Consumer complaint received 2017-09-04
Company: Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc.
State: VA
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Struggling to pay your loan
Sub-issue: Lender trying to repossess or disable the vehicle

Complaint:
On Wednesday XX/XX/XXXX my car was repossessed by Santander Consumer USA. I called Santander at approximately XXXX and asked a male customer service representative " if he can assist in telling me how I can get my car back? '' He told me " in order to get my car back I have to pay Santander {$1500.00} plus repo fee of {$380.00} and pay the towing company {$150.00} or however much they charge for storage fee to get the car off their Lott. '' I asked him " if I have 30 days to pay the above amount? '' He said " no I have 10 days in which they have to hold the car on the tow yard to give customers time to pay the amount due so they can get their car back. Then if I do n't pay after 10 days the car will go to auction with no chance of redeeming it. '' He then asked me " if I could pay the {$1500.00} in that amount of time 10 days starting on XX/XX/XXXX? '' I said " no but I did send a check in to them for {$400.00} already but they must have not gotten it yet. '' He said " actually yes I do see we have a received a check her but for some reason we have not processed it yet. Well since we have that check and just waiting on processing can you make an additional payment to add onto the check? '' I said " I can make another {$400.00} payment to Santander to add on to the {$400.00} check they already had processing. '' He said " I have until Friday to make that additional {$400.00} payment by XXXX XXXX and he is forwarding over a hold to release my vehicle to the towing company and vendor. If I they do n't get the additional {$400.00} by Friday it will be free for the vendor to pick it up for auction. '' Then he asked " if You like I can forward the repo fees to your next bill so when You go pick up your car from the towing yard it you do n't have to pay them then. '' I said " yes thank you anything will help right now and is it ok if I call them back to make a payment by debit card so they can get it processed as soon as possible? '' He says " yes as long as the debit card is in your name. '' Okay so we agreed on that he gave me the vendor number as XXXX and the name as XXXX XXXX XXXX and I can call them to get info on what towing yard have the car, where to pick it up after I make that debit card payment. 

I immediately go on my banking app to transfer an additional {$400.00} into my checking and called Santander Comsumer automated payment service they have through XXXX XXXX got confirmation number. I checked my checking account balance about an half hour afterwards and see the payment did take. I did notice that they did not cash my previous check for {$400.00} I had sent in and they claim they had but have n't processed yet. I wait until that afternoon ( XXXX ) to call the XXXX XXXX number Santander gave me to confirm that they did receive a hold the representative put in and to find out what towing yard they have the car parked so I can pick it up. someone will answer ask if I 'm calling to redeem then transfer me to an answer machine where I had to leave name number and VIN before someone can talk to me. I did this twice but nobody called me back. When I called the third time before the woman transferred me I asked her if she can just tell me the tow yard info and if they have the notification that Santander put through to hold the car until at least Friday for pick up at the tow yard? She asked for VIN to look up the information for me. She then tells me the car is located at XXXX XXXX XXXX it is still on their yard and they do not see anything from Santander about holding the vehicle there but to call XXXX XXXX XXXX and ask them because XXXX XXXX XXXX can see everything vendors do about holds and releases Santander might put out. 
I call XXXX XXXX XXXX right after hanging up with XXXX XXXX. I asked the lady that answered " if they have my car? '' She says " yes but she does n't see notice of a release from Santander or the vendor so to just call back Santander ask why not. Also the car is going to be prepared sent to auction on Friday. '' I then called Santander Constumer service back ( XXXX est ) and this time it is a woman agent. I asked " why have you not sent over a hold or release to the vendor or towing company when I already made another payment by debt card that went through and you have a {$400.00} check in your procession? '' She said " there 's no hold sent form them and will not be until the check they have is processed and the customer service agent I talked to before should have told me that when we made the previous arrangement. '' " In order to get us to send over a release or hold of the vehicle today you will have to call your bank, get them to fax over a statement saying you have the money in your checking account to clear the check. '' I said " well I 'm trying to get a release sent over from your company as soon as possible because I do n't want to pay additional fees added from the towing yard each day. Plus I do n't want it to be sent to auction which they said it will be prepared for on Friday. '' " How about if I pay by credit card now the {$400.00} that the check is stated for and then I just call my bank to cancel the check y'all have not processed yet. '' She tells me " they are not supposed to prep the car for auction it have to sit for 10 days and if payment is not made then it is sent off to auction. " " but let me put you on hold to talk to my manager and see what he says to do about the check payment. '' After having me on hold for a while she came back on apologize for the wait and tells me " I talked to the manager and since we see you have already made a payment on credit card for {$400.00} earlier they are just going to wait on the check to process and go ahead and put the release through to the vendor right now. " " I 'm typing it in the computer now but give them about 24 hours to recieve it. " " you should definitely be back in your car by Friday if not Thursday ( tomorrow ) and congratulations on being only 9 payments away from paying off the car on a 72 payment loan. '' I say thank you and we end the call. at this time it is already closing time for the towing ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) and vendor ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) companies for today. So I wait until next day to proceed. 

Thursday XX/XX/XXXX I call XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX est. ) to see if they got the release Santander told me they sent out yesterday. The lady I talked to says " I see no release from Santander or XXXX which is the vendor and lean holder they go through. " " call Santander back And you can call XXXX the number is XXXX '' I call the number they gave me for XXXX but it dials as a wrong number which could have been my mistake. I decide to call Santander instead to talk to a customer service agent again. Male representative answers I asked him why there 's no release sent over yet when I was told twice yesterday that a release was being sent over.? He says with attitude " you 're going to have to pay more than {$400.00} to get your car released. '' I said " I sent a check for {$400.00} through mail before the car was repoed. The two previous representatives I talked to yesterday said they see the check is there but just waiting to be processed but is putting the release through anyway. '' He says with attitude " there is no way a customer service representative told you that because it 's impossible for anyone there to see whether or not a check is received. '' I say " so why I lied to by two Santander employees yesterday because they told me the check is in the company 's possession and received by Wednesday the XXXX but for some reason not processed yet? How can I then come to an agreement with Santander to just pay an additional {$400.00} by debit card to get a release on the vehicle instead of paying the full {$1500.00} I originally had to pay? '' He then said " ok hold on let me read the notes the left on your account and let me talk to my manager. '' He puts me on hold for a long time and comes back on the line and says " sorry for the long wait but I do see the check that we have received but it 's still processing. I have talked to the manager and we will send over the release now while on the phone with you. All you have to do is be on recording agreeing to make your monthly payments from XXXX thru XXXX on time. If you agree to do that we will send over the release right now ( approximately XXXX XXXX est. ) it might take 45 minutes to an hour for the vendor to see it though. We will also waive your XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX payments so your account will be up to date with your XXXX bill. If I agree let me know so we can start recording the statement. '' I agree to the terms to pay on time for my last payments for XX/XX/XXXXthrough XX/XX/XXXX on recording. I had to verify my name, address, phone, and SS number. After we finished the recorded statement he says " okay your account is now up to date as of XXXX and I put your release through already. Call our vendor XXXX at XXXX. You do n't have to pay any fees when you go pick up your car. '' I then realized and I 'm not sure why Santander gave me XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX number as their vendor number on our first conversation together and this must have been the number I mistakenly dialed yesterday XXXX XXXX XXXX gave me as the vendor they go through. 
I wait until 35-40 minutes later same day Thursday approximately XXXX est. ) tried my luck and just called XXXX XXXX XXXX to ask if they received a release yet but they said no call back tomorrow they open XXXX XXXX est. 

