Consumer complaint received 2022-07-21
Company: ALLY FINANCIAL INC.
State: OH
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: Their investigation did not fix an error on your report

Complaint:
This email and documentation is related to Ally Financial Account XXXX XXXX and the balance of {$320.00}. 

On Monday XX/XX/XXXX at XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, I returned our leased XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX at the XXXX XXXX. Our lease ended on XX/XX/XXXX with a mileage limit of XXXX miles. I returned our vehicle a day early and under the mileage limit. Unfortunately, when I returned the vehicle the employee took the keys but did not provide any paperwork. However, I took 2 photos of the van. One photo is a time-stamped picture of the vehicle in XXXX XXXX XXXX parking lot showing the date of return ( XX/XX/XXXX ). The other is an interior shot of the van from the parking lot showing the mileage of approximately XXXX miles, well below the XXXX limit. As far as I knew, everything was good and we moved on with a new lease. Much to our surprise, many months later a tow truck showed up at our house to repossess the van. Informing the driver that I returned the vehicle months prior to the dealership he drove to the dealership, where he located the van parked in the rear lot where an employee had left it. The key was found in the back of a desk by the Lease Manager who then tried to start the van. Due to it being left in the rear of the building for months it had a dead battery and some flat tires. The tow truck loaded it up and took it away. The Lease Manager, XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ), told me to contact him if we had any further issues regarding the van. I have given his name and number to Ally Financial on several occasions and even included him in a 3-way call with Ally once . 

Back in XXXX, I was finally able to get Ally to give me an itemized list of the charges. Most of it was charges for turning the van in late. Since we turned it in on time we refused to pay the late fee. We still do. However, part of the fee was an air compressor that they said was missing. Since we have no way of proving whether it was or was not in the van when we returned it, I told them I was willing to pay for the compressor. I was told that the cost was {$110.00} for the compressor + {$7.00} tax for a total of {$120.00}. I agreed to pay the amount and the agent transferred me to their finance department. Instead of transferring the call it got disconnected. On XX/XX/XXXX I spoke with yet another Ally agent and once again agreed to pay the {$120.00}. Again they transferred me to their finance department and, again, the line was disconnected. Additionally, I forwarded an email to them verifying that our insurance agent dropped the coverage of the vehicle on XX/XX/XXXX as well. 

Finally, I received a call from this collection agency and explained everything above. Again, I offered to pay the {$120.00} but was told by XXXX XXXX ( sp? ) that it wasn't enough so that's why I'm writing this letter. I'm still willing to pay the {$120.00} for the compressor since that was apparently missing. The remainder of the balance is for turning the vehicle in late so I'm not willing to pay anything towards that since I did, in fact, turn it in on time and have photographic proof, cancellation of insurance proof and agreement from the Lease Manager that this was 100 % their fault. I am not responsible for the car dealership not doing their job of returning the vehicle. As I mentioned previously, the Lease Manager is XXXX XXXX and he can be reached at XXXX. Feel free to call him if you'd like. 

For the compressor charge of {$120.00} I'm happy to send a check once I receive a bill for that exact amount and I'm absolved of any further inconvenience or charges especially the negative affect this has had on our otherwise stellar credit. Alternatively, I'm happy to pay that amount by credit card over the phone if someone would like to call me. 

ETA : No phone call or response has been received from Ally Financial and the negative report on our credit has taken our credit score down more than 100 points. At this point, I am hesitant to even pay for the compressor as we have no way of knowing if it was in the van or not. That was an offer of good faith on our part but Ally Financial has diminished our desire to offer this olive branch to a company that is actively ruining our credit when we are clearly the victims in this situation. Until I can have proof that our credit score is returned back to the 800 's, I am not willing to extend this concession to them.

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