PORTLAND Like a sequel of a bad movie, Hollywood Video is again trying to collect money for what the company calls late movie rental fees or for movies never returned.
Last January, KGW viewers started claiming that Hollywood Video -- or a collection agency it hired -- was trying to collect on what customers called bogus bills.
They (the collection agency) were saying I returned a movie late a few years ago evidently and now because of the late fees I owe them $99, Carie Bishop-Sanders said then. I asked them for proof and they said they didn t have to provide it, but that if I didn t pay they d send me to a credit bureau.
Attorneys general from all 50 states signed an agreement with the collection agencies involved stating they would not charge customers for movies they didn t return and late fees on those same movies.
The collection agencies also agreed to reverse all negative reporting of Hollywood customers to credit bureaus and give back money consumers paid if Hollywood could not verify in writing of the fees they were trying to collect.
Intermission on this bad movie for customers may now be over.
A new Houston-based credit bureau is now receiving a lot of complaints from customers that say they didn t owe any late fees or keep any movies.
The same issues are coming in, we're processing these complaints and we're also trying to get things resolved but it's difficult when there's very little documentation to prove the issues being alleged by the debt collection agencies, spokesperson for the Better Business Bureau, Kyle Kavas said.
We include copies of the original late fees or movie rentals to prove to customers the charges are legitimate, a spokesperson for Universal Fidelity LP out of Houston Texas said.
Under an agreement Hollywood Video signed with the attorneys general from every state, collection agencies cannot report any Hollywood Video customers to any credit bureau if they refuse to pay alleged late fees and/or movies not returned.
