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Author Topic: WTF?  (Read 1161 times)

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Offline Al Swearegen

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WTF?
« on: August 26, 2011, 07:36:55 AM »
OK so the situation was last week when I went to pick up dvd's like I do each fortnight from the DVD shop, I was told by the guy behind the counter that three dvd's were well overdue and there was some obscene amount owing on my account.
I said "Really? I don't think so mate. What were the titles?"
He confirmed the titles and said that they were overdue.
I told him that they were not in my possessioon and were handed back.
"No they are definitely overdue because I can see them on the system here"
I told him that I did not doubt what he saw but that they were handed back. Another guy said he would have a look for them.
I rang back the next day and was told that they were not found. I had in the meantime confirmed they were not with me. So I made an appointment to see the manager.
So I rocked up and saw the manager and he told of the system being basically fool proof and if they were missing then I would need to pay for the replacement fee. He was head kind of down and shifting around uncomfortably and giving me the hard word punctuated with apologies.
I said "OK mate let's make this easy on both of us. You stop defending your store and inferring I lost the bloody things and I will pretend that I am not annoyed with this place and believe you hav lost them and am going to charge me for what you have lost. Money is not a problem, I will pay those replacement fees you see fit to charge and then you can cancel my membership and I will go down the road and join there. I won't cause a fuss. I will square it up now"
So I entered my number and waited for him to calculate the replacement fees and then there was a problem. His faultless computer system had a problem. It would not generate the apparent $54 or allow me to pay.
More apologies and I said "Fine. I will be in on Friday then dropping off the last of the dvd's I borrowed and you can bill me then. Make sure it is ready for me and I will pay it then."
He was shifting around again and thanking me ofr being so good about it and saying he definately would and he would have another look.

Went in today and dropped off dvd's. Different guy there of course and I asked the young bloke to bill me and I would be on my way.
He got me to enter my details and guess what? No late fees no replacement fees and no note. I explained what had happened.
Nope. "I guess he must have written them off" was the reply.
So now Tuesday I am going back to see Manager to see what the fuck happened.

Anyone care to venture an opinion?

I personally think that the wonderful system has likely written off the dvd's as a bad debt and next I will recieve a debt collectors letter. If that happens then I am gonna go off like a fucking firecracker in that place and they and everyone in the place will know how fucking poor I think their fine establishment is.
I2 today is not i2 of yesteryear. It is a knitting circle. Those that participate be they nice or asshats know their place and the price to be there. Odeon is the overlord

.Benevolent if you toe the line.

Think it is I2 of old? Even Odeon is not so delusional as to think otherwise. He may on occasionally pretend otherwise but his base is that knitting circle.

Censoring/banning/restricting/moderating myself, Calanadale & Scrapheap were all not his finest moments.

How to apologise to Scrap

Offline Charlotte Quin

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Re: WTF?
« Reply #1 on: August 26, 2011, 08:44:11 AM »
I doubt they would default you on any money you owed them.

We had a bit of late return fees owing to Network Video for over 10 years that we didn't know about (we stopped going there in favour of Blockbuster).

We go back there years later to borrow some DVD's; "Umm, yeah, you have some late return fees owing on some Sega Megadrive games you borrowed in 1997" :zombiefuck:

The_Chosen_One

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Re: WTF?
« Reply #2 on: August 26, 2011, 09:25:27 AM »
Happened to us in 2000-01. We borrowed some dvds, they were returned, and were told they were late. They tried to get $20 or so in late fees, and as themembership was in my name, they sent the note to my place in Victoria. I rang them up and said the things were returned, so check your system. And told them I wasn't going to pay late fees which I didn't owe. They tried the debt collection stuff, but I again said they were returned. They gave up and NFA'ed the things.

midlifeaspie

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Re: WTF?
« Reply #3 on: August 26, 2011, 09:29:22 AM »
Your country needs RedBox.

Offline Parts

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Re: WTF?
« Reply #4 on: August 26, 2011, 09:52:22 AM »
Had the same happen to us a few years ago but we are not as accommodating as you are but it mattered little as they were out of business two weeks latter.  My guess is they didn't enter in in the computer that they were returned and the manager found them in the inventory after your little talk
"Eat it up.  Wear it out.  Make it do or do without." 

'People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.'
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P7PSP

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Re: WTF?
« Reply #5 on: August 26, 2011, 12:59:49 PM »
I don't know. I hope Parts conjecture is correct. Some similar happy horse shit with VHS tapes back in the mid 1990s cured me of renting movies.

