Jesus bloody farkstick christ. Don't these people worry about, you know.... getting shot?

Seriously, if someone was pounding on my door/windows after 9pm, my first reaction would be to load, and undo the safty, at the same time, it seems the company is getting what they deserve.

Do they get to drive The Dream Machine?

Hm..

On the one hand, convicted felons and vigilante justice.

On the other hand, deadbeats with loans in arrears who didn't think this through very well, are trying to live above their means, or are committing outright theft.

Who am I supposed to root for here?

The best way to avoid debt collectors is to pay your bills.

I got into some debt problems years ago after my cushy job got downsized. I got behind with these guys and took them their merchandise back, and told them I would pay them off as soon as I got some other bills taken care of(rent, car payment, utilities, insurance, etc;). Nevertheless, after a couple of days the constant phone calls started and these assholes would go banging at my door early in the morning. I told them I'd pay them off as soon as I could, but that wasn't enough for them. They came by again another morning and I didn't open the door. That asshole was banging on it for 20 minutes before going away. I paid them off, and was happy to never have to deal with that company anymore. Funny thing is, I also had another item from Rent-A-Center, returned it, told them the same thing, paid them off at the same time, and never once did they do the bullshiat that Aarons did. I'm in a better financial situation now and have no use now for these kinds of companies, but if I ever do again, Aarons will not be a place I go to.

/Not subby
//Is going to send my story to these guys.
///Thank you subby for submitting this.

BlackCat23:
Seriously, if someone was pounding on my door/windows after 9pm, my first reaction would be to load, and undo the safty, at the same time, it seems the company is getting what they deserve.

In Missouri, all they have to do is come through the door uninvited and I can shoot the motherfarkers.

Chariset: Who am I supposed to root for here?

Of course. It's only right that collectors visit these deadbeats at their work place. Leaving handwritten notes on the front doors of those that dare to owe any money (including phrases like 'Pay your farking bills, deadbeat biatch') is reasonable and expected. I don't quite see the issue here, either.

Yeah, rent-to-own is sketchy beyond belief. There were a couple of cases about it we studied in my law school contracts class last semester. As it turns out, in those (rare) instances when renters who get behind on their payments simply go to court and produce enough evidence to show they've paid more than fair market value for the goods, the judge will order the company to write off the remainder of the money owned. I think this is why so many rent-to-own companies have to turn to such shady practices - they know that if the renter has paid enough money and takes them to court, they're screwed.

SomethingAwful did a thread based on the postings of two goons who used to work for rent-to-own companies. Horrifying, but also hilarious.

cambie: In Missouri, all they have to do is come through the door uninvited and I can shoot the motherfarkers.

Hey, in some areas, you don't even need that much, all you need is to feel your life, family and property are truely threatened. After reading the story about the poor guy getting knifed, if i ever saw someone with an Aaron's shirt pounding on my door, I might have a vietnam style flashback.

Rent-a-center has always been good to the people i know that have used them, hell, they've gone up and over what was nessicary, even giving my friend a new laptop after it was run over by her. Some companys win, others.... not so much.

Sinister Steve: The best way to avoid debt collectors is to pay your bills never, ever, ever use or trust anything with the words "rent to own" in the name.

FTFY

The Repo-man is always intense.

I'm a Rent A Center customer myself. My computer, living room set and TV. Never had a problem, and I've been late quite a few times. Always make it up, though.

I got into some debt problems years ago after my cushy job got downsized. I got behind with these guys and took them their merchandise back, and told them I would pay them off as soon as I got some other bills taken care of(rent, car payment, utilities, insurance, etc;). Nevertheless, after a couple of days the constant phone calls started and these assholes would go banging at my door early in the morning. I told them I'd pay them off as soon as I could, but that wasn't enough for them. They came by again another morning and I didn't open the door. That asshole was banging on it for 20 minutes before going away. I paid them off, and was happy to never have to deal with that company anymore. Funny thing is, I also had another item from Rent-A-Center, returned it, told them the same thing, paid them off at the same time, and never once did they do the bullshiat that Aarons did. I'm in a better financial situation now and have no use now for these kinds of companies, but if I ever do again, Aarons will not be a place I go to.
What kind of cushy job prevents you from buying furniture instead of renting it?

baltimoreblonde: I'm a Rent A Center customer myself. My computer, living room set and TV. Never had a problem, and I've been late quite a few times. Always make it up, though.

