Late DVDs lead to criminal charge for Que. couple

[Praxius]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080218/dvd_charges_080218/20080218?hub=Canada

A Chateauguay, Que., couple can't believe they ended up being criminally charged after forgetting to return some DVDs.

"It was just ridiculous. I can't believe the police took the time and put the effort into this," Helena Pawl told CTV Montreal on Monday.

Pawl and her boyfriend, Jean-Francois Mainville, forgot to return the movies to Video Carnaval.

The store claimed they tried to contact the couple several times to request the return of the movies, but the couple claims they heard nothing.

So the store filed a complaint with police over the $81 bill.

After a call from the Chateauguay police, Pawl and Mainville quickly returned the DVDs, but that didn't end the matter.

A few months later, the Surete du Quebec, the provincial police force, pulled Mainville over for speeding. While processing his licence, they found a warrant out for his arrest.
"They used a loudspeaker, telling me to exit the vehicle and put my hands on the hood," Mainville said in French.

The couple has hired a lawyer to fight the case, spending about $1,000.

At their court date, the video store didn't even show up. While that meant an acquittal, Mainville now wants his name and mugshot completely cleared from police files. But hiring a lawyer to help with that would cost yet more money.

"Oh my God. I think it's ridiculous. Give me the late charges. I'd rather pay the late charges," said Pawl. "We were three weeks late bringing back these DVDs."

A Chateauguay police officer said it really doesn't make any difference that this incident involved late DVDs.

"It's a product (with) a monetary value to it," said Tony Sciullo. "All complaints, we have to take them down," he said of the store's complaint.

Pawl said: "We didn't rob the store. We didn't go in with masks and take the movies. We forgot to bring them back."

Mainville said: "You don't destroy someone's reputation for $70."

CTV Montreal tried to reach the store's owner for comment, but he never returned the calls.

As to the movies themselves, were they any good?

"No! Of course not!" Pawl said, adding they rented a romance movie for her and "some really bad action movie."

Then they should have returned them right away if they sucked so bad and got their money back, rather then keeping them for 3 weeks and racking up late fees and thus, getting arrested by the police and embarassed in their community for not returning crappy movies.

I bet they learned that next time they should perhaps get their movies another way.

 

[lone wolf]

Wow.... What happens if you have overdue library books and a delinquent parking ticket? Their mistake was: they didn't rob the store.

Woof!

 

[faithlessforeve]

How will this effect the video store's business for turning these "criminals" over to the police? In honesty, who hasn't been late returning movies? Where I use to rent, late fees were usually added onto the next movie rental. --3 weeks is a bit long however.

 

[jenn]

well I can admit to forgetting... we rented a wii game for our son last summer... meanwhile he was busy with his marching band competitions... we were busy with company, moving and holidays.. we forgot to return it... a couple months later as we were unpacking we found it... tried to return it...and they wouldn't accept it... after so many days apparently you bought it..

 

[Praxius]

Yeah, the three week thing kinda made me wonder as well.... I mean, did they pack or hide it away somewhere? I'm pretty sure I would notice that plastic case with a DVD in it on top of my player, which has all kinds of stickers all over it from the company stating "Be Kind, Rewind" and all that garbage.

Hmmm.... That looks like that movie I rented 3 weeks ago.

Regardless if it was a crappy movie or not, rental stores, esspecially the mom/pop ones have to shell out a lot of money for new released movies that they rent out to the customer.

I looked into it a couple of years ago when I wanted to buy a movie which just came out for rent but wasn't for sale. For me to buy the same copy they were renting, I would have had to pay over 100-200 bucks for that one copy. I can't remember all the details, but that's why they rent it out for only so many days at such and such a price, so that they get their money's worth back out of the rentals in which they put into buying the movie..... then when the movie comes out on sale, they drop the price and extend the viewing days.

Then when they no longer get the profit in which they were getting before from that movie, and could make more from a newer one coming out, they throw a pile of the used DVD's out on sale for $10 or so to clear space.... even though they could probably just give them away based on the amount of profit they got over the last month or so from that one movie.

When it's brand new and only been out for a couple of days and some person like the above rents it out for $3 and then doesn't return it.... that's a huge loss in profit in those three weeks for that company.

I don't know if I'm spouting accuracy here, like I said, it's been a few years since I looked into it.

 

[lone wolf]

Suggest maybe Blockbuster next time ... where they have a gazillion current titles on hand and won't put the heat on you for being late. Anyone can forget. Anyone can say they tried calling too. It's the name-on-the-blotter thing that's worth suing over.

Woof!

 

[s_lone]

Suggest maybe Blockbuster next time ... where they have a gazillion current titles on hand and won't put the heat on you for being late. Anyone can forget. Anyone can say they tried calling too. It's the name-on-the-blotter thing that's worth suing over.

Woof!

I doubt you'll find a Blockbuster in Chateauguay... The only ones I've seen in Quebec are in Monreal...

 

[Unforgiven]

It's just good manners to be prompt and return things when they are due. It's acceptable to have forgotten once in a while and a good business practice to flag those people you try to reach by phone for next time they come in the store to update their information.

But if you don't bother to return the movies, and pay the late charges, then you have caused a problem for someone else, and for no other reason than laziness here it seems. If these two don't like people screwing up their lives, then they should take their own advice and not screw around with anyone else's. Or at least be polite and try to make amends.

 

[Praxius]

.....But if you don't bother to return the movies, and pay the late charges, then you have caused a problem for someone else, and for no other reason than laziness here it seems. If these two don't like people screwing up their lives, then they should take their own advice and not screw around with anyone else's. Or at least be polite and try to make amends.

Agreed.... the thing that urked me was their excuse "The movies wern't all that great"

pssh... ok never mind then, keep them..... *Smacks them in the back of the head*

 

[faithlessforeve]

Agreed.... the thing that urked me was their excuse "The movies wern't all that great"

pssh... ok never mind then, keep them..... *Smacks them in the back of the head*

I don't think that was their excuse, it was just an answer given when asked whether the movies were any good. I think the article just says that they did not receive any calls from the store. They were probably just a bit on the tardy side.....maybe it was the weather.:-|

 

[louchiss]

interesting

i cant believe no one suggested getting bootleg movies for five bucks. But i guess thats a toronto thing. Too bad they dont have a blockbuster there. Or even so they could have downloaded em. Stupid video store stupid cops stupid couple. Get satellite and all your problems are solved.