Spencer's TV & Appliance

Gentlemen: I would appreciate your consideration of adding the following complaint information to your database.

Thank you,

Robert Young

Business Info: SPENCER'S TV & APPLIANCE COMPANY

115 W. 1st Avenue

Mesa, AZ 85210

480 833-3072

Advertisement Date: 01/21/07

Attempted Purchase Date: 01/22/07

Date of Attempted Resolution: 01/23 & 24/07

This advertisement states Spencers TV & Appliance offers "Buy or Rent To Own-see inside for details". Upon opening the ad, in the lower right-side it states, "NO CREDIT SLOW CREDIT BAD CREDIT--RENT TO OWN! FREE 1ST & LAST MONTH PAYMENT *The transaction advertised is an 18 month rental purchase agreement. The consumer requires no ownership rights unless the total amount necessary to to acquire ownership is paid."

Being in a situation where I need to do a rent-to-own contract, I thought to myself, "this is great." I called the store located on 43rd Ave on Monday, 01/22/07, and spoke to someone named Julio. I asked how does their rent-to-own program work, he replied, "Fill out an application, we need to verify you have a job and that we can get a hold of you." I said, "That's it, nothing else?" He replied, "Oh yeah, you have to pay your first payment." I said, "Your ad says 1st & last month's payments are free." He said, "Bring the ad in with you." I said, "Thank you", and the call ended. Later that same day, I went to the store, found the refrigerator I wanted, filled out the application, and the salesman helping me told me the Rental Manager was not in but that he would give him the application to process in the morning.

On Tuesday, 01/23/07, I received a call from someone named Kerry, who represented himself to be the Rental Manager from Spencers. He apologized for taking so long to get back with me and then proceeded to inform me my credit was too bad and that they weren't going to be able to help me. I quoted to him what the ad said and what I had been told over the telephone. He said, "I'm sorry if you have been misled, but we cannot help you. There are several other rent-to-own stores in town that don't run credit, maybe you should go there." I told him this was false advertising and why did they run credit anyway. He said, "Right above your signature on the application is the authorization to pull credit." I then said, "the application says that I authorize the release of information from third parties listed on the application, and nowhere does it state that I authorize them to access a credit report." He told me the third party thing was the authorization, trying to bluff his way out. I then asked to speak with his manager. He refused. He kept telling me he can help me with whatever questions I have. I said then tell me why, specifically, you are denying me. He could not produce anything specific. I again asked for his manager, he told me his name was Roger but that he wasn't in the store right then. He said he would have him call me. I immediately called the store back and asked for Roger. Imagine my surprise when I was told "just a minute". I then told Roger the scenario, he said he would review the information and call me back in about 15 minutes. Almost 3 hours later, Roger called me back and said the same thing, "I'm sorry, but we are not going to be able to help you out with this." Again, I asked specifically why. He told me, "they are forbidden to discuss such things but that I could see for myself on the credit report, and then to have a nice day." They never told me which bureau they pulled, nor have they provided any written notice.

On 01/24/07, I called Rick Biederbeck, the owner. This name was not easy to get, no one at any of the stores wanted to provide it to me, I actually got his name from this website. I told Rick the situation and that I would like to give him the opportunity to correct the situation prior to filing any complaints. He said he would and call me back. Ten minutes later he called back to state the same thing, "they couldn't help me out." I asked again for specifics, he hesitated, then said if I had a local driver license instead of an out-of-state & even a down payment, but he couldn't guarantee they would work with me.

This company needs to know when they advertise something and people respond specifically to that advertisement, they must live-up to what they have represented.

What this business owner fails to admit and acknowledge is that his advertisements DO NOT state that there are terms and conditions to their rent-to-own program, nor does the advertising indicate subject to credit approval. In fact, they do not even have a sign posted in their store that states they reserve the right to refuse service to anyone. These types of business practices are unfair and deceptive, and are based upon bad-faith priciples. I have also filed a complaint with the Arizona Attorney General's office regarding the shady and under-handed business and advertising practices of Spencer's. I firmly believe, based upon consumer protection law, they too will find Spencer's to be an undesirable element in the society of retailers. This company has had numerous complaints, both official and unofficial, and yet they fail to realize the best, or in this case, the worst type of "advertising" can be word of mouth. It is a well-known fact that when a customer has a good experience, very few people hear about it; conversely, a person with a bad experience will generally tell 10 people, who each tell 10 more people, etc. The snowball effect can be very unpleasant for a business. In my opinion, this company has no business being in business and should be shut down to protect all consumers from suffering the bad-faith principles of a shiester.

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