It isn't just Blockbuster. I had a similar problem with a "Mom & Pop" video store.
One day, I got a phone call telling me that my copy of Legend Of Bagger Vance was overdue. I told them that I never rented the movie. The girl apologized and I thought that was the end of it. The next month, the same thing happened. And again the following month.
Then I recieved a threatening phone call from the store. The girl told me that, if I didn't return the tape and pay something like $100 in late fees, they would call the cops. I said that I had rented "The Legend" (with Jet Li) and "Legend of Drunken Master", but never "Legend of Bagger Vance" and someone had obviously entered the wrong number on the computer. She replied that the computer said I had rented it, so I must have rented it.
I was getting very pissed, so I asked if anyone had actually gone and looked on the shelf to see if the movie was actually there. Dead silence. When she came back on, she actually said that there was no reason to go back and check because the computer said I rented it and never returned it, so it obviously wasn't there!
At this point, I told her that I had an eye doctor's appointment and, if she didn't get it straightened out, I was going to have my lawyer call her manager (that's a bit of an exaggeration since, while I would have talked to the manager, I wouldn't have bothered getting a lawyer involved).
Anyway, I get back from the eye doctor and find 15 calls from the store on my caller ID. When I called back, she apologized and said that someone "just walked in" and returned the DVD.
Obviously, after she hung up, she went to the shelves, found the movie, and then went into a panic that I would get her fired.
I'm just amazed that this girl (I think it was the same girl who called each time) was so willing to make threats based on what the computer said, rather than walk 12 feet to see if their records were wrong. And I'm not kidding when I say "12 feet" because the "L" section was directly across from the cash register! Hell, she probably even rented the damn thing while it was supposedly "lost".
Anyway, I never went back to the store again, which went out of business a few months later. Good riddance.
My parents also had a similar situation recently. They recieved a bill in the mail from their garage for about $900. They knew they didn't owe any money, and the bill didn't specify exactly what work was done and to which vehicle. My mom called was told it was a mistake and they should just disregard it.
They got a 2nd letter a few weeks later. This one, as vague as the last concerning what it was actually for, also had a note that, if they didn't pay, it was going to be sent to a collections agency. When my mom called, she was told that it was a mistake. Apparently, someone with the same name as my dad owed the money. It was an interesting coincidence since our last name isn't that common. And then she added, "And his wife has the same name as you!" My mom blurted out, "As me?!", to which the woman replied, "Yes. But they live at..." and recited an address...
my parents' address!
After correcting the rocket scientist, my mom was assured that the bill was in error as their records show that my parents had paid all their bills and they could find no record of any work done on their vehicles that even totaled $900.
My mom thought it had finally been straightened out. I wasn't quite so sure (considering the woman she had talked to was a moron) and told her that she should really call the garage again and double check to see if the bill was corrected. She did, and, to make matters more ludicrous, not only did they say she owed the money, but that the bill was dated a year before my parents even moved to this state!
Again, she thought she had it straighted out. The woman (a different one than the moron) even said that they would correct it on the computer.
And, of course, a few weeks later, they got the bill again. My parents had to go there and see in person that the bill was wiped from their records.
I just realized that there's a moral to both stories: If you want something done right, you have to check it with your own eyes.
Or, maybe, "Don't trust a computer".
) and Mom doesn't know of one either.... ::shrug::
