Is this Illegal? Need some advice..

[Rathji]

My wife recently purchased a $2,000 item from a store that provides in store 60 day financing through Citi Financial. She is expecting delivery of this item and they call us today and say that the sales person was wrong and our financing wasn't approved for the full amount and we need to come in and put another $1,000 in cash to pay the balance that financing didn't cover.

Now the paper work she has says the total amount was paid through financing, and this was the only paperwork she signed. Now they want her to give them an additional thousand in addition to having the paperwork that says she borrowed the full amount. To me this seems wrong in so many ways, almost like a credit bait and switch, selling someone something they would only buy if they can get free financing, then once they have finished the purchase on the grounds that they can get it financed, they change the terms of the sale.

Any input that anyone can give would be appreciated as we need to go into the store tonight to resolve this. My opinion is that this is borderline criminal, am I off base?

[burn_this_city]

I'd ask for proof the financing failed to go through, and also ask why this wasnt brought up sooner. They should pre-approve your financing prior to completing the sale. Then I'd be a dick and demand my money back.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

I'd ask for proof the financing failed to go through, and also ask why this wasnt brought up sooner. They should pre-approve your financing prior to completing the sale. Then I'd be a dick and demand my money back.

They did pre-approve it, but the person that called claims that the salesman 'misread' the ammount.

[BlackArcher101]

Sounds sketchy. Those in store credit suppliers will rarely deny anyone partial credit. Either you have horrible horrible credit or something is fishy with the store.

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by Rathji

They did pre-approve it, but the person that called claims that the salesman 'misread' the ammount.

Sounds like horse.. Why would anyone submit approval for less than the amount of the purchase..

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

Sounds sketchy. Those in store credit suppliers will rarely deny anyone partial credit. Either you have horrible horrible credit or something is fishy with the store.

Our credit is fine together, but this is a credit history building exercise for my wife, which is why I agreed to let her purchase it on credit on the condition that she qualified by herself.

[DuffMan]

Tell them to stick it, and go somewhere else.

[CaptainCrunch]

If you have proof that he told you that the financing went through, and its indicated on the sales receipt that it was fully financed, then its up to the store and the fianance company to work this out. You have what amounts to a signed contract for the purchase financed in full.

In other words, they can pound sand.

Personally I would return the item, request proof of the canceled financing and try to buy it elsewhere.

[Salt Water Cowboy #10]

off topic: I went thru citi financial once to purchase a couch. Now I get heaps of mail from them and loads of credit card/pre-approval crap. plus, if you don't pay in two months the interest goes up to like 36% or something stupid. Its in tiny print, and it never got mentioned to me when I purchased the couch.

I'm going to guess you went to Ashley. Careful, they are kinda greasy. We bought a "leather" couch. Bicast Leather? it wasn't in the same end of the store as the other leather furniture. I don't think its actual leather. so be careful.

[Rifleman]

Citi Financial seems to be in the middle of all sorts of scams/pyramid schemes, etc.

[Nage Waza]

The worst I had was I bought a couch a few years ago with no interest for a year. They call back a month later saying the couch I am waiting for will not be available, so I have to come back in, get a refund or pick another couch. I go back in and get a different couch. Six weeks passed between the initial purchase and the second purchase. I finally get the couch and had the typical monthly balances showing up, and about a day before a year ended, I paid the balance. No problem.

Several months later I decide to get a new mattress after hearing another commercial for no financing for a year, so I buy from the same place. No problem, mattress arrives a couple days later. I get a call from some guy asking me telemarketer type questions so I hang up. This goes on for a couple months. Finally I tell the guy that I am not telling him anything until he explains why he is calling...he finally fesses up that he is calling from a collection agency. Turns out I owe for the mattress despite getting a year.
To make a long story short, when I bought the initial couch, that triggered the one year period, not the date I actually bought my couch on (at least six weeks later). So when I paid, I was actually accruing interest. None of this information was on the monthly statements I was getting, in particular the dates matched with my later purchase. Turns out I had about a $3.75 debt because my balance was 'paid' off late by 6 weeks. This results in their automated system automatically sending me to collections for having a delinquent account. Total glitch, yet here I was having to deal with a collection agency and a numbered company, the company financing you is not the company I bought the couch or mattress from. The numbered company did not care about anything and the collection agency was going to hit my credit rating for owing them money that I should not have to pay for another 9 months. I had to pay the whole thing off within the week, jerks.

[Rathji]

The store was Sleep Country, and the item was a seriously overpriced mattress.

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

If you have proof that he told you that the financing went through, and its indicated on the sales receipt that it was fully financed, then its up to the store and the fianance company to work this out. You have what amounts to a signed contract for the purchase financed in full.

In other words, they can pound sand.

Personally I would return the item, request proof of the canceled financing and try to buy it elsewhere.

Exactly what I did. I demanded they resolve the financing concerns on the spot. When they said they couldn't help me I laughed, canceled the order and explained they had not only lost this sale but any future sales from anyone I knew.

Then she went across the street, got approved for twice the credit, which was still through Citi financial and got a better quality mattress for half the price from the Brick Mattress Store.

[killer_carlson]

then you should have walked back into Sleep Country and yelled at the top of your lungs:

"Attention all customers: I just bought my mattress across the street because Sleep Country wouldn't give me as good a deal as the Brick. Just thought you should know".

I had an old boss who did this when buying a car. The salesmen was being a dick so he walked across the street to the Mazda dealership, bought the equivalent car for cash, drove it back to the Toyota dealership, honking the horn and making a huge scene as he pulled in. He went further and pointed out the salesmen who wouldn't give him a deal.

[killer_carlson]

further, you may want to consider your rights under the Fair Trading Act as well. Check it out at www.qp.gov.ab.ca

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Originally Posted by Rathji

Then she went across the street, got approved for twice the credit, which was still through Citi financial and got a better quality mattress for half the price from the Brick Mattress Store.

Just a point of curiosity, but if both are through Citi Financial wouldn't it make sense for both to have the same credit limit? If that's no the case isn't that more Citi Financial being weird than the store itself?

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

Just a point of curiosity, but if both are through Citi Financial wouldn't it make sense for both to have the same credit limit? If that's no the case isn't that more Citi Financial being weird than the store itself?

I think the Sleep Country salesman screwed up the application, if the guy can't read well enough to figure out how much credit the person has been given I doubt they are smart enough to enter the info in correctly.

[Table 5]

First those damn commercials and now this??? Damn you, Christine McGee! Damn you good!