!!

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

From experience (I spent some summers in high school working in a video store way back when), I will tell you something you don't want to hear:

Video store owners in general, and lowly video store employees in particular, have better things to do with their time then engage in a concerted campaign to rip you off of a couple of bucks. Mistakes may happen, just like any business, but the odds that they're doing this intentionally to torment you are virtually nil.

There is no late fee so small that someone won't complain about it. People will drive up to the store in their sports car, get out wearing their Armani suit, and go argue with the pimply faced high school kid behind the counter over a 50 cent late fee. Every customer says "I paid it already" or "it wasn't late". Every single one..

Now maybe you're not that guy. Maybe you really did double pay the first time, and maybe your movies really weren't late the second time. It's quite possible. But don't expect them to believe you, because virtually everone else is lying about it constantly to save a few bucks.

And there are crooked business owners who, because they have a monopoly, screw customers. There's only two video stores where I live now and one engages in some awfully abusive practices. Like not telling customers videos have to be in by a certain time of day to be considered "on time" - 6PM (which is absurd).

I'd say "screw 'em" and go Netflix. If they're that bad, then perhaps it's a business opportunity for someone else to open a store and provide better service.

[Draft Dodger]

ML is right. EVERYONE complains about the damn late fee.

I got fucked by my local store one-time, for a relatively minor amount, but the only arguement I had was "I already paid that" (the truth), but the guy behind the counter wasn't having any of it. He'd heard it 6,000 times before, it just so happened that I was right this time.

you need to talk to the manager and try to get it corrected. if he/she doesn't, then you either stop giving them your business, or you suck it up and deal.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

From experience (I spent some summers in high school working in a video store way back when), I will tell you something you don't want to hear:

Video store owners in general, and lowly video store employees in particular, have better things to do with their time then engage in a concerted campaign to rip you off of a couple of bucks. Mistakes may happen, just like any business, but the odds that they're doing this intentionally to torment you are virtually nil.

There is no late fee so small that someone won't complain about it. People will drive up to the store in their sports car, get out wearing their Armani suit, and go argue with the pimply faced high school kid behind the counter over a 50 cent late fee. Every customer says "I paid it already" or "it wasn't late". Every single one.

Now maybe you're not that guy. Maybe you really did double pay the first time, and maybe your movies really weren't late the second time. It's quite possible. But don't expect them to believe you, because virtually everone else is lying about it constantly to save a few bucks.

And there are plenty of video stores that hire completely incompetent people and therefore people get charged twice and have movies charged as late when they were not. That is why I'll never rent from Blockbuster again. If I'm renting on a regular basis and always pay my late fees without complaint, it is a very bad business decision to argue with me over an 8 dollar late fee. I'll pay the 8 dollars, but you'll lose 25-35 dollars a month I regularly give you.

[Shucker]

Have you ever heard of NetFlix?

[Troll]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

And there are crooked business owners who, because they have a monopoly, screw customers. There's only two video stores where I live now and one engages in some awfully abusive practices. Like not telling customers videos have to be in by a certain time of day to be considered "on time" - 6PM (which is absurd).

I'd say "screw 'em" and go Netflix. If they're that bad, then perhaps it's a business opportunity for someone else to open a store and provide better service.

They ran 2 other video stores out of town, both were locally owned and trusted, they would never had pulled this crap. But these guys offered lower prices and more "in stock" movies. They usually get 20 or so of each movies while the old stores would get maybe 5. This ran the good videostores out of town. i may give netflix a shot, if not I'll just start driving 30 miles to blockbuster where my friend is the manager. And I told him about this and he said to call their corporate headquarters. That if someone called corporate on him in his store he would lose his bonus and the late fee would get fixed. I'll give that a shot tomorrow.

[Joe]

you should go in there and piss on all of their new releases

[bbor]

They fuck you at the drive through...........or video store...whichever fits

[Maple Leafs]

Mistakes happen, and I'm sure some places are worse than others, but I stand my statement that most customer sob stories are BS.

Everyone says the late fee was already paid. When you dig a bit, you usually find out that a.) they think their wife/kid/parents etc paid it, or b.) they're thinking about the late fee from last month that they paid, not the one from last week. Unless they're running their business using old notebooks and pencils, they have some sort of computer system that tracks who's paid and when. It's possible to screw it up, but not easy.

As for the "I returned it on time" routine, like someone else pointed out this is almost always because the customer didn't know/care when the movie had to be back. Most places have a certain time, usually early evening. The reason is that most of the rentals happen at night, so that gives them enough time to restock the movie and rent it again. If your movie is due at 6:00 but you bring it back at midnight, the store loses the money they'd make renting it out again. People say "I brought it back on Friday!". And it's like "Yeah, three hours after we closed. Thanks a lot for that." So unless the place is hiding the time from you, just pay the $2 already.

Finally... Troll, if they really are screwing you and you want to get back at them without actually stealing something -- just go in, grab a couple of movies, walk around like you're thinking of renting them, and then put them back in some other section. Grab a few copies of the latest release and put them back in the romantic comedy section nobody uses. You're not breaking any laws, and the movie is as good as gone to the store. They won't find it for weeks.

[Bee]

Do you have a set of matches and some gasoline?

[Troll]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Mistakes happen, and I'm sure some places are worse than others, but I stand my statement that most customer sob stories are BS.

Everyone says the late fee was already paid. When you dig a bit, you usually find out that a.) they think their wife/kid/parents etc paid it, or b.) they're thinking about the late fee from last month that they paid, not the one from last week. Unless they're running their business using old notebooks and pencils, they have some sort of computer system that tracks who's paid and when. It's possible to screw it up, but not easy.

As for the "I returned it on time" routine, like someone else pointed out this is almost always because the customer didn't know/care when the movie had to be back. Most places have a certain time, usually early evening. The reason is that most of the rentals happen at night, so that gives them enough time to restock the movie and rent it again. If your movie is due at 6:00 but you bring it back at midnight, the store loses the money they'd make renting it out again. People say "I brought it back on Friday!". And it's like "Yeah, three hours after we closed. Thanks a lot for that." So unless the place is hiding the time from you, just pay the $2 already.

Finally... Troll, if they really are screwing you and you want to get back at them without actually stealing something -- just go in, grab a couple of movies, walk around like you're thinking of renting them, and then put them back in some other section. Grab a few copies of the latest release and put them back in the romantic comedy section nobody uses. You're not breaking any laws, and the movie is as good as gone to the store. They won't find it for weeks.

The late fee is 19 bucks, and I found out the reason they were counted late, however they refuse to take the fee away. The reason is I put the movies in the "wrong" box. I put it in the one where you don't actually have to walk into the store to put it in, and they "never check that one, I should have put it in the drop box inside the store." Well with that being said I'ma call the corporate office. If this don't work I'll pay it, but they will have lost my business.