Consumer complaint received 2022-03-02
Company: NISSAN MOTOR ACCEPTANCE COMPANY LLC
State: TX
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Lease
Issue: Problems at the end of the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Problem when attempting to purchase vehicle at the end of the lease

Complaint:
Hello, My wife and I contacted Inifiniti Financial services prior to XX/XX/XXXX, when my lease for XXXX was ending due to the fact that they didn't have any new XXXX 's available. ( FYI- It was my intent in the beginning of the lease to roll into a new lease at the end due to ease of new car ownership/lessee-ship ). They provided me with the option to extend my lease or buy out my lease due to no inventory. I opted to extend again with the intent to roll into the new car lease. 

However, months passed and not only the inventory issue still exists 5+ months later so now I am attempting to purchase the lease ( which is and has been an option for the lease ). Unfortunately, Infiniti Finance is making it impossible to purchase out the lease without added fees/stress. I've been to various dealers who all charge different fees and come with an attitude. I've been to multiple banks, all of whom are baffled by Infiniti 's lack of 'lease payoff ' ease. 

Finally, one of the banks was able to confirm that they were able to send out a payment to Infiniti via cashiers check. I called Infiniti and they also agreed this was possible on XX/XX/XXXX so I went to my bank and requested a cashier 's check for the amount on the payoff letter plus tax. We ( bank on my behalf ) submitted the payment per the payoff letter details ( for financial institution ). I have been calling Infiniti Financial Services daily for the past week to find out if the cashier 's check but their line is always giving the feedback that they are unavailable. I also have been calling my bank to find out if the check was cashed. I attempted every angle of my due diligence to payoff this to Infiniti Financial. Today my husband finally got through to them and spoke with XXXX and asked to be escalated to XXXX- both were unhelpful in resolving this matter. They said the check will be returned to us as it had our name on it- it did not have our name on it and I told them. XXXX was a supervisor and he even had the audacity to say my wife wasn't a customer. 

The verbiage verbatim on the Financial Institution Payoff letter is : " Upon receipt of certified funds ( a cashier 's check or bank money order ), measures will be taken to mail the title or lien release to the payor. If non-certified funds are received, arrangements to mail the title or lien release will not be made until after the funds have been verified. '' It is not an ethical practice for Infiniti Financial to make it so hard to payoff the amount owed like this. We, as customers, should not be limited to go to a dealer where we will need to pay additional fees over {$600.00} just to purchase our vehicle when the letter clearly shows the option to pay through financial institution and cashier 's check ( please review their payoff letters- I can share the one 's I printed ). I shouldn't HAVE to re-finance to make a payoff. In fact, a big bank like XXXX doesn't even have the option to refinance this type of loan. 

I sent my payment via bank cashier 's check out of XX/XX/XXXX, and have been calling and refreshing my online account ever since to finalize the purchase. Today, XX/XX/XXXX, I find out from the call that the check will be returned. My lease ends on XX/XX/XXXX. I have been extending my lease not even knowing that the payments will not go towards payoff. There is no clear information on that. This whole process is convoluted for a customer. If Infiniti can not service customers in TX, they shouldn't be allowed to offer services here. A financial company should be crystal clear and easy for customer 's to make payments and payoffs. The letter itself is not clear. They, on the phone, say a name shouldn't be on the check. The letter itself doesn't say that anywhere. When I take the letter to the financial institution ( bank ) they all mention cashier 's checks come out from funds a customer has. 

Lastly, I want to let you know that I never even expected to buy out this vehicle. The new XXXX isn't even available ( inventory ) and on top of that, the payments haven't increased by 10 % or 20 % but they are close to 300 % more. This whole experience is not in valuing a customer 's interest and very unethical. I am ready to payoff the amount owed, but it is not fair for me have to deal with so many fees and attitudes when the letter CLEARLY spells out : " Upon receipt of certified funds ( a cashier 's check or bank money order ), measures will be taken to mail the title or lien release to the payor. If non-certified funds are received, arrangements to mail the title or lien release will not be made until after the funds have been verified. ''

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation