Best Way Rent to Own

Review: I initially applied to get two air units on September 11th 2013. I went through the entire process and was advised that I needed 4 references. Not only was I proactive in getting my references to call the office but each of everyone of them trust my wife and I gave great word to the business. I went to the business that evening as requested around 6:30 and they were closed and was told one of my references did not answer the questions correctly. So my wife and I went without air for another night because of this issue. On today September 12th, we gave Best Way another reference of which they verified and called to let me now to go ahead and come in to sign the paperwork and they would follow me to my house to deliver the units. My wife received a call from the [redacted] who stated that he did some "additional" research and found a few warrants in debt in my husband's name that were outstanding. Not only is that not true but is bad business. we were told we were approved already and no credit check would be done and understand that the courts are on public record. But to tell my wife and I you don't want to do business with us because of a one record that is in current dispute? That is discrimination and bad business on behalf of Best Way. We will definitely be telling everyone we know to leave this place alone as they are bias and disrespectful. My wife could not understand why [redacted] wasted our time to do his dirty work behind the scenes after approving us in the first place. This shows confusion and disaccord is happening in this workplace.Desired Settlement: An apology on behalf of the entire Best Way [redacted] Staff. You can keep your units. There is another rental company that will give us a second chance when businesses like yours go against your policy to deny someone service after saying they were approved.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted],

We are in receipt of the complaint made against us by [redacted] of September 12, who became upset with our handling of their attempt to rent two air conditioners. While I cannot say I am satisfied with how we communicated with [redacted]/ and or his [redacted] (the complaint is confusing as to who wrote it), but in the end, we do reserve the right to select who will receive hundreds (and many times thousands) of dollars of furnishings and other equipment based on several criteria.

[redacted] state that we discriminated against them—a serious allegation that we do not take lightly. We strongly disagree with them. They also state that “when business like (ours) go against (our) policy”- we absolutely did not. We are in business to rent things to as many people as we possibly can, but we are unable to rent to everybody for a number of reasons. Since we require no security deposit, and perform no credit check, we do regularly check public records of the local municipalities to see if there are judgments against our prospective customers. This, of course, is not checking credit, but does speak to how obligations are often handled and resolved. As a way to protect ourselves, this research is employed so that we can reduce losses, protect assets, remain a viable business, and be here in the long run to service the public and provide good jobs to our employees and their families. It is important that we reduce unnecessary exposure as good business should.

I am sorry t hat we sent conflicting signals to the [redacted], indicating early on that rental would be made, and then later on stating that we could not allow the rental. I know this was very aggravation to them. This, admittedly, is not ideal, but the [redacted] initially believed we could do business with them. Things changed as the story unfolded, unfortunately. The [redacted] and I will address this with the [redacted] and his staff. Our company has a tremendous reputation, one that has been well-earned over the past 30 years that we have been in business. We pride ourselves in providing outstanding customer service. In this case, we made a mistake in communicating with our customers. But we stand by our decisions based on the facts as we learned them.

If you have any other questions or concerns, please let me know.

Respectfully,

**/[redacted]

Review: I called on March 20th and spoke to a rep by the name of [redacted] to get a pay off on my account. The two item in question is a [redacted] and a [redacted] advised me he was the only one in the store but he will be with me soon. He pulled the file and gave me a pay out balance of $109.00 for the [redacted] and $ 119.00 for the [redacted]( I repeated the information back to the rep to confirm pay-off). When my husband went in on March 22 to pay the [redacted] off the [redacted] the same rep [redacted] was there and told him it would be $190.00 to pay it off. I called back to the store and spoke to [redacted] about this and he states he provided the incorrect information. I requested to speak to someone from the corp. Level. I was given a phone #and a message was left. As os today I still waiting on a call back. I reached out to the location again on Wed. March 26th and requested the [redacted]( I was advised he was on vacation) so I spoke to the assist [redacted] he pulled the file and gave me the same payout that was given on Saturday by [redacted]. He told me I had until March 29th to pay it off before the price goes up. [redacted] advised he would send the pay out information thru email on Friday( I still havent received the email). The company needs to Honor the pay-off amount that was provided by their rep. so I can be done with the company.Desired Settlement: I would like them tho honor the amount the rep. gave me so I can be done with the company.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted]
We are in receipt of the complaint made against us by our customer, [redacted] from March 31, 2014, who is dissatisfied with what she feels was misinformation from our representative. [redacted] alleges that she was quoted different amounts to pay off her agreements than what her husband was asked to actually pay when he came into the store to make the payment. We are very sorry for the confusion and eagerly would like to resolve the matter.
Upon looking into the matter, I have learned that:
1. The representative [redacted] spoke to originally, [redacted], fully understands the terms or our lease-purchase agreement and is quite capable of providing customers with balance/pay off information. [redacted] does not recollect specific amounts quoted to [redacted]. Of course, it is possible that there could be confusion caused by the fact that the 90 Days Same as Cash/payoff amount [redacted] thinks she was given is the same amount that she had paid on her agreements at that time.
2. After [redacted] left the store after making a renewal payment, [redacted] contacted [redacted] who says he apologized for the misunderstanding. She asked for, and was given, the phone number for the [redacted]. That DM says that he has never received a call or had a message from [redacted], thus she has not spoken to anyone from our Corporate Office at this point. (The notification on March 31 from the Revdex.com was the only way our Corporate Office has become aware of the matter.)
3. [redacted] did call back to the store and spoke to a different representative, [redacted], who does recall quoting her the 90 Days Same as Cash/payoff amounts ($180.11 + tax for the [redacted] and $280.11 + tax for the [redacted] tablet). Those are the correct amounts. [redacted] was supposed to send [redacted] an email spelling that out, but unintentionally forgot to do so.
We clearly spell out in every lease-purchase agreement the financial particulars and obligations of the parties, including regular payments are, length of time for ownership, cash price, either party can terminate and more. An important clause – the very last one -- also clearly spells out so that we avoid this kind of confusion, that these agreements can only be modified (only) in writing; therefore no terms and conditions of the agreement can be verbally changed unless it is done in writing and signed by both parties. This is very important so we can avoid misunderstandings, and truthfully, human error or even “intentional confusion.” We cannot sell the property at the prices [redacted]’s complaint indicates.
The [redacted] 90-Day Same as Cash window expired right at that time (March 24, 2014). We will happily extend this 90-Day window and enable the [redacted] to avoid paying any more than necessary, if that is still their desire, and extend this to 120 days (April 24, 2014). Of course, they have the option to 1) return the rental property, 2) make a renewal rental payment, or 3) pay off the balance at every interval. We hope they will choose to own the property, and even take advantage of the extended Same as Cash opportunity. After April 24th, the Same as Cash price must go away if not exercised. At the time of this writing, the [redacted] agreements have expired March 29, and they have not kept them current while seeking your assistance. We understand that, but would request that they contact us very soon, let us know their intentions either way, and perform one of the three (3) options above right away.
Our company, in its 30-year history, has ALWAYS done the right thing, and if a mistake was made on our part, we apologize. It was not intentional and no one is perfect. Of course, the mistake just as easily could have been made by our valued customer, and we will gladly move forward and hope to help to the [redacted] acquire the things they want and need. Our mission is to make them, and everyone happy. Period.
If you have any other questions or concerns, please let me know.

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's offer. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved. If the company does not perform as promised I can get back to you at: [email protected].

Regards,