You would think with the ridiculous prices they charge before you own something, they would have room to take some losses on other items and not resort to these tactics.

If people did the Math, they would not deal with companies like this.

Once you decide that, in the course of doing business everyday, you will forgo any sense of ethical responsibility this behavior becomes inevitable. Stay away from these shady loan sharks.

@qwickone: That's how they would normally justify their usurious interest rates.

I rented a clothes dryer from them once because mine broke, I didn't have the money for a new one, it was January (no clothesline drying in a snowstorm!) and I have two kids - I was desperate. Only rented it for a month, then gave it back and went to Homer Depot and bought a new one.

They started calling me once a week to tell me about their specials and to inquire if there were any items I needed to rent - they'd deliver! I finally got annoyed with their calls and told them to stop calling because they had permanently lost me as a customer.

It's sad how the folks that can least afford it get ripped off the most. Rent to own a $400.00 computer with only 104 weekly payments of $20.00 plus other fees.

And shame on Magic Johnson for making ads for these thieves.

+ Watch video

@albear: But, shame on folks just a little, for not wanting to go without a computer and saving up to buy?

I always find it amusing when places like this claim to have the "lowest prices anywhere".

Take the 360 Arcade for instance. You end up playing over 400 bucks for a 200 dollar system.

I guess it can be convenient at the time, but the long term prices are crazy.

@Josh Saint Jacque: The way that these rent to own places do business forgoes ethical responsibility.

@albear: The Magic Johnson thing bothers me too. I know retired sports figures (and most other celebrities) are known for cashing in on public goodwill as spokespersons (I'm looking at you, Michael Jordan! And Wilford Brimley!), but it bothers me just the same. Perhaps because he has a charity devoted to helping inner-city families feed, clothe, and educate children, and Rent-A-Center preys on many of those same families.

Leonard Shelby would be their ideal customer.

@qwickone: I think the business model revolves around them not actually collecting 100% of the ridiculous prices they charge.

My mom had them knocking on her door threatening to kick it in. She said she was going to call the police and they left. She called the store to complain, she was told that it was their manager and offered no apology.

The worst part: the had the WRONG house. My mom has NEVER done business with them or any other rent to own.

Anyone interested in a study of poverty and the "underground economy" should read books by Sudhir Alladi Venkates. He spent a great deal of time with a neighborhood of people in Chicago's Southeast side, and his books reveal a great deal about how the poor use their money and how even though sometimes their decisions seem extremely detrimental to their health and household, the risks are worth it. One example he uses comes from a woman he talks to. She works as a prostitute, and even though her grandfather is a bad influence on her kids (he hosts gambling parties and hires over prostitutes, when he's taking care of the kids and she's working), she decides that the risks are worth it because she understands her line of work is very dangerous and risky, and she doesn't want to leave her kids alone in case something happens to her.

In that context, it's very interesting to examine how people without very much can make such calculated and understandable decisions.

i read some journals once [sorry, lost the link] written by one of the guys assigned to go pick up the furniture of people who were in default [actually for a competitor of rent a center if i recall correctly.] sometimes it had been sold by the renter or completely trashed, other times people threatened him with guns and baseball bats.

i would not want that job under any circumstances.

on another note, i recognize which RAC that photo is of, not far from where i live! neato

Hubby and I rented from them when his maniac kids were living with us. The oldest put his fist through the side of the home's only tv. They offered a replacement for any reason guarantee if we paid 5.00 extra a week, was worth it at the time. I never had any trouble with them, but made their payments on time, so no chance for them to give me any grief I guess. Still get tons of calls and junk mail though :(

@SybilDisobedience: Perhaps it's because Magic is always trying to present himself as a community leader. Community leaders don't do this.

Shame on you, Magic Johnson.

I, for one, have had good experiences with rent-to-own -- especially Aaron's. Wife and I have good income, bad credit. When we need things, we purchase using Aaron's 90 days same-as - cash. The cost for the items purchased on a 90-days agreement is very much in line with other Brick-n-Mortars (although, obviously, they make a killing on the 2-year agreements).

Professional set-up and haul away.

Best part is, they report to the major credit bureaus. For all the problems wife and I have on our credit reports, Aaron's is helping us rebuild.

Break down the door? That's a potential shootin'

@catastrophegirl - sometimes makes typos and doesn't care: I think it was someone on Something Awful, but too lazy to look it up. ^_^

Rent to own... probly not

Rent to rent sure
Rent becos nothing seems to last long and you change stuff alot sure

i know some one who changes there furniture around like every 6 months. So for them it comes out cheeper than buying or redoing fabrics and they never have to worry about a broken this or that.

More expinsive than owning for them. odds are verry yes
But it's there life style

Have I rented somthing. Yep. sure have even bought somthing i preticulerly liked the local joint had the habbet of cerring things that were actuily built like anks wierd namebrands and i rented a sterio wich i ended up buying 3 months later.

allso i've rented on a temporary bases (projectors) a computer once when mine died suddenly and i didnt have have cash on hand to repair it (it needed a 200$ power supply {i'm not kidding my pc is a beast} and i just needed it for 2 weeks till my check came in was only 40 bucks.
all in all treated right those places arent to bad

never had a repo tho

@AustinTXProgrammer:

... Man, I wish these things would happen to me sometimes, just for the experience.. not that I would do anything different, I just want crazy shit like that to happen occasionally instead of boring old work every single day.

@Zagroseckt: There are actual, real, professional furniture rental places for most of that kind of stuff, though. Cort Furniture comes to mind. No silly "rent to own" gimmicks. I've used them on two occasions for long term corporate housing. Fantastic to deal with, and true professionals all the way.

Back when I stayed in hotels for long term business travel, and before I knew anything about "serious" rental companies, I tried to rent a VCR from a consumer renter place, knowing I'd only need it for two or three months. As I recall, two months of weekly rent would have paid for a new VCR completely (which is what I opted for instead). Yeah, I know -- VCR. I'm dating myself a bit.

Whatever you do, don't run afoul of the Fingerhut mafia. They make Rent-A-Center look like a charity!

My mother once bought a TV and VCR from a rental chain. The VCR broke and was replaced with a new one. They never said what they planned to do with the old one. Under the terms of the deal, they warranty the items.

Mom paid off the contract in due course, making every payment on time every time.

The rental company promptly ruined her credit by putting a fake statement about a judgment. Why? They lost the returned VCR and could not account for the new one, so they just decided it was stolen and decided my mom would be the one to pay.

They never once called or said anything about this. Just lied about a judgment and ruined her credit.

Don't deal with rental companies. Just don't.

If you need a fridge or washer or dryer, find one at a yardsale or on craiglist. Never rent.

When I lived in another state a few years ago I had a friend who managed a Rent-A-Center. He was rather young. I don't know how much he made but he used a company van to drive around in because he couldn't afford a car. Anyway, he told me (and I saw it) that he furnished his whole apartment with furniture and electronics for a few bucks. Here is what he did: He would let everyone slide a day or two on rent once in a while to set them up. He would watch his files for who was getting close to "owning" an item by "paying off" the balance on an item. Then if, say, Mrs. Jones had a sofa he wanted, he would go over to her house when she had one payment left and seize the sofa claiming she had been late on a payment. Then he would buy it for next to nothing under Mrs. Jones name! He never had a problem since all of his customers were poor and didn't know their rights. Even if they did know their rights no one would help them since they couldn't afford a lawyer or they were embarrassed.
Yes, I am ashamed I kept my mouth shut.

@AustinTXProgrammer: She should have called the cops and logged a complaint.

@trujunglist: Move in next to someone who does business at RAC.

@Stoli: actually the one i read was someone's personal journal on okcupid but i don't know the username

@LastError: I once knew a long-time RAC employee. Call him Bob. The stories...

First of all, all the RAC employees I encountered worked sales, collections, drove, delivered, and repo'd at different times. "Bob" worked in a series of stores which, IIRC were owned by single franchisee. Bob's house was completely furnished with items from RAC. Furniture of all types, wall hangings, recliners, multiple Xboxs & huge 64?-inch projection TVs. Some of the items were repos, others just "vanished" from inventory.

Bob seemed proud of the scams they'd pull on customers and their employer. They'd leave things outside to take them after work, report someone moving as having taken everything, or at least a few things, and then drive the stuff home in the work truck. I've never met anyone with such a flexible (bent) set of ethics, and I got the hell out of Dodge.

From what I could tell they were driven to bend the rules as far as necessary. Whether their workplace theft was a bonus in lieu of salary or just horrid business, it's no surprise they're turning up on the wrong side of the law.

As a former employee in the whole Rent-To-Own business (worked at Rentway for 5.5 years), I can say that the vast majority of the times anyone was saying "Oh, they used bullying tactics; Vulgar Profanity; tried to break into my house; whatever", was 90% of the time a complete lie on the part of the person saying it. Did it happen as they said to have happened? Sure did. Did it happen as often? Heck no. Let me break it down a bit for you:

When they claim:

Neighbors were informed of your financial information. It doesn't take a genius to see that when a rent-to-own visits your neighbors house twice a day for the last 2 weeks & is beating on the door for 30 minutes to know that they're not there because they love you. That shouts to the world "I'M REALLY LATE ON MY PAYMENT!"

Vulgarity used on the phone: Yes, this happens. 9 out of 10 times, it's due to a similar environment listed above. I'd lost count the amount of times we'd "work with" a customer in terms of re-writing their contract with us (thus wiping out any past due money owed); employees actually paying money out of our own pockets to help out customers (yes, this actually does happen, believe it or not); customers who had problems paying in the past, owed a ton of money, then had the merchandise be returned & later on, let re-rent off the same company without having to pay little (if any at all) of what they owed. Yet, here they are *again* being that late. Tempers as a result flare up from calm to pissed off instantly.

Threats against children: While I'm sure there's always someone out there willing to say & do whatever it takes to "get their message through", it's often a culmination of the previous 2 areas I've already mentioned. Most times, though, the "children" are the teenage kids of the customers in which things are said of "You need to get your parents to contact us to arrange a date we can get this picked up. I'd hate to have to get the courts/sherrifs dept (depending on the state you live in & if there's a bad check, theft involved such as being able to prove fraud, ect) involved."

All I can say is this.....after 5 1/2 years in that business, I can say with 100% certainty that did the average rent-to-own customer pay their electric & water bills the same way they paid their rent-to-own bills, they'd be without electric & water for weeks, if not months, at a time. THAT is how bad it can be. THAT is what it's like in most cases. It is unfortunate that some innocent folks do get caught in the crossfire of this type of thing. I honestly feel bad for those that are late once in a year & get treated as if they'd been a horrible, horrible customer the entire time. But folks like that are extremely rare.

I recently went into a Rent-To-Own place, wandering around while a friend had an appointment. I couldn't believe the prices they were charging for things.

If I had 1200 bucks, I could have walked out of there with a "Wii Game Entertainment System".

Controller and Wii Sports Game rented/sold seperately.

Awhile back 2 weeks after moving into a new apartment 2 very large guys knocked on the door. After telling them their customers did not live their anymore one of them started to get an attitude like I was lying to them. I started to get pissed then the bigger guy told his partner to shut up. He then said "look we are just trying to do a job and if you would just let me look in your apartment we will never bother you again". I could have just slammed the door or called the cops but after he told the dick with him to shut up I let him in and made the other guy wait in the hall. After seeing all the boxes 10 feet in the door he appoligized for bothering me and for his coworker who was new to the job. I told him maybe the other guy was not suited for this type of work as being a dick to the wrong people will get you shot. He told me he was going to have a talk with his boss about the new guy. They were from Arrons rents same type of ripoff as RAC.

@albear: You aren't the only one angry at Magic Johnson, either:

[www.magictricksus.org]

Doesn't Johnson own a string of Rent-a-Centers and Jackson Hewitt tax prep shops? I remember him on Charlie Rose talking about his work with poor neighborhoods and his franchises.

