AboutLisa Fortin Jackson Expertise Will answer any questions about retail loss prevention, asset protection (including shoplifting and internal dishonesty), and general shortage reduction; as well as multi-location management as relative to the above.
Experience Seventeen years in the field, including fourteen as a district level loss prevention manager for five national retail organizations.
Expert: Lisa Fortin Jackson Date: 2/13/2008 Subject: what can i do about all movies that are rented and never returned?
Question i have a video store and was wondering what i can do with all the rentals from people that never return the dvds or games? I have tried collection agencies before and i was sending so many of them to them they actually said that they will not take anymore from me now that is bad!!! I know I can require a credit or debit card to set up an account but where my store is is in a small town and to be honest with you i don't think allot of them would have one. I don't know what to do are their any laws in Michigan that help protect me I have tried to talk to the local police and they basically say they have better things to do then fined movies. I have take some to small claims court and of course they never showed up so i got a judgement but big deal still haven't seen a dime of that and it cost me a lot of money 2 file and serve them so i an out even more money.
anything you have to offer would help please........
Answer Hi Jason,
Thanks for finding me on the AllExperts board! I feel for you. As a small business owner, you are in a very tough situation. It's difficult to compete financially with large chains that have the resources to address these types of issues. Rest assured though, I'm sure that they too count losses in the millions every year for videos that are never returned.
Unfortunately, there is no quick or easy solution to the problem. Thieves (and that is what these people are, make no mistake) have found video stores to be easy targets. They rent them for one-fourth of what they would pay to buy them new, and just never return them.
So... what can you do? You've already tried collection agencies and that doesn't seem to be working for you-- plus, it's probably costing you more than you are able to recoup. The only thing I can possibly think of to do (aside from requiring the credit card, which I really believe is the best solution. You may see a drop in your business at first, but you won't be losing thousands in unreturned videos.) is to have a sit-down with your local district attorney and explain the extent of the problem. See if you can get some of the local managers of larger chain video and rental property companies (think Rent-A-Center, etc.) to come to the meeting with you.
I can't speak for Michigan law. I've never lived there. But Virginia, for one, has a law on the books by which a person can be criminally charged with failure to return rental property. I believe it was a misdemeanor, but it carried up to twelve months in jail. I once knew a judge that locked a woman up for not returning her videos--for something like six months. The media had a field day because they didn't believe the punishment was proportionate to the crime, but my guess is she thought twice after that before deciding to keep her movies. Maybe check your state statutes. If there is such a law, and you are persistent enough, you can probably convince the D.A. to prosecute a few of these freeloaders and once the word gets out, your problem should at least abate. Start with the D.A., though. The police just won't care, and the D.A. in a lot of states is an elected official who won't find it politically expedient to diss the small business owners. But go in armed to the teeth- with reports and statistics that demonstrate just what a problem this is for you. You should be able to get the advice you need on collecting the evidence necessary to bring a viable prosecutable case. And if you keep bringing them, well, they'll be more likely to toughen up.
If you don't get anywhere with the D.A., or if there is no law on the books, then threaten to go to your local state legislators. Most state legislatures are in session now, and these guys are looking for opportunities to get noticed by bringing new and/or tougher legislation to the books.
Hopefully, this has been of some help at least. You do have a difficult problem, but I really believe that with some persistence and imagination, you can significantly impact your bottom line.
Thanks again for finding me, and if I have helped you at all, please consider leaving me some feedback on the AllExperts site. And please let me know how things turn out for you.
