Spencer's TV & Appliance Company
False advertising, unfair & deceptive trade practices, bad-faith business, shiester, fcra violations, phoenix, glendale, scottsdale

Consumer complaints Investigation:
Spencer's TV & Appliances gets a POSITIVE RATING from consumer complaints and is fulfilling its commitment to provide excellent customer service. Customers can feel confident and secure because Spencer's. Spencer's TV & Appliances is a proud member of consumer complaints Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program and they've pledged to resolve any and all legitimate complaints.

Spencer's states it is their.."sincerest intention to make every one of their customers happy with every part of their transaction at Spencer's at the lowest prices." Executives report that they have stringent requirements into their hiring practices to ensure sales and customer service personnel are of the highest quality, provided more intense training practices to teach new and better ways of servicing customers, improved communication among managers and floor personnel so that any misunderstandings are dealt with on the spot, and empowered all employees to do what's necessary to make any and all customers happy. Spencer's realizes that clear communication is the key to happy customers, so they pledge to make sure each and every customer clearly understands the specific model they are purchasing and the terms of all deals before they leave the store.

Spencer's explained to consumer complaints that they have increased staff in all areas, having grown from a small staff of 4 or 5 to their current staff of 300, and while they've experienced some growing pains, they are taking the steps necessary to make sure all customers are satisfied every time they shop at Spencer's.

Spencer's TV & Appliances personal attention always putting the customer first. Spencer's TV & Appliances believes one complaint is too many that is why they approached consumer complaints and requested to join consumer complaints's Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program. Our investigation revealed that Spencer's TV & Appliances truly cares about its clients, and makes every effort to provide an excellent level of service to each and every one of them.

Read more about Spencer's TV & Appliances and their commitment to total customer satisfaction and why consumers should feel safe and confident when doing business with a member of consumer complaints's Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program.

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now to the original report that was filed
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Advertisement states Spencers TV & Appliance offers "Buy or Rent To Own-see inside for details". Upon opening the ad, in the lower right-side it states, "NO CREDIT SLOW CREDIT BAD CREDIT—RENT TO OWN! FREE 1ST & LAST MONTH PAYMENT *The transaction advertised is an 18 month rental purchase agreement. The consumer requires no ownership rights unless the total amount necessary to to acquire ownership is paid."

Being in a situation where I needed to do a rent-to-own contract, I thought to myself, "this is great." I called the store located on 43rd Ave and spoke to someone named Julio. I asked how does their rent-to-own program work, he replied, "Fill out an application, we need to verify you have a job and that we can get a hold of you." I said, "That's it, nothing else?" He replied, "Oh yeah, you have to pay your first payment." I said, "Your ad says 1st & last month's payments are free." He said, "Bring the ad in with you." I said, "Thank you", and the call ended. Later that same day, I went to the store, found the refrigerator I wanted, filled out the application, and the salesman helping me told me the Rental Manager was not in but that he would give him the application to process in the morning.

I received a call from someone named Kerry, who represented himself to be the Rental Manager from Spencers. He apologized for taking so long to get back with me and then proceeded to inform me my credit was too bad and that they weren't going to be able to help me. I quoted to him what the ad said and what I had been told over the telephone. He said, "I'm sorry if you have been misled, but we cannot help you. There are several other rent-to-own stores in town that don't run credit, maybe you should go there." I told him this was false advertising and why did they run credit anyway. He said, "Right above your signature on the application is the authorization to pull credit." I then said, "the application says that I authorize the release of information from third parties listed on the application, and nowhere does it state that I authorize them to access a credit report." He told me the third party thing was the authorization, trying to bluff his way out. I then asked to speak with his manager. He refused. He kept telling me he can help me with whatever questions I have. I said then tell me why, specifically, you are denying me. He could not produce anything specific. I again asked for his manager, he told me his name was Roger but that he wasn't in the store right then. He said he would have him call me. I immediately called the store back and asked for Roger. Imagine my surprise when I was told "just a minute". I then told Roger the scenario, he said he would review the information and call me back in about 15 minutes. Almost 3 hours later, Roger called me back and said the same thing, "I'm sorry, but we are not going to be able to help you out with this." Again, I asked specifically why. He told me, "they are forbidden to discuss such things but that I could see for myself on the credit report, and then to have a nice day." They never told me which bureau they pulled, nor have they provided any written notice.

I called Rick Biederbeck, the owner, the next day. This name was not easy to get, no one at any of the stores wanted to provide it to me, I actually got his name from the BBB website. I told Rick the situation and that I would like to give him the opportunity to correct the situation prior to filing any complaints. He said he would and call me back. Ten minutes later he called back to state the same thing, "they couldn't help me out." I asked again for specifics, he hesitated, then said if I had a local driver license instead of an out-of-state & even a downpayment, but he couldn't guarantee they would work with me.

This company needs to know when they advertise something and people respond specifically to that advertisement, they must live-up to what they have represented.

What this business owner fails to admit and acknowledge is that his advertisements DO NOT state that there are terms and conditions to their rent-to-own program, nor does the advertising indicate subject to credit approval.in fact, they do not even have a sign posted in their store that states they reserve the right to refuse service to anyone. These types of business practices are unfair and deceptive, and are based upon bad-faith priciples. Spencer's is an undesirable element in the society of retailers. This company has had numerous complaints, both official and unofficial, and yet they fail to realize the best, or in this case, the worst type of "advertising" can be word of mouth. It is a well-known fact that when a customer has a good experience, very few people hear about it; conversely, a person with a bad experience will generally tell 10 people, who each tell 10 more people, etc. The snowball effect can be very unpleasant for a business.in my opinion, this company has no business being in business and should be shut down to protect all consumers from suffering the bad-faith principles of a shiester.

Robert
Phoenix, Arizona
U.S.A.

Company: Spencer's TV & Appliance Company
Country: USA
State: Arizona
City: Mesa
Address: 115 W. 1st Avenue
Phone: 4808333072

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