Consumer complaint received 2021-11-15
Company: HYUNDAI CAPITAL AMERICA
State: NC
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Problem with fees charged

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX : Tried to pay off car in total with Hyundai Motor Finance. Was not allowed to pay off car online so I had to call customer service do it over the phone. Was verbally given a payoff amount by Hyundai Motor Finance and paid amount off over the phone ( this phone call was recorded although Hyundai Motor Finance will not set the record straight here ). There was a fee to do this over the phone even though I had no other payment option. I paid the money and the fee because I had no other option to pay. 

XXXX XXXX : Saw I still had outstanding balance to pay on the account i was trying to close. I called Hyundai to ask what the issue was. They said I did not pay off the car in total -- I asked how that happened even though the HMF representative gave me one amount over the phone. I said I did not create this issue, but that the customer service dept ( who said they were first with Kia Motors instead of Hyundai Motor Finance ) is giving me conflicting numbers. I asked for the issue to be escalated but they did not escalate issue and instead told me to call back in two days to let the software work out its kinks. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Tried to pay off car online, but couldnt. They wanted me to call customer service. I called customer service, but they were closed over the weekend, all while my car was still collecting interest. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I called customer service and provided account of how I am trying to pay my car off. The calls were all recorded for " quality assurance purposes. '' This was a quality assurance issue because their staff is giving me conflicting payoff amount numbers, accounts, and details regarding the status of my car I am trying to pay off. The call got escalated and I asked for them to find a recording of the XX/XX/XXXX conversation to confirm I was told wrong details. They would not give me any information that they had and instead just told me I was wrong. I am willing to own up to a mistake if I made one, but at this point, they kept telling me different stories and providing me different pay off amounts for different companies of a car i did not own and charging me fees to make a phone payment ( even though I have no other way to pay ). These phone calls are all recorded btw, and I wanted to confirm if the issue originated from me or customer service. They refused to validate any information and instead told me to pay. 

So later today ( XX/XX/15 ), I went through automated service to pay, and a customer service rep gave me yet another wrong payoff amount, and I asked for a corrected number. I made this payment because I dont want debt collectors to come after me for a payment I never needed to make. This would hurt my credit score. I asked for the fee to be waived and they waived it for what I hope is my final car payment. Overall, I think Hyundai Motor Finance might be employing shady business practices : Hyundai Motor Finance customer service reps and contractors kept giving me different and conflicting information, charging me fees for payment options I had no choice in determining, collecting interest on a car that I was trying to pay off but they wouldn't give me an online payment option even though I've been using that service with them for years. I was asking for transparency and information that could help me understand why I was being pushed through a labyrinth of incompetency, and they would not help provide any of the information they had on file and had informed me they had on file.

I wonder if this is an experience others have shared.

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