Rent-A-Center harassment calling 5 times a day, threatening employees showing up to my house making threatening remarks and pounding on my front door for a hour at a time ripoff Colton California

I guess rent a center  can do whatever they want they can peek into your home call you at work even after being told not to by the owner. Rent a center can go to hell they are the true theifs if there are any. Just look at what their tvs cost after renting them out........ hell even a car dealer can't get 4 times what he paid for a car.... if he has a car that cost him ...... like 2,000 dollars he might try to double his money and make 4,000 dollars not 8,000 dollars like rent a center would try to make. So who is the true rip off artists???... a lab top cost them 300 dollars..... after payments they more then quadruple their money selling it for 1,700 dollars . Let's be real here.  Rent a center only needs a few customers to pay off their bills if one in 4 pay the full amount rent a center still makes money.  Two wrongs don't make a right the customers have no right skipping out on rent a center but neither does rent a center have the right to go about their collection tactics like we all know they do.. but again whos the real butt f**kers???? Rent a center is no different than those auto title loan places.... they give you 2,000 dollars but now you owe them 14,000 dollars they can charge up to 700% so you add 700% to 2,000 and you get 14,000!!!!! Maybe rent a center owns the title loan places also.  Bottom line you sign a contract with rent a center... you might have just sold your soul to the devil. They are the devil. How will God view tgem in the end??? Rent a cent are no better than the ones skipping out on them

Its been awhile! I moved on and haven't herd from RAC in a long time. I posted this almost 4 years ago and its still a place people can come and sate there complaints about this horrible horrible company rENT a cENTER. Well I just wanted to come back on here and let you all know that RAC never did get there money and the murchantdise, Well I decided to just move on and I gave it back,. no I didn't give it to RAC, They were so bad and i dident want it anymore so I donated it to my local Goodwill. At least that RAC man-anger didn't get paid for his lame attempts to bully a pregnant woman with a Va to Thug.

p.s. I want to work at RAC when I'm older. lol,....

I have personally never delt with Rent A Center. However, I have heard many other stories about them harrassing others. I might have a suggestion to you tho. Like the others I would recorde the phone calls and if you have a cell phone that does the videos I would record when they come by your house so that you would have proof of how they treat you. Other than that I would return thier stuff I know it is letting them win in a sense but if you have enough proof you can file a harrassing suit against them. Also I know a better place you might try renting from next time if there is one in your area. Buddy's Home Furnishings formerly known as American Rentals. They have the same concept as far as the rent to own part. They also have anywhere from 4 months to 6 months same as cash option. And if you pass the same as cash option they will take the financing charges and the price of the item and you will only have to pay a precentage of the total price left. I just bought a washer from them and have been paying $11 a week on it for aprox 5 months and just paid it off today for $170 tax and all. So in the end i paid aprox $400 for it and the same as cash price was aprox $400. I have had no problems with them ever. Where we live the manager is very nice and understanding. Good luck with Rent A Center I hope that you can come up with a solution. I just wanted to let you know a good store that might help you out. So that you can get what you need. B/c me and my husband have bad credit thanks to being young and dumb and hospital bills.

To the poster talking about getting paid $6.25/hour...I got hired as an Account Manager making nearly $40K/yr, so you obviously don't have a clue. The reason they pay so well is because the employees have to deal with people like YOU.

I worked for Rent-A-Center in both CT and RI, and the biggest issue with Rent-A-Center collections is the Customer.

They don't call, lie to you and overall make your job impossible to do. The more "drastic" collections methods don't get used until you are far past due. Did you know that in most states, not paying for the property you lease from rent-A-Center is just as if you ran off with a leased automobile- "Conversion of Leased personal property". Yes, you can be charged with fraud for not returning RAC merchandise you can;t pay for.

Rent-A-Center allows you to Return merchandise you cannot afford to keep and at a later date pick up on the same or similar merchandise with all of the money you paid in applied to the new item. This means if you cannot afford to keep that big screen TV you can come back in 6 months when you get a job and pick out another one just like it and not lose any of the money you paid in.

The biggest issue is that people have a sense of entitlement, that just because it is in their home they deserve it. You need to live within your means. If that means sending back the $40/week TV/surround sound, then you do it. Stop blaming Rent-A-Center for the results of your actions. Return the merchandise and they will go away. The reason you went to RAC is because you have no credit or bad credit, which means you are not responsible enough to get items the normal way, by financing or saving the money to purchase them. There is a reason there aren't many companies doing what RAC does, it is because people like you make it unprofitable for them to stay in business.

Return the merchandise.

