Consumer complaint received 2021-08-12
Company: HYUNDAI CAPITAL AMERICA
State: TX
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Lease
Issue: Problems at the end of the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Termination fees or other problem when ending the lease early

Complaint:
I am writing this letter in efforts to resolve an issue with Kia Motors Finance, I have been a faithful customer of Kia since XXXX of XXXX. My first car, which I leased on my own was a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, which I conducted business with XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX and my sales rep was one of the companys top sales persons XXXX This transaction was seamless and I enjoyed every month of my lease and actually considered the buy out for this vehicle as the car was good to me and served its purpose well. 

I moved from XXXX to XXXX  for XXXX XXXX and during that period of time my lease came to an end, I contacted XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX and XXXX, my previous sales representative shared to me that I didnt, necessarily have to come back to XXXXXXXX XXXX to return the vehicle, I could do so at any Kia near me. The closest Kia to my XXXX XXXX was XXXX XXXX of XXXX XXXX XXXX When I got there the sales team explained to me I had the option to buy out my current car, or trade in for a new model, ultimately I was very impressionable and was sold on the concept of a new lease for a XXXX XXXX XXXX that the sales team collectively sold me as it was a slow evening so all the attention was on closing a deal with me. 

My official sales rep that was to take credit for the sale was named XXXX. XXXX and I test drove the new XXXX, which was the same make, model, and color of my previous XXXX XXXX, signed all the paperwork and submitted it to his supervisor XXXX XXXX, and he gave me the keys. Paper work was completed close to close of business so XXXX explained to me the car was basically mine, however since it was so late in the day I would have to leave the keys and come back in the morning to pick up my new vehicle to allow Kia finance to give the final ok for the new loan for the lease. 

The next evening XXXX called me and explained that there was an issue and I was no longer able to get the new car. He advised that I try again in a month, picking up exactly where we left off for the same vehicle, same monthly note, same agreements outlined in our paperwork. Not only was I devastated for being given keys and completing paperwork which led me to believe that the new vehicle was mine, I also had my XXXX vehicle detailed and took off all protective gear I purchased to keep the vehicle in top shape to return it to Kia in the best condition possible. 

When I returned in a month as requested, XXXX was no longer with the company. My new sales representative was named XXXX. She was a very nice lady, however she did not honor any of the agreements XXXX and XXXX XXXX made with me. She offered me a relatively unattractive XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, which I hated. I absolutely did not want the car. I hated the color, and the size as it was a total downgrade from the XXXX not to mention I needed the space of the larger vehicle for my line of work. I ultimately had no other recourse than to take the XXXX as I was near the final days of my lease and in the process of purchasing my house and wanted to avoid having my credit ran at several other dealerships in search of a car within a small time frame. 

I ended up taking the XXXX and its been nothing short of a headache since. First the car experienced difficulty with the air conditioner in the heat of a humid and extremely hot summer in XXXX The air conditioner was temperamental and worked when it wanted to, and it often omitted smoke from the air vents into the car, which is alarming for a new vehicle. I reported this to XXXX XXXX several times via text message with photos and videos, nothing was done to fix the issue. 

Second, as I mentioned I was only in XXXX for XXXX XXXX which would have only been a few more semesters, so I when signing the lease, the agreement I had with the dealership was for the car to be registered in XXXX I got the lease in XXXX of XXXX, Kia did not register my car with DMV until XXXX of XXXX, and that was after getting formal complaints from several police officers and chiefs as I got pulled over almost weekly and received several warnings and tickets for driving with no registration and expired paper tags from the dealership, the XXXX police kept record of the times they stopped me and then took matters into their hands to advocate on my behalf. After the police got involved XXXX XXXX of XXXXXXXX XXXX mysteriously rushed my registration and license plates to me. 


Lastly in XXXX of XXXX, the car was stolen from the school I was working at by some men who recently got out of prison. The car was used as their get away vehicle for several crimes they committed, and ultimately they men got into a high speed chase with XXXX XXXX police, which ended in the men crashing my car into a factory wall and police cornering them with guns drawn and a stand off. 

I was placed in witness protection as I was a key witness for some of the crimes they committed at my school. The car was in police custody and I was sent to a safe house for a few months, then moved again to XXXX  until the suspects were prosecuted and placed back in prison. During this time I reached out to Kia when permitted and reported all the above and asked what my options were for the car as it was not in my possession and would not be for a while, no options, concern, compassion, remorse, business courtesy or anything of such were given. The states attorney of XXXX reached out to kia on my behalf several times also to advise of the situation and express how unsafe it was for me to keep the vehicle, yet kia refused to cooperate with them nor give any type of recourse for this unique situation. 

As explained to kia customer service on multiple occasions, I was not able to work while in witness protection, and henceforth would not have money to pay for the car during the months I was under protection. It was also explained to Kia by myself and the states attorney of XXXX that once released from protection and given the car back, it would not be safe for me to keep the car as one suspect was released and there were several attempts to harm me leading up to my testimony in court, hence why I was placed in the protection program. Still, Kia had no concern for my situation. 

I understand business is business, however this is a unique situation that does not fit the text book cookie cutter scenarios most of the customer service representatives are exposed to during training and daily during work, and the fact that no solution was offered other than keep up with payments, comes off as if all kia cares about is collecting customers money. Forget anything else, just give us money. 

I was understanding of kia when I signed paperwork for the XXXX XXXX, settled for the XXXX after I was told that's my only option unless I go to another dealership ( they were willing to let me walk out of the door ). I had to wait almost a year for my license plates and registration to be given to me and this happened only after several police warnings and tickets and officers calling kia on my behalf. Lastly, the malfunctioning air conditioner in the heat of the summer. All these things I was understanding and accepting of Kia, but now theres no recourse for me? Totally unfair. 

Throughout my time in witness protection, my mother would make payments towards the car on my behalf even though it was not in use and not in my custody. The states attorney of XXXX reached out to Kia on my behalf several times in efforts of finding some sort of solution to the financial bind the lease was creating for me as during witness protection I was not permitted to work henceforth had no income to pay for the car. Yet still, kia did not comply with the state 's attorney. The few times I was permitted to speak on the phone to handle business I made contact with kia customer service and repetitively made them aware of the situation and ask that it be noted in your system as to what was going on and should any options become available that may be of aid to me in this situation please make them be known to me. All my requests were ignored, late fees were constantly added and I began to become harassed with collection calls, which still happen to the present day. It was truly a nightmare as the collectors would often exhibit behavior as that of a loan shark even calling me after business hours and on Sundays. 

As of XX/XX/XXXX, I made contact with collections to bring my account current, and made a lump sum payment. The representative I worked with gave me the total amount I owed in total for the duration of the lease which ends XX/XX/XXXX, and he also told me the amount I owed in late fees. I asked him if he could waive the late fees due to the unique circumstance as I hadnt been employed in over a year and was only able to pay what I could from charitable gifts. He allowed me to pay the lump sum I owed for the duration of the lease and said he submitted the late fees to be removed from my account. After all the trauma Ive been through personally and the lack of empathy and harassment I experienced from Kia, all I wanted to do was pay what I owed and give the car back and NEVER deal with Kia again! Much to my disappointment here I present day XX/XX/XXXX and still receive almost daily harassment for the late fees that I was told were going to be waived, and today I received notification that this {$240.00} so odd dollars have caused my account with kmf to become delinquent and has caused my credit score to be affected! I am truly disgusted by this terrible facade of customer service Kia has pretended to offer and want nothing less than for the situation to be rectified as I am trying to get my life back on track and this has been an unnecessary headache in an already difficult situation not to mention during a worldwide pandemic. 

Ive tried to follow the chain of command, Ive tried allowing customer service personnel to do their diligence, I've even emailed Kia 's Vice President of Sales and Operations XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, President of Kia Motors of America XXXX XXXX, and Chief Executive President and CEO XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX about the matter and none of the above have responded to my emails. I have simply exhausted all options. Before I turn this over to social media, and the national news, Id like to give the executives at Kia the final opportunity to rectify the situation.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation