How Can Magic Help Rip-Off-People?
Magic, Magic, Magic. Are you so poor that you need to endorse a product that preys on poor people? On top of the questionable tactics of Jackson Hewitt now you have partnered with Rent-A-Center. Shame on you!
I have lived in poor neighborhoods for most of my life. When you announced that you had HIV I remember people in a storefront church praying for you. In my neighborhood people looked up to you and wished you well. Though we were in Boston you had more than your share of fans. And these fans transcended basketball. When an article was published about some business venture of yours people were proud. Years later the yellowed newspaper clipping was still posted in the local grocery store.
Rent-A-Center Truck (On Monday)
I am not sure of when I first realized that there were companies like Rent-A-Center. I remember going into one of the stores and, in short order, turning around and leaving. Nothing spelled scam to me like paying many times the retail cost for a sofa. Sadly some of my neighbors and friends were not so wise. They fell for the spiel and the allure of having something they desired even if they truly could not afford it. Oh, they could afford the payments. That is until a child got sick, the car broke down or they lost one of the jobs that contributed to their household income.
How many times did I ask friends to “do the math” only to hear some rationalization for the purchase? These rationalizations were helpfully provided by the sales people and TV hucksters. So eloquent and yet so wrong. And so it continued and today I am in a different neighborhood in a different state, and the story is the same. Usually on Friday a Rent-A-Center truck pulls up and unloads the bright, shiny, goodies. But when I see the truck on a Monday it usually means that someone is going to lose a fridge, some furniture, or most sadly, a computer that the children have gotten used to using for school. A computer that they have already paid $400 for. And, if they had saved, or if they had real credit, $400 probably would have bought them all the computer they would need.
But hey, that’s not Magic’s fault, is it? No, of course not.
In one of the commercials Magic talks about his Dad working double shifts to give his family a better life. The same is true for most people today. Sadly there are pressures and temptations that even Mr. Johnson did not face. One is a company telling him, as society joins in the chorus, that they can provide “the good stuff your family deserves”. How can you deny your family something they “deserve.” And who is pushing this? Someone they prayed for, cried for, and cheered for. Someone they respect. In one of the commercials Magic is even talking about respect as we see trophies and photos of his career roll by. Respect. Magic earned it and now he is using it to shill for the loan sharks.
If you do a Google search you will find many sites that detail the crimes and deceit of Rent-A-Center. I will quote one of those sites just to show you some of the theft perpetrated by Rent-A-Center.
“Last month, Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna sued Rent-A-Center. The lawsuit charges the company with “unfair and deceptive business and collection practices.”
McKenna says customers cannot figure out how long it will take them to own an item, because the company “consistently fails to provide the true purchase price for each item that’s being rented. We’ve seen people pay $3,600 for a fridge, $4,000 for a laptop, $6,600 for a used TV set,” he says.” – From MSNBS ConsumerMan
Magic, have you no shame? $3,600 for a fridge, $4,000 for a laptop, $6,600 for a used TV set!!! Where is the respect in directing vulnerable and manipulated people to a company that rips them off? These people prayed for you when you were at one of the lowest points of your life. They cheered for you both on the court and as you began to have business success off the court. And this is the thanks you give them? So sad.
Shame on you Magic Johnson.
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