Consumer complaint received 2020-09-04
Company: Mercedes Benz Financial Services
State: MA
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Account information incorrect

Complaint:
During my three year lease with Mercedes Benz I had ample number of issues which ironically I contacted the AG to help with consumer protection. ( XXXX XXXX ) I am now having issues with the end of my lease payment and how they are reporting it, which has recently affected my credit score by decreasing it 67 points as of XX/XX/2020!!!!!!! When I initially received the end of lease payment bill, there was NEVER an issue with actually paying. I had asked them several times to simply take off the " Property Tax '' that was incorrectly added to the statement. I should have never been charged the full amount. It should have been prorated. ( I called my town clerk and was advised what to do ) Several representatives had told me, I should just pay it and get the abatement myself and just wait for the credit. I did not accept this answer. This was them wanting to take shortcuts and not do their job to the full potential. We then agreed  that THEY would file for the abatement. Once received they would send me an updated copy for my own personal records and I WOULD mail in the CORRECT AMOUNT. Months had gone by and all I received was harassing phone calls to pay the INCORRECT amount. I stated repeatedly clearly and concisely " There has been an agreement in place for your company to file for abatement, send me an updated bill for my own records therefore I am aware of what I am paying and I will pay the correct amount once I have proper  documentation '' I was told okay every time. The final time I received a call I asked to speak to a manager out of frustration due to the fact it was clear people were not reading any notes on my file. When speaking to the manager we agreed that with all the troubles I had, whether it was customer service issues or mechanical throughout the three years ( Engine being replaced ) or being told the tires were okay when turning lease in, but then surprisingly being charged for it, she would be taking off 20 % off the end of the lease bill ( Payment Reduction ). The one thing I asked of her was to again, send me  proper documentation in the mail for my own personal records so I know EXACTLY what i'm paying. I thought this was very kind of her. Fast forward to XX/XX/2020. The information I had asked for 7 times had never come and I now have been sent to collections. I have received numerous calls from XXXX XXXX XXXX and I have simply tried to explain everything to them. Mercedes sent over the ORIGINAL amount due, not the amount it should be after all my conversations. It has been a battle of pointing fingers. Mercedes says it's now up to XXXX, but XXXX says Mercedes has to be the one to correct the bill to the agreed details. XXXX ( XXXX XXXX ) was finally able to fix the amount but told me it would be considered " Settled '' not a " Payment Reduction '' and strongly advised to talk to Mercedes to get this fixed. He said " You definitely are in a terrible situation and drew the short stick because how it may be reported to credit agencies '' With never having any issues with my credit, I then called and spoke to XXXX who was very unprofessional, and just cold hearted. I explained everything to him, spent a total of about 3 hours overall trying to get this resolved but unfortunately he claimed he could not change the wording from " SETTLED '' to " PAYMENT REDUCTION '' Which it should properly be!!!!!!! I then spoke to XXXX XXXX again, and we decided that it wasn't right, it was totally unacceptable and that if it was going to be classified as " Settled '' then he could try to lower the bill even more. XXXX lowered the bill and I paid the amount I was informed to pay on XX/XX/2020. Checking my credit report to make sure the account was closed after submitting my payment, I again had to call Mercedes because they applied my check payment to the wrong account and not mine! Another mistake. After everything had been applied  correctly they told me it would take a couple weeks to reflect but to monitor it. On XX/XX/2020 I received an email that my credit had dropped significantly ( 67 points ). I logged into my account to take a look, and because of how Mercedes decided to word it, it displays as " Settled for less than legal amount '' COMPLETELY  UNACCEPTABLE. This is such unprofessional behavior by a renown company. They should be ashamed of themselves for affecting customers like this not only now during a pandemic, but for the next 7 years. 

This representative that the XXXX XXXX XXXX has been interacting with has proven to be incompetent and I believe she has not done her due diligence in listening to calls properly. I was told my tires were fine when turning in my car, but then I was surprisingly charged. The tires and along with all the other issues I had, the supervisor offered 20 % off of my final bill, bringing it to around XXXX XXXX 
This was all documented and verified by many representatives especially another supervisor XXXX in financial services. 

However, now that third party is involved this incompetent manager says theres nothing. Very fraudulent and very suspicious behavior by either the company or more importantly this incompetent manager XXXX, maybe both! 

Their slogan is " The Best Or Nothing '' I got nothing. Nothing but incompitent behavior, rude personnel, 6 mechanical issues in my first year and many more in the remaining 2. This is false advertisement and they should change their slogan. ABSOLUTELY XXXX. Account Number : XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation