Consumer complaint received 2022-06-27
Company: General Motors Financial Company, Inc.
State: NY
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Lease
Issue: Problems at the end of the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Problem when attempting to purchase vehicle at the end of the lease

Complaint:
I contacted GM Financial back in XX/XX/2021 about the extension of my lease. Due to the pandemic, finding a vehicle was near impossible and waiting periods were anywhere from 6 months to a year, if not longer, to obtain a new vehicle. As this was the first lease I have ever taken I asked for all the details on how it works. I was ONLY told that I had to sign this agreement and it would allow me to extend my lease an additional 6 months. I signed and sent over the agreement on XX/XX/2021. I continued to make my payments over the next few months. I contacted them again a few months later as I was now considering buying out my lease and was informed of the residual balance. After I received the quote I asked why the balance had not gone down with the payments I had been making. They stated that the payments I was making were only to extened the lease and that the residual would remain the same. I read though all the documents and no where on them or on their website or in my lease agreement does it outline this detail. ( I have attached a copy of the lease extension for your reference ). 

I also did some seaching on my GM Financial online profile to see if I had somehow overlooked any lease extension documents. The only extension document I was able to find did not outline anywhere that the residual would remain the same. I have attached the list of documents on their website as well as a copy of the Payment Extensions Fact Sheet. 

Today, I called to obtain the payoff and for the process to buy out my lease. I was transferred multiple times and when I finally reached the correct department, I expressed my concern over the lack of detail regarding the residual and if there was any recourse. She informed me that there were 5 notices sent to me that outlined that the residual would remain the same and agreed to send me these notices via email. I advised that all my communciations from them were electronic and at no time did I receive the letter the representative was referencing. She then insisted that the documents were sent via regular mail and would not have been sent electronically as I had elected on my online profile. Once I was done speaking with her I asked to speak with someone to address my concerns. I waited nearly 20 minutes to be transferred and finally reached an individual to submit a formal complaint. My request was for GM to apply the funds I had paid over the past 6 months ( around {$2800.00} ) to my remaining balance ( residual balance ) as a way to rectify the issue. I had also advised her of the information the previous representative had told me, saying GM sent me 5 letters explaining the residual would remain the same. I was then informed that no such letters were ever sent. She advised that due to the XXXX XXXX and bookkeeping there was no way they could perform such a task but assured me she would escalate my complaint. I was on this call for over an hour ....

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation