Sandra was trapped. She was trapped in the enchanted prison of the Disney Movie Club. She didn’t need someone to cast a spell and set her free, though: what she really needed was to pay off her entire account balance. The problem is that the enchantment robs the Movie Club of the ability to read checks, so they dragged out her departure by logging her $35 check as a $25 one.

She shared her harrowing tale of how she got free, which consisted of…sending a fax. Okay, maybe not so harrowing.

I have been trying to exit this club for months, but they won’t close your account until they receive payment for all the movies you order. This seems to make sense until you actually attempt to pay them.

The first hurdle is that it takes them a month to credit your payment by check. The second hurdle is that they charge a late fee when it takes them so long to credit your check. The third hurdle is that they apparently have a hard time reading checks. My example: I sent full payment for a movie ($35.90). A month later it cleared my bank. Three months after the original payment, I received a bill from them for $12.00 — they insist that I made payment for $25.90, plus they slapped a $2 late fee on the account.

I talked to Customer Service, and my reward for their mistake is that I have to fax them proof that the payment cleared for the correct amount, which means I have to send them a screenshot of my banking transactions for that date. After I went to the supervisor they did drop the late fee and agree to cancel my account immediately (this matters because I don’t want to get any surprise extra selections).

As bad as this experience is, I can at least be thankful they don’t have permission to charge my credit card. I’d rather fight about what I owe than what I believe should be refunded to me.

Great wisdom, Sandra: if you really, really want to join a club like this, try not to authorize auto-charges on your credit or debit card.

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.