Consumer complaint received 2019-04-17
Company: ALLY FINANCIAL INC.
State: MD
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Billing problem

Complaint:
In XX/XX/XXXX I had cancelled the maintenance package I purchased with my vehicle. The dealer ( XXXX XXXX, XXXX, MD ) whom I cancelled the maintenance package with, sent to Ally Finance ( Auto Loan department ) the amount of {$3300.00}.

On XX/XX/XXXX I telephoned Ally Finance ( Auto Loan department ) to confirm they received the payment from the dealer. Ally Finance stated that " {$3300.00} was received by the dealer, and that my next payment of {$270.00} would be due on XX/XX/XXXX. They further stated that in XX/XX/XXXX the payment would resume to the monthly amount of {$550.00}. 

Then in XX/XX/XXXX, for several days I had been noticing I had been receiving calls from an, " unknown '' caller on my phone 's caller ID. I did not answer the call as with " unknown '' I am aware that these are Robocalls, solicitor calls. There was never a telephone number associated with " unknown ''. However, on XX/XX/XXXX, when again I received another " unknown '' call I decided to answer it, in hopes to make the Robocall stop. When I answered the phone, there was a long silence, then they asked to speak with " XXXX XXXX '' ( me ). When I asked who they were, the caller identified them self as being from Ally Financial. I asked what the call was regarding, and they stated that I had owed them money for my automobile loan, {$1700.00}. I replied that was not true, as per my call with them in XX/XX/XXXX, I was informed the dealer sent a check that was received and applied to my account, and that I was further informed that my next payments were not due until XX/XX/XXXX. I further stated, that I did not feel comfortable continuing the conversation as the number was received as " unknown '' on my phone, and there was not a number associated with " unknown ''. At that point I immediately hung up the call and dialed the number I knew for Ally Financial, and that I had saved to my phone 's contacts. When I got through to Ally Financial and explained what was going on, they stated that the check they received from the dealer was returned by the bank as non-sufficient funds onXX/XX/XXXX. I then stated to Ally that I was going to the dealer to investigate and would call them back soon. 

As soon as I hung up, I drove to the dealership for clarification of what Ally Financial stated as the check being returned. The dealer representative of XXXX XXXX in XXXX, MD, XXXX XXXX, investigated it with the accounting department, and determined that the check had in fact been cleared. With the assistance of the dealer we then called Ally Financial together to get to the bottom of this. 

When the dealer and I got Ally on the phone, Ally then stated that the check had in fact cleared, and that it had originally been applied as a normal payment in XX/XX/XXXX, but on XX/XX/XXXX they then re-applied the payment to the principal balance. I informed Ally that I was leaving the dealership, and would call them when I had privacy to discuss this. 

Moments later when I left the dealer, I again called Ally Financial back. I informed Ally Financial that I had not received a letter, nor a telephone call, nor a certified letter. I had never been informed of this re-applying of the payment to the principal, that I had just been informed of by Ally. I instructed Ally to re-apply the money from the dealer back as a payment, where they ( Ally ) had originally placed it and had informed me of such placement on XX/XX/XXXX. At that point, Ally then transferred me to a XXXX XXXX in Customer Service. After spending over an hour with XXXX XXXX, going over everything, explaining again how Ally had re-applied the payment without ever informing me - not by letter, or by call, or by certified letter, and now they were demanding over {$1700.00}. I explained to XXXX XXXX that I only just learned of this situation because I answered my phone from a caller that identified them self as " unknown '' on the caller id of my phone, no number showed up only the words " unknown ''. I stated to XXXX XXXX that this is not how to treat customers. After over one hour and several holds that I was placed on by XXXX XXXX, he stated that they would work to remedy this by re-applying the {$3300.00} back as a payment as they had done on XX/XX/XXXX, which would then put the payments back to XX/XX/XXXX at {$270.00}, and then resuming regular payments in XX/XX/XXXX for {$550.00}. XXXX XXXX said for me to to give it 24-48 hours, and that Ally would call me back at that time to confirm everything was back to how it was on XX/XX/XXXX. 

OnXX/XX/XXXX I gave Ally a follow-up call to see if the {$3300.00} had been re-applied as payment per what XXXX XXXX stated. I spoke to a XXXX XXXX, who placed me on hold several times, to then inform me to call back on Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX for a status of the re-applying of the {$3300.00} back to where it was onXX/XX/XXXX. 

In closing and as stated, Ally Financial informed me on XX/XX/XXXX that the dealer check for the maintenance I cancelled was received and that no other payment was due from me untilXX/XX/XXXX. It was because I had answered the call of an " unknown '' caller with no phone number ( later identified to be Ally Financial ) on XX/XX/XXXX that I learned that Ally never notified me that they reapplied the check for {$3300.00} for the maintenance plan I cancelled with the dealer, and were demanding payments from me totally {$1700.00}. At this point Ally Financial has seriously destroyed my credit, and has deceived me. 

I am seeking help from the CFPB in working with Ally Financial to resolve this issue ASAP, and to fix my credit with the credit reporting agencies. 

If you need further information, or clarification, please let me know. Thank you. 

Kind Regards, XXXX XXXX

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 non-monetary relief