Offline Buzz Killington

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Re: WTF?
« Reply #6 on: August 26, 2011, 01:27:53 PM »
They probably found them on the shelf, after someone put them back out without checking them through the computer.  Happens all the time at video stores, POS systems designed for that business will even have an FOS button for squaring that exact situation.  I wouldn't sweat it, it sounds like they caught the mistake and are just embarrassed about it.

midlifeaspie

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Re: WTF?
« Reply #7 on: August 26, 2011, 01:38:45 PM »
Perhaps someone tattled to the store manager that you were upset about it on I2, and he decided it was better to pull the charge than risk the wrath of "that other AS site"?  :autism:

Offline Buzz Killington

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Re: WTF?
« Reply #8 on: August 26, 2011, 01:54:09 PM »
Speak into my mustache, it's really a microphone.

midlifeaspie

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Re: WTF?
« Reply #9 on: August 26, 2011, 02:29:23 PM »
Speak into my mustache, it's really a microphone.

I bet you say that to all the guys  :eyelash:

Offline Buzz Killington

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Re: WTF?
« Reply #10 on: August 26, 2011, 02:32:25 PM »
Speak into my mustache, it's really a microphone.

I bet you say that to all the guys  :eyelash:

Only the cute ones.

Offline Callaway

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Re: WTF?
« Reply #11 on: August 26, 2011, 02:51:30 PM »
OK so the situation was last week when I went to pick up dvd's like I do each fortnight from the DVD shop, I was told by the guy behind the counter that three dvd's were well overdue and there was some obscene amount owing on my account.
I said "Really? I don't think so mate. What were the titles?"
He confirmed the titles and said that they were overdue.
I told him that they were not in my possessioon and were handed back.
"No they are definitely overdue because I can see them on the system here"
I told him that I did not doubt what he saw but that they were handed back. Another guy said he would have a look for them.
I rang back the next day and was told that they were not found. I had in the meantime confirmed they were not with me. So I made an appointment to see the manager.
So I rocked up and saw the manager and he told of the system being basically fool proof and if they were missing then I would need to pay for the replacement fee. He was head kind of down and shifting around uncomfortably and giving me the hard word punctuated with apologies.
I said "OK mate let's make this easy on both of us. You stop defending your store and inferring I lost the bloody things and I will pretend that I am not annoyed with this place and believe you hav lost them and am going to charge me for what you have lost. Money is not a problem, I will pay those replacement fees you see fit to charge and then you can cancel my membership and I will go down the road and join there. I won't cause a fuss. I will square it up now"
So I entered my number and waited for him to calculate the replacement fees and then there was a problem. His faultless computer system had a problem. It would not generate the apparent $54 or allow me to pay.
More apologies and I said "Fine. I will be in on Friday then dropping off the last of the dvd's I borrowed and you can bill me then. Make sure it is ready for me and I will pay it then."
He was shifting around again and thanking me ofr being so good about it and saying he definately would and he would have another look.

Went in today and dropped off dvd's. Different guy there of course and I asked the young bloke to bill me and I would be on my way.
He got me to enter my details and guess what? No late fees no replacement fees and no note. I explained what had happened.
Nope. "I guess he must have written them off" was the reply.
So now Tuesday I am going back to see Manager to see what the fuck happened.

Anyone care to venture an opinion?

I personally think that the wonderful system has likely written off the dvd's as a bad debt and next I will recieve a debt collectors letter. If that happens then I am gonna go off like a fucking firecracker in that place and they and everyone in the place will know how fucking poor I think their fine establishment is.

They might think their system is foolproof, but it's only as good as the idiots inputting information.  The manager may have realized this fact and probably found the supposedly lost DVDs somewhere in the store.

I remember being told at a local video store that I owed a late fee for a video that I know for a fact that I returned on time because I returned it before I rented another video and I rented this new video before 7 PM which is the deadline for returning videos.  When I pointed this out, the late fee was reversed.

BlockBuster once charged us a late fee and didn't bill it until it had additional fees tacked on and they were threatening to send it to collections.  I paid the overpriced late fee, but I wouldn't set foot in their store again for several years.

midlifeaspie

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Re: WTF?
« Reply #12 on: August 26, 2011, 02:53:24 PM »
OK so the situation was last week when I went to pick up dvd's like I do each fortnight from the DVD shop, I was told by the guy behind the counter that three dvd's were well overdue and there was some obscene amount owing on my account.
I said "Really? I don't think so mate. What were the titles?"
He confirmed the titles and said that they were overdue.
I told him that they were not in my possessioon and were handed back.
"No they are definitely overdue because I can see them on the system here"
I told him that I did not doubt what he saw but that they were handed back. Another guy said he would have a look for them.
I rang back the next day and was told that they were not found. I had in the meantime confirmed they were not with me. So I made an appointment to see the manager.
So I rocked up and saw the manager and he told of the system being basically fool proof and if they were missing then I would need to pay for the replacement fee. He was head kind of down and shifting around uncomfortably and giving me the hard word punctuated with apologies.
I said "OK mate let's make this easy on both of us. You stop defending your store and inferring I lost the bloody things and I will pretend that I am not annoyed with this place and believe you hav lost them and am going to charge me for what you have lost. Money is not a problem, I will pay those replacement fees you see fit to charge and then you can cancel my membership and I will go down the road and join there. I won't cause a fuss. I will square it up now"
So I entered my number and waited for him to calculate the replacement fees and then there was a problem. His faultless computer system had a problem. It would not generate the apparent $54 or allow me to pay.
More apologies and I said "Fine. I will be in on Friday then dropping off the last of the dvd's I borrowed and you can bill me then. Make sure it is ready for me and I will pay it then."
He was shifting around again and thanking me ofr being so good about it and saying he definately would and he would have another look.