I have used this company for many years after filling bankruptcy and not having good credit. The whole idea is to rent to own until you make all payments and own the merchandise. If you cannot afford the payments you can turn this merchandise back in without having to be hounded by anyone wanting payment. I rented a computer with the intention of owning it but I could not keep up the payments. I turned it back in and was given the option of picking up where I left off when I wanted it again. This company is not a rip off in the since of bugging people. If you agreed to make payment you should make payments. If you can't, abide by your contract and turn it back in. You are renting the merchandise. It is not yours until you pay for it!

I have used this company for many years after filling bankruptcy and not having good credit. The whole idea is to rent to own until you make all payments and own the merchandise. If you cannot afford the payments you can turn this merchandise back in without having to be hounded by anyone wanting payment. I rented a computer with the intention of owning it but I could not keep up the payments. I turned it back in and was given the option of picking up where I left off when I wanted it again. This company is not a rip off in the since of bugging people. If you agreed to make payment you should make payments. If you can't, abide by your contract and turn it back in. You are renting the merchandise. It is not yours until you pay for it!

I have used this company for many years after filling bankruptcy and not having good credit. The whole idea is to rent to own until you make all payments and own the merchandise. If you cannot afford the payments you can turn this merchandise back in without having to be hounded by anyone wanting payment. I rented a computer with the intention of owning it but I could not keep up the payments. I turned it back in and was given the option of picking up where I left off when I wanted it again. This company is not a rip off in the since of bugging people. If you agreed to make payment you should make payments. If you can't, abide by your contract and turn it back in. You are renting the merchandise. It is not yours until you pay for it!

I have a lot of issues with these complaints.

Do they charge an arm and a leg? Yes. Perhaps your first born too. But lets face it, if you want a $1500 LCD TV and are coming to RAC, you either can't afford it, or get financed elsewhere. You're high risk. They do no credit checks and the reason they charge such a high premium is because there is a statistically high chance that they're going to default. If you think this is wrong, my suggestion is that you finance them yourself and in a few months, make the same complaint. My suggestion is that if someone wants it now, but can't afford it or get financed, rent it temporarily and save up to purchase from another company.

No employee of a RAC store can enter someone's home. Even if they think you're hiding. However, if they file for, and are granted a replevin, the law gives them the right to enter and obtain their merchandise. Be aware, that legally you are obligated to pay for the replevin (up to $800 as court costs) as stated in your arbitration agreement and the next step is that they will garnish your wages. If a replevin is issued an officer will be with the employee, as well as a locksmith. However, it's not to say that some jackass employee will feel empowered to do what they want and enter as he/she pleases. In this case, you need to file a police report, and fax that report to corporate offices. The employee will likely be removed.

No employee is allowed to divulge any information other than who they are and who they work for. It's not hard for your employees to figure out that if RAC is calling you at work, you owe them money. We have no other reason to be there. When we run someones home, they neighbors know why we are there as soon as we pull up. We don't say anything. Again, some jackass employees may be talking too much. If you can prove it, file it with corporate offices and your state Attorney General.

RAC is very open about its policy and tried to hide nothing. You will have some unprofessional employees that cut corners to do their job - these people should be replaced. But while you're complaining on the internet about this company, they still have their jobs, all because you thought this would get you farther than making an actual complaint. My suggestion: either pay your bill, return the merchandise, or call/write the right people. If you don't, you're just wasting time and RAC WILL track you down and garnish your wages, and in some cases, file criminal charges.

I have a lot of issues with these complaints.

Do they charge an arm and a leg? Yes. Perhaps your first born too. But lets face it, if you want a $1500 LCD TV and are coming to RAC, you either can't afford it, or get financed elsewhere. You're high risk. They do no credit checks and the reason they charge such a high premium is because there is a statistically high chance that they're going to default. If you think this is wrong, my suggestion is that you finance them yourself and in a few months, make the same complaint. My suggestion is that if someone wants it now, but can't afford it or get financed, rent it temporarily and save up to purchase from another company.

No employee of a RAC store can enter someone's home. Even if they think you're hiding. However, if they file for, and are granted a replevin, the law gives them the right to enter and obtain their merchandise. Be aware, that legally you are obligated to pay for the replevin (up to $800 as court costs) as stated in your arbitration agreement and the next step is that they will garnish your wages. If a replevin is issued an officer will be with the employee, as well as a locksmith. However, it's not to say that some jackass employee will feel empowered to do what they want and enter as he/she pleases. In this case, you need to file a police report, and fax that report to corporate offices. The employee will likely be removed.

No employee is allowed to divulge any information other than who they are and who they work for. It's not hard for your employees to figure out that if RAC is calling you at work, you owe them money. We have no other reason to be there. When we run someones home, they neighbors know why we are there as soon as we pull up. We don't say anything. Again, some jackass employees may be talking too much. If you can prove it, file it with corporate offices and your state Attorney General.

