Complaint Review: Tempoe WhyNotLeaseIt - Unknown Unknown

I went to the Sears website needeing a portable dishwasher.  I was unable to afford to buy it outright at that time, and seeing they offered what was advertised as a "Lease to Own" option I felt confident they would partner with a reputable company, so I ordered a Kenmore portable dishwasher using that Lease to Own option.  

I received follow up e-mails from Tempoe, WhyNotLeaseIt with the lease terms and I understood that I would have an option to return the dishwasher with no further payment obligation at the end of either 3 months or 5 months, and would also be allowed a 'buy-out option" price.  As expected the buy out prices, or final lease payment would end up costing me more than the retail cost, but under the circumstances I thought I would get a better product and experience going through Sears and their leasing partner.

The dishwasher did not perform adequately.  I really wanted to like it and opted to continue trying different methods (soaps, rinses, additives, wash/dry cycles) to achieve good cleaning and drying results, so I kept it past the 3 month initial return window.  At the beginning of the 5th month I was still dissatisfied with the dishwasher and called Tempoe WhyNotLeaseIt to find out what I needed to do to return the unit.  I was able to purchase a different model from a different retailer and did so at that time.

In the 1st phone call I was told by their CSR that I would be obligated for 2 more payments under the lease agreement, but that I could pay those in a lump sum and they would consider the lease obligation fullfilled, and arrange to pick up the dishwasher.  I told them I was waiting for delivery of the other dishwasher I had purchased and as soon as it arrived I would then call to make the final 2 payments and arrange for pick up.

One week later I called again to make the 2 payments and was told by a different CSR that I could call Sears to request a cancellation of the lease and then would not be obligated to make those last 2 payments.  I spent over an hour calling various different Sears numbers, each one telling me they could not help me with this.

So I called Tempoe WhyNotLeaseIt back that same day, explained that Sears would not help and that I wanted to just make the final 2 payments and have them pick up the dishwasher.  The CSR on that call informed me that he put through the 2 payments while I was on the phone with him and that someone would call me within 3 days to arrange to pick up the dishwasher. 

The next day I received an e-mail stating that a payment was scheduled to be auto-deducted for the lease.  Fearing that I would end up having money taken that was not owed, I called Tempoe WhyNotLeaseIt to confirm that NO payment would be deducted, only to find out that the CSR who processed the required 2 payments failed to cancel them in their website billing portal!  That was cleared up on this phone call.

I waited 3 days for the call from their "Recovery Department" to arrange for pickup of the dishwasher and they did not call.  So again, I called Tempoe only to find out that I needed to call a different number entirely to reach the Recovery Department.

I called the recovery department and had to listen to the CSR try to convince me to buy out the lease, despite my repeatedly informing them I didn't want the dishwasher and had already purchased a replacement.  Finally, they informed me that I would have to take PHOTOGRAPHS of the dishwasher and e-mail to them before they could submit a 'Recovery Request' to have the dishwasher picked up.  I asked them why no one had ever told me prior to this point that I would have to do that and they told me that no one else who works for this company EXCEPT employees in the Recovery Department knows to tell the customers.  How ridiculous is that??!! 

Then I'm told that once they've received the photos to make sure the item isn't damaged they forward them to their "Recovery Team" with a request to pick the up the item.  However, it can take up to 30 days before they actually do it - and sometimes they 'don't have time' so they farm out the pick up to a 3rd party such as the Salvation Army or Habitat for Humanity??!!  

I knew when I signed up originally for the lease that I would end up paying more than retail for the dishwasher, but, as indicated above, because it was through Sears I did not think I would have any negative issues. I was SO VERY WRONG!  

Every single phone call to Tempoe involved each employee trying to convince me to buy out the lease.  I'm sure that is required by their bosses but it is annoying and very much feels like a typical "used car salesman" greasy experience.  While every employee I spoke with was polite, they all failed to give me pertinent information needed to end the lease and return the item.

Additionally, when I called about the pending auto deduct payment that was not supposed to be processed, I asked that I be sent an e-mail to confirm that the cancellation of any further auto payments was done.  I was told that they are NOT ALLOWED to send e-mails to customers to confirm payment information.  WTF??!!

It took way too many phone calls starting on 8/2/2018 through 8/15/2018 before I finally got (hopefully) the correct information to get to where they will make arrangements to pick up the dishwasher.

Avoid any leases with Tempoe WhyNotLeaseIt. You're much better off going through a local Rent-A-Center type place.  At least you know you can return it whenever you like and they won't jerk you around!