Dell Finacial Services Rip-Off

[Angelox]

Well, I told the Dell operator I knew she would not be able to help me, but I promised I'd do my very best to expose them over the internet.
A couple of years ago, my older daughter had a PC, but would not run Vanguard - well she *had* to play Vanguard, called Dell for a better PC, and applied for credit. Her credit was declined, I felt bad since I never give her anything (never had the money to) I knew I had credit, so I took over the credit and got it in my name - the PC cost about 1500.00 (extra special PC for Vanguard); this was extremly dumb-assed on my part, because I could build what she got for less than half that price. Anyways, she got it and I started my payments. The first year went by not too bad, it went down to about 1,100.00 (outrageous finance charges? this story isn't over yet!).
The following year, my younger daughter's laptop was getting too slow for all the new stuff out, I was lazy to build something (and broke still), and that extra 400.00 credit at Dell looked like a T-Bone steak . I got her a 64 bit case (no monitor), 1 gig mem and a few other odds and ends, for about 400.00: My credit-debit went up to around 1500.00 again.
My payment were about 45.00 a month for 1500.00. I still have all "tube" monitors in the house, and really would like to buy some flat or quartz ones. I figured, if I payed extra, I would maybe have over 500.00 for that in a year.
So I started paying 50-60.00 montly payments; I've since started working, and little time to follow these idiots, but today I looked at my statement and here's what it said: Balance: 1,548.81, Finance charges: 39.45, New Balance: 1,564.07, Min amount Payment: 47.00.
I still owe them more than what I originally owed them ( I didn't owe them over 1500.00), and have been making payments to them of 50-60.00 a month for a year! I gave them over 600.00 last year, nothing went to the loan.
Somewhere along the line, they tacked on a 30% interest rate; this is more than even the worst credit card sharks, worst I've ever seen.
I have decent credit, so tommorrow I'll go down to the bank, make a loan, and pay the bastards off.
When will Iever learn that credit is for the birds?

[Sakrateri]

I got three cards when I was eighteen (25 years ago) after I got the first bill from the first one,only then did I understand interest rates. I cut all three cards up and sent them back to where they came and have never had another one. I have bought new cars, houses and whatever else I needed without the credit of a card and anything else I have wanted if I wanted bad enough I learned was cheaper to get with cash once I saved up for it, and then it was paid for and no worries of someone taking it from me... Wherever you go and whatever you do cash works just as well.

[techguy84]

Angelox, your a classic victim here. You know what they do right. You get this great APR for a set amount of time "Fixed APR" they call it. Well, what they fail to put out in the open is the amount of time that APR is in effect. Once it goes, they jack it up to a un-said amount at the time of the credit contract signing. They say something like it will be "Prime + 16.99" or something similar so it throws you off guard if you are one to read the fine print. Well, "Prime" is actually like 8.25 right now and has been since July of last year so your actually looking at a 25% intrest rate right there. Now there are these other undisclosed things like credit reviewals. Well they are disclosed, but they dont tell you what may happen after they are done. Credit granters like HSBC Bank and Dell Financial will review your credit from time to time and if your not up to par with what they "want" (which could be a beacon score of 800+) they will consider you "High Risk" and add a certain percentage to your APR. Some even goes as far as denying you credit from now on, and raising your APR so you continue to pay them out the ass if you make minimum, and they will still never let you have credit again, although your always on time and always current.

I have that problem with a Capital One card right now. They took my APR from 0 to 29.99 after one bill cause of some stupid Hospital Bills. They shut my card off and said even though I had a available balance , I would not be able to use that card ever again and had to sign up and get approved for another due to "Credit Review and Denial" which means that they suck and should be shot. $500 balance on that card, its down to like $326 right now and I have payed over $1100 to them since I got the card. $50 per month adds up real fast when they find ways of dropping the late fee bomb on you from time to time cause of "Server Malfunction" since my payments auto withdraw from my checking. I am hitting them hard as you can see to square them away and I am going to take a picture of my ass and attatch it to the card and mail it to them once the account is paid off, along with a big fat "STFU and close my account Post-It note".

Screw Credit from Card Companies. I am eyeing a nice Dell Laptop and I am going to pay straight out for it when I can afford it. No one else will get my business anymore as far as credit goes, unless its a house. Cars can be bought straight out in most cases cause im not picky and a $1000 car where I live can be a great car for about 40k miles.


EDIT: Oh, and forgot to mention. You know how most Financial Serives make thier Millions right? It is proven that there prime source of income is though screwing people over. I seen a article on MSN a couple years ago thay had it all layed out. The percentage of Profit for these companies relied heavily on High APR's, Late Fees, and OTL Fees. Bull shit I know, but thats how they survive...

[Angelox]

Well, maybe I could have done worse .. SInce I started working in my son-in-law's automotive shop, among everything else , I pay all the bills, including the house bills. Needless to say, he lives in a "credit jungle" and has waay too many bills. One bill attracted my attention; it was for a "Rent to Own" scam ( you probably have one in your town too!). Anyways, I see the bill, balance is a little under 3000.00 and the regular payment is 350.00(@month). So I'm thinking, "this bill will get paid off in months!", something to look foward to. Out of curiosity, while I was direct-bank paying paying them (yeesss, even more charges for the direct pay service!), I asked when was the final payment. "About two years", he said. Now, I'm no great mathematician or accountant, but I do carry a Dollar General calculator that does my math . 24 x 350 = 8400.00!
This is sort of like Dell, only I guess Dell is worse because you would never finish paying them, and eventually, after years of slaving to pay them, you could loose your job, get sick, or just flat-assed get pissed and not pay. Then they will ruin your credit rating too.
But credit? really not that important, if they decine your credit request, you should thank them because they just did you a great favor. But people like "Rent to Own", deny no one credit- they get whatever they can off you, then when you miss a payment, the "Rent to Own" truck pulls up in your front yard and totes off whatever it was you thought was yours

[techguy84]

Yea, i know the Rent to Own scams. I havent seen the billed ones, myself, but mine are like you go to there store, find something you want, and then pay a weekly bi weekly or monthly payment. I got a laptop from them one time for a temp job. It was 29.99 a week so grab your little dollar general calculator back out and crunch that number times 80 weeks. Okay, so now you got $2400.00 total payment. The catch with it is that this laptop is about 6 months old, used and has a market price of $500. Yay you say when you paying almost 2 grand more for something. I hate R2O places because of this. It was awesome for a temporary solution for a little bit of time. 2 weeks is all that I needed the lappy for so it was definetly better than paying $500 when i didnt need it anymore.

BTW, this company was Rent a Center, if we are sharing are hated for companies that screw you over.

[Angelox]

Yea, I think they are the same ones (just had the name wrong) Rent a Center; When I went to pay them (these people would not take checks, the wanted cash) , I told them they were robbers and thieves, should be in jail.
My daughter finally did get the money for the pay-off, and got those creeps out of the way.

[Lalolyen]

Angelox, credit cards are good for 2 reasons in my opinion, and this isn't Dell, its any credit card company (Dell just happens to have their name printed across a "Citi Financial" owned card)..

1. To build your credit up (by means of buying 1 stick of chewing gum per month and paying the bill when it comes in before any intrest can be tacked on.

2. In EXTREME emergency situations where a bank cannot be used (example: You are on a trip in Mexico, its sunday at 5 PM and you missed your plane, you need to pay an extra 500 dollars or so to get on the next one and you have to be at work the next day). Even then, like you said, the next day, pull out a lone, pay the bastards off when that bill comes in.

If you want cash for gizmos, visit your local bank =), if they loan shark you, they have the Federal Reserve to deal with he he.

But I know what you were talking about and I'll explain how they did this...

Credit Card companies can imply fees 1 year later than what the fee was accessed for...

You got hit up with that clause. You maxed out the credit card on March 01 @ 1.5K. On April 02 the bill is due, and WOAH! You just got intrest added to the 1.5K that now puts the balence to 1.55K which is over your credit limit...

Yep there is a 20-60 dollar fee... each month. And your min payment is still 40ish dollars, because they aren't going to anticipate the overlimit fee in your bill.

Credit Card companies are evil... period.

[Lalolyen]

*** not to mention any other monthly and annual fees you may have had with that.

[Angelox]

"If you don't have the money to buy it, then you can't afford it"

This was told to me some time ago, and it stays in my head (I need to follow this policy too).

[soulshot]

Seconding the cutting up of credit cards. Also your bank should be able to give you a debit card against your checking/savings accounts for those emergencies you are talking about. The only fee associated with it is atm's at other banks, but 95% of the time you can just use it like a credit card etc.

[techguy84]

Well, there are several Rent to Own places around were I live cause people dont understand that they are paying 4 times more for something so they still buy into it. Rent 2 Own, Rent a Center, United Household Rentals, Aaron's just to name a couple. The good thing about these places is that if you dont want the product anymore, take it back and your out, no contracts or amounts to fill. The only thing is your out whatever you payed into it, which some cases can be alot.

The policy that if you cant afford it, you dont need it, works some of the time, but a credit card is not nessicarly a super bad thing. The thing about credit cards or financing is no matter where you go with it, you have to keep a eye on it. You cant just blindly pay the bills and go about your business. If your a borrower, you need to be as informed as the person lending you the money. You need to know about late fees, APR's, The Prime Rate, contracts, frequent credit checks, what can happen, and what will happen. You need to be on top of the game at all times with it. For your saftey anyhow.

I know several people that have several CC and are doing fine with them. They grab them up when the oppurtunity comes their way and come out smelling like roses. My Dad for example has about 10 credit cards, two of which are Amex World Cards that have a unlimited credit line. You think something like that would surely spell doom for someone, but both of his cards are in check, he can pay each monthly fine, and at any given time, he can pay them off completely. It helps that he makes 130k a year, but most of that is used in other things like car payments, mortgages, and helping us kids out from time to time. He could easily mess his life up by using one of those world cards like its meant to be used, but hes not cause he knows that he couldnt afford to do the two things i mentioned he does.


Anyhow though, it boils down to wether or not your a good finanical person. If you have a history of bad debt, lack of bill paying, and you never read what you sign, a credit card is not for you. But to those of us that can swing those things, a credit card is a great addition in the way of funds your job just didnt pay you this week.

[Angelox]

I fully understand what a credit card means, I just have been away from it all for several years, and these "rent to own" scams have developed since - at least where I came from, they were not around or not of interest. My life went through three phases; It started with "bad credit", then it went to "the best credit you can get", and now it is at "I don't want any credit other than what I have to". I can tell you the most enjoyable times of my life, was when I had paid off all my credit with a consolidation loan from work and my credit was still ruined anyways since I was always late and delenquent. No one would lend me a penny, I had no debits other than the one loan, and I was happy. If my refrigerator broke, Id go talk to the owner of the shop for a new one, and pay him off in a couple months. Eventually, my credit history evaporated (time will clear it) and I was wide open for credit. I kept loans, credit cards, car payments etc. for many years, and built a spotless credit rating. We each are entiltled to our own opinion, my opinion of credit cards, car dealers, and most loan schemes in general, could not get any lower. I know where they are coming from and what they are doing, I've learned this through my life time of dealing with them.
If I wanted to right now, I could start up that credit machine again and work my ass off, begin with the juggling.
But When I retired, I retired from it all - it took me a while, But I believe I have learned to live from within my income (my only "credit card" is really a debit card), but since everything is temporary (happiness too), I figure something like one trip to the hospital by me or any of my family, will send me into a credit hole again.
"Money is the root of all evil" , it really is! too bad we need it to live :(

[Docs]

I wish i could link for you the dell lawsuits going on with that problem your seeing Angelox.

I know where you guys are coming from, and this is why i take each customer aside and explain to them? you want this PC i have here.... pay me each month normal and when your done paying it off (layaway) pay me asap and you can have it in your home for 0 interest, 0 admin fee's etc.. just dont come back 6 months later asking for a refund.... cause you will lose 20% of it for restocking fee's.

I cant get any more fair then that.

But i cant do the whole city

[techguy84]

Originally Posted by Docs

I wish i could link for you the dell lawsuits going on with that problem your seeing Angelox.

I know where you guys are coming from, and this is why i take each customer aside and explain to them? you want this PC i have here.... pay me each month normal and when your done paying it off (layaway) pay me asap and you can have it in your home for 0 interest, 0 admin fee's etc.. just dont come back 6 months later asking for a refund.... cause you will lose 20% of it for restocking fee's.

I cant get any more fair then that.

But i cant do the whole city

Well, its fair if your certain people. But most people wont feel happy paying $600+ or something they do not have in thier home and are able to use. I did financing on the systems that I sold. My repayments were simple, and if no one paid, I went and repo'ed the system. I found it alot better for the customer to have the system in thier hands, then to not, when they are paying on it. Imagine if a car dealer told you what you just said.

My financing, was more or less, out of pocket. I put trust in people by how they feeled. I didnt go by a credit score, I went by a person score. People were alot happier, and a happy customer is a returning customer, and a refering customer. The difference between my financing, and the financing of the bank corpations that put out things like Dell Financial Services is that i have no fine print. I have no APR. I can state the ins and outs of my fiancing off the top of my head.

Banks have WAY TOO MANY details to make money. But hey, thats how they get richer.

[Lalolyen]

Oh rent to own isn't what it sounds like.

In EVERY contract I have read it says something like this:

At any time the leasor may request payment in full. In such event and said clause is not honored within X days (usually 3-7) by leasee, the contract will be void.

^^ Which means that property you have been renting to own is repoed by the company.