Complaint Review: Financing Alternatives

READ THESE CAREFULLY AS THEY WILL TELL YOU WHAT YOU NEED TO DO.

Virginia Sues Financing Alternatives

July 31, 2007
Financing Alternatives, Inc.

Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell has filed a legal action against Financing Alternatives, Inc., a Chesapeake-based company, alleging it takes computer orders across the nation and then does not routinely deliver the computers.

Virginia's consumer protection laws must be strongly enforced against those who receive payment for goods and then fail to deliver them as promised,Attorney General McDonnell said. Our free enterprise system depends on trusting in the bargain.

The lawsuit alleges that the company marketed its computers to consumers with poor credit ratings. Consumers allegedly were led to believe that the computers they ordered would be shipped after three months of payments and that they would have to continue making payments for nine months after the computer was shipped.

Consumers often did not receive the computers within the time period promised by Financing Alternatives, and some consumers did not receive the computers after making all such payments.

Violations of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act alleged in the suit include:

misrepresenting or failing to disclose to consumers the conditions to be met before computers would be ordered, shipped or delivered;

misrepresenting to consumers the reasons for delays in ordering, shipment or delivery;

misrepresenting to consumers that Financing Alternatives is or was licensed by the Va. State Corporation Commission;

misrepresenting to consumers that Financing Alternatives is or was in good standing with the Va. Attorney General's Office or the Better Business Bureau; and

failing to disclose all conditions, charges or fees relating to a layaway agreement.

The suit was filed in the Chesapeake Circuit Court. It requests that the court enjoin Financing Alternatives from violating the Virginia Consumer Protection Act and that all money acquired by Financing Alternatives from consumers in transactions that violated the Act be returned to those consumers. The suit also seeks civil penalties of up to $2,500 for each violation of the Act.

Consumers from anywhere in the United States may file complaints regarding Financing Alternatives with the Va. Office of Consumer Affairs. Complaint forms can be obtained ">online or by calling the Office of Consumer Affairs at 804-786-2042. Completed complaint forms may be sent to: Office of Consumer Affairs, P.O. Box 1163, Richmond, VA 23218.

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Virginia Seeks Victims Of Computer Layaway Scam
State hopes to get restitution for Financing Alternatives customers

By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.Com

November 14, 2007 Spanish
Financing Alternatives, Inc.

Picking up where Blue Hippo left off, Virginia-based Financing Alternatives, Inc. has marketed overpriced computers and TV sets to people with poor credit, and in many cases, has failed to even send the merchandise.

Though the company's assets have been frozen by the state of Virginia, the wave of consumer abuses has yet to subside. ConsumerAffairs.com has received 71 complaints about this company in the last three months.

I saw a TV ad, and it sounded like a great idea, but all it did was take my money, Carla, of Galesburg, Illinois, told ConsumerAffairs.com. paid a down-payment of $150 and then in 2 weeks started paying $71.98 every 2 weeks.

Carla said she thought she was getting a bargain.

For paying on time, she said she was told she would get a pre-paid cell phone, an MP3 player and other premiums. However, she wouldn't get her computer until she had made five months of on time payments.

But in early November she learned the company had shut down by the Virginia Attorney General's Office.

I didn't have the heart to tell my son it was a scam, that the money was just stolen, Carla said. He looked at me and said no Mom, somebody wouldn't do that.' I said well this company did and it wasn't just us, but many others.

Many, many others. By the time Virginia filed suit against Financing Alternatives in July 2007, the company had already established a pattern of taking consumers' money and not providing anything in return.

Even if the company had provided the product, consumers would have been paying more than $2,000 in many cases for a $600 computer.

Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell says Financing Alternatives owes computers to 1,765 customers who paid in full - plus hundreds more who've made partial payments. He also convinced a Virginia court to freeze the company's assets and take control of the firm.

McDonnell says Financing Alternatives and its owner George Christian owes consumers $3.3 million.

The Virginia Office of Consumer Affairs is currently taking complaints from consumers who've paid Financing Alternatives but failed to receive any merchandise. The state's goal is to recover assets from the business and the owner's personal bank accounts in order to repay all consumers.

Carla, meanwhile, is concerned about more than just the $1,000 she paid Financing Alternatives every two weeks.

I believe the company has my Social Security number, so I had to close my account at my bank, she told ConsumerAffairs.com. Now they have all this information about me, it will just be like someone stealing my identity on top of all of this mess. Catch all of them and punish them to fullest extent of the law, the way I see it.

What to do
Consumers from anywhere in the United States who have lost money to Financing Alternatives should file a complaint with the Virginia Office of Consumer Affairs. Complaint forms can be obtained online or by calling the Office of Consumer Affairs at 804-786-2042. Completed complaint forms may be sent to: Office of Consumer Affairs, P.O. Box 1163, Richmond, VA 23218.