Consumer complaint received 2023-08-22
Company: FORD MOTOR CREDIT CO.
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 XX/XX/XXXX I woke up and my truck was gone. I contacted FORD MOTOR CREDIT to inquire if they were able to locate it by the XXXX tracker and was informed by the representative that they had sent a third party XXXX XXXX to my address and it was repossessed overnight. I was then informed that in order to retrieve my truck I had to pay FORD MOTOR CREDIT {$2500.00} via XXXX XXXX ( which requires an additional fee of {$9.00} to be paid by myself. ) Or I could pay with my debit card however to do that I must send them a copy of my bank statement showing how much money I had in my account prior to making the payment to them and another copy showing how much I had in my account after making the payment to them, then I would have to wait until that payment was cleared before proceeding to retrieve my truck. In addition to the above stated money that was required, I was informed that must also pay {$15.00} vehicle repossession fee to XXXX XXXX POLICE DEPARTMENT although the police were not involved in the repossession, nor was my truck ever in the possession of the police department or any affiliate of the XXXX XXXX POLICE DEPARTMENT, and fax proof of payment of that fee to FORD MOTOR CREDIT. I was told that upon receipt of said fax, they would send the release to XXXX XXXX and at that time I could contact XXXX XXXX to make an appointment to pick up my truck. On XX/XX/XXXX I contacted XXXX in the REDEMPTION DEPARTMENT at FORD MOTOR CREDIT to confirm these are the steps I must do in order to retrieve my truck which was confirmed by her. I made the payment through XXXX XXXX and paid the fee to the XXXX XXXX POLICE DEPARTMENT and faxed all the proof of those payments as instructed. I was informed that they did not receive the information on that day after I did everything that they originally told me to do, On XX/XX/XXXX I re-faxed the information which they received and I was able to retrieve my truck from XXXX XXXX later that day at XXXX. In addition to that I was informed by FORD MOTOR CREDIT that I would immediately have my online access to my account restored so that I would be able to make my payments online as I had before since the start of the contract on XX/XX/XXXX. I was further informed that I could not have a late payment again otherwise my truck would be repossessed again. As of today XX/XX/XXXX I still do not have access to my account online. On XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX I contacted FORD MOTOR CREDIT because my online access has not been restored yet and my payment due date is XX/XX/XXXX. On both of these dates I was informed that although I did everything that they required me to do in order to retrieve my truck, my file is still in the redemption department and they don't know why. I was further told that my only option is to pay through XXXX XXXX again and that there's no one else I can speak to regarding this issue. On XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX the representatives I spoke to at FORD MOTOR CREDIT redemption department were very rude, spoke to me as if I'm nothing and hung up me. I'm being discriminated against because I did what was required in order to retrieve my truck and now my next payment is due tomorrow XX/XX/XXXX and FORD MOTOR CREDIT is not holding up their end of the agreement, further putting stress on me for fear of repossession again due to their deceptive statements to me over the phone and bully tactics. In addition to this issue I just reviewed my contract with FORD MOTOR CREDIT and discovered fraud because I gave them {$1900.00} down payment which was added to the total price of the vehicle instead of being subtracted.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief