Consumer complaint received 2020-05-12
Company: BANK OF THE WEST
State: AZ
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Problems at the end of the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Problem with paying off the loan

Complaint:
I have sold my XXXX XXXX XXXX vehicle to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, I notified the lien holder Bank of the West prior to selling the vehicle and got a 10 day payoff. The vehicle was sold and I notified Bank of the West the final payoff was forthcoming from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. Bank of the West informed me that due to Covid-19 they are taking a week to 10 day to process payoffs once the funds are received from the dealership and if I did not make a payment they would report me to the credit bureau. I asked the rep from Bank of the West several times that even though Bank of the West received the full pay off prior to the payment being 30 days past due and because of the payment processing times at Bank of the West being 7 to 10 days due to Covid-19, I would be still be reported late to the credit bureau 's, the rep said yes. I requested to speak to a supervisor and was told that she could not transfer me to a supervisor because they were all working from home and that she would message her supervisor. The supervisor replied via messaging and again reiterated that they were going to report me to the credit bureau. 
I requested if I could have a 10 to 15 day extension on the payment date, so the sales transaction could be processed from the dealership where I sold the vehicle and due to the 7 to 10 days to processing time Bank of the West needs to post the payoff due to Covid-19 and was told NO! 

I then followed up with Bank of the West again today XX/XX/XXXX to see if they had received the payoff from XXXX XXXX XXXX, the rep on the phone said they did not see it but it is takin 7 to 10 days to process payments, I asked again for a 15 day extension so they could process the pay off and was told No. I asked to speak to a supervisor and he again confirmed that Bank of the West would report me late to the credit bureau if I did not make a payment to them by the 14th, he also confirmed that it is taking their payment processing center 7 to 10 days to process pay offs due to Covid-19. I again asked for an extension and he said not an option and said I make the payment or get reported late to the credit bureau. 

Bank of the West is harming consumers during this pandemic due to their slow transaction processing of payments because of their modified working environment. All of the people I have spoken to have all been working from home themselves yet they still are using intimidating collection activities to try and get additional monies out of consumers while they take an extended time to process pay offs of their loans. I have worked very hard on my credit and this organization has been very intimidating to me in their collection practices. I feel they are acting unfairly and I will be harmed by them for their 7 to 10 day delay in processing the pay off of my vehicle. Although they are all working from home they seem to be clueless to the impact that covid-19 has had on the day to day to day functions of the consumers they serve.

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