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I wonder how/if they can prove the furniture was in fact the source of the infestation? All it takes is a single bed bug brought back to the house to turn into a full infestation. She could have picked it up at a medical facility, movie theater, airplane, you name it.
I agree Matt. I actually worked at Aarons for over 5 years and the store I worked at adhered to strict company guidelines for bedding and furniture. They could have come from anywhere. Sounds like another lawsuit lottery case. Obviously the woman didn’t have much money or she would have bought her furniture outright rather than renting it. Now she’s looking to get rich quick. I can say from experience that the majority of people we rented to weren’t exactly up to Martha Stewart’s standard of cleanliness. Many times we would have people return electronics that were just crawling with cockroaches and would try to say the store gave them the pesky critters when in fact, the electronics were given to them new – in the box.
What kind of pinhead would RENT a bed used by other people? A few months rental has to equal the cost of buying a new mattress and box spring.
Exactly LuAnn! You would not believe the number of people that do though!
Curious question, she stated she told them to “void” the lease and take back the furniture. I’ve dealt with Rent to Own facilities before and usually when you don’t make your payment on Monday, their at your front door on Wednesday morning to pick up either the money or the item. Makes me wonder if there’s not more to this then we’re hearing.
Not sure where she got the bedbugs from, maybe them, maybe not, but I sure would have picked up that furniture as quick as possible, voided that agreement and kept this from going to a lawsuit. The negative publicity from “I got bedbugs from furniture rented from Aaron’s” is going to cost them way more than picking up the stuff, destroying it and taking the loss. Not a smart management decision.
I agree with TXLady. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet for business reasons.
Rent to own places are like pawn shops, buy here/pay here/die here car lots and non standard insurance companies. Bad publicity isn’t going to do much damage because their clientele’s pretty much a captive one.
Google Aaron’s Furniture bedbugs and do you get the results! Lots of problems at lots of their locations. The lady seems to have a legitimate complaint.
TxLady, you are right on target. No reason to let this get out of hand. Plus, how much can the cheap furniture be worth. They’ve probably already made their money on it anyway and if they haven’t, they treat it and re-rent it.
I know from experience that when Aarons delivers something to someone, such as furniture or bedding, and they observe the living conditions to be undesirable, many times they will not take the furniture back even if the customer doesn’t pay. They just write it off because they figure the furniture is probably ruined anyway and they won’t be able to resell it. I saw many instances when people didn’t want, or couldn’t afford to make their payments then suddenly…….there’s a problem with my furniture, TV, etc.
This all could have been avoided if someone had just said to her “sleep tight; don’t let the bed bugs bite.”
Why did she wait a year to file suit? It’s hardly coincidental that she decided to bring a suit now, just when the mainstream media is infested with negative bedbug publicity.
well depending on the condition of the home they could have thought it was fleas or crabs at first.
A year? C’mon. And I’ve got some swampland in Alaska. Wanna buy it? It’s a great deal.
I never heard of positive bedbug publicity…
Polly, apparently you have never read the “Bedbug Times”. Great little rag.
I disagree. When you deal with a certain type of client, they will be the first ones to threaten you with a lawsuit. Sometimes you have to call their bluff to show that you won’t bend over just because they threaten you with a lawsuit.
I am assuming you all are in business. How many times do you have people that threaten to sue you because a situation didn’t turn out in their favor? It costs $$$$ just to walk into an attorney’s office and say “Hi, I need to sue someone please”.
Actually, it costs nothing to find an attorney to take your case on a contigent basis. It is good business sense to try to avoid litigation. I guarantee you that furniture was not worth the cost of a lawsuit. And what point will they prove by going forward with it? They should have cut their losses and taken the furniture back and burned it.
and to top it off in most states if it’s under a certain dollar amount the courts allow you filing pro-se for a filing fee that in some cases is less than $100
That is just wrong, who rents a bed?? Sleep on the floor unitil you can afford to buy a bed.