RAC is very open about its policy and tried to hide nothing. You will have some unprofessional employees that cut corners to do their job - these people should be replaced. But while you're complaining on the internet about this company, they still have their jobs, all because you thought this would get you farther than making an actual complaint. My suggestion: either pay your bill, return the merchandise, or call/write the right people. If you don't, you're just wasting time and RAC WILL track you down and garnish your wages, and in some cases, file criminal charges.

I have a lot of issues with these complaints.

Do they charge an arm and a leg? Yes. Perhaps your first born too. But lets face it, if you want a $1500 LCD TV and are coming to RAC, you either can't afford it, or get financed elsewhere. You're high risk. They do no credit checks and the reason they charge such a high premium is because there is a statistically high chance that they're going to default. If you think this is wrong, my suggestion is that you finance them yourself and in a few months, make the same complaint. My suggestion is that if someone wants it now, but can't afford it or get financed, rent it temporarily and save up to purchase from another company.

No employee of a RAC store can enter someone's home. Even if they think you're hiding. However, if they file for, and are granted a replevin, the law gives them the right to enter and obtain their merchandise. Be aware, that legally you are obligated to pay for the replevin (up to $800 as court costs) as stated in your arbitration agreement and the next step is that they will garnish your wages. If a replevin is issued an officer will be with the employee, as well as a locksmith. However, it's not to say that some jackass employee will feel empowered to do what they want and enter as he/she pleases. In this case, you need to file a police report, and fax that report to corporate offices. The employee will likely be removed.

No employee is allowed to divulge any information other than who they are and who they work for. It's not hard for your employees to figure out that if RAC is calling you at work, you owe them money. We have no other reason to be there. When we run someones home, they neighbors know why we are there as soon as we pull up. We don't say anything. Again, some jackass employees may be talking too much. If you can prove it, file it with corporate offices and your state Attorney General.

RAC is very open about its policy and tried to hide nothing. You will have some unprofessional employees that cut corners to do their job - these people should be replaced. But while you're complaining on the internet about this company, they still have their jobs, all because you thought this would get you farther than making an actual complaint. My suggestion: either pay your bill, return the merchandise, or call/write the right people. If you don't, you're just wasting time and RAC WILL track you down and garnish your wages, and in some cases, file criminal charges.

Hey Jason,as I am not only an employee of rent a center,I started as a customer I can tell you this............
The best way to avoid all that you have complained about is VERY easy.....
You dont have to pay on time,you dont have to give the merchandise back,this is so simple a monkey could be trained to do it,okay you ready...................?

Return just 1 of the 50 phone calls,and explain your situation to your customer account rep.I am 100% sure he or she will listen,and work with you because that is our job,our job is not to make you feel like a criminal!!!

Open the lines of communication and you will see the rent to own business as it was ment to be.....help for those that do not have 1000$ to go to sears and buy a washer dryer.

Thankyou.

Just a few suggestions. Pay your bill or return the merchandise? I find it comical that you complain about Rent A Center "harassing" you when you refuse to pay rent, the whole reason they are "harassing" you in the first place. I didn't realize that trying to get a hold of someone who is actively commiting theft was harassment. Unfortunately the laws in this nation are on the side of the pieces of poopy like you.

I am a dedicated RAC employee. I do my job, and do it very well. I have a very good relationship with the majority of my customers. I have a problem with anyone who takes issue with what I do. A few common falsehoods / misconceptions about RAC :

1. We do not kick down your door to take our stuff when you are a few days late. We will call you at the specified numbers you provide. If you call us, give us a resonable commitment and are honest with us, that is it. We will talk to you on your commitment date. If you avoid us, ignore us, or try to play childish games, we will escalate our efforts. We will call references. Contact you at work. Make home visits. But all of this is done in an effort to assist you to succeed in keeping your merchandise. We want you to pay it off, we want to be salesmen, not delivery boys. I run a very successful route, in a solid performing store, and I do it without threats, harrassment, or police involvement, it is simply accomplished via mutual respect between the store and the customer.
2. We take advantage of the poor. Not True !! Do our prices seem higher than Best Buy sure. Let's look at what we do. We let you walk out of our store, no matter your credit status with a 32" Sony LCD for $24.99 + tax. Will Best Buy do that ? We will service the item at now extra charge to you as long as your are making your payments, and we will give you one to use while it's being serviced
....hmmm... will Sears do that ? We deliver and set up free of charge, Home Depot ? not happening there. And how about the " finance charges " ? I'll put our program up against anyone. We offer all this and affordable payments. You go to any mainstream retailer, ask for a package including all the goods and services we offer. Then ask them to put it on their credit card. Ask them what you will pay in the end if you just make minimum payments. I think you will be surprised by who is taking advantadge of whom.
3. We sell less than quality merchandise. Absolutely not true !! We sell top quality, name brand products. Sony, Yamaha, JVC, LG, Toshiba, Mitsubishi, Whirlpool, Ashley, and many others. And it does not matter if it is new or pre-leased, we guarantee our product.

