Consumer complaint received 2022-10-25
Company: HYUNDAI CAPITAL AMERICA
State: TX
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Investigation took more than 30 days

Complaint:
I purchase a new XXXX XXXX in XXXX of XXXX. I didnt receive my first bill in the mail and it was not clear when it was due. Kia finance called me and said I was a few days late. I asked if they could help me set up Auto Payments and if they could provide me with my Kia Finance account number. They said they could not because it was already a few days past, so their website wouldnt let me sign up for Autopayment. Literally their online payment portal is the only one I have ever experienced that doesnt allow you to bring your account current and setup autopayments at the same time. So I paid over the phone and by mail for the next couple months until I could finally log into their website and setup autopayments. 
I setup Autopayments on the phone with customer service person ~XXXX  of XXXX. However, I accidentally transposed XXXX digits when inputting the account number and didnt realize it. 
In XXXX I received a bill saying it was late, which didn't make sense since the Autopayments were set up. I called Kia Finance and spoke to a customer service rep, and we discovered the account number issue at that time. The Service rep then told me that since the account was late, I was locked out of the website and couldn't update my Autopayments. ( Which makes no sense ) So XXXX and ridiculous. 

I am laughing as a write this because this policy is almost comical. If you miss type your account number and don't catch it right away, the system locks you out because of " failed payments ''. You then can't ever correct this issue because you're locked out and the system just keeps trying the wrong account number over and over and over, which maintains the lockout. This is manipulative and arguably a terrible and discriminatory practice. 

Frustrated, I went to my bank and set up XXXX XXXX immediately. So Regions started Printing a check and mailing it to Kia finance starting in XXXX and has been doing so ever since. 

I tried to refinance my house in XXXX because I am going through a divorce, which is traumatic enough and XXXX XXXX says you have One ( 1 ) 30 day late in XXXX from Kia. It dropped my credit 80-100 points initially. I have not had a payment 30 days late in over a decade. I felt totally taken advantage of by Kia Finance. I called them first and tried to request they take it off since I had such a challenge with their systems getting the autopayments setup. This was denied and not even reviewed. I had to mail in by hard copy my request and they wouldnt even talk to me on the phone. 

I then went to the XXXX XXXX XXXX  and filed a complaint, Kia finance finally called me back and still treated me, their customer ( and a kia owner for 14 years ) like I was and enemy, was worthless and like there was nothing I could do. I got this weird feeling like Kia Finance wanted to punish me for struggling with their ridiculous online policies. These auto payment & Website lockout rules were not explained anywhere prior to signing there financing documents. Neither were they explained on their website, which makes this practice deceptive and arguable predatory. I would have never financed this car through Kia finance, if I knew of these policies beforehand. 

The funny thing was, is that even on my XXXX call with the Kia Finance Credit team, I was still locked out because the Autopay was still trying to run the wrong account every month. ( I couldnt get in to fix itlaughing at this fact ) The account had been current since I setup Bill Pay with Regions, but Kia 's online payment portal was still broken and locked still trying to run the wrong account. 

I again requested Kia remove the one ( 1 ) - 30 day late from my credit report because their system was ridiculously confusing, flawed, and the Autopayment system was clearly broken. They would not even entertain the idea, which makes no sense. Obviously, there was confusion, and their system was not functioning properly. So, because I transposed 2 digits by accident and then couldnt fix it, they dinged my credit. Does the CFPB encourage lenders to punish their customers? 

Had I just been late on purpose, or because there were not any funds in the account, I would understand. But if you pull the records & calls, from the beginning it was a challenge to setup the Autopayments. which is how I pay all my bills, well except Kia because of their weird system. 

I finally go so frustrated with this whole mess, I returned to the Dealer and spoke with the XXXX XXXX. His exact words were, Yeah Kia Finance is XXXX. This is not the first time I am hearing this. The people in that company are all siloed and they dont care about the customers. I can hardly get anyone to call me back. I can imagine your frustrated These are words out of the mouth of the General Manager of the largest Kia Dealer in XXXX XXXX XXXX. He said he would try to reach out on his end, but his rep is very unresponsive. I have not heard anything back from the XXXX yet. He did, however, offer to buy my car back from me. I sold it back and paid a small delta in XX/XX/XXXX, to be done with this company. Now the loan is closed and Paid in Full. The Dealer had to step in, because they felt guilty for how terrible Kia Finance treats their customers. This was my second car, and it was supposed to be helpful. Kia Finance turned this into a nightmare and ruined my 14-year customer relationship with the Kia brand. 

I just received a letter from Kia Finance stating : Its not within our policy to remove negative information solely as a courtesy This isnt a courtesy, their policies and weird protocol for their website and autopayments caused these issues and this was a mistake on Kias end. Hence their system was still trying to charge the wrong account for 6 months, and the website wouldnt let me login to fix it. Ridiculous I have never wasted so much time on problem with any company, but now its just on principle. If Kia finance is treating other customers this way, who will stand up for them. I am in contact with a law firm and will be filing suit if they dont make corrections to their policies and fix this credit reporting mistake on their end. 

Please help CFPB, Kia Finance wont listen, and they dont care about their customers. Even the Kia Dealers know this and openly state it. Please help fix this problem.

As I reflected on this more. I think Kia damages peoples credit on purpose, so when they buy their next kia they have lower credit and then Kia can charge higher interest rates. more profitable for them... Seems very predatory to me.

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