Following the lead of Blockbuster, Rogers Video is dropping late fees on movie rentals.

"We took the concept of no late fees a step further and developed a truly customer-friendly offering," Chuck van der Lee, president of Rogers Video, said in a news release Sunday.

Under the plan which takes effect immediately, customers will have an eight-day grace period to return movies before being charged for the price of the movie. If consumers choose not to purchase the movie, they have 30 days to return it to the store for a refund. No restocking fees will be applied to the customer's account.

In December 2004, Blockbuster announced a no-late-fee policy on overdue movies and video games. Many consumers were confused by the new policy, believing they could return the movies and games once they were through with them.

However, under the terms of the new Blockbuster policy, consumers were offered a seven-day no-late-fee grace period. After seven days, customers were charged for the value of the item, but they had another 30 days to return it. If the item was returned, U.S. customers were charged a $1.25 US restocking fee, while Canadian customers paid $1.75.

Many consumers complained about advertisements that they deemed misleading and forced the rental chain to offer refunds. Blockbuster also paid $630,000 US to cover legal fees, an investigation and consumer protection costs.