Friday XX/XX/XXXX XXXX est. 
I call XXXX first to see if they got the release from Santander yet. XXXX female representative says no release was ever sent to them from Santander since Wednesday. She advised me to call Santander Consumer back and instead of talking to a customer service representative ask to talk to the redemption manager only. That the customer service reps only can send an email to their own redemption department. Santander 's redemption department then have to send the release to the vendors in able for the vehicle to be back in my possession. the redemption department at Santander is the hold up because they 're slow opening their emails. I need to take up concern with them. So I thank her for finally giving me an honest answer and told her I had know Idea Santander had a redemption department I can even talk to. 
I hang up with her and immediately call Santander Consumer back had to press " 6 '' to talk to a customer representative like I have been doing all this time because they do n't even have redemption department on their directory. When the customer service rep come on the phone I ask to transfer me to the redemption department manager. After being put on hold a male redemption agent named XXXX? ( he mumbled ) answered. I asked him if he was the redemption department manager? He says " no '' I asked to talk to the manager instead.? He asked " why do You need to talk to the manager instead? '' I just asked again to please transfer me and he puts me on hold. A Man answer says he is the manager. I asked for his first and last name. He says " XXXX XXXX '' ( sp? ) I then proceed to tell him about the conversations I had with previous customer service representative yesterday evening and how he along with the other representatives I 've spoken to by Wednesday all told me about putting in a release but it has infact never been done. So why Santander lied to me on numerous occasions.? He apologizes and says he is sending over the release himself as of now I should be able to pick up my vehicle and for the trouble he will credit my account {$50.00}. 

At XXXX XXXX est. same day Friday XX/XX/XXXX I go to XXXX XXXX XXXX where I was told from Wednesday my vehicle has been from the vendors. When I got there and said I was there to pick up my vehicle to the woman at the front desk. She asked me for my info so she can look it up. She then turned to me and says Santander or the vendor has n't sent over a release. I can not get my vehicle. 
I then start calling Santander back because I 'm tired of being lied to and misled to what is going on with my vehicle and personal property. Before I can get through to a customer service rep at Santander, the receptionist at XXXX XXXX XXXX says " never mind Santander just sent the release over. '' She Brings me 2 papers to sign saying they are releasing the property and car over to me. She also ask for my Drivers License and car keys so they can drive the  car around and put the personal property they cleaned out of my car back in because they were preparing it to be sent to auction. I have her the keys and she gave the keys to a male employee. He proceeds to wak in the back while I 'm finishing signing the release paperwork. After photo copying my ID and paperwork, handing me one plastic XXXX bag of personal property the receptionist told me they will drive my car to the front. I go outside to wait for the car when a XXXX XXXX XXXX employee driving a golf cart with the remainder of my personal property on it comes up to me and says " here 's your property take it. '' I 'm really confused and said to him " I 'm waiting on someone to drive my car around. '' He then says " you 're car is n't here it 's in Maryland at the auction they already got it. '' I 'm livid and go back inside to talk to the owner of XXXX XXXX XXXX. I wanted to know why they had me sign a form that the vehicle is released to me and misled me by asking for my keys so they can drive my car around if all this time the car was n't even there.? Also why would they tell me I have to wait until they get a release from Santander to pick up my car if it 's already down at the auction in Maryland? 
My relitive and I go to ask The owner of XXXX XXXX XXXX  for his liscence, any paperwork he had stating when the car was picked up to go to auction? It was my understanding that the car will have to sit on the towing lot in XXXX, va for 10 days before being sent to be auction off. The Owner of XXXX XXXX says XXXX XXXX XXXX came and got the car at XXXX est from their yard ( in XXXX va ) and towed it to their yard in XXXX XXXX Maryland . He Ca n't really tell me anything else about it I should take it up with Santander and an employee brought me out two copied pieces of paper with the dates they had the car and when it was released to auction. 
When I got home that evening ( XXXXest ) I took a closer look at the documents XXXX XXXX XXXX gave me and they are obviously tampered with with dates crossed out, conflicting auction pick up dates and names that are whited out where it was supposed to be an authorized release to the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

Saturday XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX est I call XXXX XXXX XXXX in Maryland at a new ( direct ) number XXXX XXXX XXXX gave me to call yesterday. XXXX. They are closed until Monday XXXX est. 
I call Santander Consumer at XXXX est. customer service rep answers I ask to be transferred to the redemption department? They put me on hold twice and then someone hangs up on me. The customer service rep then apologize and told me they hung up but hold on the line he will transfer me again. I hear someone pick up then hang up the call all together. I call Santander again a different agent answer I told her I 'm trying to reach the redemption department but got hung up on twice. She tells me she will transfer me but the phone just rings 15 min straight. Customer service gets back on the line says she think they already left for the day but they 're open XXXX ct on Saturday to call back later. 

