Consumer complaint received 2019-11-21
Company: Conn's, Inc.
State: TX
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan
Sub-product: Installment loan
Issue: Problem when making payments

Complaint:
I should have known better than to purchase there when after submitting my application for financing, I received 7 sales calls from 7 different people. During the 2 days it took to decide on furniture to buy for my new apartment, I had 3 different sales people and 2 managers involved. I was happy to get the new furniture none the less and I was fine with what I thought the loan entailed. {$230.00} a month for 36 months. I make every payment on time, show them proof of renters insurance during this entire time, let them know when I moved etc. I'm down to 5 payments left having paid off over $ 7k on the loan. I am diagnosed with a terminal condition, nothing immediate but very life changing. I call them up and ask if I can defer a payment or two until the end of the loan as I'm trying to get my finances in order. The lady on the phone tells me that my account does not qualify deferment but she does have something that will help me out. Instead of {$230.00} a month, how does {$140.00} a month sound? Great I say. She says that they will just extend my contract another year. Then immediately she starts trying to rush me through the closing. I asked if I could put her on hold. Their so called help was to bury me for another year AND charge me almost 30 % interest on the same loan!! I hit the ceiling and asked for the supervisor. Finally after a brief banter, they agree to defer 2 payments till the end of the loan and just charge me the interest for those two months. Money situation hasn't gotten any better on my end, in fact it has gone from bad to very bad. It's time to make a payment towards my account. I check my credit and notice that during that deferment, they have flagged my account as 30 days late. I call them up and ask them what the deal is with the 30 days, I'm told that they have no record of that and that I should dispute it with the CA 's. I also let them know that I can't make the payment that is coming up in a few days in full. This is where I just sit down and wonder how on earth a company like this can stay in business. When I'm talking to one of the senior agents, he is reviewing my loan and says out loud that I see here you had the 12 months same as cash to begin with and then ... .. I stopped him and said excuse me, I had a 0 % interest loan for the first year if I would have paid it off in full by that 12 month period? Not one time was I ever told about this. I also never received the payment book that they said would be mailed out, I just went online and paid it every month. If you have ever been on their website there's a place to pay for your loan but no loan summary on what is still owed and what has been paid. If I would have added an extra $ 200+ a month to my payments in the first 12 months, I would have saved just over $ 4k in interest with my deferred payments and everything taken into account. If I would have jumped at their original offer of helping me out that would have added another {$1300.00} to their pockets. The agent agrees to let me defer one more payment. Then I don't hear anything no phone calls no emails no nothing. I finally reach out to them to see what the deal with my account is. I get a response back finally and it says this : Due to failure to make payment on your due date of XX/XX/2019 in the amount of {$380.00} your account is now in collections. Please call Conn 's at XXXX to discuss your options. Tell us what amount you can afford to pay each month and let us help you with options. This is absolutely absurd. How much money do they need to make off of one person. They have lied to me they have cheated me and they continue to do so. The 30 day late payment is STILL on my credit report and it shouldn't be. I have never been late with a payment to them and they are treating me like I am some kinda of thief. I called them to let them know of my situation, I have been proactive with this account instead of hiding somewhere under a rock. The last guy asked me what exactly I wanted out of this. I told him that they had already gotten their money out of this many times over and that I'm struggling individual here. I have no job and no income, I'm trying to get on government XXXX now but that is taking longer than I'd like. I'd like to this account to be closed and all negative marks associated with it removed. This month, XXXX the account would have been paid in full and that's what I want it to reflect. I wouldn't be so mad about this situation but when I reach out for help several times, each time they have put me further back into debt.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation