"These kids today" will not comprehend the business model. I have gotten old enough to use phrases like "these kids today," and "I remember when." Anyway, the subject of this post is called a "VHS Tape" (1977). See, "back in the day," when you wanted to watch a movie, it was as simple as driving to the "video store," there was no such thing as "streaming" unless you considered watching one of the few (in most towns less than 5) "broadcast" stations that your television set could pick up (you streamed what they chose). At your alternative, you would join these stores, and carry a membership card. The rentals were for a fixed number of days (someone else could not watch the movie until you brought it back).
It was a great paradigm, of which we were very proud. We frankly could not believe the convenience. And, there were video stores everywhere. The biggest chain was called Blockbuster (started in 1985), and at one time it had 9,000 store locations, "employed 84,000 people," had "65 million registered customers," and was valued at over $3 billion.
We watched as these stores evolved from VHS tapes to DVDs (Digital Video Discs). They were smaller and you did not have to "rewind" the movie (with VHS, the tape physically moved from one reel to another as you watched; to watch it again you had to "rewind" it). Blockbuster and other stores also charged you a dollar if you did not rewind the tape. Sometimes they would then rewind it themselves, but other times they just took the dollar (profit) and left that rewinding for the next customer. Despite evolving into those DVDs, Business Insider notes that Blockbuster then went bankrupt due to competition from others such as Netflix (which used to use something called the U.S. Mail to deliver and pick up those DVDs).
The big difference between Netflix and Blockbuster was therefore convenience. But, as I recall, another big difference was the dreaded "late fee." Netflix did not mail the old VHS tapes, so no rewind fees. But if you rented a movie from Blockbuster, it had a return time. If you missed it even by minutes, they put another few bucks for a late fee on the credit card you had given to them when you signed up. Business Insider says that in the late 1990s "Blockbuster earned $800 million in late fees alone." Some of us codgers might even admit that we switched to Netflix primarily to avoid those late fees. It was harder than you think to remember to return those movies.
The news in 2021 reported an Oklahoma Woman Charged with Felony. She had reportedly lived with a man 20 years ago (2001), and the man had daughters. It appears that she, the man, or the daughters rented Sabrina the Teenage Witch from a video store and it was never returned (or at least checked in as returned, anyone might make a mistake). The store filed charges with the local officials and then proceeded to go out of business like all the other video stores. Well, most; you can still visit the last Blockbuster in Bend, Oregon (and even purchase a "Be Kind, Rewind" t-shirt, yes that is a real thing).
Fast forward to 2021 and she was trying to renew her driver's license when she found there is a problem. The old criminal charge remained pending. She says that "over the last 20 years, she's been let go from several jobs without being given a reason why." She now believes it stems from the fact that a criminal background check would alert any employer to the pending "felony embezzlement" charges. She finds herself trying to correct charges filed by a now out-of-business store. Fortunately for her, the prosecutor's office agreed to drop the charges.
There are multiple lessons here. First, you have to be careful about letting anyone use your accounts. That may seem easy to remember with your credit card, but perhaps you would tend toward leniency if someone wanted to use your membership to rent a $3-$4.00 movie? The lesson for the business might be to get that credit card number in advance? My late fees at Blockbuster were always just charged to my card. If I had simply not returned a tape, I suspect they would have charged me for that also (you broke/lost it, you bought it?).
One's first reaction might be "Felony?" Over a video not returned? According to 21 OK Stat § 21-1451 (2014), a felony would require the value of what was taken to be over $500.00. It may be difficult to comprehend that value. In fact, movies in that era may have cost up to or more than $100.00. This is supported by the recollections of others. But how does that $100 make for a felony? One path may be that the store did not report the loss to the police until those "late fees" accrued for some time. A $1.00 per day late fee could accumulate quite an aggregate over a year or two. The second point is that responsibilities can create problems; if they are ignored it may become worse.
Third, the victim (video store) does not have to persist in order for a prosecution to occur. Criminal charges can linger for a very long time. Years ago a student approached me regarding threats from a retailer to whom the student had written a bad check. I struggled to convince the student to take cash to that store and buy that check back. The student was convinced that one bad check would not impact or harm her/his future. I explained that such "truth crimes" are a question on virtually every job application you will ever complete. Eventually, the student relented, but I will never know for sure if s/he bought that check back.
Fourth, you don't know when something like this will crop up. I similarly knew someone who was engaging in a transaction and ran a simple computer background. S/he was surprised to find a delinquent tax bill that was from more than 20 years earlier and which had never appeared on any report over that time. S/he was able to prove it had been satisfied (do you have your paper records from 20 years ago?). But, in doing so, s/he learned that the county's records had long misidentified that account as delinquent. What had at that point only very recently changed was the county had accomplished transferring such information to the Internet. Thus, the digital delay had resurfaced long-forgotten and untrue information to her/his chagrin.
Fifth, people are keeping information about you. That does not mean they are necessarily telling you. Do you know what your credit score is? Better, do you know why your credit score is what it is? Who has reported what and when? Has it been reported accurately or not? There are free methods for checking your credit report.
Additionally, for $24, you can check your own criminal history (Florida only) on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement website. Should everyone do this periodically? Likely not. But, if you are being mysteriously let go from jobs, finding you cannot qualify for credit to make some purchase, etc., perhaps it would be good to do some research? Sure, you never did anything (this lady says she did not even rent this movie), but some clerical mistake may be mysteriously haunting you. It is always possible that details will not appear on such a check, as illustrated by the tax anecdote above, but these are a good place to start.
Finally, records can be wrong. This can occur through human error in creating them, or in digitizing them. Mistakes, yours or those of others, can follow you for years. Thus, the workers' compensation community might be careful in reliance upon digital records and perhaps more careful of old information. There are anecdotal examples of misidentified "prior injuries" and similar records being attributed to the wrong person.
In the end, paradigms will change, and information management will evolve. Those who create it or maintain it may go out of business and thus perhaps increase our challenges with correcting the data. With no store to explain, we are left with conjecture as to the felony perspective. Others will rely on this data. These issues might challenge any of us, and deserve some attention. And, "buckle up," you may too soon find yourself uttering phrases like "these kids today" or even "get off my lawn." This getting old is, well, getting old.
