No Interest and No Payments for 12 mons?? (1 Viewer)

[Joe Hopkinson]

How do you take that statement? I just got a 53" Hitachi, and my brother liked it, so he went out and got one. Circut City had an ad that was "No Interest/No Payments for 12 mons." The salesman told him the TV purchase qualified for that program, so he bought it.
He then gets a monthly bill for $114, he called them and they are giving him the run around and says he has to pay the bill. He said if he would have known this, he would not have bought it.
He has very good credit and does not want this to mess it up. He says he cannot swing the extra $114 right now, but he is getting a big promotion and raise in 6mons, and that's what he was banking on to make the payment. What does he do?

 

[Dave Ringkor]

I had a smiliar problem when I bought my 47" Panasonic from Best Buy last week. The sales guy said they still had the 6 months no interest no payments plan. I said I wanted that. It was only luck that as I was walking out of the store I happened to look at the receipt and notice that it said "6 months no interest WITH payments." I went to the customer service desk and asked about it, and they said they didn't have the 6 months no interest no payments plan anymore. Then I said I wanted the 18 months no interest with payments plan that they had advertised, but then they said my TV didn't qualify. But there was a sign on the sales floor that said it did! Turns out the customer service guy was wrong, and I ended up changing my plan to the 18 months no interest with payments, which I can afford. I don't know what I would do if I couldn't swing the payments. Return the item probably.

 

[Juan_R]

I would return the set and let the manager know why. It is not your brothers fault that there sales people are not correctly trained. If he still wants a HD set then tell him to go with the Mits, they always have the same no interest no payments for 12 months deal. Good luck.

 

[Joe Hopkinson]

He can't return the set, because the return policy say has to be within 30 days. He got the set on 9/30 and just got the bill on 11/7, so he is over the 30 days. What a way to do buiseness. Someone told him to call and verify it with th number on the bill, he did that and some research and this is what he told me.
I called the number on the bill, and the lady was real nice and told me the store lied, and they don not offer NO PAYMENTS. I did a little research, and it turns out that CC has been doing this for a while now, and are being sued. Check it out!
Link Removed
You can see why this guy is suing them. Even back then they offered NI/NP, it is plain as day, the ad reads "NO INTEREST/NO PAYMENTS"!

 

[Richard Burzynski]

Joe:
I'm no lawyer, but I am in the field of finance and I've both used great offers like this to make personal purchases and have gotten used by offers like this as well.
If anyone tries to fight it "after the fact", like your brother is, I would say his chances are slim to none. Once you take delivery of an item you're basically stuck. First question, is always, "do you have the item?" Responsibility is now for him to pay as per the terms of the agreement - the one he signed. I believe that when the stores run these "financing specials," you need to fill out a nice little app and then sign it.
It is basically a contract between you (the buyer) and the financing institution (usually some small Bank that accrues interest at some very fair rate like 39.8%). If you read the (fine) print on that little app (contract) I am almost SURE the TRUE terms are spelled out. Problem here is that rarely anyone will take time to read tiny print if there are huge signs in the store or if the salesman is saying, "the terms are . . "
Doesn't look good for your bro - he has to pay or his hard-earned credit rating will go down. Best he can do is report the salesman to the manager (who probably trained him to do it - for real), or complain to corporate HQ. If it's a publicly-held company, write a professional letter to CEO / CFO & send it certified (this worked great for me once), or at least complain to BBB.
They got you. It stincks. It's why this industry can be as sleazy as some others. I say learn from it and spread the word to friends and relatives so that it doesn't happen to any of you again. At all my family & friend gatherings I won't shut up about this hobby of ours and all of its traps & pitfalls. As a result I get alot of questions directed my way come decision making time - everyone is a little safer this way.
Sorry.
Rich B.