Blockbuster Clarifies Participation in the Company’s No Late Fees Program

Blockbuster Clarifies Participation in the Company’s No Late Fees Program

“All of Blockbuster’s 4,400 company-operated stores in the U.S. plus all stores in Canada and nearly 400 franchised stores in the U.S. continue to offer the No Late Fees program,” said Nick Shepherd, president of Blockbuster North America. “A small number of franchise stores, approximately 160, have decided to no longer offer the program. The program has performed well for the Company and our customer survey data clearly shows that our No Late Fees program is extremely popular with our customers and with renters in general.

“Through the No Late Fees program, our rental product still has due dates,” Shepherd continued. “Because of the program’s popularity, we’ve had to increase the level of product in our stores to meet customer demand. We continue to look at ways to motivate our customers to return the product sooner. At the same time, our franchisees are independent operators and have different business models. Some franchisees cannot invest sufficiently in product to support the program and are no longer offering it.” Customers can determine if a store is participating in the No Late Fees program through in-store signage, including No Late Fees Info Centers that provide terms and conditions explaining the entire program.

How the No Late Fees Program Works

Under the No Late Fees program, Blockbuster has eliminated late fees but still has due dates — one week for games and two days or one week for movies. However, if customers need to keep the product an extra day or two, they can, stress-free because Blockbuster now gives customers an extra one-week goodwill period at no additional charge. If customers choose to keep their rentals past the end of the seventh day after the due date per the posted rental terms, Blockbuster converts the rental to a sale and charges customers for the movie or game, minus the original rental fee. Then, if customers later decide they don’t want to own the movie or game, they can return the product within 30 days, and Blockbuster will reverse the sale and only charge a minimal restocking fee of $1.25. The restocking fee may vary between corporate and franchise stores.

About Blockbuster Inc.

Blockbuster Inc. is a leading global provider of in-home movies and game entertainment with more than 9,000 stores throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia. The company may be accessed worldwide at http://www.blockbuster.com .