I would just like to note, I am not saying we are perfect. There may be some stores that do not operate by the same standards. But RAC as a whole is dedicated to ensuring our customer's get the best experience. Every customer, every time. And if you have an issue with a store, see a district manager, call a regional director, call the corporate office. If you have trouble getting the number, call another store. But do not judge us by what you read on websites like this. In 90% of these cases, the customer writing is frustrated with the store, or there has been a miscommunication. Just know, our goal is to get you the product you want, at a price you can afford, and assist you in succeeding to pay it off and make it yours.

As having gone through my horrible Rent A Center experience. I can give you some of the things that helped me out greatly.

These steps stopped them from coming to my house, calling and going to my work and having them call my friends.

First have your friends that you used as references, to tell RAC to remove them as a reference, they no longer want to be contacted. They have to, if they don't they are harassing them, and have them write down any thrid party information they disclosed to them.

Then have your job do the same thing.

When they call your house and you pick up the phone the first thing you need to say is I am recording this phone call so the records will be available for future use. Then ask them if they wish to be recorded, if not hang up now. They will 9 out of 10 times hang up the phone, or they will pass it directly to their manager. It is not illegal to do that or record it because, how many times have you called a customer care line for any company and it will say that will you are on hold. Usually for training puposes. Then tell the manager with a time and date of a payment. Or a date when you will bring the merchandise to them. Since you do not feel safe to let them enter your home. You do not have to give them a reason either. Even though you made that commitment, you can always call and change it, "if something comes up".

If they call your home on a personal cell phones, that is considered misrepresentation in court, and harassment on a personal level. If they do an you play your cards right you can get a restraining order against that specific employee. That is considered stalking. Because their cell phones are a personal item, and it means they are harassing you on a personal level. If they contact you on a blocked call, that is considered misrepresentation and harassment in court. Also if your telephone company offers it get a full detail of incoming calls your home or cell phone. If they call you more than allowed it is considered harassment.

Be polite with them on all occasions, it will usually draw the inner a*s out of them.

Once you have done this, they will usually come to your house the same day. They will either be very nice by this time, or very bullish. When they are at your home, break out a cameraphone, digital recorder something that can record the event. You don't have to answer the door, just record from the window especially if they are pounding on your door like a cop. You will usually catch them trying your door handle, peeking in your windows, going through into your backyard (trespassing" to looking a sliding glass door, or even to try it. If at this point you have this on camera. Call 911 and report you have people trying to break into your home on camera. You can even say who they are and what they want, it no longer matters now they have broke the law. Have the people there either trespassed or arrested. It works really well if you have kids and they are crying and terrified for when the cops show up. ( TRAIN EM YOUNG MUHAHAHAHA, sorry just had to throw that in there since I have heard RAC employees in washington say this outside the store in random conversations, while blowing smoke at customers. Especially in front new and potential customers, so RAC you want to let your employees say that fine, go ahead call us out! )

Leaving door hangers anywhere but on "one" on the door with any message other than the time date, and who to contact is harassment. If they tape any letters to your door "without a sealed envelope", that is considered 3rd party disclosure and illegal. Because any person that happens to come to your door could pontentially read it. If they tape a "sealed letter" to your door with any kind of state mumbo jumbo about what actions they can take towards prosecution, that is considered a threat and harassment.

After you have all this on record, write a letter to your state's Attorney General. Everything they are doing will magically stop. They are the magic person to get help from. Since they help consumers, they also get enough reports about RAC, they won't care the details and just help you.

Here is the one thing for sure you have to do though. Make sure you do all this after paying a minimum of 9 weeks or 2 months worth of payments. They don't have to be on time, but it is better for you. Except for the first one, after you made the initial payment in the store.
Most state courts will consider that first/missed payment as an intent to steal. And they will also considered those payment up to 9 weeks or 2 months if made mostly ontime as the ability to afford.

Also in most states RAC's legal department will 9 out of 10 times not pursue criminal action, once that amount of payments have been made. Depending on whether or not you got a new item, versus a used item will also determine if they pursue small claims court. They don't want to waste time paying their employees to go court. Since at this time they have already spent probably over 10 hours with 2 different employees harassing you.

The biggest help here is that, on your rental aggrement it shows they charge a "late fee". It does also state somewhere on there that they can stop your contract at any time and so can you. If they don't want to continue and you do, they have to charge the late fee. Just make sure you have made the above amount of payments first then. Follow those steps. They will leave you alone if not. Have fun making them look stupid in court over harassment and making bank.

