Complaint Review: Hollywood Video - La Grange Illinois

ah, so did the store charge you late fees for the rental found on the shelf? if they didn't, then they did admit the mistake for that movie. if the other one was not found how is the store to know it is their mistake, when more often than not, it is actually the cutomer's mistake. so many times a movie will be returned to the wrong store. actually, i once returned 3 movies to the hollywood video i was employed by. only 2 were checked in. i swore up and down that i returned all 3, for i remembered doing so. now as an employee, if my movie had been found on the shelf, i still would have had to pay late fees, for it would have been my fault for not witnessing the item get checked in. that was not the case, however. after checking the shelf for the item myself and seeing it wasn't there, i was pretty mad. then about a week later i was driving in my car and i made a sudden stop. guess what flew out from under my seat...the movie in question!!! to this day i remember returning all 3 items together, though clearly i hadn't. as an empolyee, i was not able to get any of the fees removed and i had to pay them in full to be able to have renting privledges again. so, if the item is not in the store, employees have nothing else to assume than something must have happened that was not our fault. if it is in the store not checked in, we will assume responsibility and remove ALL fees, even though it may be quite late and for all we know could have been returned the day before. also, sometimes movies get loaned out and don't get returned by the friend who borrowed them, etc. if none of the employees are expected of fraudulent actions, we assume a mistake on the cutomers part for it happens often. again, read contracts when you sign. if the movie was not in the store, you are obligated by contract to pay for that movie.

It is four years later & I have never gone back to Hollywood Video, nor do I support the other huge chains for such rentals. Reading the rebuttal from "Marie" only makes my point clearer about how they are dishonest. I have never been rude to the staff, but they were rude to me. Bottom line: I would never be allowed to perform my own job in such a shabby way and I expected same from Hollywood Video. My agreement had nothing to do with the situation. My suggestion to everyone is to carefully consider where you want your money to go and who you want to support. I reccomend the small rental business--people who are trying hard to survive and still give it their all. Do investigate the philosophies of the places you do business with, find out who owns what and their affliations, who they politically support (yes, that to) and then decide who gets your money. That is what I have learned and I believe that I am much better off with this knowledge.

I have worked for Hollywood Video for almost 10 years and as a store manager I am sorry you were treated the way you were. I am not going to make excuses for what happened to you are your bad experience with us. I would have handled it differently, but you don't live in Nebraska. I enjoy my job very much and without customers I wouldn't have a job. I have met alot of really great customers that have become friends to me, and I am sorry to hear you haven't had a simiular experience. Once again I sorry for your bad experience and I just wanted to say all Hollywoods aren't that way. So I hope you give Hollywood Video another chance.

What in the world does her membership agreement have to do with Hollywood making a mistake? If she had read her membership would she not be in this situation? Come on, I love Hollywood Video, but clearly it is Hollywood's fault and they should have taken responsibility from the get go and they would have kept a customer. Save all your procedure talk also, I worked at BlockBuster for 3 years so I am really familiar with how the system works. I have had the same thing happen twice at my Hollywood but they fixed the problem immediatly and with out hassle. It is the stores fault in her case and they should have taken responsibility for it. Any other store would have in the same situation.

I have not worked at Hollywood Video for long, but I may have a solution when it comes to getting the run around. First of all, it is best to AVOID any problems. When you go in to return movies, ask someone to check them in right in front of you. There are corrupt people out there that will purposely hide your videos if you are rude or impolite. Technically, they have the power, and no one will find out. As you already know, there are thousands and thousands of movies in the store. They can hide your videos in with the rest of them and not even check them in. That is one way that late fees are accrued. Sometimes fee are waved, but we are supposed to also make a memo on your account when fees are waved and the date. We are only allowed to wave each customers fee once. So if you run into a problem again, basically you are screwed. Sometimes when you have problems with someone or something at the store, we are supposed to help you to the best of our ability. Sometimes customers want us to accomodate them and be understanding, but there are just some things that we are not allowed to do. We are human too. Hollywood has their own policy for things. We have to go by that. So when someone asks for something and we cant do it, most of the time its because we do not want to lost our jobs over a customer. And face it, we need our jobs just as much as anyone else. So when we say that we cant help you, we cant. that is why we give you the customer hotline to call. Avoid having late fees on your movies by turning them in early!! Make sure that you watch someone scan them in. Our customers at our store ask us to check them in right in front of them. Unless we are super busy, we do it. Sometimes we have customers who tell us that they are already paid their late fees and they keep showing up. Sometimes that happens because we have computer glitches. Nothing in this world is perfect. That is why you should KEEP YOUR RECEIPT!!! COMMON SENSE!!! If you didnt get a receipt, then dont leave until you have one. As for having problems with calling the customer service hotline and getting the run around, you are not the only ones that have problems with them people. Sometimes on the busiest days of the week, something happens where we have to call them also to get information. We literally have 4 lines that stretch to the back of the store. They put us on hold for a long time and you guys get frustrated with us. Its not our fault that they suck over there? Have you ever heard the saying "Dont shoot the messenger"? That is something that you have to complain about to the corporate office. If any employee of Hollywood Video is ever rude in any way, all you have to do is report them. Corporate may not be very accomodating when it comes to customers and their late fees,(since after all, that is money owed to them and money means more than anything in business)but when it comes to discipline, they jump on that right away!! Thats all for now, but if I come across anything else, you better believe that I will report some more. I am only doing this because I may be an employee, but I am also a customer just like you. Oh! before I forget. You probably wouldnt have so many problems with our company if you would have read the membership policy on the bottom half of your membership application. That is why its there. Many customers dont even read it over, they just throw it out. NOT VERY SMART!!!

I was a customer of Hollywood Video for years until one day I received a recorded phone message informing me that I had not returned the last two videos I had rented. I knew that I had returned them because I always personally hand the returns to the desk clerk, so I gave them a call. When they checked their shelves, they found one video and admitted that they never checked it in--however since they could not locate the other video they said I had to pay for it. I thought it was ridiculous that they could admit their own mistake yet accuse me of not returning the other in the same sentence. I called the corporate office's customer relations department for Hollywood Video. I explained the situation, they were apalled--saying that such a thing is not supposed to happened, etc. and they were very kind, especially when I told them that if I had to pay for the video then I would drop my membership and tear up my card. They said they would call the store and they did. As a result, the store manager called me and told me the price of the video. When I called the customer relations line again, they were again very kind and now horrified that the store manager would rather I pay for the video and quit my membership rather than admit their mistake and keep a customer. Although the customer relations department was kind, the manager of the store was unyielding, so I went down to the store, paid for the video, tore up my membership card, demanded a receipt, and also an official receipt for self-termination of my membership. In the mean time, the customer relations department had again contacted the store and then the manager of the store called me, saying that he thought that paying for the video was "okay" with me and still could not understand why I discontinued my membership. In the mean time, I became increasingly angry with the situation, pointing out that they screwed up and it was intolerable that they expected me to pay for the other video especially after I told them that I would end my membership if I had to. At this point, I demanded a refund for the video I paid for. The regional manager called me later asked what the problem was. After I explained to him what had happened, his response was, "Did you return the video?" I called the customer relations line and demanded a refund for the video that I paid for and told them that I would call them every other day until I had received the refund check. I did recieve the check in about a week, a letter of apology, and coupons for free rentals at Hollywood Video. Since I was no longer a member, the coupons were worthless. It is obvious that the store managers do not follow the wishes of the corporate offices of Hollywood Video--which is mind boggling to me. I understand that particular store has changed management quite often. Regardless, I have never gone back to any Hollywood Video Store since. Joe Downers Grove, Illinois