Same. Living and bedroom sets came from RAC and they're the nicest people I've ever dealt with.

Thanks for reminding me my payment was due today, by the way. I gotta go.

baltimoreblonde: I'm a Rent A Center customer myself. My computer, living room set and TV. Never had a problem, and I've been late quite a few times. Always make it up, though.

Oh really, make it up how?

BoBoTheMonkeyBoy: The Repo-man is always intense.

Aquabats rule.

mikeray: I got into some debt problems years ago after my cushy job got downsized. I got behind with these guys and took them their merchandise back, and told them I would pay them off as soon as I got some other bills taken care of(rent, car payment, utilities, insurance, etc;). Nevertheless, after a couple of days the constant phone calls started and these assholes would go banging at my door early in the morning. I told them I'd pay them off as soon as I could, but that wasn't enough for them. They came by again another morning and I didn't open the door. That asshole was banging on it for 20 minutes before going away. I paid them off, and was happy to never have to deal with that company anymore. Funny thing is, I also had another item from Rent-A-Center, returned it, told them the same thing, paid them off at the same time, and never once did they do the bullshiat that Aarons did. I'm in a better financial situation now and have no use now for these kinds of companies, but if I ever do again, Aarons will not be a place I go to.
What kind of cushy job prevents you from buying furniture instead of renting it?

I wasn't sure if I was going to stay in Austin or not, and thought it was better to just rent some furniture at the time instead of buying it.

cambie: BlackCat23:
Seriously, if someone was pounding on my door/windows after 9pm, my first reaction would be to load, and undo the safty, at the same time, it seems the company is getting what they deserve.

In Missouri, all they have to do is come through the door uninvited and I can shoot the motherfarkers.

In Texas, all they need to do is look at the door sideways and you can put a hole in them.

Approves

baltimoreblonde: I'm a Rent A Center customer myself. My computer, living room set and TV. Never had a problem, and I've been late quite a few times. Always make it up, though.

Does your husband know about your special make-up sessions?

Oldiron_79: Approves

Why would you buy the same piece of furniture three times?!

"hiring convicted felons" Humm wouldn't that be x-felon, I mean if they were still a felon they hardly would be on the job right?

If they did the time, so what?

Unless the rule now is that somebody who has been convicted of a crime should never work again, never support themselves (and possibly their wife and kids) with a proper job, is never allowed can't ever get their life in order, because you know they did something they got caught. Of course it must be the "felon" part right, it doesn't matter that vandalism, or THC possession is a felony these days in some places? Hard core... yea, burn em!

Glad to see that Britney's white trash ass will have a job when she gets out of the crazy ward...


/ like she'll ever get out
// crazy, sad biatch
/ i like cheese

Hmm, get something from a Rent-to-Own, which means you have bad credit otherwise you would have just used a credit card. You fail to pay, and some ghetto thugs show up at your poor ass house and demand their money.

It's not exactly legit, but when you're dealing with people who have poor credit, it's probably the only way to get your money. Loan sharks do the same thing for a reason.

BlackCat23: Jesus bloody farkstick christ. Don't these people worry about, you know.... getting shot?

Seriously, if someone was pounding on my door/windows after 9pm, my first reaction would be to load, and undo the safty, at the same time, it seems the company is getting what they deserve.

I don't know. Depending on the neighborhood, a loaded weapon isn't often in-hand. On the other hand my mutt would probably have taken his nuts off and my wife's Cairn Terrier is tougher than he looks. He looks like a little football, just go ahead and try it. After the mutt takes you down, the Terrier will lock onto you and not freakin' let go. He's meaner than the mutt (Cairn Terrier's hunt rodents like rats and such, but also are bred to kill foxes) and has more of a killer instinct. He took down a shepard picking on the mutt when she was a 9 week old in the dog park. Couple of quick nips and the shepard ran whimpering tuck tailed.

As to these a$$hat$ in particular: count yourself lucky nobody's killed any of your people yet. Self-Defense would probably apply across the board...

