Talk:Rent-A-Center

A Reboot

I am nominating this article for a rework and re-edit. I would like to hear suggestions before I begin. I will wait 7 days before editing again. IlliniGradResearch (talk) 06:24, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Following up on note above, this article does warrant revision in multiple sections -- so in the interest of bringing the article up to Wikipedia's own standards, I've put together a proposed revision here: User:Jeff_Bedford/Proposed_revision_of_RAC_article. Specific things that I’ve sought to bring in line with this revision include:

• Expanding history to explain how RAC actually got from point A (founding) to point B (present)
• Introducing a section covering “Business Operations,” since the article as it stands does not explain what exactly it is that Rent-A-Center does.

As it so happens, Rent-A-Center is a client of my employer, so per Wikipedia's WP:COI guidelines, I’d like to get others’ thoughts on this proposed revision before moving forward. In the near future I'll also be taking a look into bringing coverage of the litigation/controversy section up to date; however I felt it best to approach this article one step at a time, beginning with the proposed revision linked to above. Do let me know what you think -- and if any questions arise, please drop me a line here – or on my talk page. Cheers, Jeff Bedford (talk) 21:58, 20 October 2010 (UTC)

In the interest of bringing the article closer to WP:GA standards, and allowing time for consideration, I've implemented the revisions discussed above. Realizing that WP:WIP, I see this as a step in the right direction and remain open to continued dialogue. Looking to the next stages of this article, the Controversy section -- which is certainly important to keep -- could use a bit of revision to be brought up to date with more current published WP:RS. I'll do a bit of research to find adequate sources, with the goal of bringing these findings to this talk page within the next week. Kind regards, Jeff Bedford (talk) 22:31, 27 October 2010 (UTC)

Good work with the changes. Some may argue that the charitable activities section may be a little excessive, but overall it's an improvement. The controversy section seems too listy. Not every lawsuit needs to be mentioned. Review other GA-classed company articles for comparisons. --Mahanga (Talk) 03:48, 29 October 2010 (UTC)

Appreciate this feedback, Mahanga. After identifying a handful of additional WP:RS, I've updated the section covering lawsuits and public reception related to the subject of this article. Also now included are two photos that I released the rights to (self-shot) under CC-SA 3.0. It would be beneficial to have one photo of a Rent-A-Center store on the article; however I have not taken one to date. Perhaps I'll look to snap a photo of a nearby one at some point over the next few weeks. Lastly, looking at the article I agree that the charitable activities section could be a bit more concise, and if anyone has a specific suggestion (but not the time to implement) on what part could be pared down, note it here (or on my user talk page) and I'll be happy to take a stab at it. Cheers, Jeff Bedford (talk) 20:54, 29 October 2010 (UTC)

??

72.204.148.6 (talk) 23:21, 10 October 2008

Given the usurious practices of RAC the wikipedia page would be remiss not to include a more comprehensive controversy section dealing with the exorbitant interest charged by this company. Often such unscrupulous practices victimize vulnerable and impoverished individuals. Conceivably, those individuals could even turn to this article looking for reliable unvarnished and NPOV information on rent a center and see nothing amiss. That would be a disservice that contradicts the goals of this wikipedia project.--Chakira (talk) 05:28, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

This does not mean to cut and paste blatant non NPOV crap into the article--Chakira (talk) 18:58, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

- As an employee of Rent-A-Center it is interesting to note that Rent-A-Center does not charge interest. Granted the prices on a lot of the merchandise is really high and other stuff is dirt cheap, there is no interest involved. There is no credit checks done there to be able to rent the merchandise and nothing gets reported to an individuals credit. If an employee tells you different then they are lying and should not be employeed by the company. -- KronosLinux (talk) 03:04, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

Rent a center uses a 2x minimum markup formula on all of its rental items unless it is a damaged or discontinued item for example if a tv costs 250.00 it would be marked up to 500.00.So it is safe to say that the minimum mark up on Rac items is 2x and in some cases possibly more. As an 8.5 year ex-employee of the Atlanta service division of Rac I know for a fact this extra charge is usurous interest disguised as a handling fee when you rent the merchandise from Rac. —Preceding unsigned comment added by lj1fpe1@gmail.com72.200.32.151 (talk) 07:45, 9 October 2008 (UTC) Also beware of renting any merchandise unless it is new in the box and you actually see the store employees take it out of the box. Roachs rats and mice commonly infest rental items retrieved from low-income customers and put up for re-rent. Units put up for re-rent are not subjected to any type of mandatory inspection/cleaning unless the unit is not working or defective in a obvious way. The Atlanta service division does retain and use used parts taken from scrapped units to repair other units sent in from stores. This process is refered to as using "junk parts", Junk parts are used even in new in warranty tvs,stereos and vcrs.All manufacturers prohibit the use of "junk Parts" to fix in waranty sets but Rent-a-Center has found ways around this as i have been in all of the meetings in the Atlanta service center and have heard them say to use junk parts whenever possible. Use of these junk parts allows the Atlanta service center to turn around repairs much faster and increase the amount of "production" or the amount of units a technician can repair in a 10 hr shift. This is a practice that is endorsed by all of the service mgmt of Rent-a-center. Most of Rent-a-Centers units are purchased in large quantitys and distributed to Rent-a-center stores nationwide. However all of the name brands they carry are the low end name brand name sets costing about the same as the same high end brand name sets one can purchase through traditional means. As far as service goes?.It seems no one in the purchasing dept of Rent-a-center ever gave consideration to service parts availability after buying these low-end units. I have had to scrap a high number of these units due to parts not being available from the manufacturer.If you pay off one of these type of units and bring it into the store for service guess what? You are on your own. In some cases these low end units have what is called an "exchange-only" warranty. What this means is that if a unit only has for example 90 days parts and labor warranty the manufacturer will replace the unit rather then actually repairing the unit. The service center would handle sending in the unit to the manufacturer. When the exchange only unit gets outside of that warranty exchange period thats it, No parts and no service or support from said manufacturer. If the Rac service center does not have a junked unit to take "junk parts" from you are out of luck. The store may give you a discount on your next rental purchase or give you some other brand rental re-rent but that is it. So to sum it up for all these reasons think carefully before renting anything long term from Rent-A-Center or any other Rent to own store For further information go to www.consumeraffairs.com/furniture/rent_a_center.html

 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.200.32.151 (talk) 08:16, 9 October 2008 (UTC) 

other lawsuits!!!

please add other lawsuits: shareholders,employees,new jersey,west virginia,etc.

easy to find on google just enter rent a center. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.216.49.64 (talk) 14:09, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

• "Cussing" at customers? Talk about some rather casual language. Also here up in the good old North people generally don't use the word "cuss" we say swear ;) In fact my sister saw this and didn't know what the word cussing meant. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.246.193.60 (talk) 16:41, 2 April 2010 (UTC)

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