Consumer complaint received 2021-08-02
Company: PNC Bank N.A.
State: OR
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Problems at the end of the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Unable to receive car title or other problem after the loan is paid off

Complaint:
I have been trying to register my vehicle in the state of Oregon since XXXX of 2020. As I was moving from a different state, part of the process requires my lienholder to fill out part of the paperwork. I went to my local DMV and filled out all the paperwork to the extent required by me. Talking with the DMV staff, they said the rest of the paperwork must be filled about by the lienholder and then returned to the Oregon DMV w/ all parts in order to be complete ( paperwork, registration fee, certificate of title, etc ). If not, it would be returned to me.

I reached out to my lienholder ( BBVA ) via phone and their customer service representative stated I should mail the forms to their location at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, AL XXXX ; which I promptly did. On XX/XX/2020 I received a call from a " XXXX '' at the branch stating she had received my paperwork but was unsure of what to do with the the paperwork. I call her back and leave a message. About a week passes and I haven't heard anything so I call her again and leave another message trying to work out whatever details need to be addressed. Still nothing. I continue to call and leave message about every 1-2 weeks until about XXXX. That paperwork, and my ~ {$300.00} dollar money order ( the registration fee intended for the DMV ) I have never seen again since mailing it out. With many aspects of normal daily life being modified due to the pandemic around this time, I chalk up the lack of response to be a consequence of that and try other avenues. 

I call customer service in XXXX inquiring about my missing paperwork and money order and how to proceed. The ask for details of where I sent it and who I spoke to, to which I provide all that information. I even call the branch itself where my paperwork supposedly is, but no answers. All the lines at the time indicated the branch wasn't open. This agent states they will open a case into my situation and contact me again with any information.

Time passes and I am never emailed or called with any updates. I then call customer service in late XXXX of 2020 once again asking about updates. Sometimes the agent I speaks to states they " see '' my case in their records, others respond with total befuddlement regarding my inquiries. To this day I have never received a phone-call or email regarding any of the " cases '' purportedly opened on my behalf regarding my missing paperwork and money order. 

In XX/XX/2020 I try again, this time just trying to salvage getting the money order returned to me at least. I don't even care if we start the whole process over at this point, I just would like to not be out {$300.00}. Still nothing fruitful comes from my calls to them, just more " we'll get back to you ''. The assistance the customer service tries to offer seems well-meaning, but in the 30+ times I've reached out to them it has never proven useful in any way.

Here we are now 17 months since this saga began and my vehicle still is not registered in Oregon. I have once again tried to restart this process of getting it registered. I call them again today and ask who do I send my Oregon DMV paperwork to in order to get my title transferred and vehicle registered in another state. The first phone call today I am put on hold while they get the information I need. The person comes back from the hold and says " hi are you there '', and I respond yes. They then just barely proceed to answer and the call goes silent and my phone says " call has ended '', and I can assure you I didn't hang up. 

I call back immediately and now am speaking with a new person. I again ask about transferring my title and registering my vehicle. They ask " so you wish to transfer money? ", which no I did not. I clarify and they transfer me to someone in the loan department. This individual gives me a fax number to send the paperwork to. I then ask is there anyone to speak to about this or how is anyone in that department supposed to communicate back with me after I send the paperwork. I ask these questions not to be difficult but to make sure this is done correct as the whole underlying problem last time was that my paperwork " appeared incomplete '' and they didn't know what to do. Anyway, this representative doesn't really have an answer to these questions anyway and just restates that's the department 's fax number and our call concludes. 

Unfortunately, I don't make the rules and the entire packet needs to be mailed and not faxed. A search I did soon after the call also reveals this fax number seems to be the same building I originally sent this all to a year and half ago. The place the has never returned a single call of mine nor I was ever able to get a hold of anytime that original voicemail from XX/XX/2020. 

All in all, I never seem to get a straight or clear answer when talking with BBVA customer service. I presumably am not the first person with a car loan through them who has had to register a vehicle in another state. Yet every interaction on this nightmarish odyssey would suggest I am. I have scoured their website looking for info regarding this process who to contact about it but there is nothing. I wish certain facets of this process were easier, some of which aren't within BBVA 's control either. But for the seemingly limited and easy part they are supposed to play, I can't get any consistent help from them. First with finding and completing the original paperwork I sent, and then later with trying to do this process again.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation