Anyone ever used one of those Rent-to-Own stores?

[Samiam]

Our TV was apparently struck by lightening two days ago. Big lightning, TV went off (but not rest of power in house). Now TV has sound, but no picture. DH has messed with a bit, but no luck.

 

I am COMPLETELY fine with no TV,really. We have internet and computers, so worse case we can use those. We do have small TV in the bedroom as well.

 

DH thinks he will CERTAINLY pass to the great beyond if he does not have a TV right away. A decent size TV, not the little one we have.:rolleyes:

 

We have no credit cards (and probably not the credit to get one), and do not currently have the funds to get a new TV (curriculum, 3 boys signed up for fall sports, DH out of work for one week, as company closes for one week, unpaid time off, so overall a low-cash month).

 

Personally I would choose to wait a few months, perhaps even until Black Friday, save up the $$ and get a nice deal then.

 

DH doesn't agree, and wants to consider one of those Rent-to-Own stores.

I know that overall, they charge higher interest rates. Any other drawbacks? We can afford a payment, although not what we want to do. I guess the payment is just higher than a normal credit card, right?

[OrganicAnn]

Even if you pay cash they want personal reference and so do you want them calling all your friends and family to discuss your finances?

 

We rented a reclining chair for 2 weeks for my dad who was going to be visiting, ill and need to sleep sitting up. Even though I paid cash up front they were still trying to collect references from us when they picked up the chair at the end of the 2 weeks.

 

I also think the interest rates are probably outrageous. I would try to find out what you would pay and calculate the full price. While your DH wants a TV, would he still want it if you end up paying for 2 or 3 TVs and getting only one.

[Parrothead]

Oh, they are awful! There is one in the mall north of us. They had a beautiful bedroom set back when we were looking for a new one. Not knowing any better we "bought" it from the store.

 

Oy! That was the biggest mistake ever. We had it for 7 weeks and had them come pick it up. I suppose they are used to deadbeats or something. They would call and remind me that the payment was due the next day. They would call and tell me that the payment was due on the day it was due if I wasn't there by noon. They didn't take debit cards. They didn't take checks. They wouldn't accept a bank check from my bill pay account. It had to be cash. It had to be there before noon or the phone rang. Thinking back I'm surprised that it didn't have to be exact change.

 

I didn't think the hassle was at all worth it. I paid the first month up front so I'd have time to get the habit of having cash and running that errand. Nope, some how or another there were "fees" that had to be paid and *I* miscalculated when I gave them the money to begin with. So it seemed that I was always a day late and a dollar short. I know that woman lied about it, but I couldn't prove it.

 

I called and told them to come get their stuff. We saved a bit over the next couple months and bought a set outright with no credit or hassle. It was an expensive lesson

[katilac]

Terrible, horrible, very bad idea! Uh, in my ever-so-humble opinion, that is :D

 

You will be very lucky if you pay "only" twice as much as you would buying the product outright. Often, you wind up paying three or four times as much!

 

It may make sense to rent an item needed very short-term, as in OrganicAnn's example, but it doesn't make sense to rent to own.

 

Have him read this short article from Consumer Reports.

Edited July 22, 2011 by katilac
missing word

[Captivated]

One word - DON'T

 

Last month we wanted to rent an extra fridge for a few weeks for my son's wedding. They wanted 4 references - 2 of which had to be family - and called them all while my husband was sitting there. My poor 80 year old MIL didn't understand what they were asking her. Our friends laughed so hard. I was NOT amused.

 

My hubby works for a company that he was to have security clearance and this was much more painful than THAT experience. It was unbelievable.

[duckens]

I have never used a rent-to-own store, although a friend uses a rental service occasionally to rent equipment for his business. (He is a house painter.) He does not rent-to-own. This only works for him for occasional pieces of equipment that he will only need for a few days or for a select job.

 

Otherwise, I wouldn't do it.

 

My understanding for the rent-to-own stores was that by the time your contract was completed, you had paid TWICE what the cost of the item was.

I'm sure this doesn't need to be said, but:

Read the contract carefully and make sure that you understand all additional fees and penalties.

Some lease contracts add a balloon payment at the end of the contract.

 

Others contracts are "open ended" (for some car "purchase" plans) so that you pay every month until forever. There is no amount listed as "This is the value of the car, and when you have paid that amount for a specific and limited number of months, your contractual responsibilities are complete."

[NorthwestMom]

DON"T DO IT!!!!!!

 

There are super cheap TVs all over craigslist. Buy one for $25 until you can save the cash to buy the one you really want - maybe at a Christmas sale.

[Slartibartfast]

I would try Craigslist but it would be VERY expensive to get one from a Rent to Own place.

[justasque]

Craigslist.

Freecycle.

Goodwill.

Lots of thrifts are overrun with TVs - nice ones - as people are replacing them with flat screens.

[Audrey]

Don't even think about it again! Rent to own places are as close to a scam as you can get without being illegal.

[Sputterduck]

Have you tried a different cord? That might fix the problem.

