How we almost bought a $10,000 water treatment system
A few weeks back, we visited our local Home Depot to pick up a new kitchen faucet, as the one that came with the house had sprung a leak. On the way in, an employee asked if we’d like to enter to win a prize. I said, “No, thanks.” However, Erin did fill out the card with her details. About two weeks passed, and Erin got a call from Moore Water Treatment. Suddenly, they were at my house, testing water and trying to sell us a $10,000 system as I was talking to a friend from back home on Skype. After being in my home for more than an hour, I finally heard the guy out and saw the benefits as Erin believed having cleaner, filtered water might alleviate some of her health issues, as we had recently identified chlorine as a contributing factor to her Fibromyalgia and Rheumatoid arthritis flares, which often end in the ER.
I should have followed my instincts and just said no when he pulled a “one-time deal” line when I suggested he give us some time to discuss it privately and determine whether it was financially viable. The deal was no downpayment, 100% financing, and free consumables, such as soaps, for a time period. Erin really wanted to try it, and the salesman said we had 3 business days to cancel if we changed our mind. So, I decided to apply for financing through their partner, taking a risk as it could improve Erin’s health.
We canceled the order first thing Monday morning when I received the contract with the credit terms and conditions. It was a 13.99% APR variable revolving account with no final amount listed and no final payment date, just like a credit card. I need to know how many payments there will be, how much each will be, and how much interest will be charged overall to make an informed decision.
The salesperson made it sound like it would be 75 interest-free payments of $132.87, which it would not be with a 13.99% interest rate. I did some calculations, and at 13.99% APR, paying $132.87 monthly, it would take 15 years, and we’d end up paying a total of almost $24,000, $14,000 of which would be financing charges. This is on top of the financing company, Time Investment Company, Inc., having a terrible reputation, scoring 1.5 stars out of five from customers at the Better Business Bureau.
The thing about the Moore salesman that really irritates me is that a paying cash option was never presented, despite not knowing anything about our finances, pushing us toward their choice of financing company. This was doubly irritating when, after canceling, we got an email from Home Depot, thanking us for our business and giving us additional options to finance through them instead, an option not presented by the Moore salesman. Moore Water Treatment as a “trusted’ partner of Home Depot, I would assume they are supposed to present this option. This is just speculation on my part, but if it was presented and Home Depot had better financing terms, we could have had the system installed already.
So, bottom line: Protect your personal information and never assume it will be used for the sole purpose for which you gave it. Marketers commonly use giveaways to gather information on people, as everyone likes something for free. Remember, there is no such thing as free; you’ll pay for it somehow. Usually, your information is the product, which can be used for marketing spam and even sold repeatedly to data brokers. This is truer in 2024 than it has ever been in the past; keep your information safe!