I am a previous customer of RAC and I'm not blind. I know what I signed. What I didn't know was that it was illegal for RAC to charge me the amounts on the contract. You can read the contract till you're blue in the face but if you don't know the law-it means nothing.

Did it ever occur to any of you RAC employees that some consumers that withhold their payment are doing so for a reason? I'm not saying that it is right or legal. Just that it is logical and maybe the only way a consumer thinks they are able to get RAC motivated.

If RAC isn't fullfilling thier obligations in applying credit to your account for overpayment, reimbursing "club fees" on a cancelled membership or just dragging their feet for months about servicing an item that isn't working the way it is supposed to be- why should RAC not expect the same consideration when wanting their payment?

I signed a contract for a 60gb ps3 and later realized that I had been given a 40gb ps3. The serial # of the item was conveniently left out of the contract. Do you think RAC corrected the fraudulent contract when I brought it to their attention? Or adjusted the price or refunded the difference in my payments? No and they still had the nerve to call 3 times a day before my payment was due as "a friendly reminder".

This is a place for consumers to voice their complaints. I suggest that before you but in to someone's business to dispute what they say or attempt to make them look bad in any way-YOU BETTER KNOW THE ENTIRE STORY or keep your mouth shut.

Most consumers are not aware of the laws surrounding rental purchase transactions. They may have no idea of what to do when they are treated unfairly. But RAC employees know d**n well about the law as it is part of their training. They have no excuse for thier actions. I am completely disgusted by some of the comments I see on here by ignorant big mouths. Yes just like Dawn. You should learn something from the employee that very politely informed the consumer what steps they can take and even gave a phone number to call. That is pure professionalism. I commend her and wish more people treated customers with the respect they deserve. After all, you'd be out of that job without your customers.

It may be no wonder that this company continues to operate in the negative manner it does. As the months continue to go by, the integrity issues get worse and worse. How can a DM manage the internal audit function, when they will be criticized and/or fired for missing merchandise? It's the fox watching the henhouse.

I came from (((competitor's name redacted))) and we had clean inventory because of our past fraud issues. However, this Rent-A-Center inventory is a joke. Moving things around, massive storage units with junk merchandise to not write off... Am I the only one seeing this go on around me?! We have to change our audit function to have independent corp people do it, or it'll never be resolved.

Any thoughts would be welcome

sorry, allowing you to give a competitors name would instigate others to just file against their competition, to only come back later to suggest their company your comments on this policy are welcome! CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

It may be no wonder that this company continues to operate in the negative manner it does. As the months continue to go by, the integrity issues get worse and worse. How can a DM manage the internal audit function, when they will be criticized and/or fired for missing merchandise? It's the fox watching the henhouse.

I came from (((competitor's name redacted))) and we had clean inventory because of our past fraud issues. However, this Rent-A-Center inventory is a joke. Moving things around, massive storage units with junk merchandise to not write off... Am I the only one seeing this go on around me?! We have to change our audit function to have independent corp people do it, or it'll never be resolved.

Any thoughts would be welcome

sorry, allowing you to give a competitors name would instigate others to just file against their competition, to only come back later to suggest their company your comments on this policy are welcome! CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

The employee of Rent-A-Center implied that everything would be okay if the bill was paid on time. Nevermind the fact that the company is predatory and preys on the poor, charging outrageous amounts for shoddy merchandise and then tacking on numerous other fees.
Regardless of whether the payments are late or not, Rent-A-Center has no right to terrorize people because of a stereo.

The employee mentioned a car repossession, which is not a fair example because the repo man will NEVER come into your home uninvited. Mortgage holders will never relentlessly stalk and harass people. They all handle things according to the laws and there are strict laws that govern such companies. The same laws should be in place for places like Rent-A-Center.

Personally, I own all my furniture, bought it all on credit, but I can tell you this: if anyone came into my home and accused me of hiding in my laundry room, they would either get shot or attacked by my dogs for invading my home illegally. It is against the law to behave in such a manner and this Jason and others who have been terrorized by REnt-A-Center should contact the police and/or file a lawsuit. They should also invest in some personal security, be it an alarm system or a dog.

And take the stupid stuff back! Is it worth it? You can take it back and STILL sue them and be out on top. It will look much better for your lawsuit if you return the merchandise and/or pay your bill. THen turn right around and sue them because you most definitely have a case. Next time, don't deal with these companies because they are all loan sharks running a racket. Do without or get secondhand. And get a big dog because if someone comes to your door and refuses to leave or enters your home unlawfully, the dog will protect you and they won't be back.