Barakku:

Well I dunno, those places can be useful so long as you ignore the "own" part. Just treat it like you are renting. If you want to buy something, but it, but sometimes you just need something for a week or two. We used a place like that when I was a kid. It was a local shop, not a chain, and had just about everything you could think of. My dad was repainting the house and redoing some of the roof and needed tools that he didn't have, and didn't want to buy. So he rented various equipment like a sand blaster, air compressor, and so on. After the job was done, he took it all back.

So used in a situation like that, I don't see the problem, it is the same as anything else you might rent, like say a carpet cleaner from Home Depot, that you need for a bit but don't want to purchase. The only problem is when you are using it to "buy" things that you can't afford. That's when you are going to get screwed.

Also for a place that allows cumulative transactions (like if you rent something enough separate times to reach the price, you own it) I could see it being useful on some items. My carpet cleaner example would be one. I used to occasionally rent a carpet cleaner from Home Depot. It didn't seem like the kind of thing I needed to own since I only do it once every 6-12 months. However, after having done this a few times I added it up and realised that it really wouldn't take many rentals to add up to a purchase, they aren't as expensive as you might think.

However, Home Depot is a "rent to rent" place so I got nothing for it, and just went and bought one from Sears brand new. I should have just done that in the first place, but there you go.

Did anybody actually read the PDF of the complaints? It seems to me that some of these Texan's need to go back to school, learn grammar and spelling, and maybe even gain some common sense.

MasterThief, thanks so much for that link, it's quite hilarious.

I know a guy who runs one of those type stores, I'm still amazed how many people return computers with homemade porn pictures on them.

Never heard of the Aarons, but I have never heard anything bad about RAC, actually a customer of theirs had an issue with their laptop that they rented from them, and their tech support called ours (I work for a local ISP) and set up their email and their connection for the customer! Thats what I call service.

Years ago I worked for a rent-to-own called Colortyme when I was in high school. They had these little TV/Radio/VCR combo things that went for about $400 in a store, and they'd rent them out for about $80 a month for three years. Often people would have paid them off twice over and the company would repo it, turn around and rent it out again. The entire operation was sleazy and I'm sure illegal. they aren't around anymore, and I hope the state finally shut them down.

Rent-A-Center started as, and has mostly stayed directed towards yuppie job-jumpers who move every six-months as the company tells them. The rest of them are just new-breed loan-sharks who have figured out yet another way to convince poor people to get in debt. I don't have much sympathy for anyone who goes into hock for a big-screen tv, but when people do it for a washing machine or a bed for their kids I can muster up a little. One look at the prices is enough for anyone intelligent to get the hell out. Their 'buy it now' prices are double market value, and if you do the math their rent-to-own prices come out to twice that. Basically you're paying 4x market for an item that's quite possibly already been repossessed once. It's a scam, but if you don't own a credit card and a pickup truck of your own I can see how sometimes it's tempting.

jebusfreak: Did anybody actually read the PDF of the complaints? It seems to me that some of these Texan's need to go back to school, learn grammar and spelling, and maybe even gain some common sense.

You make it too easy. Its Texans not Texan's. Don't even get me started on its vs. it's.

/Read the PDF
//Sounds like Katrina
///Native San Antonian
////Katrinians still here
/Slashies????

BlackCat23: Jesus bloody farkstick christ. Don't these people worry about, you know.... getting shot?

Seriously, if someone was pounding on my door/windows after 9pm, my first reaction would be to load, and undo the safty, at the same time, it seems the company is getting what they deserve.

This

It's Texas. If you tell them to leave and they don't, shoot 'em. Aside from that... pay your damn bill.

I used to work for RENT-A-CENTER so I am getting a kick out of these replies.

jebusfreak: baltimoreblonde: I'm a Rent A Center customer myself. My computer, living room set and TV. Never had a problem, and I've been late quite a few times. Always make it up, though.

Oh really, make it up how?


Make the payment I missed, plus the next one. Naughty, naughty, what did you think I meant? *wink*

I could probably afford to just buy it, but I like the payment options. And yes, I know I'm paying more for it this way.

mikeray: What kind of cushy job prevents you from buying furniture instead of renting it?

