I'm hoping that posting this here will lead to a possible class-action or unified voice against this practice. Of course, the majority of those affected have probably already left as a customer.
I called Azuma leasing to terminate my contact with their company and have their equipment picked up. I've been a customer since they acquired the service from WebRents in July. The first and only letter I've ever received from Azuma is dated January 17 and it was simply to comply with Item 3 of the WebRents contract advising me that the rental rate was increasing from $25 per month to $28.98 per month.
In making my call, the person advised me that I am required to provide 15 days notice or I will be billed a "short notice" fee of $25. I explained that no where in the contract does it state so, in fact, only Item 4 addresses cancellation of service and it says I only need to provide 5 days notice and that a fee of $20 may be assessed if my rental is for less than three billing periods; which did not apply.
In any case, he said they will charge me and if I don't pay it that they will report it to a credit reporting company. There is no clause allowing amendments to the contract other than the stipulation in Item 3 where "... Owner may revise the Monthly Rental Rate, the charge for returned checks, the late fee, and charges for non-payment and such changes shall be binding and effective immediately upon the owner's sending notice to the renter of such changes. If the renter does not agree with such changes then the renter may terminate the agreement at any time, provided that renter, simultaneously with such termination, returns renter's equipment to renter, however renter shall remain obligated for all rents and charges incurred prior to such termination and return of equipment."
Now it's funny because the guy I spoke with, Adam (he would not provide a last name) said that they can make changes to the contract and that I should have known about it because of the monthly billing statements. He then conveniently hung up on me. So, I called back again. I again, mentioned to him that there is no where in my contract a condition stating that I would have to pay this fee. I also affirmed that, I've never received any mail other than the rent increase from this company. This was probably because they were automatically deducting the amount from my credit card.
Either way, he kept referencing the above quoted Item 3 saying that they can charge me for the early pick-up. I quickly told him that I do not authorize such charge on my credit card.
It's nice to know that this company thinks they can amend a contract 1) without written notice, and 2) when the contract doe not stipulate any means for amending the contract for this type of charge. It's also frustrating to know that they can delay pick up of the equipment and still bill you for the days that the equipment is in your possession even though you have no use or need for such equipment.
All-in-all, I'd like to see if there are others out there who have been manipulated in this same manner and if so, if you would be interested in collaborating to possible bring about a class-action against this company for breach of contract.
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