This situation can be very aviodable if you just take the time to talk with the manager of the store and come up with hte best solution. You signed an agreement with the company tha you were going to pay x amount of dollars forx amount of time. You also agreed that during this time you will make payments according to your paydates. In the agreement it states that if you do not renew your agreement by making a payment on the scheduled day your do, it is a breach of the agreement. It also lets you know that rent-a-center holds rights to that merchandise until it is paid in full by lesee. the way you achieve this is 1.pay it off in 90 days same as cash 2. if you can not pay this amount within 90 days of the agreement you can use the early purchase option which is 55% of the remaining total cost 3
if you don't do either of those you can take the merchandise to end of term and pay the total cost.

If you can not do none of these you must return the merchandise. Or rent a center can express their legal right to there merchandise. Keep in mind that when you return you do not lose the money you put into the merchandise. rent a center has a life time reinstatement that allows you to get the same merchandise back or one of similar value so you do not lose out. But what you are doing is illegal by not living out a signed agreement with the company. I hope you do not be fullish and make a decision that can effect your life and your families.

This situation can be very aviodable if you just take the time to talk with the manager of the store and come up with hte best solution. You signed an agreement with the company tha you were going to pay x amount of dollars forx amount of time. You also agreed that during this time you will make payments according to your paydates. In the agreement it states that if you do not renew your agreement by making a payment on the scheduled day your do, it is a breach of the agreement. It also lets you know that rent-a-center holds rights to that merchandise until it is paid in full by lesee. the way you achieve this is 1.pay it off in 90 days same as cash 2. if you can not pay this amount within 90 days of the agreement you can use the early purchase option which is 55% of the remaining total cost 3
if you don't do either of those you can take the merchandise to end of term and pay the total cost.

If you can not do none of these you must return the merchandise. Or rent a center can express their legal right to there merchandise. Keep in mind that when you return you do not lose the money you put into the merchandise. rent a center has a life time reinstatement that allows you to get the same merchandise back or one of similar value so you do not lose out. But what you are doing is illegal by not living out a signed agreement with the company. I hope you do not be fullish and make a decision that can effect your life and your families.

This situation can be very aviodable if you just take the time to talk with the manager of the store and come up with hte best solution. You signed an agreement with the company tha you were going to pay x amount of dollars forx amount of time. You also agreed that during this time you will make payments according to your paydates. In the agreement it states that if you do not renew your agreement by making a payment on the scheduled day your do, it is a breach of the agreement. It also lets you know that rent-a-center holds rights to that merchandise until it is paid in full by lesee. the way you achieve this is 1.pay it off in 90 days same as cash 2. if you can not pay this amount within 90 days of the agreement you can use the early purchase option which is 55% of the remaining total cost 3
if you don't do either of those you can take the merchandise to end of term and pay the total cost.

If you can not do none of these you must return the merchandise. Or rent a center can express their legal right to there merchandise. Keep in mind that when you return you do not lose the money you put into the merchandise. rent a center has a life time reinstatement that allows you to get the same merchandise back or one of similar value so you do not lose out. But what you are doing is illegal by not living out a signed agreement with the company. I hope you do not be fullish and make a decision that can effect your life and your families.

Fisrt of all we will tell you EVERYTHING when you walk in and ask about our prices, there is a cash price and a total price.

Second we will tell you about if you don't make your payments on time we will pick up your merchandise and have no grace period on when your payment is due we even will offer to take you credit or bank card on file so if you wish to just call and make your payment you can.

third, you obviously have no good credit that is why you came to us or arrons in the first place and we will tell you plllease make your payments on time or let us know when you can pay us.

Is that so much to ask for as a company??

P.S. I love my job and what I do. I do get paid well. I am in the sales aspect of the job not so much as the collections and account department and I come from a high end furniture sales background. Because ther is two jobs as for the assistant manager part.

I agree with you whole heartedly about living up to their end of the contract. BUT there is absolutely no excuse for ANYONE with RAC to be at someones front door banging for hours, harassing the renter, the name calling the threats etc. etc. If the renter refuses to give up RAC's property and refuses to pay then do the RIGHT thing. File it in court, criminally and/or civily. Not only are the RAC employees wrong in using such tactics but they take the chance in getting themselves in a situation that could get them arrested or even worse, HURT.

To those of you who had never experiened the Rent A Center way of doing business I say please consider what Jason is trying to tell you. They are very unprofessional, rude and take advantage of people who have no other choice to but to rent. I dont see this as a branch problem because the branch here in Pasadena has the same type of business practice.

My husband was one day late paying a weekly rent on a washer that we were renting for 5 weeks and was humillated by a RAC employee who was at our home the next day banging on our front door yelling rent a center till we opend the door. We were good customers for the 5 weeks and paid 2-weeks in advance at the onset of our rental then paid our weekly on time every Friday before their close of business little did we know thas missing one Friday would end up having a representive on our door step the next morning telling our entire neghborhood that we were rent a center customers that were 1-day late at paying our rent.

