Consumer complaint received 2022-06-28
Company: Mercedes Benz Financial Services
State: AZ
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Problems at the end of the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Unable to receive car title or other problem after the loan is paid off

Complaint:
I am writing in regards to a complaint regarding the business practices of mercedes benz financial services. I have been having a very difficult time with financing of my car ( purchasing my lease at the end of lease term ) because of incompetencies, delays in processing of my application, improper disclosure of information, and improper use of my personal information. This has resulted in me paying additional unnecessary fees for my lease ( late fees and multiple unnecessary lease extensions ), significant delay in as well as additional and unnecessary fees for temporary vehicle registration and extensions, significant delays in my ability to register my car and proper title in my state of residence, unnecessary fees for raising of interest rates secondary to severe delays/stalling of my application despite many attempts to contact them and confirm processing, they have improperly processed my information and application multiple times further compounding the aforementioned issues. I have spent countless hours on multiple phone calls over the last 4 monthsregarding this issue and it is still unable to be resolved. I am now at risk of not being able to renew my registration in my state because they are not following very standard procedures and are incorrectly filling out forms, failing to update information that I have sent to them multiple times, and failing to send me information and updates in a timely manner. Every time I call they do not have updated information and regularly provide me outdated and incorrect information regarding my application and status ( despite multiple prior phone calls to confirm legal updates have been made ). I have been told multiple times " it should be in process '' only to find either it has not been done, is significantly delayed, and/or has been done improperly. I have tried to escalate these issues multiple times without success and have reached the point where I no longer have the ability to resolve this issue. I do not feel XXXX is practicing appropriate, fair, or ethical business practices. As a professional I am confident in my ability to perform basic tasks such as filling out forms and and more than financially capable of handling payments in a timely manner but, because of their unethical business practices, I am unable to protect my own finances ( as the XXXX leasing agency is still calling me regarding lease extensions and late fees which places me at risk for collections and can potentially negatively affect my credit score ), I am unable to confidently ensure that I am able to follow state protocols regarding proper vehicle registration and car title transfer, my personal information is not being used in a safe or ethical manner by the business, and I will now have to pay significantly more in interest rate fees because of XXXXXXXX XXXX significant delays ( multiple times ) in processing of my applications. I can not imagine I am alone in this situation and am sure multiple other customers have had to deal with this as well resulting in fines, extra costs, delays in car registration and title transfer.No business should be able to practice this way. 

I appreciate your help in resolving this issue and ensuring that XXXX does not continue to mistreat its customers and practice poor and unethical business practices.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation