Hi Moms,
I purchased a Sleep Number bed for 24 months same as cash 22 months ago. When I received my first statement, I divided my payments equally for the 24 months and haven't checked my e-statements since. (I know, big mistake, but thats what I did.)
Fast forward 22 months and I pulled my e-statement this month to make sure I had it all in order and OMG, Sleepnumber never put in the correct code for my bed purchase with GE money the credit/loan holder so....for 22 months Ge money has added interest to my purchase and then that interest caused my balance to require a larger monthly payment so about 12 months ago they started charging me a 50.00 a month late fee. I have the emails from Sleepnumber that proves it was their mistake not applying the correct 24 month financing code but GE Money Bank says its not their problem and Sleepnumber says they are not my creditor and have no way to fix it. What can I do next? Help!
Thanks, L.
UPDATE: 05/22/2014
Thanks so much for all of your answers. I have been moving up the food chain in both companies and sending out certified letters with copies of the emails between myself and Sleep Number. I also contacted Ohio's consumer complaint division. Ohio has a wonderful consumer complaint division and they have been very helpful with what remedies I have as a consumer. Worst case scenario is to pay up to the original contract amount and stop. Ohio protects the consumer from bait and switch and due to them sending the wrong bed and then not correcting the original contract, it falls on Sleep Number to correct the problem according to the Ohio CCD but you know how things go, I'll wait and see. Thanks again.
Do you have the original paperwork where you applied for credit? You can try to send that to them, and if that doesn't work, have Sleepnumber speak to them on your behalf. I had the exact same thing happen with HH Gregg (they were charging me interest when they shouldn't), but I caught it after a couple of months. They took care of the problem with very little hassle since I had the original paperwork that I could provide to them.
How these programs work is that Sleep Number pays the interest up front. That is they get 10% (or some other amount) less up front for your purchase. Of course the clerk needs to enter the correct number when processing it. It is easy to not punch the correct number when doing it, just miss a step. Sleep Number could have corrected it if you caught the mistake in the beginning. They probably could still correct it, but almost 2 years later it is difficult. I would still ask them to try to fix it.
Lesson learned: I use no interest financing for a lot of things, but they require you to read the fine print and follow exactly. Get paper statements in the future, and/or carefully look at the e-statements when paying on-line.
This was originally Sleep Number's mistake, but you also made it far worse by not checking your statement. Contact Sleep Number's corporate office and ask for help.
Shoulda coulda
First off, never buy into these "deals". You live you learn.
You should have started tracking from day one... You admit that. As soon as you would have noticed the error from Sleep Number... You would have been able to call it to their attention then and there and be done. However, you didn't track it.
I'm not trying to be rude but as a business owner I check my business and personal bank accounts and credit card daily for any discrepancy.
Now... Previous experience years ago as a part time call service rep for a well known company who offered " free" life insurance on the original sign up for the credit card for 3 months. On my job, people called in because oh wow they just realized they'd been paying $6.95 a month on the credit card for life insurance and wondered why it was there. I explained the original deal where they were supposed to call in and cancel at 3 months if not interested.
Most ppl never saw the charge until woefully later. Depending on the attitude of the caller I could give an automatic 3 month reimbursement. If they pursued, I could go 6 months and I based it on the attitude I got. If someone was bitching me out... I gave 3 months then sent them higher up.
Bottom line it was their responsibility to look at the card. There was one person I recall who was so angry and said they had paid this charge over 6 months. I checked and said " sir you have paid this over 2 years". The max that person got was 1 year.
I think if your are very sweet, direct, to the point and state your case... You might get a little more out if them but bottom line part if the responsibility falls on you to check your statements regularly.
Good luck. Btw... We are thinking of a sleep number bed. Is is worth it? Do you love it? We don't do deals like you explained so I'm sure I get a higher price because I don't play their game.
Where's your contract?
THAT is what you need to solve it. What does your contract say and whom is it with?
oh, sweetie. that SO sounds like something i'd do (and why my poor husband has taken over the bills.)
they're both right. it's on you to check your statements. it would be lovely if they'd cut you some slack, but they don't have to and i doubt they will.
i'm so sorry.
:P
khairete
S.
I think this sucks, because you are going to have to pay the fees. Why are you not checking the statements? I pay EVERY bill I have through web bill pay. Some are linked to that so I get my statements that way, but everything else I at least open to see the balance, interest, etc. I'm a numbers/money person though, so maybe it's just my way of keeping sanity.
We financed a bed a few years ago as well at 0% for 12 months. On month I paid two payments because that's how our paychecks fell, well they charged me a late fee. The second payment was two days before it was due, and then it counted towards the last billing cycle. Shady. Either way, I had to suck it up and since we only owed $100 at that point, I just paid it off and closed the account.
All of my 0% accounts I have always watched like a hawk...you want to make sure you aren't hit with interest. I also imagine GE would have been calling you to say you were behind...this is all a little weird.
They are probably not going to do anything because you have a responsibly to negate damages. In other words this could have been fixed almost two years ago. You didn't even check the first statement. I mean most even sloppy people check the first statement to make sure the charge was applied correctly. I am not a lawyer but any time I have dealt with an error they are only required to go back three months.
I think you are going to have to eat it.
Listen I don't agree with Hell on Heels because you have a part in this dance plus you get more flies with honey. I don't think you are going to get it all back so calmly ask for it all. They will say no. Say you know you should have looked but you can't afford this. Let your voice break a bit. Go back and forth. With any luck you will get six months, maybe even a year. If anything you will get the best deal you can. The fact is they made a mistake but then so did you. So since you both made equal mistakes it seems reasonable to meet in the middle
Go up the food chain at Sleep Number. Go to the local store you bought it from. Then go to the District Manager. Then Regional Manager, then VP of Operations. Just keep going up the food chain until you find someone who can fix it, or otherwise make this right for you. Don't take no for an answer. Of course Sleep Number doesn't WANT to help, but you could point out to them that they effectively pulled a bait-and-switch on you, which is illegal.
Oh course no one is going to willingly help you. It would mean their company would be out of your money.
1. Review the terms of the original contracts with SleepNumber and with GE Money Bank.
2. What was written originally is where you can begin to unravel this tangled mess.
3. After you have a clear understanding of what you agreed to and the terms of your purchase then you can move forward with confidence and savvy.
4. Social media may be your friend. If you have Twitter and/or FaceBook with a ton of friend. Spreading your story may be helpful but this should be a last resort. I have a friend that does this and has managed to get quite a few of disputes resolved.
5. Those emails could possibly be used in the courts to show GE Money Bank has been charging you incorrectly. You may need to go through the courts to get this resolved but that would take more time and money.
6. You may want to talk to an attorney about resolving this if you can't get resolution through the steps above.
Sounds to me like you shouldn't have to take the loss and this could be resolved.
