Whenever you sign on to a financing program, it always pays to read the fine print.
The staff at Holmes Heating recently saw one example of how expensive the fine print can really be. A competitor's HVAC financing program labels itself as being "18 month, no interest." But, this isn't actually the case.
If you pay off your entire outstanding balance within 18 months, then yes, there's no interest. But if you don't pay it back within that time period, the interest doesn't just start to accumulate from the end of the 18 months forward. Instead, you'll become liable for all of the interest going back to the date of purchase -- at an extremely high 21.9% APR!
So, if a customer had bought $5,000 on this 18 month deferral and did not pay off the balance, they would have been charged an additional $925. So much for "no interest"!
Holmes Heating offers purchase or leasing options for new HVAC equipment. And, unlike some financing programs, our plans don't contain any shocking stipulations hidden deep within the fine print. What you see is what you get, meaning there'll be no expensive surprises on your bank statement months down the road.
Posted:
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
|
