There are lots of good ways to escalate your complaints. Going to the store, dousing yourself with lighter fluid and setting yourself on fire is not one of them. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what one Newark, NJ man did after becoming frustrated with the amount of late payment notices and collection calls he was receiving from Rent-A-Center.
“He basically pulled out a bottle of lighter fluid, poured it all over his body, pulled out a cigarette lighter and lit himself on fire,” Bloomfield Police Capt. Chris Goul said.
The man, 62-year-old Emilio Saladriagas, entered the Bloomfield Rent-A-Center location Tuesday and asked to speak to a supervisor about the late payment notices and collection calls, says the Star-Ledger. When a manager was not available, he pulled out the lighter fluid.
Employees doused him with water and he is now in stable condition at the burn unit of a local hospital. He has not been charged with a crime because he did not make “overt or criminal” actions to harm anyone but himself, according to police. The employees are receiving counseling.
“We don’t know if he had mental health issues or what sparked it,” [police] said. “Employees said he’d always been a nice man.”
If you’re in debt and having a hard time dealing with the collection calls and notices, there’s help available. The first thing to do is to familiarize yourself with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (PDF). If you’re being harassed, you can sent a letter to the debt collector demanding that they stop contacting you. They do not have the right to keep contacting you simply to try to get you to pay. You can also do a little research and locate some free or low cost legal help in your area. If you have a lawyer, the debt collectors are required to contact the attorney instead of you. If the debt collectors don’t follow these rules, you can sue them! Not being able to pay your bills can be a humiliating experience, but don’t give up.
Newark man sets himself on fire [Star-Ledger] (Thanks, Andrew!)
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Heh. “Sparked it”. Funny.
Once upon a time, I informed a rude customer that we were closing in 5 minutes (this was at an arcade). She whipped around at me and snapped that I should stop with the attitude.
I pulled out a can of gasoline, doused her, and threw a lit match, saying, “And I think you should stop being on fire.”
Then suddenly, I left that beautiful, beautiful alternate reality and said again, “Ma’am, we’ll be closing in 5 minutes,” and walked away.
(In case you’re wondering, she was already pissed that I told her she could not bring her shopping cart from the store down the strip mall into the arcade.)
I hope they unplug his phone in the hospital!
I’ve not made a comment before but I have to now.
How can people be so cruel? Two years ago my 38 year old husband shot himself to death while I was out grocery shopping. The note he left said it was due to money problems. Yes, there were some money problems but nothing we could not have straightened out. No he did not have mental problems-you never know what it will take to push a stressed person over the edge.
My heart goes out to this man and his family.
@newfenoix: sometimes you can’t afford to buy it, but must have it.
My last apartment didn’t come with a refrigerator. The tenant bought one and took it with him when he moved. I was in a crunch at the time and didn’t have much of an option on where to go (bad credit, not a lot of time to find a better place, etc.).
I didn’t have the means to put together a couple hundred dollars for a good refrigerator, and I certainly didn’t want to deal with owning one the next time I moved, so I rented one from RAC.
They were really nice about it, I got a brand new unit and everything. But you miss a payment, and the next morning at 8am they start calling your cell, your work, your parents, anyone you put as a reference to get you to pay up. And they don’t stop. They called me every hour on the hour for 2 days straight to get me to pay them $20 for the week. I’d gone down the shore on friday which was when my payment was due.
Overall though, I have to say that RAC and Aarons are a humongous scam. They charge you double or triple what the item costs over the course of the rental, and at the end of it you get outdated or cheap crap that you didn’t really want in the first place.
The funny part here is that RAC doesn’t pay their bills.
I’m a former vendor… I cut ‘em off.
Its RAC…let the crap go back, if you don’t pay for it and they take it back it doesn’t affect your credit. Geez, a little drastic.
@Cary: lol. did you call the CEO at home, his parents, his work, his pet’s cell, his daughter’s boarding school, etc.?
Hahaha, the cop should do stand up comedy…
You think they treat their customers rough, try working for them…