Consumer complaint received 2018-03-20
Company: ALLY FINANCIAL INC.
State: AL
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Billing problem

Complaint:
In XX/XX/XXXX we were approved for a holiday payment extension to defer one months payment to the end of our original loan. The extension plan split XX/XX/XXXX 's monthly payment of {$400.00} over two months. XX/XX/XXXX's modified payment of {$120.00} was paid by the due date of XX/XX/XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX 's modified payment of {$280.00} was paid by the due date of XX/XX/XXXX. The regular payment schedule took back over in XX/XX/XXXX and the amount of {$400.00} was paid by the due date of XX/XX/XXXX. Although the extension payments were paid as directed and on time, it appears that the Ally system is not applying the payments correctly. Beginning in lateXXXXXX/XX/XXXX/ early-XX/XX/XXXXI began receiving collection calls for past due payment. I called and spoke with customer service on XX/XX/XXXX ( XXXX ) and she stated that it appeared that the extension was not correctly reflected in our account which was causing the issue -- it would be 2 or 3 days for a follow-up. I never heard back from customer services so I called again on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke with XXXX ( male ) in collections. My calls were automatically being redirected to collections even though I was attempting to contact customer service. Each attempt to contact customer service would require multiple redirects over a period of 45mins sometimes. On XX/XX/XXXX I was eventually sent to XXXX in customer service where she forwarded me to a supervisor on the customer solutions team, XXXX. XXXX logged my issue under reference # XXXX. She stated that the issue was with the extension and that she would waive any late fees that had already been applied to the account. XXXX would have the extension team review my issue and get back to me. I told her that I have been receiving collection calls daily that had become harassing. She put a note on my account for collections to stop calling. On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX I called XXXX to contact someone on my issue. I was auto-redirected to collections and spoke with XXXX. After explaining my issue and that I needed a managers assistance I waited on hold for 15mins before connecting with XXXX, a collections supervisor. She confirmed some of the same information that XXXX had previously told me -- that the extension needed to be reprocessed and she would follow-up with the extension department. She confirmed that as of XX/XX/XXXX that no reports had been sent to the credit bureaus. She suggested I wait and check back in five days. I asked to be transferred to a supervisor in customer service. At XXXX I was connected with XXXX XXXX He admits that Ally is having problems with the extension and apologizes. Over the next XXXX or so I was placed on a series of holds until I was assured that my issue was a top priority and would be handled immediately. I was promised a call back within 24-48hr with a resolution. This call ended at XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I was also in contact with the Ally Fraud Hotline ( Executive Customer Relations ) at XXXX. A fraud report was filed with XXXX under case # XXXX and they were going to send an update to Ally to get a resolution for the next day. I hadnt heard back from Ally by XX/XX/XXXX so I called Executive Customer Relations and spoke with XXXX to inform her that I hadnt spoken with anyone yet. We had also noticed that during that time our Ally online account portal had changed and we could no longer access any of our account information. At login I received a No Active Vehicle message. XXXX stated that she had not received a message yet from Ally and suggested I called them directly. I called Ally customer service at XXXX at XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and was redirected to collections where I spoke with XXXX . XXXX  forwarded me to customer service at my request. When I connected with someone there I immediately asked for a manager. I was placed on a series of hold for the next 10mins until I reached XXXX on the customer solutions team. I told her about our online account problems and she said that our account was on hold because they were working on the reapplication of payments in an effort to correct my account. She advised that it would be a couple days before my account was again accessible. On XX/XX/XXXX I called Ally customer service at XXXX at XXXX and was redirected to collections. After a series of redirects and holds I finally reached a representative in customer service at XXXX. I immediately asked to speak with a manager and I was connected with XXXX XXXX at XXXX, a supervisor in collections. He stated that I was the third person in that same day to reach him on this issue. He gave me his direct line and said he would be handling my issue from here on out. He assured me he would take care of it asap. I called the Ethics hotline ( executive customer relations ) to give them an update on our case. I spoke with XXXX and she confirmed that they never heard back from Ally regarding the XX/XX/XXXX request. She also said that now that a supervisor/manager was involved that they could not assist any longer. On XX/XX/XXXX it appeared that our issue had been resolved. Online portal showed a current and accurate balance with no past due payments. On XX/XX/XXXX we went online to pay our bill and noticed that the online portal was again incorrect it showed a past due balance and additional fees. That day we also received a letter in the mail dated XX/XX/XXXX stating that our account was past due and an amount of {$3700.00} was due now. I called and spoke with XXXX that morning, XX/XX/XXXX, he said to disregard the letter and to go ahead and make the online payment. We submitted the regular monthly payment of {$400.00} on the due date of XX/XX/XXXX. None of our payments have been delinquent. XXXX said that he was actively working on our issue and that it should be resolved soon. On XX/XX/XXXX our account was still showing as past due for {$520.00}. On XX/XX/XXXX we received a letter in the mail dated XX/XX/XXXX for a notice of report of negative credit information. I called and left a voicemail for XXXX at XXXX and again at XXXX. I left two more messages for XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. I left another message for XXXX at XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX then immediately called customer service. I was rerouted and redirected numerous times including to a XXXX speaking representative, XXXX. XXXX sent me to her supervisor, XXXX XXXX, who was eventually able to connect me with XXXX. XXXX stated he had been working on my issue and that he had in fact sent an email on my behalf to his internal teams at XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX asking for resolution but had not received a response. I informed XXXX of the letter of negative credit report. He said that he doesnt see that anything has been sent to the credit bureaus on his end if a report was made it had already been reversed. I asked for a written letter of good standing as well as rapid rescore to update my credit report. As of XX/XX/XXXX, my credit score was down 70 points from XXXX. Prior to this my credit score had always remained about the same and only wavered a couple points here or there but never as much as 70! XXXX stated that the issue is with the online payment portal. XXXX stated that he is putting a rush on it to get the payments reversed and reapplied. Then he will have a letter sent. He would be off the next day but if any headway was made while he was out his colleague, XXXX XXXX would contact me. XXXX called me on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX. He stated that the payment posting seems to be fine and that the issue is actually with how the extension was applied. He said he had a call into the extension team with a 48hr turn around. On XXXX I received a letter from Ally stating that they may discontinue my contact due to unpaid payments of {$520.00}. I called XXXX at XXXX and he said he did see where that letter went out and that I can disregard it. I asked again for a letter of good standing and he said he was unable to do that himself but would put in a request to the credit dispute team to put something in writing. We hung up with him stating that he was calling the credit dispute team right away. This issue has been on-going for three months with no resolution in site. Ive received notification that my credit would be affected but we have always made the appropriate payments on time. Ally verbally confirms that my account is in good standing and that we have made payments as they have been outlined in our agreement and that the issue is on Allys side.

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 non-monetary relief