They call you several times during the week to remind you of your upcomming weekly payment arrangements and will share your personnal business with anyone who answers your telephone also they dont just leave a message on your home telephone but they will call all 5 of your references including your work and cell phone to remind you that your rent will be due. We could not wait to give them back their rental once we purchased our own washer and dryer. That was the longest 5 weeks. in closing I strongly suggest that anyone wanting to rent from rent a center cosider saving their money to purchase and avoid the humilliation of inexperienced RAC employees who lack in tact are not professional and are just hard core.

I posted a report 'Rent-A-Center Criminal Actions Ripoff Houston Texas'

and its funny I see rentacenter employees etc..comment on issues that they are well in the means of commenting on when someone doesnt pay etc.. but I'd like one of you to comment on my issue..if you find it..it was were i was not the person who rented from rent a center.. i was a new tenant and the previous tenant had been evicted and too RAC's item with them.. i wasnt of aware of this as this was an apartment complex i found out of this situation after rent a center harrassed me and my daughter and they were shown the lease and told by the rental office that their customer (the previous tenanent was evicted)

I have never been a RAC customer and never will but long story short, what finally go them to stop was two of their employees forced there way in my apartment on an occassion when i opened the door and they searched my apartment without permission police came and charges were made.. I went to court and case finally over .. I won a lawsuit but..my issue is there should be a proper means of making sure they have the correct customer in a case such as this.. there were injuries in the incident as well but I will leave that out as that part is still in courts..

I am a current employee of RAC and take part of the collection process.

First of all, even before a customer rents an item from our company they are FULLY aware of the "90 days same as cash" price as well as the "full rental" price. That informatin is disclosed on the items price tag. If a customer decides that they still want to rent this item and fill out a rental order form and continue to sign the rental agreement, they are FULLY aware of Rent A Center's policy.

Each and every personal reference that is list on the rental order is "asked" if it would be ok to contact them in the future if the "renter" can not be contacted. So these references know that it is possible to get phone calls on the "renters" behalf. It is also stated on the contract that the renter signs that rent a center has the right to immediately take possession of the property if payment is not made on the payment due date.

Why do people think that they can violate a contract that they signed after being informed of this information and then try to blame us for trying to contact them and pick up merchandise that does not belong to them under the rental terms?

When someone fails to make thier payment on the due date and then does not contact RAC with thier intentions of payment, after numerous attempts to contact the renter, this leaves us no other option but to contact references to try to get the message to the renter.

The best way to avoid any type of issue is to just make your payment on time. If you can't make your payment on time then obviously you can't afford the product you are renting and should then as for the merchandise to be picked up and returned to RAC.

Has anyone noticed one common fact with all the people that have a problem with Rent A Center? These people are not making thier payments as promised by signing the rental agreement.

Why do you think you can keep merchandise that does not belong to you without paying for it then get pissed when we try to get it back?

If you had a car loan and didn't pay that, obviously your car would be repossessed! or if you have a house mortgage and failed to pay that payment, your house would then be put under forclosure and taken away from you.

Pay your bill on time and you won't be bothered!!!!

My suggestion would be to Contact consumer protection in your state. Rent a Center has to answer to a higher power. Also; contact an attorney that handles consumer matters. I did and the attorney listed to all the harassing calls and wrote them a letter. One letter was all it took.

I got ripped off after paying on this to own the store. You can't rent forever. i won and it was quick.

Don't let these employees or managers rip you off or tell you to pay your bill on time. You do and still get harassed. I had them walk in my home while I was in the laundry room. Scared me bad, I'll tell you. They accused me of hiding. I got on it ASAP.

Stand up for yourselves and make a complaint. Let Cprotection and lawyers listen to your calls. I wish to god RAC would be run out of town. Rent to OWN?????? You NEVER do own anything and when the furniture breaks or falls apart, they will definitely blame you.

Best to you all.

You attack everyone who gives you sound advice. Return the merchandise or pay for it, those are the two options you have. It is obvious now why you have to use companies like these. H*ll, life would be perfect if I could keep the money in my pocket for our mortgage payment, but real life doesn't work that way. It is called being an adult.

The sad part is that you are hurting no one but yourself and your family. Once you go into Teletrak, you wouldn't be able to even get a payday loan or get anything at any other rent-to-own situation if you had to, as well as risking a civil judgment and criminal record. That'll really show them, huh?

Grow up.

Well I see this person is the kind of person who gets pushed around. I didn't say I don't have the money to pay, I said I'm not going to because the way they do business. I don't care if you have a problem with it. The looser employees at Rent A Center know why they are not getting their money. If some one approaches me and demands me to give them money or they are going to beat me up. All they are going to get is a Fist full and not a dime. Rent A Center are crocks they exploit the poor. I have little sympathy for want bee thugs who work for such little salary.