A cushy job is one where the workspace is usually indoors, doesn't drop below about 60 or above 85 degrees, you can sit for part of the day, and pays more than $12-$16 /hr depending on where you live. Trying to get your own place and still afford decent furniture isn't always possible.

When I was in high school, here in Texas, we had a math class lesson dedicated to Rent to Own places. Using actual ads from the Sunday paper, the teacher showed up mathematically farked up it is to rent to own something.

skinink: I went into the nearest Rent-a-Center one day, and checked out their computers to rent. They were some old computers, running hardware that was just fast enough to get the system booted up. I couldn't imagine visiting any Flash-heavy page with those computers, not enough memory or a fast CPU.

Not that I know much about flat screen TVs either (I just bought the one that had the best reviews for its size from Best Buy), but I wonder how old the LCDs are that Rent-a-Center will sell you.

My TV is brand new. It was delivered in the box. And my computer can handle anything I throw at it, including hubby's games.

whitefalcon79: baltimoreblonde: I'm a Rent A Center customer myself. My computer, living room set and TV. Never had a problem, and I've been late quite a few times. Always make it up, though.

Same. Living and bedroom sets came from RAC and they're the nicest people I've ever dealt with.

Thanks for reminding me my payment was due today, by the way. I gotta go.

And how much over fair market value do you pay? I'm guessing about 4x.

Barroom_Triathlete: You make it too easy. Its Texans not Texan's. Don't even get me started on its vs. it's.

Alright I admit, I was wrong there. Sorry.
Now for some amusement: The Michael Waltrip Dream Collection (new window) at Aaron's. All items for the low price of 99.99$ a month!

baltimoreblonde: My TV is brand new. It was delivered in the box. And my computer can handle anything I throw at it, including hubby's games.

you are doing rent-to-own for a TV and a computer ?

why don't you just buy those on your credit card and make regular payments to the CC company. It's cheaper.

I assume the happy dancing people in the ads aren't the ones doing the collections.

As Seinfeld once said,"For every job there's someone who will do it."

Here's a little-known but useful tip to help you down the road to financial freedom:

If you can't afford to pay for it at the time that you buy it, you can't afford it. Live by this, and you'll be fine.

The exception being, maybe, your home. But don't be stupid: put a minimum of 15% down (if you can't do that, you can't afford that much house) have a fixed rate mortgage, and have enough in savings to pay 3 months mortgage. If you can't do that, don't buy the place.

muck4doo: I wasn't sure if I was going to stay in Austin or not, and thought it was better to just rent some furniture at the time instead of buying it.

If it wasn't for my wife I'd buy all my furniture at the Salvation Army. Who cares if someone died on the couch if it costs $15?

Yeahhh...hmmm... the moment they bang on my kid's windows they'll be lucky if they don't leave my property in a body bag.

I used to work for Rent-A-Center, and I can't say that any of this about Aaron's surprises me much. Rent-A-Center frequently hired dangerous felons and other people on the outs of society as much at it rented to them. A lot of what I saw was that the customers were mostly people who wanted to live well beyond their means (hint: the most frequent items we rented were big screens and new, top-of-the-line computers), and the collectors were given unreasonable goals and told to use "any means necessary" to collect. I knew one person who went through this woman's mail, pulled out her SSI check, and caught it on fire in front of her, saying "if we can't have it, then neither can you!" I mean, he was fired, but it just shows the lengths that the collectors would go to, often at the behest of an insane management staff, to collect on people's debts. The whole business was, as one of my managers so eloquently put it, "the ghetto gestapo." The happiest day of my life is when I left that place. Add to it the fact that customers are often given roach-ridden, shoddy merchandise that will not outlast the rental agreement, and you have a pretty legitimized societal scam.

Oh, and about the "fair market value" thing: we were encouraged to get 4-5 "turns" out of a product...a "turn" was basically what the product cost the company.

baltimoreblonde: My TV is brand new. It was delivered in the box. And my computer can handle anything I throw at it, including hubby's games.

Well, there ya go. That's woman logic.

That's why the man should handle the finances and the women should worry about dinner.