Rent-A-Center? More like Rent-Away-Your-Soul
My youngest son is spending his spring break with me this week. As with most 16 years old, he’s big into Xbox 360 games. Somehow I didn’t think he would enjoy an evening flipping coins into a beer mug. So in preparation for his visit, I found that Rent-A-Center (RAC) had the best price for a weekly rental on Xbox and stopped there on Thursday to get a game system.
I’ve rented movies. I’ve rented cars. So I expected to fill out a little paperwork. After all, these companies have to protect their investments. Yet, I didn’t expect the “bloody Spanish Inquisition” of forms and questions when I walked into RAC that evening. (“Nobody expects The Spanish Inquisition!”) While the personnel was friendly and patience, I felt I was dealing with a cross between a used car salesman and a crooked lawyer. They wanted my salary, work history, my social security number, my mortgage company’s phone number; contact info on my parents, my neighbors, and my friends; the names of my pets – dead and alive, my favorite color, my blood type, and whether I was wearing clean underwear or not.
I couldn’t give them any info on my deceased parents except to tell them that RAC would need an Ouija board for any contact. As for the Social Security request, well, that is a big NO-NO especially in this day of identity theft. Not a day goes by that you don’t hear of some trusted agency losing a vital laptop with everyone’s personal information; or of a store that had it’s database hacked exposing all of its customers’ credit card data.
You do know that your Social Security (SS) is like your bank account’s PIN number? How easily do you give your PIN number out? Because of this dangerous threat to your financial safety, you are NOT legally required to give out your SS number. More importantly, companies who aren’t dealing directly with your income in some way, are NOT suppose to use your number for identification or tracking purposes. This includes your doctor, your auto insurance company, your grocery store, your mechanic and your brother-in-law. I got around RAC’s system by verbally telling my number to store clerk. I watched him type it in, verified what he needed, and then had him back completely out of his screens to remove any trace of my number.
An hour later, after they spoke with my children and my friends, called my work and my mortgage company, and verified my blood and urine samples, I was about to get an X-Box 360. ‘About to get’ because the advertised sales on the store’s placecard suddenly didn’t mean a thing. According to the sales clerk, the one week rental was now a two week minimum. The game and memory card listed were no longer part of the rental. “That’s a little like false advertising, isn’t it?” I asked. He just sheepishly grinned and suggested that we could do a weekly rental. After all of this hassle, I got the game system home to find an interface cable missing for the second controller. ::: sigh :::
This entire process would make for a great, frustrating video game. You too can play “Rent-A-Product” where you get to prove your qualifications without losing your soul! This game is more enjoyable if you are already bald — less hair to pull out, don’t you know ….
Popularity: 31% [?]
My youngest son is spending his spring break with me this week. As with most 16 years old, he’s big into Xbox 360 games. Somehow I didn’t think he would enjoy an evening flipping coins into a beer mug. So in preparation for his visit, I found that Rent-A-Center (RAC) had the best price for a weekly rental on Xbox and stopped there on Thursday to get a game system.
I’ve rented movies. I’ve rented cars. So I expected to fill out a little paperwork. After all, these companies have to protect their investments. Yet, I didn’t expect the “bloody Spanish Inquisition” of forms and questions when I walked into RAC that evening. (“Nobody expects The Spanish Inquisition!”) While the personnel was friendly and patience, I felt I was dealing with a cross between a used car salesman and a crooked lawyer. They wanted my salary, work history, my social security number, my mortgage company’s phone number; contact info on my parents, my neighbors, and my friends; the names of my pets – dead and alive, my favorite color, my blood type, and whether I was wearing clean underwear or not.
I couldn’t give them any info on my deceased parents except to tell them that RAC would need an Ouija board for any contact. As for the Social Security request, well, that is a big NO-NO especially in this day of identity theft. Not a day goes by that you don’t hear of some trusted agency losing a vital laptop with everyone’s personal information; or of a store that had it’s database hacked exposing all of its customers’ credit card data.
You do know that your Social Security (SS) is like your bank account’s PIN number? How easily do you give your PIN number out? Because of this dangerous threat to your financial safety, you are NOT legally required to give out your SS number. More importantly, companies who aren’t dealing directly with your income in some way, are NOT suppose to use your number for identification or tracking purposes. This includes your doctor, your auto insurance company, your grocery store, your mechanic and your brother-in-law. I got around RAC’s system by verbally telling my number to store clerk. I watched him type it in, verified what he needed, and then had him back completely out of his screens to remove any trace of my number.
