Blockbuster Canada
I had been a customer of Blockbuster for a number of years however, we rarely rent movies anymore and haven’t from Blockbuster for quite some time. If we do decide to rent, it became easier to visit our local Rogers Video store as we are client’s of theirs with all our cable, internet and phone services and we receive better discounts.
Well, to my surprise I just received a bill from the Credit Bureau indicating I owe Blockbuster $26.99 apparently, and their letter also indicates “after many attempts”. Are you kidding me! – not once has Blockbuster tried contacting me by phone or letter advising of any outstanding balance which I find ludicrous since I have not used their services for years. I was never late returning a movie and last time I would have been in, it should have been brought to my attention at that time. But I do remember times when I had returned movies, yet Blockbuster indicated I did not…and when they checked again…Oh yes, they did have them.
So now I have 48 hrs to pay the Credit Bureau which I will not be paying until someone at Blockbuster sends me a detailed invoice for these charges. I am a very detailed person and always keeps track of my finances and if I owe someone money…I will be sure to pay the bill. In this case I was not aware of any charges made to my account.
Blockbuster is well aware when a customer has not been in for some time. In the past, they have called me or sent me coupons in the mail to try to get my business back. So why can they not have the decency to send a detailed invoice when there is a balance owing on an account?
After being treated this way, I know I will never step foot in a Blockbuster store again. Rogers will continue to get our business going forward.
Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.
November 24th, 2009 at 11:30 am
Dear Customer,
We are sorry to read about your frustration regarding our collections process and apologize for any upset this has caused you. Our intent is to simply inform you of the balance owing and ask that you kindly clear it at your earliest convenience. As is stated in our letter, our collections process does include several attempts to contact you prior to the letter sent from Credit Bureau Services.
We begin our process with an automated reminder call when items are overdue for five days, and again at nine days past due. Once your balance reached 45 days owing, a letter is sent to your address from Blockbuster Canada. A second letter is sent when the balance reaches 75 days past due. Finally, once balances are owing for longer than 90 days, we enlist the services of an agency known as Credit Bureau Services Canada (CBS).
CBS is third-party agency that assists us in the collection of balances outstanding. We utilize CBS only after balances are owing for greater than 90 days as we recognize that in this case the customer is less likely to return to the store to pay the balance. Credit Bureau Services offers customers the ability to pay balances via telephone or online, whereas our stores cannot. It is our policy not to post customer accounts such as yours to a credit reporting agency.
By your account, it seems that you did not receive our first attempts at contact, and we apologize. We will be more than happy to provide you with details regarding your account balance and answer any other questions you may have. You may contact your local store location for balance information or to make payments on your account at any time. Alternatively, you may contact our Customer Service Department at 1-800-900-1656 x 1003 or email us at [email protected].
We look forward to resolving this matter for you as soon as possible.
Best Regards,
Customer Service
Blockbuster Canada
1-800-900-1656
[email protected]
November 25th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Wow I’m very impressed with how you handled this Blockbuster. Very impressive use of the internet and turning a negative into a positive. I wish that more companies would follow your example. If you can actually resolve this person’s complaint, I’d be more than happy to post a full story of the account as an example for other corporations to follow. Far to many businesses feel that they have to fight when all people really want is to be heard and treated fairly.
November 30th, 2009 at 10:40 am
I had a very similar problem with Blockbuster back in 1996 in Belleville. They sent me to a collection agency for $12.00 in late fees and made no attempts to contact me with a phone call or invoice. I paid the bill and have never walked inside a Blockbuster since then.
January 15th, 2010 at 10:52 pm
this is just way too funny.
today i’ve received the letter from CBS as well for $11. which i’ve paid already. at the bb location, they’ve told me, they have contacted me number of times, and the headoffice contacted me number of times. unfortunately BB does not realise, some people have a PBX system at home, that has all the call logs, and the BB has called my home # only 2 times, and the call came from the location itself. no other communications from BB did ever occured.
Your policy to send a letter at 45 days and 75 days clearly DOES NOT work, as this is the FIRST written communication i’ve received.
does anyone knows, if BB reports those collections actions to the Credit bureau thus affecting the credit rating?
January 23rd, 2010 at 1:22 am
The same kind of letter was just sent to me…saying I owed a fee of 13.00 when I know that I don’t owe it but the manager at the store says there is no way that they could possibly make a mistake. My advice- Stay away from Blockbuster for movies and use another service. No late fees? Ridiculous! I’ll be following up and advertising to as many people as I can… in a small town that can go a long way to protecting other people from these ridiculous and bogus fines.
March 28th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
we have dealt with blockbuster in kamloops for a number of years a yuong male employee has had my daugter leave the store in tears because of his rude behavour he at times has talked down to me also if he contiunes his behavour i will contact head office and seek his removal form the store /or concel my membership not not contact me or i will cancel my mebership
April 18th, 2010 at 11:56 pm
Woww..apparently I am not the only one having problems with rude behavour with blackbuster’s employees. I am in Montreal. I’ve been a client since even before blockbusters took over the store in Côte-des-neiges corner with Côte-Ste-Catherine. A young fat male employee, was in a very bad mood. Although I was the only client with my son in the store yesterday Satuday around noon he got upset because I was looking into my coupons to get the discount. He came up to telling me he was the manager and he didn’t like clients like me, he even told me I should use my brain, and so many other nasty things. I couldn’t believe my ears. What kind of managers do blockbusters choose? I am very disappointed. The other gay who works there is so kind and human. What a difference with this so called manager and it’s not the first time he behaves like that but this, this is too much.
