Consumer complaint received 2020-04-16
Company: CreditNinja Lending, LLC
State: CA
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan
Sub-product: Payday loan
Issue: Money was taken from your bank account on the wrong day or for the wrong amount

Complaint:
I took a payday loan from Creditninja on XX/XX/2020 with a payment due on XX/XX/2020. An ACH payment was debited from my account on XX/XX/2020 which did not go through due to insufficient funds, the same occurred on XX/XX/2020. I received emails from Creditninja many times and I first responded on XX/XX/2020 explaining that I intended to make half of the payment on balance owed by end of the week. Due to my financial circumstances I was unable to make that payment. On XX/XX/2020 I replied to an email from Creditninja that was sent on XX/XX/2020 about a 50 % off settlement deal, I asked how I can go about receiving that deal, I received a response same day saying I had to respond on XX/XX/2020 to take advantage of the settlement, and because I needed time to figure out when I could afford to make that payment I did not respond. On XX/XX/2020 I received another email saying, " We are informing you that your loan ... will be sold to a third party debt buyer unless you contact our collections department to arrange payment by XX/XX/2020 at XXXX CT at ( phone number ). '' I saw the email once I got off of work at XXXX, they had already closed and I was off the following day so I figured I would call them then. On XX/XX/2020 I received a push notification from my bank saying {$300.00} were debited from my account by Creditninja. I was not expecting a payment to be debited from my account since I had not made any sort of arrangement and I had until the XXXX to call and make said arrangement. I called Creditninja twice the first representative I spoke with I explained I would need that payment reversed since that money was going towards my car payment and I was given until the XXXX to make an arrangement it was only the XXXX she said they could not reverse payment because my account was past due and they were owed {$310.00} leaving me with a {$15.00} balance and that there were several attempts to get in touch with me before this but there was no contact with me therefore the payment could not be reversed. I let her know I would have to dispute with my bank because I needed to make my car payment and I had every intention of calling them to make an arrangement but they withdrew money from my account before hand, she stated that if disputing the charge with my bank is what I needed to do then that's what I should do. After the call was ended I called my bank and while I was on hold it was not sitting right with me because I was given a specific date in which I could call to make an arrangement and the money was taken from my account before I got the chance to make said arrangement. I called a second time this representative said that they would be unable to reverse the payment because again I owed the money and after several attempts to reach me with no contact they would not refund the money. I then asked if I was given until the XXXX to make an arrangement then they should honor that date he said the way I was saying it yes, however, they are able to attempt debiting the account 3 times and this just so happened to be the 3rd time they attempted to debit the account. When that call was ended I sent an email to the collections department, I explained my situation and asked why I was given until the XXXX if my account was going to be debited anyway the response I received said that the deadline was given in order to keep the account from being sold to a third party not to make a payment, after much back and forth I explained that regardless what the deadline was for I was given until the XXXX to make an arrangement but that date was not honored and my account was debited 2 days before the given date. I then mentioned, after 3 times of being told there was no contact, that I reached out last month on XX/XX/XXXX the response after that was simply there would be no refund and to contact there office for further assistance. Through the emails i was told they had the right to payment and that regular collection activity would continue if there was no arrangement on file. I want to be very clear, I not once denied making a payment to the company and yes they have every right to a payment I am not contesting that, however, I was given a date to make an arrangement and if there isn't an arrangement on file it is because that date given has not yet passed and the full amount ( not including fee ) has already been debited form my account. with both emails that I sent out in the last 2 months there is at the very least known interest in making a payment. I explained to Creditninja that I can not afford to make the full payment of {$300.00} all at once which is why I was interested in making an arrangement. In each email they apologized for my financial struggle and committed to not being able to refund the payment.

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