A week before my final payment on my PC (meaning I would own it), it started to act funny. It would try to turn itself on and off if it was plugged in. Then it would not come on at all. I opened it up, cleaned it out, and it worked fine. Two days before I was to make my final payment, it just would not turn on. I figured I should get the most from the "Service Plus!" plan I had been paying for, so I took it in. After giving me false estimated completion times, they gave it back (a week for a simple part), and I tested my PC in the store, only to find that my entire hard drive had been wiped. I had a few things backed up, but I lost a lot of information.
Obviously I was not happy. I took my concerns up with the manager and other employees. All they kept telling me was, "Oh, replacing the part is what caused your hard drive to be wiped. When this part is taken out, you lose your information." I conceded to them (they were not budging), made my last payment, and left. I went around the corner to the computer exchange, which is where Aaron's sends their PCs, and spoke to them about the whole situation. The very first thing they told me was, "Aaron's tells us to wipe every single PC they send us." My mouth dropped. I asked if changing that particular part would cause my hard drive to be wiped, and his response was, "Of course not."
Furious, I headed back to the store. I got understandably irate with the manager. For the entire year we had dealt with them, we had made every payment on time and in the store, no matter how long they had forced us to wait behind customers who came in after we did. This particular manager (whose name I never caught) has always had a smirk on his face whenever we have complained to him about a problem. It is like he enjoyed ruining our day. This time was no exception. After a heated argument, I got the home office number and called.
I had to wait nearly a week before I could talk with the district manager, and he said, "Aaron's would do that, because we would have to pay the computer exchange $80 to wipe your hard drive." They showed me the invoice they got from the computer exchange in the store, and there was a $48 charge for the part and a $60-something charge for the labor. No $80 fee, yet my hard drive was still wiped. He told me to call him the next day, as he needed to talk to his manager. So I spoke with him today. He can give me a credit for the amount of my last payment. I asked for my last payment back, in cash or refunded to my credit card. He said he cannot do that. I told him that was insufficient, and then explained two things to him:
1) Under Va. state computer laws, computer data is personal property. They caused a loss of my personal property without warning me beforehand, and I lost quite a bit of data due to their negligence.
2) My friend got a PC from Rentway and had modem problems with it. A modem is a very easy fix... Yet they wiped his hard drive too. He returned their merchandise. Is this a trend with every rental and lease place?
All I have asked for is my last payment back, due to my loss. They cannot seem to even manage that. A lawyer will cost them much more than the $152 I paid, and breaking most of the computer laws in Va. is a Class 6 felony.
I have contacted a local news station that loves to poke into matters like this. If they cannot get the job done, I will have to contact a lawyer, and I am sure Aaron's will not like the result, as they will have to pay for their lawyers and my lawyer once the case is done. I would rather it not come to that, as I would rather just have my $152 back.
Needless to say, I will not be dealing with Aaron's again, and I suggest that you not deal with them either. I do not even want to get started on what they did to my friends...
0 comments