A great way to end the night. (language, long)

[Chef Geekier]

So, I've been losing weight recently, which is a good thing. Last night, however, I came veeeeery close to breaking and reaching for the Mars Bars which are right in front of the counter. A bit of background first:

About four weeks ago, we introduced a new policy at work. Rentals have always been meant to be back before 6pm, but the program wasn't set up to properly enforce this. Now it is, and if a new release is returned after 8, it gets a late fee of $2.50. We were just losing too much potential revenue with people returning things 5 minutes before close, so this is a way of recouping the losses, and getting the product out on the shelves in time for customers to rent it. We knew there would be customers complaining, and were just told that if they have a problem with it, the Boss will deal with it.

I should point out how our overdue system works first, for rentals that aren't returned on the day they're due back.

At 1-3 days overdue, an automatic SMS reminder is sent to people who give us their mobile numbers, reminding them that they need to bring something back. Most people just plain forget, and this way we get most things back after a day or two.

At 7 days, a letter is sent reminding the customer that they still have something. Between this, we try to call people but don't always have time. Actually, rarely have time.

At 14 days, the item is removed from the account, a late fee is charged, a replacement fee is charged, an admin fee is charged, the title is listed as written off in the system, and another letter is sent letting the customer know this. If they then bring the item back, we remove the replacement fee and they just pay the late fee and admin fee. If they pay when they return, we can even discount the fees.

Now, if someone has more than $10 owing, and there is no effort to pay this within a month, a reminder letter is sent. Then another letter at two months. At three months, we send them to our debt collectors, who also charge the customer an additional $15.

Got all that? Now, on to the customers.


To set the scene: it's 9pm. I'm tired and feeling icky. Within the space of half an hour, I get these gems, all with a common theme, which you've probably already guessed.

Customer 1:

This gentleman was quite annoyed. I think he was trying to start a fight with me, actually, but I was too tired to give a flying fuck what he thought. I just kept repeating that I had no control over it, which isn't actually true. As assistant manager (read: person in charge of the store 12 days out of 14), if it was someone being nice but who hadn't been aware of the change, I could have waived the fee and given them a warning. But he was being an ass, so I stuck strictly to policy. He demanded that Boss call him, which isn't going to get him anywhere. She's awesome, and scary as fuck when she wants to be. Suck that, mate.

And the late fee? $2.50 for a movie that had been scanned in 2 minutes before closing.


Customer 2:

A somewhat regular customer. He actually wasn't too bad about it, didn't get worked up and said he understood that it wasn't my rule. He still wasn't happy about it and said that he can't get here before 8 to return movies as he works in a warehouse. Given his history with late fees (has 22% late fee stats, and is always whining about having to pay them), I had to bite my tongue from saying something rude. But I can here, so: Pay your late fees you stingy bastard!

Didn't demand that Boss call him, but I asked her to anyway. Her explaining the policy might go down better than me. Plus I think he's kinda scared of her already, and I'm mean like that.


Customer 3:

Another somewhat regular guy had come up to the counter and put his movie down. Just as he did so the phone rang, so I asked if I could get it. He said sure and moved off to look at our retail movies.

The guy on the phone is lucky he was on the phone, or I would have slapped him. At least thrice during the course of the 6-minute conversation. He's on his second reminder letter for late fees, because he owed a total of $78.45. This is because he had a new release PS3 game which was over 14 days late, along with some other random fees. The fee for the game came to around $65. We charge $5.95 per night for new release games, or you can get them for the week for $12.95. Late fees, however, are charged at the full $5.95/night.

This genius threw a mini-tantrum, and said that it wasn’t fair to be charged that much for the game. Slap number one.

He tried to put the blame on us for not contacting him. I pointed out that he's had a total of 4 letters reminding him about the late game/fees. Second slap.

Then he said that the guy who hired it to him should have told him that the late fee would be that much if it was returned late. Slap three, you're out.

I refused to cooperate with him, and my voice got very quiet and growly. I think I scared him into backing off, and said that the Boss would call him.

I hung up, turned to the guy who was waiting and said a bright 'Sorry about that. Now, do you have your card with you?' and we went off on the usual transaction. When I got into his membership, I nearly swore aloud. There was a $2.50 late fee for something. Dreading the reaction, I turned and let him know. The reaction?

"Oh, really? Okay, I'll pay that too."

"...Thankyou. Y'know, the last three customers have all chewed me out because they had late fees, thankyou for being good about it."

He got all embarassed. "It's only $2.50, it's not a big deal." I could have kissed him.


And the highlight of the night? Earlier, when I was carrying a big stack of DS games, some of them fell on the floor. Before I could bend to get them, a kid (12ish) who had just walked in the store ran around to my side and picked them all up for me. I was completely floored and thanked him for his consideration. His parents are doing something right.

[Samaliel]

Quoth Chef Geekier

Customer 3:
The fee for the game came to around $65.

At that price, he could have purchased the game all the same... This guy really needs a serious application of Clue-Bat directly to the forehead.

[bean]

I will say this is one thing I appreciate about Hollywood Video....

If you have late fees, they don't send you to collections unless it's a huge amount. They just put a hold on your account until your next rental. And let you pay a portion of the fees with your next rental, not the full amount.

Of course, that's probably got a bit to do with why they're in the shitter these days.... I'm sure I'm not the only one who may have abused that policy slightly.

I've worked for Blockbuster before, along with some smaller companies. I'm really surprised Hollywood doesn't charge more than they do, though it also explains why 90% of the TV's in the store near me don't work (they're covered with black poster board), half the lights are out, and they're still using Okidata dot matrix printers from the 80s for receipts...

[Chef Geekier]

Actually, Samaliel, around here a new PS3 game can cost upwards of $100. But I get the point.

Bean, I did point out that there has to have been no effort to pay the fee for 3 months before it's sent to collection. Even if someone's paying $2 a week, that's enough to not get sent on. We'd much rather things get sorted out at store level.

[Hibble]

Quoth bean

still using Okidata dot matrix printers from the 80s for receipts...

Those dot matrix printers will last a life time, they will probably work till 2080.

[stargirl195]

Quoth Chef Geekier

The reaction?

"Oh, really? Okay, I'll pay that too."

"...Thankyou. Y'know, the last three customers have all chewed me out because they had late fees, thankyou for being good about it."

He got all embarassed. "It's only $2.50, it's not a big deal." I could have kissed him.

Doesn't it just make your day when you get a customer that is not only nice, but who actually takes responsibility for their actions?

[Chef Geekier]

I had to share this. When the Boss and I were bitching about the customers, I mentioned that I was a bit snappy towards the letter guy. Her response?

"Good. Customers like that need to be put in their place." I love my boss.

[El Pollo Guerrera]

Yeah, the thing I don't miss about working at the video store was having to deal with the late fees. Used to have people who would rent the newest movies on the day they came out, keep them for a week, then complain that we didn't tell them that they were just 1-day rentals OR call them to tell them to bring the movies back. Which, of course, we did.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Quoth Samaliel

At that price, he could have purchased the game all the same... This guy really needs a serious application of Clue-Bat directly to the forehead.

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[chainedbarista]

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