Shepherd ordered market research on attitudes around late fees and discovered that, while only 20 percent of Blockbuster customers were paying late fees at any given time, more than 70 percent had paid them at one time or another, and most felt the stores were not consistent or fair about the way they were levied. Intellectually he knew the brand was damaged each time a customer got into an argument with a Blockbuster cashier over unexpected late fees, especially as it frequently happened in front of a long line of customers waiting to check out. But the idea of wiping out an important source
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