[meggie]

Don't even think about it again! Rent to own places are as close to a scam as you can get without being illegal.

:iagree: I would make my husband save 2-3 times the amount of the TV he wanted and then take the difference for myself and tell him he owes me for not being so wasteful. :001_smile: Ok, not really. But there is no way in Hades I'd ever use one of those places.

[Carpe]

Is it an LCD? It could be a fuse. My BIL has a tastelessly large LCD TV and he nearly assaulted the salesperson he was so angry when the fuse burnt out. It was just over a year old at the time, but it was a power surge. So that could easily be your problem. It took him 20 minutes and a $5 part to fix. Google your TV model and "fuse replacement" And if you're worried he was perfectly reasonable when he discovered that his new superTV wasn't ruined a couple days after the warranty expired, and no salespersons were harmed.

 

And never ever ever EVER rent-to-own.

[tntgoodwin]

I would say if you can't pay cash for a TV, you can't afford one. Sorry.

[akmommy]

:iagree: with pretty much everything everyone else has said. We rented a washer and dryer a few years ago for a little over a year. When we went to pay it off we still owed more then a brand new better quality set at home depot. Needless to say we called and told them to come get their machines and took our cash to home depot.

[Samiam]

Thanks for the advice. Shared it with DH, and convinced him we will put away the payment amount that we assume a Rent to Own would have been, $100, and put that away each month until we have enough for a T.V. Convinced him how nice it will be when we can walk in and put our cash down and walk out with a TV that we OWN. He agrees, although still pouting a bit.

 

ps. Nope, not an LED TV, to the one that asked. We've had this TV for almost 10 years, so just an older TV, not plasma, LED or LCD, just old school type.

[SquirrellyMama]

Thanks for the advice. Shared it with DH, and convinced him we will put away the payment amount that we assume a Rent to Own would have been, $100, and put that away each month until we have enough for a T.V. Convinced him how nice it will be when we can walk in and put our cash down and walk out with a TV that we OWN. He agrees, although still pouting a bit.

 

ps. Nope, not an LED TV, to the one that asked. We've had this TV for almost 10 years, so just an older TV, not plasma, LED or LCD, just old school type.

 

If it is an older tv I'd go to Goodwill as someone else mentioned. They have TV's all over the place for cheap. Buy one of those until you get the money put away for another one if he really wants one now.

[Parrothead]

Thanks for the advice. Shared it with DH, and convinced him we will put away the payment amount that we assume a Rent to Own would have been, $100, and put that away each month until we have enough for a T.V. Convinced him how nice it will be when we can walk in and put our cash down and walk out with a TV that we OWN. He agrees, although still pouting a bit.

 

ps. Nope, not an LED TV, to the one that asked. We've had this TV for almost 10 years, so just an older TV, not plasma, LED or LCD, just old school type.

Since your dh is so adverse to being without a decent TV for long period of time, I would suggest that once you purchase a new one, you start a TV fund for any future TV purchases that may need to be made immediately. :D

[Murphy101]

Don't even think about it again! Rent to own places are as close to a scam as you can get without being illegal.

 

This.

 

In addition to previous alternate suggestions, try pawn shops.

[LMA]

We used our 20 inch computer monitor as our TV for many years. We just toggled back and forth between the computer and TV. My husband bought some Viewsonic device that allowed us to get the cable hooked up. I would look into this and it would save you a boatload of money for a new tv.

 

Also, there is plenty of streaming of episodes online that you almost don't need a tv.

[Sushi's Mom]

The advice to check Goodwill is a good idea.

 

Also, have you called your homeowneer's insurance? Sometimes electronics are covered for this type of problem (power surges and lightening.)

 

Also, you said you don't have any credit cards, but, did you try to get approved for a same-as-cash deal at one of the major stores? You never know if you will get approved if you don't try. You might be surprised and be able to get what you want now.

[Impish]

I did for a while, but honestly had no choice.

 

I was a single mom, and had to provide appliances for my townhouse.

 

My freezer (in the fridge) started blowing hot air...destroyed everything.

 

I had no credit, and no way to afford even a 2nd hand appliance.

 

Rent to own was the only way I had to replace it on short notice. Once I had enough for a 2nd hand fridge, I got them to come get it.

 

Honestly, that's the only way I'd do rent to own...when its something my family can't go without until I can afford to buy.

[Dobela]

Thanks for the advice. Shared it with DH, and convinced him we will put away the payment amount that we assume a Rent to Own would have been, $100, and put that away each month until we have enough for a T.V. Convinced him how nice it will be when we can walk in and put our cash down and walk out with a TV that we OWN. He agrees, although still pouting a bit.

 

ps. Nope, not an LED TV, to the one that asked. We've had this TV for almost 10 years, so just an older TV, not plasma, LED or LCD, just old school type.

Have you taken it to a repair shop? It amy be something simple that will cost next to nothing to repair. And, if not, they may be willing to buy the TV from you for a small amount to use as part for other TVs. We try this each time a TV goes out. Sometimes it can be fixed, sometimes we make $50 selling it for parts.