Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Rent King of New Port Richey, Florida, Scam.


By and far, one of the absolute worst companies I have ever had the displeasure to do business with. I subcontract from a virtual solutions contractor and we service a variety of clients, each requiring different Hardware and operating system specs, so I choose to lease my equipment from rent to own stores, so that If I need to change systems, I can. I have done business with Rent-A-Center, Aarons, and Rent King. I have been very happy with Rent-A-Center and Aaarons, but Rent King is not only unprofessional, it does not comply the state laws that regulate it's industry unless the customer happens to know how to research the statutes, and communicate in writing, to Rent King, the very statute it will ignore on the belief that the customer will not know what it is.


We started our contract with Rent King in Dec 2010 and it was for 18 months (or 72 weeks). At one point, we fell one week behind, and remained '1 week behind,' each week, paying the previous weeks' payment, with a late feet... we never went beyond 10 days late, because on the 10th day, they will lock down the computer remotely from a lojacking system they install on their machines.


Every time we would ask for a balance owed on the account, the store manager Jared, would refuse to give us a dollar amount, insisting that he could tell us that while the account was in arrears.


In the spring of 2012, we caught up the payments and did a buyout on one of our two machines. Jared told us that he could remotely deactivate the 'lojacking' system on the computer that was paid off. This is when Jared informed us that every week we had been late, and paid a late for fee, extended the contract an additional week. At that time, we asked Jared for a printout of every payment we had made.


He printed up a few receipts and handed them to us and sent us on our way.


At home, when we discovered that he had not given us all of the receipts and when we called to ask Jared about it, he told me “You're right, and I'm not going to print out a receipt for every payment just because you didn't keep your records.”


I finally looked up the statutes, and sent an email to the stores corporate offices, quoting the statute word for word, proving that they were legally obligated to provide this information. I added that I would be in that Friday to pick up the paperwork.


When I got no response, I sent another email, asking the store to reply with confirmation that the paperwork would be ready that day.


In the summer of 2012, we had fallen behind again and agreed to turn in the computer that was not paid off (or so we thought) until we could get caught up, as we needed him to repair it anyway because the power port appeared to be broken. They came by to pick it up, and later that day, Jared called me, accusing me of giving him the computer that was paid off, with a power port ripped out of it. It was at this point that Jared informed us that he had not applied the buyout to the computer he was instructed to apply it to, and that he'd never deactivated the lojacking system either.


We wound up having to return our kids bunk beds, and our dryer, both of which were also under contract with Rent King as well, just so we could keep the machine that was working, so I could do my job. And, since that was the computer Jared applied the buyout to, he refused to fix the power port.


When I finally called to ask if the paperwork was ready, the associate on the phone said he knew nothing about it. Jared called me back to tell me the paperwork had been there, waiting for me since I sent the email.


I filed a complaint about Rent King's practices with the Florida Department of Agriculture, Consumer Affairs Division, and continued to make payments while I waited for the regulatory agency to step in and correct the situation, as Rent King would remotely shut down access to my system, which I need for work, if I did not submit to making these payments.


In October/early November of 2012, we brought in the machine that was not yet paid for to be repaired as a few of the keys were not working, and suddenly, the 'case' had a crack in it that was preventing it from closing. Even though it was still under contract on a lease to own, Jared refused to fix it.


On November 30,2012 we called to make a final payment... and we were told by the associate who answered the phone, that it was 'Jared's rules' that we had to physically come into the store to make the final payment, which was $26 and change.


We advised that we did not know 'when' we would be able to do that and would get back to them. On Monday, December 3, 2012, an associate from the store called, again, to tell us we needed to make the $26.00 payment. I told the associate of what we had been told on Friday regarding coming in to the store, and he repeated, “That's always been Jared's rule.” I repeated again, that we would get in as soon as we could get down there.


The next day, December 4. 2012, “Justin” called our home at 6:45 pm and proceeded to inform my husband that we now owe $40.00 because of 'late fees,' instead of the $26.00 that we had been quoted by two separate associates. My husband advised that we would not pay a late fee because of “Jared's Rule” that the last payment had to be made 'in the store, in person.'


Justin was repeatedly rude to my husband, and my husband was becoming very frustrated and agitated so I had him give me the phone. I asked Justin if he was the gentleman I'd spoken to the day before and he said he was not. When I began to tell him of the last two phone calls that resulted in two associates telling us we had to be present in the store, he interrupted me, talked over me, and generally tried to 'intimidate' me. He then informed me that he had told my husband and was now telling me, that he would take the $40.00 payment over the phone, 'right now.' I told him I was not paying a late fee when we were told twice, including on the day the payment was due, that we forbidden to make the payment unless we came into the store to do it.


He then said “I'll take off the stupid $5.00 late fee, and the payment will be $35.00 then.” I then told him, again, that the payment was $26.00 and he told me that it was $26.00 + tax. Our sales tax is 7%... that is approximately, $27.82 total... $


It was at this point that I informed him that I would call tomorrow, after calling Consumer Affairs back about the situation with this store. Justin then hung up on me, and approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes later, Rent King locked my computer.


When I first noticed the computer shutting down, I called and spoke with William, in regards to Justin and about the fact that my computer was shutting down. William, who called Jared on the phone and got Jared's permission to let us make the last payment over the phone. At that point, my husband was gone to the store, with our debit card, so I told William that I would call him in the morning. He agreed and assured me that “Justin” had not ordered my computer to be locked.

As soon as I got off the phone with William, my computer had rebooted and was now showing me that it was 'locked,' and that I had to call the store to have it unlocked.

I called back, and William called Jared, who then called me with an unlock code.
 
The next day, we called to make the final payment, and Jared insisted that it was $33.00 and the TWO people who told us it was $26.00, were both wrong.  Isn't that convenient?
 
Since Justin had already locked down my computer the night before, we were not in a position to have it locked again, so my husband paid the $33.00 and we will add this to the complaint made
with the Florida Department of Consumer Affairs. 

This is the worst store in town. They're a scammy operation and they will break every law they think you don't know they are subject to, until you let them know that you know what laws they're subject to.

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