Consumer complaint received 2017-11-09
Company: CREDIT ACCEPTANCE CORPORATION
State: MD
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Getting a loan or lease
Sub-issue: Changes in terms mid-deal or after closing

Complaint:
I called to inquire on Saturday ( XXXX/XXXX/XXXX ) about getting a vehicle. XXXX scheduled my appointment for that day at XXXX with XXXX. Once here XXXX XXXX XXXX my salesman & XXXX did my financing. I only wanted to see the inventory, but as XXXX was asking me for my information. I got a notice from XXXX XXXX that I had a new inquiry. He never told me he was running my credit nor did I give him permission to. But because I planned to buy a car & I already had a hit on my credit report I decided to follow through. I I spent 5 hours here because they had no clue what they were doing and could n't properly enter my information after I agreed to the terms of the auto loan. The original documentation XXXX showed me was a down payment of {$1000.00} with a 22 % interest rate & GAP at {$520.00} per month. I agreed to those terms. Finally an hour after they closed. XXXX XXXX walked me through the signature process. I skimmed and e-signed the documents, but was never made aware that I did n't have to e-sign. XXXX XXXX told me during signing that the " men let their pride keep us here all this time, they did n't know how to use the system. But they did n't want to ask me for help ''. I asked if XXXX XXXX had a " cool off '' period. She said no. When we got to the " XXXX XXXX XXXX '' page I noticed GAP was no longer included in the loan & the payment went down to basically {$480.00}. I asked XXXX XXXX why this information was different & why GAP was n't included. She informed me that " They probably could n't work it in the deal ''. I asked if I would be able to get my own GAP and she told me yes. I explained to her that I did n't want to have to do that, but I was ready to leave. I used my husband 's debit card to pay the {$1000.00} down payment amount. After that XXXX XXXX issued my temporary tags & registration. XXXX had someone put the tags on and I drove off. On Monday I got a " Welcome '' call from the lender XXXX XXXX around XXXX XXXX. Around XXXX on Monday, 2 days after I buy the car, XXXX calls to tell me THEY messed up my paperwork & I  need to resign. He also says I may need to put down more money, but he would make sure everything was ready when I got there. I immediately called my lender ( XXXX XXXX ), I spoke with a woman named XXXX who said everything was fine, but because my employment history changed, the dealer was going to lose money. I decided to go to the dealer to see what they were talking about. I got there to resign the papers around XXXX. When I came in to resign my paperwork. Nothing in the terms changed but the down payment. They wanted me to put down an additional {$200.00}. I told them I had already spoken with XXXX XXXX and that I just needed to resign. XXXX tried to explain to me that because my job info was put in wrong & had to be changed that they had to make up for that change somewhere & that 's why the down payment went up. At this point I was upset because I had already talked to the lender, so I told XXXX I wanted to go outside & get my original paperwork. He said " Oh I can go to the car & get it for you ''. I told him it was ok I could go by myself. He said " No problem I will follow you out there ''. We walked to the car, I unlocked the doors, took the paperwork out and closed the door ( I never locked it ). When we got back inside I looked over the paperwork & the number were all the same except the down payment. We went back & forth for awhile, XXXX asked if I had the {$200.00} today & I told him no I do n't, nor would I be able to get the money. He walked away to tell XXXX. At that point I am feeling scammed, so I call credit acceptance, XXXX again tells me the deal is good on their end, but says they are basically going to lose {$700.00}, because they had misinformation on my paperwork. She said that she could speak to XXXX or XXXX if I needed her to. When I got up to look for them in the showroom. Neither was around. I told her I would call her back if needed. I was already running late for my next appointment, so I headed for the door. XXXX was walking in as I was walking out. He asked if I was leaving I said not yet. He asked if I could drive a " manual '' and I told him no. I was n't interested in another car, so as I sat in my car I decided to leave & not worry about the extra money since the lender was fine. I drove from their location to XXXX XXXX in XXXX, Maryland around XXXX. While driving XXXX & XXXX were texting & calling me nonstop ( 12 times ). I could n't open the messages & figured they were just upset I left. My phone died around XXXX. I called my husband from my stylists cell phone around XXXX XXXX. My husband informed me that XXXX XXXX had called him to say I was driving with no tags & I needed to bring the car back. I told my husband what happened at the dealership & that they were lying about the tag because I had gotten the temp tag on Saturday. I told him not to talk to them, because he was not on the loan. At XXXX my stylist walked me to the car & immediately I saw the tag was gone. I was in a panic, my stylist said well at least you have the registration if you get pulled over. So I look in the glove box for the registration, but the registration is gone. The car was locked the entire time it was in the parking lot & based on what my husband said earlier, I realized someone at XXXX took not only the tag, but the registration. Around XXXX XXXX I drove from XXXX, MD to the XXXX XXXX Police precinct to report the tags as stolen. They informed me that they at least need the tag number to file a complaint. They told me to try and get a temp tag from the XXXX in the morning, but not to drive the car. I then parked the car at my home at XXXX XXXX XXXX. Once I got my phone charged Monday night/ Tuesday morning, I realized that XXXX had texted me at XXXX to say they " Took the tags off ''. XXXX left me a voicemail saying if I did n't return with the car immediately the police would be called. The next morning I began driving a family members car to figure out what was up with the car I bought. At the XXXX I was told that the title was not filed yet so I could not get a temp tag from them I had to go to the dealership. After I left the MVA I got a text message from XXXX to " bring our car back for a refund ''. I drove to the borrowed car to XXXX & waited in the car for a bit. When I got inside XXXX was unavailable & no one else could help me so I went back to the car. XXXX came outside & tapped on the window. He asked me " why did you leave with no tags on the car? '' I asked him why would they take the tags off the car without telling me?. His response was they were going to put me in a different car so they took the tags to switch vehicles. I tell him I do n't think it 's legal to take my money, have me sign a " contract '' and then take the tags & registration from a car that I 'm a co owner on without at least saying what you will be doing. He says " all you need is {$100.00} ''. I say " I do n't have a {$100.00} ''. He asks if there is anyone I can borrow from & lists different relatives. I tell him no. He asks " Where is the car ''. I tell him where it is & that I was not going to drive without tags. He says if I want to cancel the deal I can they just need the car. I tell him they can go pick the car up because I refuse to drive with no tags. I had left the keys in the car & the doors unlocked so they would have no excuse. XXXX tells me a dealer car can follow me to my house. So I start driving and a red car with an XXXX plate starts to follow me driving on to XXXX, when I turn on XXXX the car is no longer behind me. I circle back to XXXX to see where their driver went. XXXX ca n't explain what happened, but gets on the phone trying to give the wrong address to the driver. I corrected him & he said as soon as they pick the car up I can sign the paper work. I get back in the borrowed car to wait. 20-30 mins go by. So I leave the lot to drive to my home & see if they got the car. When I get to my house around the car is gone. So I drive back to XXXX. XXXX brings me the cancellation contract paper work, but before I sign I ask when do I get my refund. He says " It usually takes 3-5 business days, but it depends on your bank ''. I ask him if they can repay me in cash or a check, because the deal getting cancelled was n't my fault. He says they can only put it back on the card. I told him since they already had my money I did n't need to wait to get it back. He asked how I paid, I told him debit. He says they can cut me a check, but it will take 24 hours. I told him I worked in businesses that cut checks, all you need to do is print one out. He said it was getting late at XXXX XXXX  so the office would be closed. I told him I needed a definite answer of when my funds would be returned before I would sign. He steps into the " office '' to ask the two women ( one woman later identified herself as XXXX on a phone call ) in the office. And he comes back out with the same 3-5 day wait and that it depends on the bank. I tell him I 'm not going to sign if they will have the car immediately, but I wo n't have my money. He took the contract and walked away. So I step in the office to ask the women for clarification. They say they have nothing to do with the terms of the deal and such. But if I want a definite answer about when the money will be returned I can call my bank. I left the office & tried to find the car I purchased. They had it in a garage under the showroom. I eventually called a number listed online as a " corporate office ''. XXXX informed me he was at corporate & would transfer me to a manager. I was transferred to " XXXX '' and she said she had already spoken with me about this issue. I asked to speak to someone over her. She transferred me to " XXXX '' the " General Manager ''. He explained he could try to rework the deal if that 's what I wanted or I could just sign the contract & cancel. I told him to try to work the deal out & call me back. A sizable amount of time passed before I went back to the showroom to look for XXXX. When I came in I walked to XXXX 's desk to charge my phone & use the internet to try the bank again. At that point XXXX came over to explain the same thing XXXX did about the issue with the deal & the misinformed employment history. He said they needed to recoup and that was where the {$200.00} was coming from. I said to him " If XXXX & XXXX put my paperwork in wrong, why ca n't they split the {$200.00} 50/50 & I keep the car. Or XXXX eats the loss. I did nothing wrong, I was 100 % honest & this issue was not my problem. '' He says " he wishes it could be that easy. '' I asked him to see the cancellation contract. He asks " why? ". I tell him if I 'm going to cancel I want to know what I am signing. The [ recitals ] on the contract were fine, but the 1st paragraph ( paraphrased ) said that said they would charge me {$10.00} to cancel & I would release them from any future law suit or legal action. I slid the contract back to XXXX and told him I could not sign this document. He asked " why? ". So I told him, that the document said that I could n't sue them. He ask if I was planning on suing them. And I told him I was n't sure if they had done something illegal by taking the tags & registration without telling me or getting my consent. I asked him if it was their policy to take tags off vehicles after they got a down payment. He said they did not have a policy on that type of thing. So I told him he could continue to try to work the deal with the original down payment or he could figure a way out to cancel without the paper. He said if I planned to sue he would " rather not do business with me ''. I asked him how I would get my refund without signing. He said I could have my attorney contact him to get the refund. I thanked him & left. That night I wrote up reviews & facebook posts sharing my negative experience & asking for legal recommendations. And my husband and I opened a fraud claim with our bank XXXX. XXXX/XXXX/XXXX I informed XXXX XXXX, via a rep named XXXX that the car was no longer in my possession & asked them to escalate the issue on their end. They told me I could go to another dealer to get a car. I then informed the auto insurance broker of the situation. He said if I cancelled the insurance I would be charged an early termination fee. I also filed a complaint on the BBB & with dealer investigations at the XXXX. My husband informed me that XXXX  had called him on XXXX since I was refusing their calls. Around XXXX XXXX on XXXX I went to XXXX XXXX to use my pre-approval with XXXX XXXX. XXXX 's finance team informed me that on file in the computer system I already had an open loan with XXXX XXXX, so it looked like I was trying to buy 2 cars in a week. They asked me to call credit acceptance to see if they could move it on their end. This time XXXX XXXX tells me that because my issue was escalated & I did n't cancel the contract I have to wait for resolution before I can use my preapproval. At this moment XXXX has the car & the down payment & I have an active loan in my name with XXXX XXXX. I have attached all the paperwork and I can now see that my employment date on the credit application was listed as XXXX/XXXX/XXXX. I told XXXX I had been on my job for 11 months since XXXX XXXX. I did not fill out a credit application for myself he wrote everything down. I told him I had been at my current address XXXX XXXX XXXX since XXXX XXXX, I was a junior in high school, not a licensed professional.

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