In Early 2008 BB called our house and said that somebody (turned out to be my mother because her name is on the account) checked out a movie and it was never returned. Do not remember what it was, but for purposes here it is irrelevant.
Fastforward to the present day and for the last 3 days I've gotten calls from a debt collector at exactly 8:18AM in reference to this BB ordeal.
Every once in awhile over the last year BB has reached us trying to collect this. We have explained to them that we have not used BB in several years, nor intend to use it now. This charge is not our responsibility.
At my wits end now, I called the BB store and they said to contact corporate. So I did.
The rep, "Belle" says that what happened was our phone number was tied to another person's account and that the overage fee was to be collected from that other person, not our family. I say OK, then remove the fee and contact the debtor and tell them to cease calling us over the matter. So she says yes, that is what BB will do. To confirm, I say, "To be clear, we do not owe BB anything, correct?" She says 'Yes.'
Being old enough to not trust anyone, I then call the store location back and ask if they talked to corporate. They say yes, but that the lady they spoke with told them to leave the fee on the account and find a different number to track my mother down with...
At this point I'm furious, not only did they lie straight out to me, they are still scheming to get this debt collected after admitting they made a mistake in charging it to us.
I call corporate back, demand to speak to a supervisor. I get "Anthony." I tell him what happened and he asks if anyone else in our house had rented the movie. I say, no, and this conversation is moot. Your agency (BB) already admitted to having made the mistake and said they would clear the issue with themselves internally and with the debtor.
Anthony looked at my account and said there was no mistake, and that BB did not tell me they would clear issue since they hadn't made an error. He said the only way to fix it was to pay the debt...
Now I'm raging. I tell him to find HIS superior, and that I am sure many people where he works are his superior. He says the only person above him is the district manager and that they have no number for him. I tell him service like this is why they're going out of business, then call him a dickhead, and tell him enjoy unemployment.
I call BB corporate back after my rage subsides a bit, and tell the guy to connect me to the district manager's voicemail, he says he'll relay the message to the manager and I will get a call in 24 hours.
I gave them my Google Voice number to call so that I can record the conversation.
I'll let you know what, if anything happens.
I've already contacted the better business bureau as well as the attorney general's office.
Now, here is an interesting piece which I have now way of proving, but it is very telling. My mom (who the account is listed under) volunteers a lot. She met someone with her same first and last name in my town. When they met, the woman said, "Are you the other (name) that BB is trying to call? Because I think my daughter took the movie out."
So here is what we hypothesize- the girl went to BB without her card. She said look up my account under my mom's name. Lo and behold, the mothers had the same name. Unfortunately my mom thought the issue had been resolved and didn't think to take the woman's info. Fantastic huh? Because it sounds so coincidental and impossible to believe, I didn't even mention it to BB.
This fine is not about the money, it's about the principle. I can't believe BB would fight this hard to recoup a measly fine amount and be so damned dishonest in the process. I have never EVER had service like this where a corporation calls me a liar.
Suck it Blockbuster, suck it hard.
