Complaint Review: Acceptance Now - Tucson Arizona

So last July we had family coming into town and needed to purchase a TV for the spare bedroom. We were short on cash and wanted to see if we could finance the TV.

We called Conns and spoke to a salesman at the store and he took an application over the phone and told me I was approved for a small loan to finance a TV.

I went over to Conns and selected a TV.

I work in finance as a mortgage loan officer and this is where I feel very stupid and embarresed.

I assumed that based on what I was being told that I was buying a TV and that the TV I was purchasing with a loan was not a rent to own. In fact if anyone had even mentioned to me that this was a rent to own I would have never ever had signed up for this.

Anyways...I signed the paperwork and buy the TV. Take it home and set it up in the spare room.

A month later I go into Conns and try to make a payment for $250 and the girl says she can not figure out how to make accept a payment over the minimum amount. She is fumblling around and I tell her I need to leave and to just take the min payment.

I was assuming the girl was just new and not sure how to work the system they use for processing payment.

Over the next few months I make the payment and if I am one day late on my payment they start calling. Normally I just make the payment and think nothing of it.

However about 3 months ago I was a week late and they had been calling me relentlessly. Yes I know what they were callling about and yes I shoulld have answered....However my freaking life does not revolve around my TV payment. Again, my mistake, I assumed that I had a grace period.

So about 4 or 5 days after my payment is due some huge biker type guy shows up at my door at 3pm at night. WTF?

I call up and make the payment but also tell the manager that this is over the top behavior.

Fast forward to this month.

The first was llast Tuesday and I have been slammed at work. I am 6 days late on making my payment and they have been blowing up my phone. Yes, again I should have answered or called back but again...My life does not revolve around the TV payment. I have never been more than a week late and it just does not seem like the crime of the century to be 6 days past due on the TV payment.

At about 7 some squirly looking ding dong shows up on my doorstep banging on my door.

I blow up and tell him his company needs to stop. He responds to me that the company views me as being irresponsible.

It is all I can do to keep my composure. I literally order him off my property. He is still chattering away trying to provoke an argument.

I call the Conns store and leave a message to call back.

Finally I get online and do some research and on sites such as this one there are hundreds of storys about being conned into a rent to own via this company.

Finally I get a call back and ask the lady to be honest with me and what did I get myself into.

She tells me its a rent to own and I owe them $2500 if I continue on with the plan but I can buy out for $1000.

I congratulate her on conning me and also let her know that nobody ever stated that this was a Rent To Own product. She tells me that yes sometimes the sales people neglect to tell the customer becasue they want to make a sale. Too bad so sad I guess.

At this point I have no idea what I am going to do. I have spent almost a 1000 on this TV at this point and thought I was close to being paid off.

In all fairness I blame myself. I should have known better and should have read the fine print. I made the error in trusting that Conns which is a large electronics store would not practice this type of business but again...I screwed up in not reading the fine print and that is all these people needed to worm into my checkbook and take me for a ton of money.

I am in lending and I know when I close a mortgage loan for a client I have to be completely transparent in my dealings and I can say that Acceptance Now and Conn's are as Shady and Slimy as an organization as I have ever seen.

Incidently I told the lady if they ever send someone to my house again and is as insulting as this guy was I would call the police and file a harrasment charge against their company.

Stay away from these people. They are a unscrupolous and dishonest.