Consumer complaint received 2017-06-05
Company: ALLY FINANCIAL INC.
State: NY
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Billing problem

Complaint:
On XXXX XXXX XXXX I contacted Ally Financial to inquire about a {$450.00} payment I was planning to make the next day ( X/X/17 ) towards my minimum monthly payment of {$440.00} which was due X/XX/17. I advised the representative I would be paying {$450.00} on Friday, XXXX XXXX XXXX which was to be applied toward my minimum monthly payment. I also advised the representative that I was considering making an additional payment of {$300.00} on top of the {$450.00} I would be paying for my monthly payment, which was to be applied directly to the principal- I did not ever say that I would definitely be doing this, in fact I specifically requested that they not take any of the {$450.00} I was paying on X/X/17 to be applied to the principal. I was told that the {$450.00} would go towards my minimum monthly payment due on X/XX/17 and that if I still wanted to pay the extra {$300.00}, that I needed to wait another day until Saturday X/X/17 to pay the additional {$300.00}, in order to guarantee it would be applied towards the principal. I was advised that if I did not call to make the extra payment, there would be no negative consequences or expectations set, and that my {$450.00} which we agreed was to be paid on X/X/17 would be applied 100 % to my minimum monthly payment for the month of XXXX regardless. I did not call to make the additional payment of {$300.00} on Saturday, XXXX XXXX, leaving the only payment that they received in the month of XXXX being for {$450.00} on XXXX. Instead of correctly notating the account, they misapplied may payment for {$450.00} on XXXX and applied {$300.00} of it to the principal, leaving only {$150.00} of my payment going towards my minimum monthly payment. I was advised that this payment was going to be applied directly towards my minimum monthly payment due on XXXX several times, and spent a great amount of time assuring that if anything was to be applied towards the principal, it would be an additional payment of {$300.00} ( on top of the {$450.00} ) and it would be paid X/X/17. I was guaranteed that, if I should make be able to make it, only a payment made for {$300.00} on XXXX would be applied to the principal balance, and that my payment of {$450.00} from X/X/17 would not be applied toward the principal whatsoever.
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I contacted Ally today ( X/X/17 ) after I received the notification in the mail that their system reflected the unpaid balance. After almost an hour, I had spoken with a representative by the name of " XXXX '', who falsely identified herself as a supervisor. I specifically requested several times that the previous representative transfer me to a manager directly, and no one else. I came to find out, that XXXX was not in fact a supervisor or a member of management at all. I would be remiss if I failed to mention the fact that this is a common occurrence when dealing with Ally Auto Financial 's customer service department, as I have had several conversations in which I was lied to directly about who I was speaking with, whether or not my account had been properly documented, etc. I have even filed a complaint with the CFPB ( # XXXX ) in XXXX against Ally for another conversation in which a representative incorrectly advised me that my credit report could be updated to reflect a payment that was only 28 days past due.
By the end of my call with XXXX, I was not given any time frame whatsoever as to when Ally would correctly reapply my {$450.00} payment from X/X/17 which they incorrectly applied to the principal balance of my loan. I was told that it may not be applied correctly before X/XX/17, at which point it will be reported on my Credit Bureau Report as being 30 days past due, which is simply unfair and unacceptable. Furthermore, when I called back and specifically requested to speak with a manager directly, I was yet again transferred to another agent that was not a member of management whatsoever, by the name of XXXX, ID # : XXXX.
I expect, at the very least, the removal of any late payments or charges associated with misapplied, damages for the sheer amount of time I have spent dealing with Ally Financial and their abysmal, unfair, deceitful customer service and collection practices, and a sincere written apology for the amount of emotional stress and hardship they have caused me ever since I first became their customer in XXXX.

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