Consumer complaint received 2020-06-19
Company: BANK OF THE WEST
State: AZ
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Lease
Issue: Managing the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Billing problem

Complaint:
Bank of the West time line Account XXXX-XXXX. 
Forward : This complaint is regarding a car lease payment that was due on XX/XX/2020 to Bank of the West. All payments made to Bank of the West for this lease are made automatically from my XXXX XXXX checking account on or about the XX/XX/XXXX of the month. The form of these payments are EFTs ( Electronic Fund Transfer ) not paper checks. 
Bank of the West contends that the XX/XX/2020 payment was not received. I received notice in the mail of a late payment including applied late fees. I do not recall the date the notice came in the mail. My XXXX XXXX checking account statement indicates that it was. Also, XXXX XXXX provides a Proof of Payment document stating the payment was made which contains a tracking number. 
The following is a time line as best I can reconstruct of attempts to resolve this issue with Bank of the West. 

XX/XX/2020 After receiving a notice of late payment for XX/XX/2020 I contacted Bank of the West at the phone number provided XXXX on XX/XX/2020. I was instructed by a person names XXXX to send the Proof of Payment provided by XXXX XXXX to XXXX. Proof of Payment was sent on XX/XX/2020 shortly after the conclusion of the call to Bank of the West. Believing this would resolve the problem no further action was taken. 

XXXX I called Bank of the West to verify the problem had in fact been resolved. I was told that the Proof of Payment sent was insufficient. I was instructed to provide a Trace ID number. As a non-banker I did not know what a Trace ID number was. I contacted XXXX XXXX who told me Trace IDs are for paper checks and not EFTs. A case was opened at XXXX XXXX to resolve the Issue with Bank of the West. Case number XXXX. 
XX/XX/2020 After receiving another late payment notice from Bank of the West I contacted XXXX XXXX again. A conference call was held between myself, XXXX XXXX and Bank of the West. Bank of the West had been applying the next months payments to the previous month and applying late fees. XXXX XXXX faxed the requested information to Bank of the West using the provided number XXXX. The following is an excerpt from case number XXXX regarding the call with Bank of the West. Note the statement lists the default name on the account as XXXX who is my wife. The Account is a Trust. 
XX/XX/2020 Claim : XXXX Payee Name : BANK OF THE WEST LOANS Payment Amount : {$470.00} Payment Reference No : XXXX Schedule Date : XX/XX/2020 Dear XXXX XXXX : BANK OF THE WEST LOANS advised that this payment has not posted to your account. However, we have confirmed that this payment was sent with the correct payment information. Because BANK OF THE WEST LOANS confirmed that your payment information is correct, no changes are required. 

We have faxed proof of payment to BANK OF THE WEST LOANS at XXXX to the attention of XXXX XXXX with a request that your account be properly credited. 

BANK OF THE WEST LOANS has indicated that it can take them 3-4 business days to locate and post this payment to your account. You may wish to follow up with BANK OF THE WEST LOANS after the above timeframe to ensure that the payment has posted properly to your account. Our request to have your late fee waived was granted by BANK OF THE WEST LOANS. We have closed your claim at this time. If no error occurred, or if we found an error occurred in a manner or amount different than what you previously described to us, then you are entitled to request copies of the documents that we relied upon in making our determination. To request copies of the documents, please contact us using the method below, and have your claim number XXXX available. Any documents you request will be sent by US mail to the statement address for the funding account associated with this claim. If you have questions, or need further information about your claim, please call us Monday through Friday from XXXX XXXX. to XXXX XXXX. Pacific Time at XXXX. Thank you. We appreciate your business. Online Claims XXXX XXXX Approximately XX/XX/2020 I called Bank of the West to verify all was resolved. It was not. The Bank of the West representative recommended that I fax Proof of Payment and the XXXX bank statement. It was faxed that same day attention XXXX. 
Approximately XX/XX/2020 A follow up call to Bank of the West indicated the problem had been resolved. 
XX/XX/2020 Another conference call between myself, Bank of the West and XXXX XXXX following another late payment notice. The following is an excerpt from case number XXXX regarding the call with Bank of the West. 
XX/XX/2020 Claim : XXXX Payee Name : BANK OF THE WEST LOANS Payment Amount : {$470.00} Payment Reference No : XXXX Schedule Date : XX/XX/2020 Dear XXXX XXXX : BANK OF THE WEST LOANS advised that this payment has not posted to your account. However, we have confirmed that this payment was sent with the correct payment information. Because BANK OF THE WEST LOANS confirmed that your payment information is correct, no changes are required. We have faxed proof of payment to BANK OF THE WEST LOANS at XXXX to the attention of XXXX with a request that your account be properly credited. BANK OF THE WEST LOANS has indicated that it can take them 5 business days to locate and post this payment to your account. You may wish to follow up with BANK OF THE WEST LOANS after the above timeframe to ensure that the payment has posted properly to your account. Our request to have your {$70.00} late fee waived was granted by BANK OF THE WEST LOANS. On XX/XX/2020 to assist BANK OF THE WEST LOANS in locating this payment, we faxed proof of payment to them at XXXX to the attention of XXXX XXXX with a request that your account be properly credited. BANK OF THE WEST LOANS verified this payment was due on XX/XX/2020. We have closed your claim at this time. If no error occurred, or if we found an error occurred in a manner or amount different than what you previously described to us, then you are entitled to request copies of the documents that we relied upon in making our determination. To request copies of the documents, please contact us using the method below, and have your claim number XXXX available. Any documents you request will be sent by US mail to the statement address for the funding account associated with this claim. If you have questions, or need further information about your claim, please call us Monday through Friday from XXXX XXXX. to XXXX XXXX. Pacific Time at XXXX. Thank you. We appreciate your business. Online Claims XXXX XXXX XX/XX/2020 Another conference call between myself, Bank of the West and XXXX XXXX following another late payment notice. Documentation of all payments made to Bank of the West since the inception of the loan were faxed to Bank of the West. 
XX/XX/2020 Letter from Bank of the West threatening to impact my credit report. The second paragraph of the letter states. 
As a valued customer of Bank of the West, we are concerned that further delinquency on this account may negatively impact your credit rating. We may report information about your account to credit bureaus. Late payments, missed payments, or other defaults on your account may be reflected in your credit report.

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