Consumer complaint received 2023-10-19
Company: Patrick K Willis Company Inc
State: TX
Product: Payday loan, title loan, personal loan, or advance loan
Sub-product: Title loan
Issue: Vehicle was damaged or destroyed the vehicle

Complaint:
Date : XX/XX/XXXX American Recovery Service Corporate XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX . XXXX XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, IN XXXX To Whom It May Concern, I was the recipient of a title loan with XXXX XXXX XXXX dated XX/XX/XXXX. The collateral was my XXXX XXXX. It was repossessed on XX/XX/XXXX, and I take full responsibility for that and provided XXXX XXXX with a cashiers check in the amount of XXXX XXXX on Monday, XX/XX/XXXX. I was given a blue sticky note and instructed to phone XXXX American Recovery Service and give them the last six digits of my VIN # to receive/recover my property. I did so and they gave me the name of the company, XXXX XXXX XXXX , XXXX, they hired/partner they fully vetted. I called them & took the first appointment available the next morning. 

On Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX, I, XXXX XXXX, had an appointment to go pick up my vehicle at XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX address is as follows- XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX., XXXX XXXX , TX , XXXX. I arrived and my key and drivers license was requested by the woman employee there. I gave her both. She went around the corner for a bit and came back and handed me back my license and told me to sign my name on her CELL phone. I asked what I was signing as it was a line on her CELL phone. She simply stated it was just so that she could bring my vehicle out of the locked gates. I took two witnesses with me that were by my side the entire time. One of them even said WHOA- what is she signing?. She again stated that it was just authorizing her to be able to drive my property out of the gates to me. She said shed pull the car out of the gate in about 2 minutes. Upon her driving through the gate that opened and parking it just beyond, we all immediately noticed damage to the drivers side and the front of the car. Both front and back bumpers were unattached and hanging off. Upon walking around my vehicle, there was NOT ONE SIDE that hadnt been hit/damaged. Both front and back bumpers were coming off as well as the front being hit by another vehicle or something like. The front was hit in three different places. The front of the car grill area and drivers side panel and left side panel and hood had been hit. One of the rims was deeply scratched. The underside of the drivers side door is all deeply scratched. The front panel on the passengers side above the tire is bent. There is a panel that covers the underside of vehicle, it is GONE. The drivers door is scratched as well as both doors on the passenger side. The back of the car has been hit and trunk all scratched up. The drivers side window now whistles and doesn't fully seal. We took photos of everything before moving the car an inch. The lady appeared very nervous ( she was the only one there ) said shed get me a damage form to fill out and I did. She made a copy and gave it to me. She said that the manager, XXXX, would be calling me that day, ASAP. I have NEVER ONCE heard a word from him or anyone representing XXXX XXXX XXXX even after sending many email and making phone calls. We also noticed that their vehicles they use to drive around and search for cars have illegal expired paper license plates and took photos. They use American Recovery Services program to detect license plates with cameras mounted on all four corners of the roof of the car. We've done some research about this particular company and they have a long history of forfeiting their right to do business in the State of Texas for lack of paying tax and then paying and being reinstated. XXXX XXXX from ARS tried to tell me that I gave information from the State of Texas for the wrong company and that this wasnt true. It certainly is true and it is the Secretary of the State of Texass information on XXXX, XXXX. This company that American Recovery Service hires/partners with, according to ARSs website is fully vetted by them and go so far as to say that they even go out and inspect each partners premises as well as state licensing and insurance. XXXX, XXXX is running an illegal Vehicle Storage Facility and this case is currently sitting in a prosecutors office in Texas. It would be interesting to find out if they shut down their operation during any of these times of " Forfeited Existence ''. They have many complaints filed, even one from a dealer. 
XXXX, XXXX has an F rating with the XXXX with ALL of the complaints unanswered. 

I drove my damaged vehicle directly over to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and left it overnight to get an estimate on the repairs. They said unfortunately, they see this type of damage from careless tow truck operators often. I came and picked it up the next day. To address and repair my car to its state before it fell in the hands of American Recovery Service & XXXX XXXX XXXX it is XXXX XXXX and that does not include a bent control arm that I discovered because the vehicle now has a loud clanking sound coming from the front drivers area or for the cracked windshield that is now a like about 3 feet long. The mechanic mentioned that often careless/unskilled tow truck operators will just strap to control arms or pull from wherever they want to. 

My next concern is that I opened the glovebox to get some of my personal items out and the entire glovebox compartment had been rummaged through, even separating the back cover away from the glove box ( this takes a bit of force ). Of course, I have personal property that is gone. These items are {$3200.00} $ w/o tax to replace. 

After not hearing from anyone for a week, I called XXXX XXXX, in the repossession department at XXXX XXXX XXXX. He sounded shocked & sincere in his apologies that this damage and theft had occurred. He said he would go up the chain at XXXX XXXX and get my situation addressed. At the end of week two of dealing with this, I was contacted by XXXX XXXX, from the Executive Office of Customer Care at XXXX XXXX XXXX. She took the information I provided & said that I would be receiving a call from someone at American Recovery Service, very soon, if not already. 

XXXX XXXX, Senior Vice President of Professional Standards for ARS, contacted me. He requested several items from me and my statement. I provided all items to him and he was to get in touch with XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX ). Third week rolls around. After several status requests from XXXX, I was told yesterday, Wednesday, XX/XX/XXXX, that of course, XXXX denies any/all damages to my vehicle and are not paying anything. However, they are offering for me to take my car to their peoples ' body shop to get an after-market rear bumper put on. They stated to XXXX, that they HANDED me all my personal property. She did not hand me ANYTHING but my drivers license back and HER CELL phone to initial BEFORE my property could be brought out ( keep this information in mind ). This is the information I am told after three weeks. XXXX sure did return calls from ARS. I was also told by my mechanic that the vehicle is not safe to drive with the bent control arm. So here it is, XXXX/Holiday season and we are basically without a safe vehicle to even drive. They ziptied my front headlight as best they could to make it stable and TAPED both bumpers on. 

Not only is XXXX, XXXX not taking responsibility, American Recovery Service will not take responsibility either. Essentially, they are taking the word of this unethical, criminal and reckless company. They are standing behind XXXX because they hired and vetted them. AMRs website goes into detail of how responsible their partners are and promise their clients that these repossessions will be handled with the utmost respect and caution. 

What I haven't mentioned yet is the FACT that XXXX, XXXX forged documents to appear as though I signed off on the following forms- FORMS ALL STATING THAT THERE IS NO DAMAGE TO MY PROPERTY, THAT ALL MY PERSONAL PROPERTY HAS BEEN GIVEN BACK AND THAT I HAD PERSONALLY INSPECTED YOUR PROPERTY & SIGNED OFF ON IT AS OK. I received an email with these forms all attached after I retrieved my vehicle. Now remember that she stated I had to sign her phone on a line with no print, for her to be able to bring my car out of the gate. Im assuming this is what they are forging though whatever the scratch is on these forms as my signature, is not my signature nor my initials. The handwriting of what they are saying is my name is the EXACT same handwriting as the signature of whoever signed as their agent. I fully believe they knew EXACTLY how bad they damaged my car and have tried to cover it up. There are NO photos of my car upon intake when I requested them ( and the form says there is ) and the vehicle report they attached is NOT even my vehicle! It's a NOT DAMAGED white jeep. 

This was now over 11.5 MONTHS later and HOURS, DAYS AND MONTHS of my time. I have been violated, its been implied that I am a liar, that Im trying to commit fraud and I am completely disgusted. This should never happen to any consumer. Anywhere, under any circumstance. 

I had a contract with XXXX XXXX XXXX that was met in full on XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX XXXX enlists/hires, American Recovery Service and has a contract to carry out business on their behalf, free from damaging property. ARS makes several public statements including, visit and review their partner companies office and storage locations ( XXXX 's ), regularly audit contracts. XXXX 's, licensing, insurance and bonds. ARS also states that it provides their clients, like XXXX XXXX, with reputable, compliance-oriented, top quality work. 

I am not taking XXXX 's offer to put a back bumper on my car. I don't want them anywhere near my car. 

I am asking that all parties get together and do the right thing. I have spent months of my time dealing with this travesty of justice. I have photos of everything. I have a clean vehicle report with no accidents on my vehicle. It was suggested by XXXX XXXX at ARS, that I caused the damage by accidents. Completely offensive. I have given the estimate from XXXX XXXX to repair the damage caused at the hands of XXXX, ARS & XXXX, as well as the amount to replace my personal property. I should be able to choose where I want my vehicle repaired, which is XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX. They have impeccable customer service and wonderful reviews for body damage repairs. 

I have two witness statements from the gentlemen friends that I took with me. I believe it's not that difficult to see who is not telling the truth but I am completely willing to take a polygraph. This damage and loss is a direct result of my property falling into the hands of XXXX, XXXX. I have provided every item of proof necessary and Im completely insulted, disgusted and the amount of emotional distress this has caused me is not measurable. 

Back in XXXX, I filed a police report with the city of XXXX XXXX, Texas, where XXXX, XXXX is located just outside of XXXX, TX. I have just recently sent all the forged documents and want XXXX and any other parties held accountable criminally for forgery, fraud, deceptive business practices & Securing Execution of Document By Deception. It is immediately apparent to the eye that the documents they are trying to use against me have been CREATED & forged. Ive also talked to the police department and its completely possible that wire fraud was committed as well for emailing these forged documents to not only myself but I am sure to American Recovery Service as well. There is no denying that ARS hired XXXX, XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation