Blockbusted
Blockbuster to end late fees:
Blockbuster announced Tuesday it will continue to set due dates, with one week for games and two days or one week for movies. But the company will give customers a one-week grace period at no additional charge, starting on New Year's Day.
...
"Doing away with late fees is the biggest and most important customer benefit we've ever offered in our company's history," John Antioco, Blockbuster Inc. chairman and chief executive, said in a prepared statement. "So as of the first of the year, if our customers need an extra day or two with their movies and games, they can take it."
Officials of the Dallas-based company also said Tuesday they expect continued softness in the rental industry and flat operating income in 2005 compared with this year before the estimated $50 million costs of marketing and implementing the late-fee elimination policy.
One word, folks: Netflix.
On the other hand, Netflix was forced to eat crow itself a while back and rescind a price hike in the face of threats of competition from, inter alia, Amazon and Wal-Mart.
Cold, heartless, brutal, merciless, win-at-all-costs capitalism.
God I love it.
