In May I entered into a rental/purchase agreement with Rent-A-Center for a Dell Laptop. I always said I would never do business with a rent to own company due to the high mark-up of the merchandise, but I had something come up and I had to get a new computer.
After making the first payment or two, I took my daughter out of town for a weekend vacation. On that Friday, I realized that my payment was due the next day. I called the store and tried to make the payment over the phone.
I spoke to a guy named Jeremy, and he told me that I could not make the payment over the phone because he did not have a credit card authorization form from me. I explained to him that I had filled one out the day I bought the computer. He said that I didn't fill it out, and that if I did not make the payment the next day, that I would have to turn the computer in.
I explained to him that I did in fact fill it out, and that I had a copy of it I would be glad to fax him. He said NO and again told me I would have to turn in the computer.
He and I argued back a forth for a few more minutes, then I told him that if he was going to refuse to accept payment, then he was in breach of the contract, not me, and that I disputed any further amount they said I owed. He told me that even if I came in Monday and made the payment in person that he would not accept it.
After that night, the phone calls started coming in. They were calling me all the time, and coming to my door. I contacted the corporate office in Texas, and tried to explain to them what happened. The guy there was VERY rude, and ended up hanging up on me.
I sent the corporate office a letter (certified mail), and told them the same thing, that I disputed the amount, and that they were not to call me or come by anymore.
After that date, they continued to call me. On one day alone, they called me 11 times in about a 6 or 8 minute period. Some guy named Louis got involved at this point. He showed up at my apartment one morning and almost broke my window because he was banging so hard.
I sent another letter to the Corporate office, as well as the local store. I told them they were to cease and desist from contacting me, and that I was filing a complaint with my Attorney General's office.
They didn't care and continued to harass me. They started calling my references and telling them I was in default, and that I needed to contact them to make arrangments to turn in the laptop.
I filed the complaint with the AG's office, and Ms. Peters told me she would handle the matter. She sent me a response from RAC, in their response the guy from corporate stated they had not called me multiple times, nor did they contact me after I sent them the letter.
I sent the AG's office copies of my phone bill, and the door hangers they left which proved when and how many times they contacted me. I also gave the contact info for my references which were more than willing to tell them about RAC giving them my personal information.
The last time I spoke with the AG's office, she told me she would handle it and would contact me once it was done. Time passed, I was having some pretty bad health issues, and I forgot all about it.
About 2 weeks ago I received a letter from my local PD stating that I had a warrant for my arrest for "Theft of rented/leased property". That warrant could have caused me to lose custody of my daughter, as well as my job.
When I contacted the AG's office again, I found out that Ms. Peters went to work for the Governor's office, and that they were not able to resolve my complaint.
I have since filed a complaint with the FTC, and have hired an attorney to handle this matter. These companies say that they help people that are not able to get credit in a traditional manner. The truth is they prey on people in my situation.
I can provide documentation of harassment and testimony from people about them violating my privacy. It is my hope that people will see this and think twice about doing business with this company.
If you can get the media involved, I will be happy to chat with them and show them my documentation. I wish I had a scanner, I would post all of the proof on here.
Thanks for listening, and if anyone has had dealings like this, please let me know how you handled it.
R S
Maumelle, Arkansas
U.S.A.
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