Consumer complaint received 2020-11-23
Company: Upgrade, Inc.
State: OR
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments
Sub-issue: Problem during payment process

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX20 I made a payment on this account. It is an account that works as a line of credit, each draw will calculate a percentage of the payment. On XX/XX/XXXX20 the only posted balance and the only amount of payment that could be made was around {$2800.00}. This balance account for one advance from XXXX and would have paid that advance in full. When making the payment, the website and app both provide a disclosure that states " This payment goes towards existing payments due for previous transaction periods, but does not apply to transactions in your current transaction period. Transactions that occur in your current transaction period may increase your aggregate monthly payments. Payments made in excess of your current monthly payment may not satisfy your new aggregate monthly payment at which time you may be required to make a payment equal to your full aggregate monthly payment amount. '' The account DID have new draws from XXXX/XXXX/20, however this payment was within the current cycle and had not yet posted to the account. After receiving the payment on XX/XX/XXXX20 it was applied to the old draw balance from XX/XX/XXXX2020 and partially to the new draws that hadn't even posted yet. As a result, the monthly payment reflects that the original draw has not been paid off and has thus created a larger monthly installment amount. The attached statements also reflect a month in which no payment was due on that XX/XX/XXXX2020 draw. I have spoke with several people, including a complaints department and have been told that this has been escalated twice but the issue has not been rectified. At this point Upgrade needs to make this right. At the end of the day, the amount of interest paid is the same to this company, its a matter of the monthly payment being more affordable and aligned with the actual advances that should remain on the account. It is deceptive to have the terms of how a payment is applied posted on both their website and the app but the payment is applied differently in whatever manner they feel beneficial to their company. I was offered to apply for Covid assistance of hardship, which I find extremely offensive. Upgrade has made a transactional error, a deceptive payment banking practice and it is their responsibility to resolve this. This is not made right by requiring that a customer apply for financial assistance that could both hurt their banking relationship with Upgrade but also could impact their credit depending on the actions that they take in order to apply Covid assistance to the account. For the record, I am not having a financial hardship. This is a matter of principal and the fact that Upgrade has done wrong. My most recent conversation with XXXX XXXX, Team Lead, again explained that Upgrade will not do anything to rectify their wrongdoing. I have attached statements, you will even note on the XX/XX/XXXX20 statement that a payment amount was not due for the XX/XX/XXXX2020 draw.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation