I have been a customer of Rent-A-Center for a year now. I have always paid my bills to them. Sometimes I am a few days late, and pay the applicable late fees. This past Friday (4/9/07) I was exactly 6 days late on my payment for my big-screen HD TV and my washer and drier set. The past due amount was $78.00. My next weekely payment was going to be due the next day (another $68.00 to be due the following day, saturday 4/10/07).
I called my local RAC store to make a payment over the phone with my debit card. I have done this several times in the past under the exact same curcumstances (the past amoudue amount and the next week payment coming due the next day). The manager on the phone told me he would be unable to take the payment.
When asked why, he gave me no good answer, except that it was store policy, which I know is not true, because as I stated, I have made this excact payment SEVERAL times in the past. He basically told me unless I paid two weeks on the items (roughly $150 for both sets for two weeks) He would be totally unable to take a payment. Now keep in mind, at this point the only thing I owed was $78. The additional amount was not even due until the next day.
After several minutes of debating with this manager, he basically forced me to choose one of my items, and pay two weeks rent on it, leaving the other item past due. He was insistant on me paying $58 for two weeks on the WD set. Keep in mind this is LESS than the original amount of $78 I was initially prepared to pay to get both items CURRENT. However, I reluctantly opted to pay for the LARGER of the two items, two weeks on the TV, for roughly $85.
While on the phone with him, I expressed more than once that I only wanted to pay for my two item's past due amount. I did not want to pay two weeks on one item, because I knew the would come and try to reposses the other. He assured me they would not.
After recieving my confirmation code for the payment, I made an arrangement to come in on thursday, 4/12/07 to pay for the two weeks past due amount on the WD set.
4/11/07 6:00 pm, I got a phone call from my son that there was a 200 pound man banging repeatedly on the front door for roughly a half an hour. He was driving a big blue Rent a Center truck. He was undoubtedly their to reposses my WD set, that the manager had refused my payment on just a week earlier, and I had arranged to pay the next day.
First of all, isn't there some kind of law that lets consumers pay their past due amounts. Second of all, isn't it kind of stupid for a company to refuse a payment for a past due amount? Third of all, shouldn't management have the common sense to realize that $78 is greater than $58.
At any rate, I called and spoke to the very same manager that refused my payment, wanting to know why this giant man was trying to pound my door in. His answer was he had no idea why the guy was even at my house at all (go figure). My son thought that he was trying to get into the house, and scared him to death. Keep in mind, all this would have been avoided had the manager accepted my past due amount to begin with. If he had, I would have only been 4 days late on my regular weekly payment.
Finally, I have decided to just let them come and get the WD set at MY CONVENIENCE. I will keep the TV, because I have already paid the THOUSANDS of dollars for it, and I am over half way done paying it off.
It is laughable how rediculously stupid this whole thing is, and I have attached my formal complaint that I sent to rent a center today, just for a good chuckle:
This message / complaint is in regard to Rent a Center policy that is completely unfair, illogical and rediculous. It's also in regard to management's lack of ability to successfully handle customers, and deal with the simplist of issues in a civil, intelligent manner.
I have been a customer of yours for a year now. I must admit that may payments might not always be on time, however I have always made my payments and applicable late fees whenever necessary.
First let me start by stating that I am by no means a rich person. I work hard for my money and so does my wife. Rest assured that if I was independantly wealthy, I would never have purchased anything from your outfit in the first place. The reality of the situation is that although paying may furniture bill is important, I do have other bills to pay besides yours and sometimes people are late on their payments.
At any rate, last week I was a few days late on my payment. Friday, 4/9/07 I called my local store to make a payment with my debit card. I was prepared to pay the amount of $78.00 and some change, which would be my regular weekly payment for my two items, as well as $5.00 late fee on each. Now keep in mind, at this point I was only a few DAYS late (not weeks). My past due amount was $78, and my next payment WAS NOT EVEN DUE YET.
Now let me tell you something... I did not just fall off the chicken truck a couple of days ago. I have been paying bills my entire adult life, and the first thing I do when I have a bill that is past due, IS PAY THE PAST DUE AMOUNT.
I have had to do this SEVERAL TIMES at your silly store in the past with NO PROBLEM... However this time (4/9/07) the manager on the phone told me that he was unable to take my payment... That's right, the manager would not take my payment of the past due amount of $78.00. He would not give me a reason why, except that it was store policy. Now I know this not to be true, because as I stated, I have made this exact payment amount on the exact day of the week several times in the past.
At any rate, He FORCED ME TO PAY two weeks on one of my items. He wanted me to pay 58.00 for two weeks on the washer and drier set (please notice that this guy was insistant to take the smaller amount of $58 (two weeks on washer and drier) rather than $78 (one week on WD set, one week on TV set), go figure that out), however I reluctantly opted to pay two weeks on the larger Item, the big screen TV (in the amount of 80 some-odd dollars) for two weeks. I made it clear to him that all I wanted to do was get the two items current, but he ABSOLUTELY WOULD NOT TAKE MY PAYMENT THE WAY THAT I WANTED TO PAY IT, which would have made me current on both of my items.
So at this point my TV was paid for two weeks, and my washer and drier set is getting ready to be TWO WEEKS LATE, thanks to your newly invented policy and rediculoulsly idiotic management. I made an arrangement to come in today (4/12/07) and pay the balance on the washer drier set. But that is NOT going to happen... Do you want to know why? Because yesterday, my son called me at work to tell me there was a 200 pound man banging on the front door of my house for a half an hour, in a big blue truck that said 'rent a center'. Undoubtedly he was there to come and repossess my washer and drier set that your manager had REFUSED to take a payment on a week earlier.
(By the way, when I was on the phone with him {4-9-07}, I told him the main reason I didn't want to pay two weeks on one item alone, was because i KNEW they would come and try to get the other stuff... He assured me that wouldn't happen). Well of course it did happen, and my son was scared to death, because he thought the man was trying to get into my house. Furthermore, when I called the store, the very same manager that refused my payment told me he had no idea why the guy was there at my house that day. Then he came at me with some advice, "why don't you just give one of the items back so you can afford to pay one on time".
So is this your store policy? To not take payments of good loyal customers, force them to get far behind on their bill, and suggest to return their items. I'm not sure where you get your business model, but doesn't it seem as if everyone at your stores used this method, that you would eventually not have any customers at all???
I just want you to know that it is this very reason I will not pay for the WD set. You can come and get it AT MY CONVENIENCE. The only reason I am going to keep making payments on the TV, is because I'm already half way done paying it off. I think it is a real shame that your company doesn't have the ability to realize that good customers don't come around too often, and that you should treat them with respect and LISTEN TO WHAT THEY ARE SAYING.
It is very frustrating to me not to be able to pay my bills on time, but the reality is that I can only do my best to pay you and your late fees when necessary. I thought that your goal was to get me to ownership, and keep me coming back for more items in the future... One thing that I guarentee you, is that I will NEVER purchase so much as a barstool from rent a center again. Ever. Once this TV is paid off, I hope that I never even have to lay eyes on a rent a center again.
One more thing, did you know that as a customer, I have a right to make a payment on my past due amount? What kind of an idiot comes up with a policy that keeps customers from paying their past due amount. I think that the whole thing is laughable, how incredibly STUPID this is.
Jonathan
Fayetteville, North Carolina
U.S.A.
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