An hour later, after they spoke with my children and my friends, called my work and my mortgage company, and verified my blood and urine samples, I was about to get an X-Box 360. ‘About to get’ because the advertised sales on the store’s placecard suddenly didn’t mean a thing. According to the sales clerk, the one week rental was now a two week minimum. The game and memory card listed were no longer part of the rental. “That’s a little like false advertising, isn’t it?” I asked. He just sheepishly grinned and suggested that we could do a weekly rental. After all of this hassle, I got the game system home to find an interface cable missing for the second controller. ::: sigh :::
This entire process would make for a great, frustrating video game. You too can play “Rent-A-Product” where you get to prove your qualifications without losing your soul! This game is more enjoyable if you are already bald — less hair to pull out, don’t you know ….
Popularity: 31% [?]
Written by sprezzaturon in: |156 Comments »
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Wow, I had no idea that renting a game console would be such a hassle!
Wow, this is a great rent blog.
Re the color of your underwear. Hopefully you weren’t going commando that day!
I know, Adam! It was easier to rent a $12,000 car than a $350 game system.
LOL, Val! I should have put down ‘clear’ for my underwear color…
I know renting a gaming console is a frustating process considering the fact that consoles costs only $300-$400 AND they ask sooo many questions for it. Renting a car and other valuable items seems easier than renting a gaming console.
found your site on del.icio.us today and really liked it.. i bookmarked it and will be back to check it out some more later ..
i was always curious how RAC worked…now i know i wont be using that store anytime soon.
I guess this whole thing has to do with the 9/11 effect. We are so much paranoid now. Who knows they might think you are training some group with a video game or something.
You like a roof and shelter for me who shows me proper path of life you are really very great.
Thanks!
great post hope to see some additional comments next Saturday…see ya
you should of just went to block buster and rented it for like 10-20 dolla a night w/o the hassle or something of that.
I did go to Blockbuster first but they no longer rent game systems.
Thanks to everyone who has left those great comments. I hope you find my other posts as informative or fun. Tell your friends! I don’t ask for IDs or down-payments or anything!
My wife rented a couch at RAC. We unknowingly got on the RAC email notice, using an email address which had never been associated with my wife at all, name or address. A few months go by, I cancel the RAC email spam, then shortly after that we get a lot of spam sent to the email addressed to my wife by her full name, and our complete street address. WTF!!! What happened? Did RAC get hacked, or do they sell email and personal info if you cancel their spam? Something is not right at RAC!
That\’s sound good.Thk for your info.
Sprezz is a good writer…I hope he has a blog—-he writes like a sober Hunter S. Thompson. I agree, it is a 50/50 on if you want to give your SS# to a kid striving to get his GED. The potential is that he didn’t get that diploma because he was at home reading back issues of 2600.com’s Publications. If you think renting is bad news, I say be warey of the long term price, other than that you’ll be okay. But what does happen when these companies go Out Of Biz someday, maybe when Magic’s Johnson falls off and tinkles heavenly purple sunshine? That’s why I say 50/50….I would be interested to see how many Circuit City accounts are floating out there and the connections to these nameless Telemarketing Co’s which are subdivided into pi…basically, If you feel in your gut that the salesperson has a cousin in Jamaica or Serbia who might want to morph into you when their tire washes up in New England, follow your gut like a Naval Windows $eal.
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Hello. This is kind of an quirky query , but have other visitors asked you how get the menu block to look like you’ve made it? I also have a blog and am really searching to alter around the theme, however am scared to death to mess with it for fear of the search engines punishing me. I am very new to all of this …so i am just not certain exactly how to try to do it all yet. I’ll just keep working on it one day at a time. Thanks for any help you can offer here.
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When you say that the navigation doesn’t work well, what does your browser do? Thanks for your patience!
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I think am having some problems with accessing this blog in old Firefox.
Just proves the old adage. It’s an ill wind that blows no good. – What nerve. Not even a modicum of originality. – Samuel Goldwyn 1882 – 1974
Wazup
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Ciao!
I agree with a lot of what you’re saying here but it could do with more detail. – I was thrown out of college for cheating on the metaphysics exam: I looked into the soul of another boy. (Clown Prince of American Humor, 1975) – Woody Allen Born 1935
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The Ten Commandments Of Employment… 1. If it rings, put it on hold. 2. If it clunks, call the repairman. 3. If it whistles, ignore it. 4. If it’s a friend, stop work and chat. 5. If it’s the boss, look busy. 6. If it talks, take notes. 7. If it’s handwritten, type it. 8. if it’s typed, copy it. 9. If it’s copied, file it. 10. If it’s Friday, forget it!
Work is too serious joke a little!
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Did you see LifeLock will be on the hook for $20 million bucks and not 11 million as was most often reported.
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