Same day Saturday XXXX it 's XXXX est. I call Santander back ask to transfer to redemption department again they let it ring 15 min straight no answer until customer service rep comes back on The line asking why do I need to talk to the redemption department? I told him I need info on the whereabouts of my vehicle. I need someone to explain to me what I 'm I getti the run around being told different things by Santander and their vendors since we made arrangements Wednesday morning in getting me back into my car by Friday? Why is it that my car is at auction in Maryland already when they already took both my payments by debit card for {$400.00} on Wednesday the XXXX and check for {$400.00} that they had but cleared on finally on Friday? 
He then tells me " he ca n't talk to me or give me any answers to my questions at this time. I will have to wait until redemption department call me back when they are in office but they are obligated to return my call by today before they close. '' I asked him why they will not answer my call if they are stated to be open XXXX ct now? He just says " I do n't know '' They never return my call. 

Monday XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX est I call Santander asked to be transferred to redemption department they have me on hold waiting for the phone to be answered for 17 minutes. A lady with an attitude finally answer I immediately ask to talk to her department manager. She says " I have many managers '' with attitude. I asked " can I speak to XXXX XXXX XXXX? '' She says " that 's my manager. What do you want? '' I just say " can you just transfer me to his office? '' She just puts the phone reliever on her desk and I can hear her say " XXXX ( my name ) is on the phone her account number is_____. '' I hear someone pick up the receiver and say " yes this is XXXX '' so I tell him that " I have been back and forth with Santander since Wednesday every person I talk to telling me they are sending over release to get my car before or on Friday before it goes to the auction and it was all lies. Please explain to me why I was lied to by your company multiple times? '' He says " he did n't send the release until Friday and really when Santander called to pick the car up on Wednesday when they repossessed it it is out of their hands. It is up to the vendor what to do with the vehicle. The vehicle has 48 to 72 hrs to pick the car up from XXXX XXXX XXXX and tow it to XXXX XXXX XXXX in Maryland. '' So I asked " why did the Santander representative tell me on Wednesday morning that the car will stay on the towing lot for 10 days before being towed to the XXXX XXXX XXXX? Why did the person I talk to Thursday at XXXX est have me sign a recorded statement so that he can put the release through that will only take 45 min to an hour to process so I can be back in my car? Then Santander actually not follow through did not release the car at XXXX XXXX but instead have it towed the next morning that it was promised to be released to go to an auction in Maryland? That makes no sense. '' He just says " the customer service agents I was talking to all that time was wrong and they gave me the wrong information. XXXX XXXX XXXX had the car in their possession since Thursday the XXXX. They have the right to get the car to auction within 24 hours not have it wait for 10 days to wait for payment arrangement. Sorry but they told you the wrong information but the only thing he can do is file a complaint. There 's nothing Santander can do its all on XXXX XXXX call them and I will be billed for that towing fee later but he ca n't tell me how much it will be. '' I call XXXX XXXX XXXX and asked the receptionist if they have the car there? She says yes it 's been there since Saturday the XXXX of XXXX and they just got the release from Santander a few minutes ago. The car is blocked in so in order for me to pick up the car from them I will have to wait until they move the other cars out the way. Once they do that XXXX XXXX will call me directly and have me schedule an appointed for pick up. I Will be billed later for towing fees from XXXX Virginia to XXXX XXXX Maryland but that price can not be disclosed at this time. '' So it is now Tuesday XXXX XXXX and I still do not have possession of my car. I 'm still waiting on XXXX XXXX to call me back. 

I was deceived by every company besides XXXX that I talked to since Wednesday. Everyone is telling me something different and contradicting each other.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation