Blockbuster pledges to change "No late fees" advertising


Blockbuster, attempting to get themselves in a better position in the video rental market against strong players like NetFlix, announced earlier this year that they would be charging "No late fees." I rushed right out to their site to figure out what they were doing instead and determined that it was downright nasty: they will charge you the full price of the DVD (less your rental fees) if you are more than a week late returning the movie. This didn't appear in their advertising, but it certainly got some attention from 47 states that felt this was unfair. Now, according to an article from MSN, the firm has agreed to pay court costs of $630,000; change their advertising; make these fees more obvious; and refund the money of many people who were affected by the change.