July 7th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
Just an FYI for all the complainers.. the CBS is just a company they use to produce their letters. The balance will never affect your credit, as stated in the letter (that most customers don’t even read).
As for the ‘no prior contact’, that’s such BS. Automated phone calls are automatically placed to the numbers on your accounts. If you gave a fake number or didn’t update it, that’s your problem not theirs. After two weeks, an employee will phone the number on your account personally. After 45 days you receive a reminder letter. This is plenty of notice. If you don’t bother to answer the phone, then don’t bother complaining.
September 12th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
I too have had bad service at Blockbuster. I rented a few movies, then when we got home (about 30 min. away), we noticed that they had forgotten to remove the yellow strip band on the movie. When I called up, they pretty much laughed and said to come back so they can remove it. No sorry, no “I’ll remove the charge”. They actually said that if i try to remove it and damage the case, that i’ll be charged for the full price of the movie!!!! HOW RUDE!!!! Never renting there again!
November 23rd, 2010 at 5:02 pm
I have canceled my Blockbuster card thanks to NOT so friendly Blockbuster Store on Derry & Trudeau in Milton. The manager (Sharon) from day one was not helpful. I had to drive all the way to Milton Because none of the Brampton stores had what i was looking for on the way back i was rear ended. It cost me more then i thought just for a silly game i could not get in any store in Brampton. I ended up contacting Blockbuster Canada thy gave me a $50 credit and was told to return the games to any Blockbuster due to the accident i had been in. When i returned them to the Mountain ash store thy were lost so i had to pay for them a total of $100 plus both not to mention driving back to Milton to complete the transaction. A week goes by and a call from Blockbuster states the games are found after i had already been forced to purchase both of them. Great so i contact (Sharon) the manager and explain to her since i bought the games i should get all the manuals and subscriptions but got nothing. Her answer was or there rentals therefore nothing accompanies either of the games. Talk about Being Ripped off.
Blockbuster you lost a customer of 20 Years.
June 7th, 2011 at 6:22 pm
i hate blockbuster Canada. I hope they go backrupt cause their employees are so rude. Then they will all lose their jobs and have to be nice to someone to get a new one. Good bye and get lost!!!
June 13th, 2011 at 12:23 pm
Blockbuster Canada is going bankrupt and they think they can screw a few more customers before they close their doors. I have purchased recently 6 DVDs of 2 which were did not work. When I tried to bring them back they said they were bit broken but only scatched and would not refund or exchange them. Also the empolyees are so rude and ignorant. I will never set foot in thier store and will rejoice the day they finally close thier doors for good. As for the rude employees, I dont usually wish anyone to lose their job but in this case. All i have to say is no wonder they are going down the tubes. The sooner the better..
JP
September 19th, 2011 at 4:22 pm
Couldn’t be any more happy about Blockbuster going down the shitter, trying to send me fake letters regarding my credit. Karma is surer than gravity in this downfall.
PEACE!
November 2nd, 2011 at 7:43 pm
I just received a CBS letter saying I owe Blockbusters $57.73. They have also told me that they have tried to contact me. The membership # that they stated does not match the one on my key chain that I have been using for the last 2 years. There is no description as to what the charges entail and there is no phone #. Does anyone know how to deal with this type of issue as I do not owe them anything.
November 2nd, 2011 at 7:55 pm
Blockbuster never said I owed them anything when renting movies previously. Why now? I never received one phone call or other mail in regards to this. Obviously they have the right address!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
November 11th, 2011 at 1:54 pm
guys… i got a letter stating i owed 73 dollars to block buster 73!!!!! that is insane, not once have i ever received any notice of what i owed, and there is no way in hell i owe 73 dollars to a movie rental
November 11th, 2011 at 1:56 pm
and by the way, that number up there for blockbuster is out of service
December 16th, 2011 at 3:17 pm
Wow
Why does the credit bureau services canada think I owe BB 56.48. I do not. I was not contacted by BB regarding this bill. Further, there is no detailed billing info. Infuriating. I always pay my bills on time. Will The Globe and Mail go to bat for us?
December 28th, 2011 at 10:39 pm
I too received a CBS Credit Bureau Services letter indicating I owe $56.49 ?? Hmm this is odd, I wasn’t aware of any outstanding late fees? I’m very particular of ensuring I’m paid up. Could this be some sort of attempt to fraud? What can I do to protect myself???
December 28th, 2011 at 10:40 pm
just a side note: I’ve never had any complaints about the service at the branch I frequented!! Sorry to hear about the rest of those experiences.
January 5th, 2012 at 3:36 am
I just received a letter from CBS saying I owe $68!!! I have not rented from them in 3 years!!! Also, the “account #” does not match my card (I still have my card in in my wallet)!!! They want payment, not a chance, I want proof!!! I guess I wont get it seeing there is no number to call….
January 11th, 2012 at 11:25 am
FYI for everyone, I contacted the Credit Bureau Services Canada and I asked why i owed mony and all they ask was if i had any movies still from blockbuster. When i told them no, there was no fight at all about gettting the charges removed and I did not have to pay. So just call and talk to them, they did not argue at all it was very simple.