Hey personal finance, this is my first time here.
I'll give the long version first:
I went to go buy a new bed with my girlfriend.
We went to a place that had a ridiculous amount of good reviews ... like 10k 5 star reviews (that should have been a red flag).
Staff is friendly, we find a bed, we get sold a bunch of memory foam pillows and new sheets (thrown in! 50% off with new bed!) - things we don't need, but my gf has been sleeping on bent metal springs for a bit and it's the first time I have ever purchased a mattress so I figure why not.
When we go to buy, guy says he will give us the sheets for free for 5 star review and comment. Ha - I see where these reviews came from, but okay. What I didn't like is that he literally pulled the phone out of my hand and hit the 5 star himself before handing it back to me ... okay.
Anyway, we decide to finance it - it's ~$1100 all said and done - not a huge sum of money, but it was December and I figured I could eat the interest on such a small loan - even if it was ridiculous.
Anyway, here's where we get to the scam part.
Girlfriend is excited, sales people are kind of rushing and pushy, but I'm used to that and (even now), it's really not that much money to me.
He doesn't tell me the interest rate - I asked, he said hold on, there's more talking, small talk - asks me where I went to high school, blah blah. Whatever, I will just pay it off at 90 days.
I digitally sign the contract (Here's my fuck up - I don't recall being handed it until after it was signed - I didn't read the whole thing, it was pretty clear that I had 90 days with no interest and it likely had a high interest rate, but at that rate it's $600 with high interest, who cares - or so I thought).
I put down some money to keep it under $1000, monthly payments are relatively inexpensive I go home and put together the new bed.
It's a busy month, christmas shopping, etc. - The payments are auto drafted ($89) and I don't really think much of it.
After 90 days I'm like, crap - oh well - personal finance will hate me, but I just don't care about the interest enough.
About 9 months and I decided to check it - I had some extra cash and figured I would pay the rest off finally since I've been putting it off.
I finally setup an account (it's all been automatic at this point) and go to view what the balance is.
AFTER $1070 worth of payments on a $970 loan, my remaining balance is $844.
What. The. Fuck. Stop fucking everything.
At this point I'm pissed - I check the statement history and discover that the loan amount is for DOUBLE what it was initially ... $970 is what I owed originally - after paying $1,070, I owe $844... How the fuck is that possible????
So I find the contract and read it... this part looks familiar:
LEASED PROPERTY; CASH PRICE: You are leasing the item(s) described below or on Exhibit A hereto (the “Property”). The Property is new. Item(s): king mattress, king boxes, 2 pillows. The Cash Price of the Property, which is the amount we would charge for a cash sale of the Property, is $970.21. The Property may be purchased from the retailer/store where you selected it for less than our Cash Price.
I believe that's about as far as I got if I read anything at all - whatever, the term Lease made me a bit uncomfortable, but I'm young and rarely finance and figured whatever - it's $970 I got it.
Then I find this fucking gem:
PURCHASE RIGHTS: This Lease will end and you will own the Property if you make 25 payments totaling $1,891.48, plus sales tax (the “Total Purchase Price”). This is $921.27 more than the Cash Price (excluding sales tax). You can purchase the Property at any time during the first 90 days after the Property is delivered to you by paying us the 90-Day Option Amount plus sales tax and any unpaid Returned Payment Fees we have charged minus any payments you have made. The 90-Day Option Amount is $970.21. After this time, you can also purchase the Property by making any payment then due (including Returned Payment Fees) and paying us the Early Purchase Option, plus sales tax. The Early Purchase Option is 65% of the unpaid Renewal Payments. Applicable sales tax will be added to all payments. You will not acquire ownership rights in the Property unless you comply with the ownership terms of this Lease above. Any charge in addition to periodic payments must be reasonably related to the service performed.
Fucking. Nuts.
Why in the fuck would anyone ever agree to pay DOUBLE when financing if they don't pay it off in 90 days?
What pisses me off is that no one ever stated to me in plain english "The price will double if you don't pay it off in 90 days."
No, what I was told was, "You have 90 days with no interest."
Fucking. Ridiculous.
I already called and gave them an earful - careful to tell the guy on the phone that I'm not mad at him, but this is nuts.
I told them I would be willing to pay $200 - they make $300 off a $900 loan - that's fucking generous as hell IMO.
They came back and said the best they could do was $400 - and I am finding myself unable to do this on principle.
I told them I wouldn't pay them a dime over $200 and that I was going to have a chat with both of them over predatory lending.
So tell me personal finance, I already know I fucked up by not reading - do I just pay this?
What should I do?
Submitted May 02, 2017 at 07:13PM by DarkTussin http://ift.tt/2qvZZX8
