Consumer complaint received 2018-10-18
Company: ALLY FINANCIAL INC.
State: CA
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Billing problem

Complaint:
My name is XXXX XXXX. I currently have an outstanding balance with Ally Financial. 
I had a vehicle for about a year with Ally. Account # XXXX. Unfortunately, I got in an accident on XX/XX/2018. This resulted in being a mess with my GAP insurance, and my insurance through XXXX. I called in on XX/XX/2018 & requested a payoff balance for my account. One of the representatives transferred me to the " Total loss department ''. Apparently this department was the one that would handle my account moving forward. I held on the line & spoke to someone there. They ended up having to transfer me again, because apparently they have two total loss departments. Anyway, I don't remember his name, however I remember the escalated conversation we had. The man quoted me a payoff of one thousand dollars and some change. Throughout that conversation, I admit I was frustrated when he quoted me my amount, because I had the biggest runaround with the whole car situation. I didn't have the money at the time to pay this in full ... as a matter of fact my first payment for the car was not due until XX/XX/18. I questioned if there was a possible payment arraignment we could set up, I was seeking some assistance for a potential reduced payment. Unfortunately, he stated he could not reduce the monthly payment for me, but he did offer me a settlement. I asked him how much that would be, and he quoted me about eight hundred dollars. I do not have the exact amount. I didn't write it down, I figured at the time that I could trust my financial institution to give me correct information. The call began to escalade, I admit on getting agitated with him. I didn't know my GAP insurance was unable to take care of the whole balance for me, so I ran into a MAJOR inconvenience when I head i still owed some money. Ally received my check from my GAP insurance in the moth of XX/XX/XXXX. Six months after the incident. To my disadvantage, I didn't have the money to pay him the estimated {$800.00} he quoted me. I say, and quote " Well, I don't know what you want me to do sir, I don't have this kind of money ''. The payment that was due as of XX/XX/18 was for {$390.00}, I asked him " where did you get this random amount from? '' He said it was a partial payment for the month of XX/XX/XXXX, and starting XX/XX/XXXX i would be due for the contractual payment of {$500.00}. He said I would be done paying this sometime in XX/XX/XXXX of this year. It made sense, with the XXXX he quoted me. He said the balance of the XXXX dollars would have been satisfied by XX/XX/2018. We left off the conversation without intent for me to pay in file. My payment wast due for another 2 weeks, so I dint worry about this too much. This is where the problem started ... I decided to go to XXXX XXXX, and apply for a personal loan to consolidate my credit and have one easy monthly payment for all my debts. I am mindful of my credit, and have been working diligently to raise my score. Nothing of mine is in collections. I have excellent payment history with Ally. Once I got approved for the loan, I decided to give my good friends at Ally a call to pay off my debt. When I got somebody on the phone I asked for my buyout, they said sure give me one second. I wait on the line for about a minute or so and the woman says " Your pay off balance is {$2600.00} ''. I told her ma'am there must be some sort of confusion here. Can you transfer me to the total loss department ... She told me " Im sorry sir, the total loss department is no longer handling your account " ... I requested a supervisor. Of course. She told me I will transfer the call to a representative that takes " escalated phone calls, please wait on the line for 2-3 minutes '' ... I held on the line and spoke to a representative. She tried explaining to me various times the payoff amount, the check amounts, the history and I kept interrupting and kept saying to review the phone call from XX/XX/2018. I ended up crying of frustration on the phone and asked for her to PLEASE help me. She promised to get the call reviewed and said she would follow up. By this time, I'm already contacting my attorney. The following day, I follow up with Ally, get on the phone again and I try explaining to that rep, my situation. Hit me with " Sir your account is being handled by the total loss department, please hold while i transfer your call '' she puts me on hold, gets back and says " Sir, I'm sorry, that department is closed for the day, here is their direct number you are free to call tomorrow '' I explain to her that I had just been informed that the total loss department was no longer handling my account? ... I asked for the same " supervisor '' and get transferred. I speak to yet another woman who refused to give me the name of the last person who I spoke to, she did give me her employee ID " XXXX ''. That rep was out of the office at the time and she was unable to see if the call was revised and pulled. That same rep, CONFIRMED that the total loss department was NO longer handling my account. I get nowhere, we get off the phone and talk to my mom. ( The primary on the account ). At this point, we start collecting paperwork and we start reviewing all our information with Ally. My mom decides to give it a shot and call in with me. AGAIN. We spoke to XXXX. He looked at my account, we asked for a pay off, and he says " This account is being handled by our total loss department '' and this time I interrupt and start getting really angry. ALLY, IT IS NOT MY JOB TO INFORM YOUR STAFF WHERE MY ACCOUNT IS BEING HALDED! GET IT TOGETHER. My mom was already aware, and she told XXXX " NO you are not transferring me, you are giving me my information now '' he agreed and placed us on hold. We go over the account together and get off the phone. Finally, the representative " XXXX '' calls me back XX/XX/2018 and says " Sir, we reviewed the phone call and we confirmed with that department that no payoff was quoted to you on XX/XX/18 and your balance due is {$2600.00} '' At this point I start to cuss and got extremely loud. I WOULD NOT GO TO THE BANK, AND GET A PERSONAL LOAN FOR MY DEBTS AND ASSUME MY PAYOFF IS A CERTAIN AMOUNT!. She clearly told me she head the conversation and says nothing was given to me. This is OUTRAGEOUS. YOUR CALLS GET MONITORED AND RECORDED. I ask to listen to the call and was turned down. At this point I tell her to transfer me to the highest manager at the company, and says " It will be 24 - 48 business hours for them to call you back ''. I told her to transfer me to total loss, to see if they could clarify where the misleading information came from ... I wait for a couple minutes to speak to a woman who says " Sir there is two total loss departments, this is the incorrect one. Please hold while I get you over to them '' I wait 15 MINUTES to finally get on the phone with XXXX. This woman knows how to talk to people. XXXX, HAS BEEN THE MOST KIND, UNDERSTANDING, AND COMPREHENSIVE PERSON WORKING AT THIS COMPANY.. Her tone was empathetic and it made me open up to her to vent about this situation. We spoke and agreed to have her manager call me back instead. She even followed up with me and left me a voicemail when I was at work saying " Hey XXXX, I haven't forgot about you. My manager is still at a meeting and will follow up ASAP ''. This is great customer service. This company over all has given me misleading information, and they have placed me in a difficult financial situation. I took a personal loan out to pay this and my debts off, and committed myself to a payment of over {$400.00} with my bank, and am now being hit with this bill of {$500.00} for 6 months from Ally, all because they are a bunch of unorganized clutter XXXX. I feel like I'm being lied to. 
I work in the financing industry, I collect debts and I know my rights with the FDCPA. I know you guys are not obligated to have me listen to the phone call, but if my attorney requests it I'm sure we will be bale to figure something out. I spoke to higher management at my job today for a recommendation on my situation, and this company is pending for a lawsuit. Ally fails to take responsibility, they fail to communicate, and have overall completely hate them for the situation they have placed me in. I mentioned to retain an attorney to your representatives since Monday XX/XX/XXXX, and there is still no sense of urgency. 
I am filing a complaint to the XXXX, and with CFPB. I am at a complete loss of words.

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