Consumer complaint received 2017-11-30
Company: Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc.
State: CA
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Struggling to pay your loan
Sub-issue: Lender trying to repossess or disable the vehicle

Complaint:
On Monday, XXXX XXXX, my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX was towed by XXXX XXXX from my place of work. This is the third time this has happened and I have NEVER gotten a phone call, email, or snail mail warning me of any late or missed charges. Thinking that this was my fault, my wife and I called XXXX XXXX as soon as possible to settle the charges. We paid {$2000.00} on one transaction ( confirmation # XXXX ) and {$970.00} on the second transaction ( confirmation # XXXX ). We completed these transactions with XXXX on Monday evening, who told us that she would email our information over immediately so that we could get the car the next day. We were promised email confirmations, and we received no such confirmations. We also spoke with XXXX XXXX, who sympathized with our situation and offered to pay for the tow payment on behalf of the company. He claimed he put this as a note on our account. The next day, I called at XXXX PST as instructed to learn where my car had been towed. I was told that the paperwork was never emailed over and that I would have to wait. I called later that day and was told it was at three possible tow yards and could take up to 48 hours to be released. How is it that the company that took the car does not know where the car is? Finally, I discovered where it was. Upset with the situation, my wife called XXXX XXXX again, explained the situation to the customer service rep, and got transferred to a manager, XXXX. XXXX told her that the payments had not been made and that my money was now theirs, fees included. She asked him multiple times if our account would be cleared after this fiasco and he danced around the subject and refused to give her a straight answer. Again, how is it that the company will not tell me when my account will be balanced? I do not want this to happen again. XXXX then continued to tell her that they call me every day telling me that I am late, but, looking through our phone records, there are no such calls. We have never been warned of late payments. Finally, when I got my car back an hour ago at a tow lot in XXXX XXXX, I noticed the " check engine '' light is on, the shift makes noise, and my center console is broken. None of this was off before the car was towed. Also, when I got to the tow yard, I had to pay to have my car released, which is not what XXXX XXXX promised us on Monday. When I called to inquire as to why they did not do as promised, I spoke with another supervisor who told me that XXXX does not have the clearance to waive fees like that and that we were responsible for all payments. We feel cheated and lied to. We are responsible people ; my wife is a XXXX and I am a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. We have steady incomes and are able to make our payments. We are not asking for much. We just want the fees removed since this was obviously not our fault and we want a warning before such serious consequences happen. This has absolutely ruined our holiday and has put our lives on hold. ( Note : as of XXXX PST on Wednesday, XXXX XXXX, we have still not received ANY emails from XXXX XXXX nor any phone calls or any other communication with the company other than the phone calls we have made ).

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation