Consumer complaint received 2020-12-15
Company: Mercedes Benz Financial Services
State: CA
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:
To whom it may concern : I'm writing this letter to file a complaint about my experience with Mercedes Benz in XXXX, CA. 

I got a leased car, XXXX, from Mercedes XXXX in XXXX which will end in XX/XX/XXXX. However, due to this pandemic I didn't need my car any longer and I also had plan to visit XXXX for a couple of months. So, I decided to sell my leased car to XXXX. I found out that XXXX buys leased car so I sent an email to Mr. XXXX La, a dealer in Mercedes XXXX, on XX/XX/XXXX but didn't get a response. So, I directly called MB XXXX and spoke with Ms. XXXX XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. I explained my situation the same as I mentioned in my previous email to XXXX. XXXX said that XXXX could buy my leased car but also XXXX dealer could buy my leased car without termination fee and wanted me to bring my car for appraisal. She contacted me several times and said they needed a used XXXX model because of the lack of inventory of XXXX models. According to her " they are in dire need of pre-owned XXXX models '' In XXXX, I came to attend my mom 's funeral in XXXX, and I got an email from XXXX again. She wanted to schedule appointment for my car to XXXX dealership. Since I decided that I'm not going back to the US until next year in XXXX, I decided to bring my car to XXXX XXXX. I emailed XXXX that it's acceptable if my friends drop off my car since I'm in XXXX. She said if my friend couldn't drop off my car to XXXX, it's okay to return to XXXX XXXX MB as well. I double checked with XXXX again if I had to pay a termination fee because this is an early return so I wanted to make sure. Her answer was I just need to pay for the disposal fee which is only about {$650.00}. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I got a mail from Mercedes ( sent to my friend 's address since I'm not in the US ). I was shocked to see that I have to pay {$420000.00}. It says I need to pay remaining balance within 10 days. ( Remaining balance - {$3600.00} plus vehicle turn-in fee {$650.00} ) I called the MB financial team to explain. They said they would file a complaint for me but I still have to pay for remaining balance and they said I need to talk to MB XXXX directly. 

I called XXXX XXXX and spoke with XXXX and XXXX. XXXX said XXXX XXXX has a payback program but XXXX XXXX doesn't. If you see my attached email, you can see that it was XXXX who suggested me to drop off my car to XXXX XXXX. On the other hand, XXXX XXXX dealership didn't explain anything to my friends either. She said she could take care of it in her email but seems like she even didn't explain my situation to XXXX XXXX dealership. XXXX said it was miscommunication and they can't do anything since I returned my car already. 

If I have to pay my remaining balance for my lease after early return, why would I return my car? It doesn't make any sense. I assume that they just need my XXXX model to re-sale. 

I'm very frustrated. XXXX already knew about my situation that I was going to sell my car to XXXX to avoid an early return termination fee and she told me that XXXX can buys my leased car but XXXX dealer also need pre owned XXXX so badly. So I believe that she could take care of it. Since then, we have 17 email conversations. I also do have voice messages she left. I can send the voice message files as well if needed. 

So, this is where I am at right now. Please I do need your advice in order to protect my rights. 

Thanks for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon regarding my issue. 

Sincerely,

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation