First let me say this, "What a crock!"
I rented some video games last week, and figured I could return them late and not worry about it. Well, not true.
I go into the store and hanging everywhere are signs saying "No More Late Fees" I go to check out another video and the clerk tells me I owe $20 in late fees. I said I thought Blockbuster stopped charging late fees. The clerk, who had obviously gotten this several times already, explined how it worked.
Its on corporate stores only. Corporate stores are mostly only in major cities. All the other stores are franchised, which don't have to participate if they don't want to.
So I asked about all the signs hanging everywhere. They have one of those $24.95/month deals were you can have 2-3 videos out at a time. NOthing in any of the commercials, advertisements or anything that say anything about this except in very small print about participating stores.
Anyone want all my Blockbuster coupons? :)

Netflix is the way to go, I hear for movies!

Depending on the law of your land, hiding crucial details in small print may be considered unfair practice and illegal. The suit is going to be a pain, though, so it's probably not worth it unless you take it personal. ;)

Blockbuster is doing this to compete with Netflix from what I heard. I foresee this being a real pain in the ass for employees.

The Blockbuster out here is doing the no late fees thing, and we're not a major city. It's good, especially because they're giving free rentals when you settle old late fees.

I guess the moral here is to always ask about an offer before taking advantage of it.

I'm sure there are some franchises that are participating. But its still pretty misleading elswhere.

I am with a similar service called 'Qflicks'. Its great being able to see 3 movies at a time for £13 each month. Renting movies from a video shop would work out to £32 for the same quantity.

Well, I have an update on the Blockbuster Saga.
I read an article in the local paper on Blockbuster ending late fees. Since there was nothing mentioned about some stores not participating, I decided to contact the author of the article.
I told him my experience. He asked just what store I went to. He said he would look into it.
About two weeks later, the author contacted me again. He said he had talked to Blockbuster corporate and the individual store and that they were looking into it. About three days later, I recieved a letter in the mail from Blockbuster explaining that franchise stores don't have to participate in all promotions or events.
I then got an email from the manager of my local blockbuster store. All my late fees had been waved due the whole thing and I got an apology for the misunderstanding.
The signs have also been removed from the blockbuster store. There is no mention of no more late fees anywhere in the store.
Feels kinda empowering!

I read an article yesterday in the paper (the article was about Blockbuster attempting to acquire Hollywood) that mentioned Blockbuster was being investigated for misleading/false advertisement with respect to the "no more late fees" promotions.

The article just briefly mentioned it was due to the policy still requiring people to have to pay the entire purchase price of a video under certain circumstances, not that all stores weren't implementing the policy... but maybe that will come out as well.

Yeah, if you have the video out for more than 7 days, your account is charged the purchase price of the video. If you used an credit card or checking aco**** to open your Blockbuster account, the price is automatically debited from your account. Apparently there is some small print when you sign up where you give Blockbuster permission to do this.
If you return the video after the seven days, you get the price of the video refunded, minus a RESTOCKNG fee. So I basically give some kid money to take my movie back from me and put it back on the rack.
And check this out, before, when you rented a movie from Blockbuster, you sometimes had 3 or five days to return it, depending on if its a new release or not. So after seven days, there is no way the extended fees would equal the price of the video.

Just a brief comment, I found this on IMDB today:

States Probe Blockbuster's No-Late-Fees Policy

Attorneys general in at least 35 states have launched individual investigations of Blockbuster's new no-late-fees policy following complaints by consumers that it is deceptive, Home Media Retailing magazine reported Friday. The trade publication pointed out that although Blockbuster's owned outlets have adopted the no-late-fees program, some franchisees have not. Moreover, it said, some customers do not understand that if they keep a title longer than seven days, their account is charged either the sell-through price or a previously viewed price and that they are also charged a restocking fee when they return the video. While Blockbuster issues a refund if the video is returned after seven days, it is issued as store credit, not cash -- something that has also raised the eyebrows of several blockbuster customers, the magazine indicated.
Wow Elios, look what you've done :D