I will probably get flammed for this, but you chose to rent from them, and now won't pay. You are an adult and as adults, we are responsible for our own actions.

Do you have them recorded calling yo names??? I just do not understand why you think you do not have to pay this debt??? It amazes me how some people sign off on contracts and make agreements to montly payments, then when the time comes to pay, they give a big song and dance and find excuses not to pay.

And why if you are not able to pay this debt, having a baby at a time like this??

JMO~~~

I had the same type of problem with this company many years ago. I called them to tell them to come and get the stereo, had to call several times and they finally did. They continued to harass me and I told them they would never get another dime from me.

Then they took me to court asking for an outrageous amount. I fought it and finally the judge asked me if I would pay a certain amount, very very low amount and I said yes. After court, the RAC manager came up to me and told me I needed to sign some papers stating I would pay what the judge ordered. I looked at him and reminded him of what I said about never getting another dime from me. He threw in the "its what the judge ordered and I told him to get it from the judge then.

Never heard another word. RAC was charging me for the weeks I had the stereo while I was telling them to come and get it, plus all kinds of late fees etc. Before court, they called me on my job, at home, friends, family, next door neighbors, etc. My advice is I'd do without before doing business with them again

If you're having names called and all this, the thing you need to do is to simply let the answering machine or voicemail catch the call, and save it.

Then, call another RAC store, not the one you are renting from, and get the number for the market manager.

The corporate office will not tolerate these things. Get proof that there are harrassing phone calls and the problem will get dealt with. In every office in the stores there is a "10 commandments" we call it, 10 things that are NOT to be done. Calling the customer any name other than their given name is on that list.

RAC has a very tight leash on it's employees, and most of the employees realize they're paid pretty well for what they do, I know what my paycheck is, and I know it's plenty to live on, and in exchange for that paycheck, we follow the company guidelines.

It's too bad the store you're dealing with doesn't understand this. Good luck with the Market Manager. If that doesn't work, there is an 800 number, it's customer care--direct link to corporate, who will suggest dealing with the market manager, so first, deal with him and try to resolve the matter.

Well I see people are intimidated by Rent a center. I think the employees in my area are trying to use force when its not needed the thing about it is the people are harassing my family. I will not pay a company who works the way they do. The last responses are morons. I know the law and the law is in my favor, Rent a center is not trained to collect and break many laws why they try.

To respond to the last comment they don't get paid much at all that's bs!, and the criminals who work for the company are not much more than fake gangsters. Losers like I said. All I want to say from here on out it if you let a company intimidate you than you are not much smarter than they are. So take a stand when these lamos come to your door and let them know you're not going to be scared of some thugs dressed in blue, and when you have the money you will pay them. Maybe, if they don't treat you like thy treated me Rent-A-Center Im not afraide of you... lol

I think it is pretty idiotic to keep that merchandise, they will press charges, it is their merchandise, not yours. Also their employees get paid pretty well and have to go through a criminal background check as well as a drug screen to work there. Starting wage at RAC is aprroximately 28K-35K depending on the cost of living in the area. Their employees also get great health benefits and 2 weeks of paid vacation per year, but here we are with you needing to rent instead of purchase and you obviously can't pay your bill. It is in my experiance that if a person stops paying rent to a RTO Company, other things arent getting paid such as water, electricity, house payment. If I were you, I would reconsider your definition of 'Loser'

So you do not have title to the merchandise you are renting, and unlike buying something on a retail contract, in many places (Californis included...ask one of my former neighbors), you can be charged criminally. My former neighborhood refused to pay for or return rental merchandise, moved from San Francisco to the East Bay and was arrested for theft by conversion and I believe, grand larceny. He did a few months in the county jail, had tons of fines and restitution, plus got felony probation. Don't know if I would want to risk something like that just because you are angry with them. Is keeping some highly overpriced merchandise worth a criminal record?

Return the merchandise and call it a day.

You all at rent a center are crazy, that's why If you ever had a problem with harassment by this company you should join me in putting together a lawsuit against this horrible company. They can be worth a lot of money

I for one am pursuing the option in suing this disgraceful company for distress and harassment. I will not be bullied into paying a debt and I will never pay the debt to this company for the reason of the way they have treated my whole family. Never

All I have to say about Rent a Center is you $6.25 per hour workers, is it really worth all the time you put in to your job for such little salary. You should clean up your criminal record and get a real job and stop beating up on the pore and old people. Loser'

I am an asst. manager at another rent to own company, and the only advice to you is pay your bill on time or return the merchandise. RAC does not tolerate late payments and they do not have a grace period. After 7 days most of the stores will send your account to an attorney's office and they can and will take legal action. If you want it to stop, return the merchandise or pay your bill on time