Consumer complaint received 2019-11-15
Company: EMG ACQUISITION GROUP, LLC
State: DE
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan
Sub-product: Installment loan
Issue: Problem when making payments

Complaint:
On XXXX XXXX, 2019 I applied for a loan on line with Minute Loan Center. It was for {$1500.00} at an interest rate of 393.771 %. The branch requested a copy of my debit card before they would approve my loan although I personally feel that should not be a requirement, I submitted my card because I was in a pinch for cash. I took out the loan expecting to pay it off within two weeks but unfortunately for me that could occur as I had hoped. I was struggling to make the 2nd payment but XXXX told me that I needed to cancel the payment within 3 days and I had missed my window to cancel the autodraft so I borrowed money to cover the expense. By the third payment, I still was not able to pay the loan off as I had hoped and on XX/XX/XXXX I sent an email to revoke my future ach payments so that I could have more time to figure out how to pay the loan. I could not afford for my payment to be drafted. I did not receive a confirmation to my email and I sent another email on XX/XX/XXXX asking for email confirming. Nothing was sent to me, so by the end of the day on XX/XX/XXXX I called and spoke to XXXX who confirmed they received my request. She did not say anything else to me before hanging up about my loan or payments. On XX/XX/XXXX my payment still deducted despite my email clearly stating that I did not want to make the payment. I emailed asking for my payment to be refunded and received no response. I called the branch and left a message for XXXX to call me back. When she did, she basically told me they did exactly what I asked of them and removed the ach but they were well within their rights to use my debit card since I did not also state that in my email. She stated they did not want to refund the payment. I told her I couldn't afford the payment which is why I asked for it to be stopped and she demanded that I tell her exactly how I planned to make my payments. I told her I needed more time to figure it out and she said I already had a week from when I sent my email and I should know by now how I plan to pay then back. I called the main customer service number for Minute Loan and asked for a manager. A representative took my info to share with XXXX who was the Regional Manager and forward onto compliance since they took payment despite my request to cancel. I finally got a hold of XXXX the following day on XX/XX/XXXX. He reiterated what XXXX said, that when he got the email on XX/XX/XXXX that he took off the ach but that they were in the right to switch it to the debit card on file. I said my email was clear that I wanted to stop payments and understood my account would likely into a collection status. XXXX proceeded to tell me that my account wouldn't go into collections, that he would skip that and take me right to court for intentionally defaulting on a loan. He said they would not refund the payment and didn't seem care that he was causing an overdraft on my account. XXXX reluctantly said he would remove the debit card as a recurring payment. He demanded that I tell them right then how I planned to make my payments. He asked where the {$1500.00} was that they loaned me, asked what did I do with that money? Both XXXX and XXXX acted unethically in the handling of my payments and I felt bullied by both of them. They did not handle their collection activities professionally and I feel that they violated my rights. They refused to respond in writing to any of my emails and neglected to inform me XX/XX/XXXX when I called that my loan would default to debit card payments. I think this is very unfair loan practices and should not be allowed. I never authorized recurring payments on my debit card. As you can see from my loan documentation, my debit card listed on the form for non-recurring payment. I am very unhappy with the way my loan and its collection was handled by Minute Loan Center. I had to take out another loan from a more reputable banking institution to pay them off so I could stop their bulling/unethical collection activities.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation