Complaint Rating:

Hollywood Video
www.hollywoodvideo.com

-Rented 3 movies in 2006

-Returned them, maybe a little late. I sometimes return videos late and just pay the fee next time I try to rent. Usually is only a few bucks.

-I moved a lot for work (within the U.S. and just returned from a stint abroad). However, my billing address has always been my parent's home. They open up my mail and call me about anything important. They never called about anything to do with video rentals.

-Recently tried to rent at the local Hollywood store I've been going to for the past 10 years.

-Was informed about these 3 rentals.

-Long story short - the manager on duty was so rude and was deliberately shouting at me in order get everyone's attention. She wouldn't tell me how much I owed, she just called me a "liar" and a "thief" and said the "only problem is on your end."

-I just walked out of the store. I've never been so embarrassed and stunned in my life.

My worry is this following:

-When I entered the store, I said "Hi" to one of the teenage clerks reporting to this manager. The clerk said Hi back and then I heard him say to another clerk, "Wow, this person speaks English!" I'm not sure what to make of that comment, but I can't help but think there's some sort of prejudice (FYI: I'm U.S.-born, 100% proud American citizen with no accent.)

-I have one Hollywood late fee letter from 2005, about videos I've already settled. I've read on complaints.com and other websites that Hollywood and Blockbuster deliberately delay actively pursuing collections for a while, in order to compound the late fees. Is that true? If so, I guess it would be better for me to pay off whatever the fee is, but I'm scared that the amount will be into the hundreds of dollars because it's 3 videos and they were due in 2006. It's now late 2007...

-The manager said that their collections agency tried to contact me, but I didn't receive any mail or calls and my contact info has always been the same.

-I recently got all three of my credit reports. Not a mention on any of them from Hollywood Video or their collectors ("Credit Protection Agency", unless I got the name wrong).

-I called Hollywood customer service (did not give them ANY info about me). The rep was, no surprise, very rude as well. She said that I had to go into that particular store to settle my account, but, and I'm sure you'll all understand my feeling on this, I don't ever want to step foot into that store again. She said that she could forward me to collections, but I don't want to deal with those "people" either.

Should I just stay silent and only fight this if they ever do find me? Or should I just pay whatever exorbitant fee to get them off my back (naturally, I'm going to end my membership)?

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.