Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Your late fees are $180 ( warning: language may offend)

Despite living very close to town, and having no good reason to take a DVD back late, I found myself having the following conversation not so long ago when I went to hire a DVD:
Teenager behind counter: "You do realise you can't hire any more DVD's once your late fees get to $180?"
Me: "yeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhh..... so what are they now?"
teenager behind counter: "$179"
Me: "areyoufuckenserious? and you are telling me now? Didn't think it was worth mentioning at say $20????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????" 
self rightous teenager behind counter: " well it is your responsibility to make sure you return your DVD's on time"
Me: walking away quietly....
 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeKKKKKKKKKKKK
SHIT!!! CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEFFFFF!!!
 Now we are both to blame here, but still I was having a heart attack... then came home and thought about my moral obligation to the DVD shop. Yes, it our complete and utter fault for not returning the DVD's on time, we are hopeless and slack and should know better.
HOWEVER my point is: when you say to yourself  I  want to get "__________" on DVD tonight and you take yourself off  to get it and they don't have it, how often have you walked out empty handed? NEVER. You always get something else right? So do they actually loose money when you don't return the DVD on time? I don't think so. 

So Chef goes in the next night and says "I just came to discuss our late fees"
Owner: "............................................................oh....................................................... yes" ( he is a slow talker)
Chef : 'yeah, we aren't paying them, but what if I give you $20 now?"
Owner: "................................Ok...................... "

Didn't even have to use my great argument.

This is what I love about living in the country. Our friends in Sydney absolutely die with laughter over this story and tell us we would have been blacklisted and possibly taken to court/ have debt collectors after us if we were in Sydney???
Golly.
So go on here is your chance to fess up with your late fees stories: get it of your chest....

we are now on a free trial over here now, no late fees....
And speaking of  DVDs we just watched Death at a Funeral again and I laughed so hard again... nothing better than a good laugh at a movie.
Don't forget this.
And have you seen this yet? I have joined  in and reckon a few of you will be interested.... click on that icon over there on the right...

13 comments:

  1. That's so funny!

    We're banned from Video Ezy...I imagine if we try and borrow at one the alarms will go off and sirens and big red flashing lights and the automatic doors will lock us in. We had to choose this house based on which video shop it had near by, its a Civic so we're all good.

    BTW, did you see your camera brooch on Madeits Monday Must Haves email. One of my pincushions was on it as well!

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  2. The Boy is notorious for taking his DVDs back & IS banned from video shops in Sydney & once he DID get a letter of demand from a law firm...

    Now we can're really afford to get DVDs out - being in the country, for us, means stupidly high priced independant video shops - so he borrows them from the Library's limited selection... and STILL returns them late, but the fee is hardly a problem...

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  3. I just got a note in the mail saying the DVD (Jane Austin Book Club) which i borrowed from the library was due back on the 18th May. Lucky they don't have late fees!
    Good thing the Chef is such a powerful negotiator!!

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  4. ohhh ohhhh!! that is soo funny.
    i do that with library books...well not that late.

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  5. You crack me up. You make a good case against them though. You had me convinced of their corporate wrong doing by the end of the post.

    Hey, is your header new. It looks really great and I can't work out if I've been looking at it for ages or if its a newbie?

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  6. I used to own a video shop and late fees were a nightmare, 50 grand owing in the first 6mths we were open it nearly sent me broke. The dvd you want is never there because the last person who borrowed it hasnt returned it and when they do they usually dump it and run and never pay. Then as you say instead of getting what you want you get something else which you inevitably dont like so you dont return it on time and dump and run when you do. Is there a pattern forming here??
    God I hated that business, was so glad to sell and get out. Just reading your post gave me a cold sweart and an eye tic!

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  7. That's gold. Here in Switzerland they call you within a few hours of your DVD being late. They just can't handle lateness... I wish your husband had been around when I had to stump up for over $100 worth of late library books as a student!

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  8. Great story!
    I recently went to the video lady to offer her money for a dvd we'd had out forever and I could have sworn was lost but she wouldn't take it. She told me it would turn up eventually and she was right. A few months later we found it jammed in the video player we don't use any more.

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  9. You had me chuckling there... thank bloody god I never ever ever hire movies. I don't have a long enough attention span to watch one.... I have been guilty of keeping library books too long though.

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  10. I don't rent DVDs,(hubby just buys them outright---ick!) but my library fees will no doubt top our grocery budget this month, dammit. Books are more important than food, right?

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  11. Country living advantages indeed! That and having a giant for a husband... I've heard, despite how friendly, can be intimidating to slow talking DVD staff. ;)

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  12. I have tears running down my face with laughter - classic story!!

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what a nice person you are- taking the time to comment in this busy hectic world...Thank you!!