@albear: The people who get stuff from Rent-A-Center should take the "Weekly payment," throw that into a savings account, then buy the item when they've saved up enough.

And don't give me that crap about how "They can't afford it." If you can afford to give Rent-A-Center $80 a month for a computer you can afford to put that same $80 a month in a savings account. Plus, the savings account won't threaten you or try to bust your door down if you have a rough month and cannot make the "payment."

@LastError: Don't forget thrift stores.

My living room set, which includes a couch that looks exactly like the one from "Married...with Children," was purchased from thrift stores and garage sales. I think the most expensive item was the couch because the store in question (Deseret Industries) was firm on the price, but my love of tacky furniture and the fact that I grew up watching the show meant I would take it, regardless of price.

To be fair, though, its in excellent shape and was well worth the $150 I paid.

I rented a camcorder from Rent-A-Center in 1996 to record my son's fifth birthday party. Due to car trouble, I was a day late returning the camcorder. I explained this at the store and was told not to worry about the extra day.

Well, as you can guess, it didn't work that way. I started getting calls from them demanding payment for the extra day. The final straw, though, was when I was walking through the mall and was actually stopped and asked if I intended to make the payment.

@catastrophegirl - sometimes makes typos and doesn't care:
I once worked with a guy in North Philadephia, PA who told me his sorry rent-to-own story. He said he rented a TV, paid two months and then saw the same exact model TV at Sears for sale for about 1/3 of what he would end up paying. He said that that woke him up to the problem and he would never rent-to-own again. He took care of it by taking the TV to his cousins apartment, kicking the front door of his row house in, and then filing a police report about the theft. He then gave the report to the rent-to-own place and told them that a couple of crack heads had moved into his block...

@savdavid: That is evil...but completely understandable how he could work that system since these folks pay cash, do not keep their records, etc.

@timmclargehuge: Wow, not only could they have been arrested for breaking and entering had they made good on the threat, but what if they had broken the door down, and she had a gun? She would have been perfectly justified in shooting the collection agent. Scary all around, really.

@econobiker: Wow, that's ethical. Amusing story, but still, wow.

@Don't take anything aaron8301 says seriously: The phone calls will be the death of me. My cell number was previously owned by someone who rented from Aaron's and they only have recordings. I called the number they list, but they can't remove the number without the full name on the account. I don't know the name so I'm stuck with daily calls from them as well as NCS Financial and people trying to buy sheet metal from a company who used my number in an advertisement.

It's funny... I have a friend that currently works for RadioShack that told me today he was thinking of taking a job at RAC. I told him to read this first...

@Stoli: It was a Goon who wrote that. I remember the thread, but until the new search feature is up I wouldn't be able to find it. Might be in the Comedy Goldmine though.

This reminds me of an old Rent-A-Center commercial. This guy gets a phone call from some chick and makes plans for a date. She says "So, how about your place?" and he looks around at all of his old furniture and sorry-ass TV. Then he gets some bright idea and says "Rent-A-Center!" and walks in, has his hot date over sitting on his rented furniture and watching the huge big screen TV. By renting new furniture to give the appearance that he was rich, he obviously got laid.

So the lesson is kids, for instant gratification (in several ways!) Rent-A-Center is the place! Just make sure you have a back-up story to tell your soon to be ex-girlfriend when they break through your window to collect.

@Don't take anything aaron8301 says seriously: You can dry indoors

@DoubleEcho: Waste of money. If a girl asks to go to your place, you are going to get laid even if your furniture is crappy. She might not come back a second time, but that is bonus.

@morlo: don't count on it. i've seen some furniture i wouldn't even sit on before. and i walked out on it

@calquist:

Hi calquist. If you have Verizon try this to block up to 5 numbers:

[wbillpay.verizonwireless.com]

If you have another provider, check their site and they MAY have a way to block annoying numbers.

If not, I would at least add the numbers to your directory and assign them a "silent" ringtone so you don't have to hear them.

Good luck!