Consumer complaint received 2018-01-27
Company: MARINER FINANCE, LLC
State: OH
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan
Sub-product: Installment loan
Issue: Problem when making payments

Complaint:
Company communication practices are not fair. They only call you and do not send any information via mail. 
Mariner Finance sent me a mail communication with a live actual check that could be signed and cashed to get an installment loan with them. I followed the process and cashed the check in XXXX. I started receiving a business card in an envelope from Mariner Finance in XXXX, but nothing else. In late XXXX I finally received my account information. I signed up for their website and logged in to setup my recurring payment. At that time it showed that I was already late on my account but I had not gotten any information from them before the first payment was due. I then setup the payment to come out of my checking account monthly when the bill was due and logged out. In late XXXX, I received a letter from Mariner Finance stating that I was over 30 days late on my payment and that if the matter was not taken care of it would be turned over to any attorney. I again logged into my account to see what was going on and I found that my account number was entered in wrong. I immediately updated the account with the correct account information and a paid my account so is was now current. Then on XX/XX/2018 I checked my credit scores and saw that Mariner Finance reported my account as delinquent. I called the XXXX, OH office and talked to a rude associate that was no help that forwarded me to XXXX XXXX. XXXX stated that they had been trying to get ahold of me for months. I asked if they sent me a notification in the mail and she stated no, that is not corporate practice, that they only call customers. I explained to her that I have a company cell phone that I use and it blocks calls that are not in my contacts. She stated that this was my problem and the obligation was mine. I told her that my credit score had been damaged because of their inadequate processes. She stated that I needed to dispute it with the credit reporting agencies and it would be taken off. She also stated that she saw where I paid my account and it was current. I explained to her that this was because I received communication in the mail. I then asked her if the existing recurring payment would work due to the account information error. She stated yes. I watched my bank account and the charge never posted. So I went in and deleted the existing recurring payment and created another one and made a one time payment so my account was again not shown as past due. This company has created this issue with their poor communication practices. I pay my bils on time and feel that they are charging me late fees for something that was out of my control. 

On XX/XX/18, I received a call from XXXX XXXX stating that because my recurring payment online has been returned 3 times I can no longer use online payments to pay my bill. I now have to take a money order, cash, or certified check to a branch to pay my bill for 6 months. I explained to her that the reason the payment was returned was due to the account number entry error and the issue had been resolved. I even asked her on the phone in early XXXX if there was anything else I needed to do and she said no, my recurring payment was good to go. 
I explained to her that this was unacceptable and that I did not have time to drop off a payment at a branch and this was not my fault. She agreed and gave me her direct Supervisor 's phone number via email. I called XXXX XXXX and talked to him about the issue. XXXX was combative and unhelpful on the phone. He stated that the system says it sent out letter to me and that is all he could do at that time. He would review my account in 60 days to see if payments had been made to see if I could use online payments again. " Company policy '' is all I heard. I explained to him that I have never dealt with a company like Mariner and he just said the issue was my responsibility. 
Now, due to Mariner 's awful communication tactics, I have to take time to drive my payment to the branch and pay it. So they are making it even harder for their customer to pay their bill.

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