HRS finance account with Rooms to Go - ongoing billing problems - phone payment fee has gone up from 10 dollars to 15 dollars

# 15 for August 26, 2003

Complaints.com received the following consumer message on August 25, 2003:

From:

RE: HRS finance account with Rooms to Go - ongoing billing problems - phone payment fee has gone up from 10 dollars to 15 dollars

Hi, my name is Bill Gaines and I have had an account with HRS through Rooms to Go since around April 2000. The deal was two years with no interest, no payments and no accruals. I received the bill on time every single month until January 2002 which was the month I was supposed to start making payments to them. I did not receive another bill from them for 3-4 months with late fees and past due fees building that I did not even know about. I got the account back in good standing with HRS and the bills came regularly for about 6 months. Since about November of 2001 I have received at the most 6 bills in 22 months.

Since May of 2003 I have not received a bill. The phone number 1-877-441-2804 on the back of the card for customer service has been disconnected. The phone number given on when calling the 877 number is 1-904-741-1387. This phone number is long distance and does not ever give you the opportunity to connect with a human to find out what the problem is. I had to call Rooms to Go to get the new 1-800-695-6950 number which was not listed on the HRS website nor on the long distance phone number that I had to call. When I finally got in to talk to someone at HRS after waiting 30 minutes on hold, the lady that I spoke with said it must be a problem with the billing department.

The billing department is located in Selenas (?), California. The bill i send in goes to Carol Stream, Illinois. The lady I spoke with was in Wooddale, Illinois only 15 minutes from where I send the money to. The billing department is 1500 miles from customer service and where the money goes. WHY? She verified my address with me, as had been done each month since May and I still did not receive my statement. She promised to return my call by the end of the week with an explanation of why I have not received my statement.

I will be waiting. It did show in her computer that none of my statements have been returned nor deemed undeliverable. I have lived in the same place for 27 years and know everyone on my street including the postman who delivers my mail. None of them have seen a Retail Services bill come through their hands so, personally, I think HRS is just not sending out the statements...or they go out and straight in to a dumpster. Also, has anyone noticed that the over the phone payment fee has gone up from 10 dollars to 15 dollars? That fee is 75% of my total monthly payment. If you can help me, I would be more than happy to have my name on the Federal Trade Commission case and would be willing to give any more necessary information to you that can aid in bringing HRS and its woeful practices to justice. Sincerely,

Bill Gaines, a disgruntled HRS customer for 2 yrs.