Rent A Center New Port Richey, FL Review

I've just begun a new contract with a new Rent To Own Store called Rent A Center.  And here is the first instance of a problem I've had with them....

 

 

Hello,

On Sep 13, 2013 my husband and I visited our local Rent-Center, located at 6512 Massachusetts Ave

Port Richey, FL 34653 to inquire about purchasing a new computer. 

 

We found one we liked and told Justin that we had a credit.  He said he would check with his manager and give us a call. 

 

When he did call us back, he said that his manager told him that we no longer had a credit.

 

So we said ok, and went ahead and made our purchase.  Three days later, we received the email that this email is in reply to, with the subject line, "We still have your $50."

 

Our first payment was due on Sep 21.  My husband's job made an error in payroll that week and did not send a payment we were waiting for and I was stuck at home with no car and only a $20.00 which I asked RAC to come and pick up, and told them that I would come in with the other $11.06 on Monday.

 

On Monday, and for the next 2 weeks, my husband's job still had not corrected the payroll error, so when the next payment came due on the 28th, we were not able to pay it.

 

On Wednesday, Oct, 2nd, store associate Mike stopped by the house and we offered to let him take the machine back or we'd pay him on Friday, when my husband's job was to have finally sorted out their payroll issues. Mike said to pay Friday, asked what time we would be in and we told him noon. 

 

On Thursday we got phone calls.  On Friday morning we got another call around 10am... despite the arrangement we'ed make with Mike to go in on Friday at noon. 

 

At this point, I owed $11.06 on the bill from Sep 21, plus $31.06 for the week of Sep 28, plus a $5.00 late charge, (only 1 according to store associate Justin and store manager Xavier.)  And the next payment of $31.06 is due the next day, October 5. 

 

I called and spoke to Justin and told him I would be paying the $11.06 and last weeks bill of $31.06, plus the late fee of $5.00 for a total of $47.12, and that I would pay tomorrow's bill either Monday or Tuesday. 

 

I also told him that I still had this credit to send to him and that I needed his email. 

 

. 

 

And he also told me that my credit is on 'new purchases only,'... to which I said, "But I told you I had when I came in to make the new purchase, and you said your manager told you I didn't have a credit."

 

He put me on hold again, then came back and said "well that will come off the back end of your contract."

 

I said, "ok, I just want the email address so I can send this to you and we'll work it out another time. I'm not asking you to apply it to my payments, I'm asking you for the email address so I can send it to you ."

 

He put me on hold again, and then returned to tell me "We don't have an email."

 

Then he told me that that I would have to pay $67.00 to carry me until "Monday or Tuesday," trying to 'force' me to pay part of the next payment before it was even due.

 

(I could have just as easily said, "Here, take what I owe you today,and I'll be in tomorrow with tomorrow's payment" and then still waited until Monday or Tuesday to and paid the late fee, and not had to deal with this...)

 

So I asked him, "what is the amount of my payment?"

 

And instead of getting a straight answer, I got, "To get you current until Monday or Tuesday... "

I said, "That is not what I asked you. I asked you the amount of my regular payment"

 

So I did the math for him, and that's when he put me on hold and put Xavier back on the line, and Xavier said I needed to pay $61.00.

I explained to Xavier that what was due as of today was $47.12 and that nothing beyond that was due until tomorrow.  I was simply giving him a courtesy heads up and letting him know that I wouldn't be making that payment until Monday or Tuesday, but I was not required to pay one penny of tomorrow's due bill, until tomorrow at the earliest. 

 

And his response was, "I can't take any more late payments from you."

 

So I told him I would return the machine because I was not going to play these games. 

 

After I hung up, I called the corporate office in Plano, TX, and spoke with "Jasmine".  I relayed this story to her and she said that the District Manager needed to hear about this immediately.  She took my name and number, and informed that the District Manager's name is Jeremy Keaton and that he would call me. 

 

I asked her to have him call very soon because I had errands to run and she told me she would mark it 'urgent'. 

 

That was around 12:15 PM.   At this time now, it is just about 1:00 PM and I am finished with this letter, which I will use as my paper trail 

 

Sincerely,

Vanessa Blais

Below is the credit email I had received from RAC on Sept 16, 2013.

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This email is a Rent-A-Center advertisement. We sent you this email because you signed up for updates of Rent-A-Center offers and events. If you do not want to receive these email updates, click to unsubscribe. The advertised transaction is a rental-purchase agreement (or in NV, a lease agreement with an option to purchase; in IA, SC, ND and NE, a consumer rental-purchase agreement; in CT and NH, a rent-to-own agreement; in AK, DC, DE, HI, ID, KS, OR, SD, VA and WA, a lease-purchase agreement; in MA and RI, a lease; in VT, a consumer-lease agreement). Not available in MN or WI. *"$50 Off Any New Agreement" offer reduces the total dollar amount of payments necessary to acquire ownership on any new agreement entered into through 10/14/13, when offer ends. Product availability and promotional pricing may vary by store. Free-rent offers will not reduce total rent or purchase-option amounts. You will not own the merchandise until the total amount necessary to acquire ownership is paid in full or you exercise your early purchase option. Ownership is optional. In VT, minimum 18-week rental period applies. MA and RI consumers, any time after the first 90 days, you may purchase the merchandise for 80% of the remaining Total Cost, plus sales tax, calculated at the time. See Store Manager for complete details. Consulta con el Gerente de la Tienda para los detalles completos. ** Pre-approved means no credit check and no credit needed. Agreement requires verification of residence, income and four personal references. Delivery and set-up are included, and RAC services and maintains the merchandise while on rent or in NJ, for duration stated on agreement; set-up does not include connection of gas appliances. For model upgrades, simply return the product you are currently renting and open a new agreement for another model. You can return your product and freeze your payments. To restart an agreement on a returned product, Rent-A-Center will retain your payment records for two years. Thereafter, simply bring in your last payment receipt for reinstatement. 90 days same as cash not available in VT. Trademarks, registered trademarks and/or service marks, indicated or otherwise, are the properties of their respective owners.
This email was sent to: blais.vanessa@gmail.com
This email was sent by: Rent-A-Center 5501 Headquarters Drive  Plano, TX, 75024,  USA When the District Manager Jeremy Keaton had not returned my call by 4:45 PM, I called the corporate office agiain, and here is the email I've just sent off to them describing the reason for that call and the result of it...Jeremy keaton, the District Manager had not returned my call as of 4:47 PM So I called back the corporate office to get his number. They refused to give it to me and said I needed to give him 24 hours to call me back. I asked repeatedly to be connected to a manager or someone with some authority, and I was refused.  I called RAC at 4:51 PM and said I would pay the $48.02, and that I would come in the next day to pay the bill that is due the next day, but I would not be forced to pay it early.  Justin told me that they could not take my payment and they had to wait for Jeremy to call them too.  If Jeremy does wait until tomorrow to call me, as of tomorow, tomorrow's payment will be due. At this point, I expect they will force me to try and pay this weeks payment as well.  Vanessa Blais.