Consumer complaint received 2022-12-16
Company: Upgrade, Inc.
State: TN
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan
Sub-product: Installment loan
Issue: Problem with the payoff process at the end of the loan

Complaint:
On XX/XX/22, I received XXXX as a loan from this company, Upgrade.com. It was deposited directly to my XXXX XXXX bank account. On XX/XX/22, I made my first monthly payment of XXXX via autopay, and then made that same monthly payment in XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX. 

On XX/XX/22, I paid the loan off in full on their site. I have attached a screenshot that shows the payoff page, which includes the payoff amount of XXXX, the payoff date of XX/XX/22, and the form of payment, which was my bank account ( the same account into which they deposited the loan, and from which every payment had been automatically drafted ). I have also attached a screenshot of the confirmation I received immediately after I clicked " Continue. '' It clearly says at the top, " Payoff Scheduled, '' which is followed by a green checkmark and the words, " Congratulations! We've sent a confirmation ... '' I monitored my bank account daily to make sure they withdrew the funds, but as of XX/XX/22 -- three business days after I and they scheduled the payment -- the funds had not been drafted. I called them on XX/XX/22 to inquire about it and to make sure there wasn't a problem. After I gave the man every detail of why I was calling, he put me on hold to look up my account, then came back and said it showed a zero balance. I asked why the money was still showing in my bank account and he said the process can take up to 10 business days. I asked him whether I had anything to worry about, and he assured me that I did not. 

On XX/XX/22, I received an email notifying me of an upcoming payment -- the same monthly payment I had been making. So I immediately signed into Upgrade.com and pulled up my account. It still showed the loan as not paid, plus additional interest accrued. I immediately contacted them to rectify the situation, and even sent them the screenshots that prove the payoff was scheduled. However, even in the face of that incontrovertible proof -- the screenshot from their website that says " Payoff Scheduled '' -- they have continued to respond that I didn't schedule a payoff. Now, in order to pay off the loan, they are demanding that I pay an amount that includes the interest they have charged since XXXX, which as of this writing is an additional XXXX, and growing daily. As can be seen in the screenshots I have attached of their email response, they are lying about the nature of the confirmation I received from them -- confirmation that is clearly labelled " Payoff scheduled '' -- and then they proceed to tell me to go through the exact same process I went through on XXXX to pay off the loan. 

I have clearly demonstrated through the screenshots that I did everything required to pay off my loan in full, and that I have acted in good faith every step of the way. Upgrade is trying to defraud me and has refused to resolve this issue. If they are doing this to me in this manner, they are likely doing this as a systematic matter of course to other unsuspecting customers.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation