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Editor's Corner - Feb 20, 2005 - Printable Version
- A Blockbuster Article....or Self-Indulgent Whining?
by Mark Faulk
Two days ago, I stumbled out of bed at 3 in the morning, heavily sedated on Alka Seltzer Cold Medicine, and, out of boredom, turned on my computer, where I happened upon an article about the state of New Jersey suing Blockbuster Video over their "No More Late Fees" advertising campaign. According to New Jersey Attorney General Peter Harvey, "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." He described their ads as "fraudulent and deceptive". By coincidence, I had begun writing a blog entry on the Faulking Truth about that very thing two weeks ago, after a personal experience with the video megacorporation, then abandoned it as irrelevant. Who cares about a stupid ad from a stupid video rental store anyway? But, for some reason (maybe it was the New Jersey lawsuit, or maybe it was just the medication talking), it suddenly seemed like a good idea to finish the blog entry and post in on the website, which I did, finally posting it at 5 in the morning before staggering off to catch a few more hours of cold medication induced sleep.
Here's what happened in my Blockbuster adventure: We rented a couple of movies, and, taking advantage of "The end of late fees", kept them an extra eight days. We returned them, and a few days later received a postcard saying that "Our records indicate that we have not yet received a response to our phone calls and/or letter regarding the following rental(s), which were checked out on your account on 01/16/05. They have now been kept 8 days past the due date." They then went on to say that "since you have chosen to keep the item(s), you will be charged the sellng price less the rental fees paid as authorized by you in your membership agreement." Blockbuster was going to either charge our credit card for $20.01 for the movie, or bill our account, unless we returned it within 30 days of the due date, and then they were still charging us, not a "late fee", but a "re-stocking fee". A questionable policy, to say the least, but the fact that we weren't notified in any way about the policy is what makes it fraudulent. We received no "phone calls and/or letters", they didn't inform us of the "fine print" when we rented the videos, either verbally or in writing, and the ads said nothing about being charged either for the video or the so-called "re-stocking fees".
Truthfully, I didn't expect much of a response from my late night Blockbuster outburst, but, partly because the article was linked by www.whatreallyhappened.com , who has been kind enough to link several of our articles over the past year, "THE END OF BLOCKBUSTER!" was read by 9,000 people in one day, and the emails and posts on our guestbook began pouring in. Some were supportive, some chastised me for believing anything I hear, and still others ridiculed for me for watching TV at all. On the one hand, I was called a genius, and on the other hand, I was described as a moron, a self-indulgent whiner, an ass, and "too fking stoopid to think".
To all those who wrote in, all I can say is, thank you for your "support". I'll reprint a few excerpts from some of those endearing letters in a second, but first, here's my question for everyone who weighed in on this "issue" - Why now, and why this article? We've covered a myriad of important topics here, ranging from the war in Iraq, the environment, the election, and the stock market scandal, to religion, prejudice, and abuse, and while we've received a great response on many of those topics, very few have touched off the furor that the Blockbuster rant did.
Guess what, America? If you would get as upset and vocal about the war in Iraq as you are about late fees at Blockbuster, we could stop this war. (Or, to quote John Lennon, "If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace.") If the fact that we are doing irreparable damage to our planet on a daily basis made you as angry as the "No more late fees" advertising campaign, we could begin to demand the changes in our government policies to save our Earth before it's too late. If you were as passionate in your defense of our personal freedoms as you are of the policies of a video store chain, we could put a halt to the systematic dismantling of our Constitution. See what I'm saying here?
One of our writers commented not long ago that people only get passionate or angry when something affects them directly, and after the past couple of days, I'm beginning to see her point. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to see so many of our readers getting involved, and in everyone's defense, this is an important issue. The fact that we so blindly accept dishonesty in advertising as a way of life reflects strongly on the bigger issue, which is that we have begun to accept dishonesty in EVERY aspect of our lives, whether it is the stock market, our government, the media, corporate America, or even our religious institutions. Hmmm.....maybe that's why the Blockbuster issue struck a chord in our readers, maybe they are tired of deception on ALL levels, and this is just a starting point for venting that anger. Now, if we can just channel that enengy into some areas that really matter, then maybe we will finally get the rest of the world to see the Faulking Truth.
Okay, first I'll post a lovely email I received from an enamored fan, and then reprint a message I posted in our Guestbook, in response to the first few posts there:
Well serve you faulking right! If you are incapable of lifting your cultural vision beyond Hollywood then you are F***ed and there is no sense whining. pjb
Dear pjb: Thank you for your more than kind sentiments, but I'll have you know I also have cable TV, so my cultural vision is not limited strictly to Hollywood, as your letter implies. That's right, I have access to all the cultural classics, from "American Idol" to "The Simple Life". That's hot.
And now, my Guestbook post:
From the Editor:
Whoa, the minions of Blockbuster have swarmed our little website. Okay, let's look at these posts one at a time:
Katz says "No, it's not really the end of late fees, it's more like an extension". Well, guess what, Katz? The commercials clearly say "The end of late fees", there is no fine print on the TV ads, we weren't given anything detailing the policy at the store, and no one verbally informed us of "the fint print". And that, my fine Canadian friend, is false advertising.
tree (great name, by the way): Here's your best shot - "stop watching tv/movies/crap and regain your intelligence on the internet". Okay, a little advice to you, oh vegetative one: Do your homework before you spout off about things you know nothing about. What the hell do you think we've been doing here for the past year? I've invested my own money, thousands of hours of my time in research and writing, and been joined by a group of talented writers who are all dedicated to spreading the Faulking Truth. I live, eat, and breathe on this site. Read a few of our articles before you judge us by one blog entry dashed off at 3 in the morning. By the way, what have you done lately?
Melissa: "those people who try to sue blockbuster for their ad are probably the morons who voted for george bush because of his political promises (aka republican ads)"...Wow, are you in the wrong place, dear. Read our articles, um, do we LOOK like Bush supporters? And yes, I know how, as you put it, "busnisses" make money. That's the problem, too many of them make money by deceiving the public. By the way, the Attorney General of New Jersey is suing Blockbuster, not me. I found it sufficient to drive around the corner to another video store. Enough said.
Jason: "I have rented at least 5 or 6 movies from Blockbuster since they stopped charging late fees. I think I returned every one of them late and I have not been charged anything." If any of them were more than a week late, you'll be getting a bill in the mail shortly, charging you the full price of the video. If you return it after seven days, they'll charge you a "restocking fee". It's a bit like saying "no new taxes", and then enacting new "user fees" instead. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck....well, you get my point.
It's simple, in my opinion....don't deceive your customers in your ads, and you won't get sued. Posting the fine print on a website isn't enough, honesty is. And that's the Faulking Truth.
It looks like we're still getting responses in our Guestbook, and some of them even agree with me, despite my best efforts. Go there and read a few, or spend a little time making fun of me yourself, at: http://www.faulkingtruth.com/GuestBook/ , or better yet, read some of our other fine articles, and post your opinion on THOSE issues.
If you'd like to read the USA Today article about the lawsuit that New Jersey filed against Blockbuster, go to:
www.usatoday.com/money/media/2005-02-18-blockbuster-late-fee_x.htm
Voice your opinion on our message board (you don't have to sign up to post).