Questions
Straight answers, including the unflattering ones.
If a question below has an answer that makes us look worse, it is answered anyway. The last section is about the company itself, including how to reach a person.
The basics
Is this rent to own?
No, and it never becomes that. There is no purchase option, no buyout, no rent credits, and no point at which the machines become yours. This is a rental for as long as you want it and then it ends. If what you actually want is to own a washer and dryer, buying a used set is cheaper than renting one for years, and we will tell you that rather than sell you a slower version of it.
Do you run a credit check?
No. Not a hard pull, not a soft pull, not an alternative-data score. There is nothing to qualify for and nothing to be turned down for on the basis of your credit.
Is there a deposit?
No deposit, no first-and-last, no application fee.
Is there a contract I am locked into?
There is a rental agreement, and it is month to month with no minimum term. Nothing in it commits you to a number of months, and there is no fee for ending it. One month is a legitimate rental.
What does it cost?
$65 a month for a washer and dryer set, and less than that for just one of the two, plus Minnesota sales tax. Delivery, installation, all repairs, and pickup at the end are in that price. Every configuration and what the rent covers is on the pricing page.
Are the machines new?
No. They are quality used machines, inspected and cleaned before delivery. That is a large part of why the price is what it is. We would rather say this here than have you find it out when the truck arrives.
Do you rent anything besides washers and dryers?
No. Laundry only, on purpose. Doing one thing properly is more useful than a catalog.
Delivery and installation
Who actually shows up at my door?
Somebody we send. You deal with one company from start to finish: we take the application, we deliver and install, and we come back out if something needs fixing. We confirm the day and the arrival window with you by email before anyone sets out. Installation is licensed work, which is why it is done by people who hold the licence. Connecting a washer's water supply for pay is licensed plumbing work in Minnesota, and a gas dryer needs a licensed gas fitter.
What do I need to have before delivery?
Working hookups of the right type. For a washer that means hot and cold water and a drain. For a dryer that means either a 240-volt outlet or a gas line, plus a vent. We install onto what is already there. We do not add plumbing, run gas lines, or cut a new vent.
Gas or electric?
We ask which one you have because a gas install needs a licensed gas fitter and an electric one does not. Electric is the straightforward case. Gas is the one answer that can put an address out of reach even inside our delivery area, so we confirm we can do yours before anything is scheduled. Put it on the application and we will tell you either way.
How fast is delivery?
We agree the date with you by email when we schedule the delivery, and that email is the commitment rather than a number on a web page. Rent does not start until the machines are working in your home, so a slow week costs you nothing.
I rent. Do I need my landlord's permission?
Usually yes, and we ask you to confirm it as part of applying rather than leaving it as your problem on delivery day. Many buildings require notice or written consent before someone installs equipment in a unit. Sorting it out up front is much easier than sorting it out with a washer in the hallway.
My building has a shared laundry room. Does that matter?
Only in that it is often the reason people call. If your unit has its own hookups, a coin-op room in the basement does not stop anything. If your unit has no hookups, we cannot help, and the shared room is the only laundry that home has.
Service, repairs, and things going wrong
Something broke. Who pays?
We do, and it costs you nothing. Parts and labor both. Repairs being inside the monthly price is the entire proposition: a rental that bills you for service is just an expensive purchase.
How fast does someone come out?
Report the problem to us and we come out to you. We agree the window with you by email when we schedule the repair, with storm days moved to the next feasible one. The repair costs you nothing either way.
What if it cannot be fixed?
Then it gets replaced with a working machine, at no charge to you. What you are renting is working laundry, not one particular machine, and you never own it, so a dead unit is ours to sort out rather than a bill for you.
What if I break it?
Normal wear is covered, which is most of what happens to a washing machine. Damage from misuse or abuse is not, and neither is damage from moving or opening up the machines yourself. The language is going in front of a Minnesota attorney first.What counts as misuse, and what it costs, is spelled out in the rental agreement you sign before delivery. Read that clause.
What if the machines are stolen or lost in a fire?
Loss and damage from things like fire and theft while the machines are in your home would sit with you, which is a plain reason to carry renters insurance whether or not you rent from us. The exact wording is in the rental agreement. That agreement has not been through an attorney review yet, so treat this as the intended shape rather than settled wording.
Can I move them to a different room myself?
Please do not. Ask us instead. Moving a washer is how hoses get pulled and floors get flooded, and self-moving is one of the few things that would take a repair outside what is covered.
Paying, moving, and ending it
How does payment work?
Autopay, set up before delivery. Bank transfer is what we prefer and a card is accepted. Billing starts the day the machines are installed, not the day you applied, so you never pay for days without a washer.
What if a payment fails?
We retry it and email you. If it stays unpaid, we suspend the rental and arrange to collect the machines. We are not planning a late fee. Stacking penalties on someone who is already short is how this industry earned its reputation, and it does not get the machine paid for either.
How do I cancel?
Tell us, and we schedule a pickup. No cancellation fee, no early-termination penalty, nothing owed past the month you are in, and no phone tree designed to talk you out of it.
I am moving. What happens?
The easy answer is that we take the machines back, which is usually the thing you want anyway since hauling a washer to a new place is a problem nobody needs. Whether we can instead follow you to the new address depends on whether it is inside our delivery area. We have not set a policy or a price for a move, so that is a conversation rather than a promise.
Do you sell my information?
No, and we do not rent or share it for anyone else's marketing either. What you put on the application is used to serve you: to check your address, to schedule the delivery, and to bill you. Doing that does send it to a few places, and the list is short and worth knowing. Our own records, the shared rental platform this site runs on, and Stripe, which handles the payments. The privacy page sets out all of it, how long it is kept, and how to have it deleted.
About the company
Are you actually operating right now?
Yes. You can apply, we confirm we can cover your address, and the machines get delivered and installed. What the rent includes, what we do not do, and how long each step takes is on the how it works page.
Who is behind it?
Loon Appliance Rental is operated by Fulton Capital LLC, a Minnesota company. It is small, it is local, and when you email you get a person rather than a ticket queue.
How do I reach you?
By email, at [email protected]. There is no phone number yet. When there is one, it will be on this site, and we would rather leave it blank than publish a number that rings nowhere.
Question that is not here?
Ask it. If it is a good one it will end up on this page, and you will get an answer from a person either way.