Complaint Review: Golden Eagle Leasing LLC

We signed a lease with Golden Eagle Leasing, LLC in 2001 for PIN Keypad for a credit card machine.  We were told the lease was for 3 years and the equipment would be ours at the end of the lease.  They continued to debit our account for
approximately $43.00 per month after the lease was supposed to end. 

We live in a coastal city on Galveston Bay in Texas. 
On September 13, 2008, our city was hit by hurricane Ike.  Our store had about 3 feet of
seawater and raw sewage inside and a boat pushed in the north wall of our store.  All of our equipment including the
keypad was destroyed.  Golden Eagle continued to debit our bank account for $43.00 per month.

We finally closed our bank account November of 2008 and notified Golden Eagle Leasing LLC that a hurricane had destroyed
our store including their keypad.  We didn't hear anything from them until March 3, 2013. 
They sent us a DEMAND FOR PAYMENT letter stating that we owed an outstanding balance of $2,564.25.  This
is for a piece of equipment that was destroyed by an act of nature and that can be purchased on eBay for $5.00.

From 2001 to 2008 we paid over $4,000.00 for a piece of equipment that probably didn't cost a $100.00.  Now they are asking for an additional $2,564.25!! And they are threatening legal action against us.

I think we have been screwed long enough.