Hassle of "no late fees"

[DrewKaree]

2 words- "dvd burner" 

5 words - "READ THREADS BEFORE YOU REPLY!"

SERIOUSLY, is it some defect you have that requires you to post before you read the thread?  Before you threw your comment in there, scads of people are already talking about it.  Did you think you were giving something original that no one else would think of?

Anway, I still prefer the real thing because of all the special features.  "backup" copies tend to only have the movie.

not with theprogram i use? i get every thing

The program you probably use and has been talked about over and over again (figured I'd let you know since you can't be bothered to read and find this out) is likely called DVD Shrink, and while you certainly CAN get everything on your disc, people generally will prefer a QUALITY DVD instead of a crappy-compression jam-everything-on-there, which will often require you to only record the movie without all the extras.

Thanks for playing, please come read again.


Kobold, is that a typo, or do you actually have a source for 9.4 Gig discs at that price?  Sam's has started selling the dual-layer discs @ $47/9-pack, and the prices in the regular stores are really starting to drop rapidly

[monkeybomb]

I recommend a DVD burner.

[DrewKaree]

I recommend a DVD burner.

* DrewKaree punches monkeybomb in the shoulder for being a jag

but that WAS funny

[RTSDaddy2]

Good grief!  Boy I opened up a strange can of worms didn't I?

How'd this get to copying DVD's?   

This isn't a thread about that, just so everyone knows.  I was just surprised the other day to get the "your rental is late" call and was curious if this was something going on across the country with their new plan, or just where I live.  If it is just my area, I was just thinking they haven't updated all their systems yet or something.

[ChadTower]

A thread is about what the participants decide it is about.

[nipsmg]

Blockbuster is really really really scummy about the whole "No late fees" thing.

In BIG BOLD PRINT they basically tell you that there's no late fees, but after a week they'll charge you for the price of the movie and it's yours, you keep it.  That's what the sales reps tell you, that's what everyone tells you.  However, I saw on a commercial really quickly some fine print, so I rewinded it (Thanks Tivo!), and it says in fine print that if you return it within 30 days they won't charge you the price of the movie, and that they'll charge you a $1.25 "Restocking fee" or something like that.

So when I went to the store, I looked at one of the signs, and there it was, in MICROSCOPIC fine print.  How many people do you think they scammed using this?  I was just about to throw my arms up and accept that I had "bought" a movie I rented (a really bad one too) till I saw this.

--NipsMG

[ChadTower]

When I last went there, when they first started it, it was not in fine print, it was in regular print.  It just didn't have happy shiny fun font and required that you read more than 4 sentences to get to it.  I read it, didn't miss it, and didn't get any of those fees.

It's the lazy, stupid, nonreading the terms people who got 'screwed'.  Sure, the ad campaign was misleading, but stop acting like the terms were in Mandarin.  They were there for anyone who wanted to read them.

[nipsmg]

When I last went there, when they first started it, it was not in fine print, it was in regular print.  It just didn't have happy shiny fun font and required that you read more than 4 sentences to get to it.  I read it, didn't miss it, and didn't get any of those fees.

It's the lazy, stupid, nonreading the terms people who got 'screwed'.  Sure, the ad campaign was misleading, but stop acting like the terms were in Mandarin.  They were there for anyone who wanted to read them.

The ad campaign WAS misleading.  The sales associates SPECIFICALLY STATE TO YOU that when you rent the movie and you don't return in within 7 days, you own it.  They say NOTHING about the fact that you can still bring it back.  They also don't point you to any literature that spells out the plan in black and white.. I don't know about your store, but mine merely had posters in the window, but no informational stand or kiosk. 

Of course you can go hunt down the information yourself, but when you ask an associate to explain it to you and they "accidentally leave out" the part about being able to return it after 7 days, it's scummy.

I'm not the only person with this experience.  This happens in almost every store that I've been in, and I've specifically asked other people who had NO IDEA about the $1.25 restocking fee and ability to return after 7 days.  Nobody did, and no, they're all not morons, or lazy, or stupid.

Blockbuster, in general, has scummy practices regarding late fees.  They even got sued over it, and lost.  Don't act like they're angels.  I'm sure this was done SPECIFICALLY to mislead people into purchasing movies they didn't intend to purchase.  If not, they wouldn't have done this $1.25 late f.. oh .. ahem.. I mean.. "Restocking fee" thing.. (We can't call it a late fee because we just said "NO MORE LATE FEES", so that'd be false advertising!  It's not a late fee, it's a Restocking fee, and it's necessary because we charge that when you normally rent a movie .. oh wait.. we don't... oh well, maybe they won't notice.)

[ChadTower]

When I have a paid membership, and they make a radical change in fee structure/rules, I seek out the new terms and make sure I understand them.  It is the intelligent thing to do, just in case the new terms are no good.  That is what I did.

Their website has always had the full rules, so it was never hard to find them.  Most people were just too damn lazy and took their ad campaign at face value.  Shouldn't "you pay the full price for the DVD if you don't bring it back in 7 days" be enough to make them bring it back anyway?

I'm not defending Blockbuster, but I am saying that nearly 99% of the people who claim to have been wronged were just too damn lazy to read their new memebership terms.

[nipsmg]

I see your point.

However, what I did, was ask someone at the store to explain the new terms to me (sure I could have read them, but I asked instead, and no I never got a mailer about it).  Some people also have a hard time reading the ultra fine print they use on membership details, and some people also have trouble with the really verbose wording they tend to use.  When an employee of the company intentionally leaves out the part I've been talking about after you ask them to help you understand it, it's really kind of rediculous.

---

On another note, to whoever listed deepdiscountdvd.com:

Amazon seems to be $1 cheaper on every new release that I Compared, just FYI.

[ChadTower]

Well, there is also not depending on minimum wage monkeys to explain things to you.  In that situation, always ask for the terms in print.  A monkey can leave things out, but if they leave them out of the printed terms, the company is accountable.  I doubt it was left out intentionally.  They probably left it out because they either didn't know their own rules or didn't care whether or not you learned them.

[monkeybomb]

On another note, to whoever listed deepdiscountdvd.com:

Amazon seems to be $1 cheaper on every new release that I Compared, just FYI.

Is it still cheaper after shipping?

[RTSDaddy2]

Chad, thanks for straightening me out on the thread thing....seriously.  I'm still new to this whole "message board" thing, so my apologies if I offended anyone by saying we'd gotten off topic.

I also agree with you on the fact that if I get in a mess because I didn't read the fine print, it's no one's fault but mine.  I need to check all that out again when I go back.

[SirPoonga]

Anway, I still prefer the real thing because of all the special features.  "backup" copies tend to only have the movie.

not with theprogram i use? i get every thing

Not if you don't want 50% compression   basically you get below 70-75 percent compression artifacting becomes really noticable.

[ChadTower]

That's all very dependent on the invidual movie.  Some don't require any compression, some have to get to 70% with just the movie.  I usually cut out special features and any non English or French language tracks and do pretty well.