Went in today and dropped off dvd's. Different guy there of course and I asked the young bloke to bill me and I would be on my way.
He got me to enter my details and guess what? No late fees no replacement fees and no note. I explained what had happened.
Nope. "I guess he must have written them off" was the reply.
So now Tuesday I am going back to see Manager to see what the fuck happened.

Anyone care to venture an opinion?

I personally think that the wonderful system has likely written off the dvd's as a bad debt and next I will recieve a debt collectors letter. If that happens then I am gonna go off like a fucking firecracker in that place and they and everyone in the place will know how fucking poor I think their fine establishment is.

They might think their system is foolproof, but it's only as good as the idiots inputting information.  The manager may have realized this fact and probably found the supposedly lost DVDs somewhere in the store.

I remember being told at a local video store that I owed a late fee for a video that I know for a fact that I returned on time because I returned it before I rented another video and I rented this new video before 7 PM which is the deadline for returning videos.  When I pointed this out, the late fee was reversed.

BlockBuster once charged us a late fee and didn't bill it until it had additional fees tacked on and they were threatening to send it to collections.  I paid the overpriced late fee, but I wouldn't set foot in their store again for several years.

And now they are bankrupt.  I'm actually surprised that people allowed this industry to exist for as long as it did.

Offline Buzz Killington

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Re: WTF?
« Reply #13 on: August 26, 2011, 03:16:09 PM »
I worked for Hollywood video when I was like 17, mixups like this were pretty normal.  What would happen is that a video would be turned into the box and put back on the shelf without going through the computer, thus showing that the video was never returned.  At some later time, another customer would try and rent that video, and it would show up in the computer as still rented out.  Then a manager would have to come out and enter the video as FOS, for Found On Shelf, which would negate any late fees an such that had accrued on the last renter's account.  The real problem would be if it was an unpopular video, then it could be some time before the mistake was caught during an inventory or from someone else trying to rent it. 

Also, beyond the whole "their business model got outdated" thing, video stores wasted so much time and money on mundane stuff that had no bearing on their profitability that I wasn't at all surprised to see them start to go under.  We used to have a district manager that would inspect the stores in his district to make sure that we weren't wearing white socks with black shoes, no shit.  Same guy nearly wrote me up one time for wearing black leather cowboy boots instead of black leather loafers, like people were going to take their business to Blockbuster because I wasn't wearing loafers.  Any business that's paying a manager's salary to a guy doing sock checks isn't going to last all that long, IMHO.  In a publicly held corporation, I believe they may even call that sort of thing fiduciary misconduct.  Netflix just put the final nail in the coffin, they were going to go anyway period.

midlifeaspie

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Re: WTF?
« Reply #14 on: August 26, 2011, 03:17:47 PM »
I worked for Hollywood video when I was like 17, mixups like this were pretty normal.  What would happen is that a video would be turned into the box and put back on the shelf without going through the computer, thus showing that the video was never returned.  At some later time, another customer would try and rent that video, and it would show up in the computer as still rented out.  Then a manager would have to come out and enter the video as FOS, for Found On Shelf, which would negate any late fees an such that had accrued on the last renter's account.  The real problem would be if it was an unpopular video, then it could be some time before the mistake was caught during an inventory or from someone else trying to rent it. 

Also, beyond the whole "their business model got outdated" thing, video stores wasted so much time and money on mundane stuff that had no bearing on their profitability that I wasn't at all surprised to see them start to go under.  We used to have a district manager that would inspect the stores in his district to make sure that we weren't wearing white socks with black shoes, no shit.  Same guy nearly wrote me up one time for wearing black leather cowboy boots instead of black leather loafers, like people were going to take their business to Blockbuster because I wasn't wearing loafers.  Any business that's paying a manager's salary to a guy doing sock checks isn't going to last all that long, IMHO.  In a publicly held corporation, I believe they may even call that sort of thing fiduciary misconduct.  Netflix just put the final nail in the coffin, they were going to go anyway period.

Netflix was the second to last nail.  I think RedBox finished them off.