Consumer complaint received 2018-03-09
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease — Billing problem
Company: KEYCORP (ME)

Sometime early in XX/XX/XXXX, I went into a local branch of Key Bank to set up automatic payments. I was told by an employee, XXXX, that my first automatic payment would be taken out XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I was checking my bank account and realized the payment had not been processed. At that time, I called that same Key Bank branch. I spoke to a woman who told me that she would have XXXX call me on Monday. I asked her if I could make a payment over the phone ; she advised me not to make a payment and wait until heard back from XXXX. XXXX called me not on Monday, but Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX. I had asked that he not call me until after XXXX since I am a XXXX and am unable to answer any calls before this time. Since he called earlier than I requested, I missed his call. On my end, and I'll totally own this, I forgot to return his call. On XX/XX/XXXX ( I think ), I  received an automated called from Key Bank reminding me my XXXX payment hadn't been made. I was on the phone with the national line for over an hour ( probably close to an hour and 30+ minutes ). I was bounced around from department to department, eventually getting connected all together. I was beyond frustrated. I called the local branch right after being disconnected. The local branch informed me that XXXX had made a mistake, that automatic payments take two months to set up, not one. He told me it was his error. Because XXXX was well underway, I now owed Key Bank nearly {$900.00}. Between my initial phone call and the phone call I just described, my hot water tank erupted and flooded my basement. The money initially earmarked my Key Bank was put towards a new hot water tank/heater and oil. Had they taken the money out on XX/XX/XXXX as originally stated, they would have my XXXX payment. XXXX said he'd have his manager call me on Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX ( she was out of the office on Wednesday, XX/XX/XXXX ). She did not call me on Thursday. I ended up calling her the following week on Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX. She, like XXXX, had said the fault belong to Key Bank, but that I was still responsible for my XXXX payment. I then asked for contact information for someone higher up in the company. She gave me a phone number to the executive customer service line ( I'm not sure this is the exact name, but it was something of this nature ). The person from this new number told me someone would call me now later than Wednesday, XX/XX/XXXX, but that they would not be calling me on Monday as it was a holiday ( XXXX ' XXXX ). I was on vacation from XXXX XXXX. No one called. On Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX, I called this same number again. This person has ensured me that someone had called on XXXX XXXX XXXX ( the day they told me no one would call ).  I didn't have any missed calls or a voicemail from Key Bank either way. She said someone would call me. Again, no one returned my call. On XX/XX/XXXX or XX/XX/XXXX, I called back and spoke to someone else. This woman said she would send an email to the appropriate person and XXXX said email " urgent '' ; she promised someone would call me by the end of that business day. No one called. The following week, on Monday, XX/XX/XXXX, someone from the local branch had called me and I was right back where I started. We went back and forth for maybe twenty minutes. I told her I could no longer talk as I was leaving school to head to the hospital to see my mother. At this point there was no resolution. On Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX, I received a phone call from the debt collecting department of Key Bank. We went around in circles for a bit, me expressing how terrible this whole experience had been with Key Bank ; this employee transferred me to someone in customer service. This new woman was by far the rudest employee I've ever interacted with from ANY company. She said in a pretty snarky tone, " Can I give you some advice? Just pay your bill. '' I told her I had tried in XXXX with automatic payments and when that didn't work, I called to inquire about why the payment hadn't been processed and if I should pay it over the phone. I told her I was advised not to pay it until speaking with XXXX. This employee then said in the same belittling tone, " Uh, I don't know, if it were me, I would have paid my bill regardless of what someone was advising me to do. '' As a consumer, I thought I should follow the suggestion of the employee of my loan provider. I am for sure leaving Key Bank, good interest rate be XXXX! But I don't want this {$390.00} ( + {$44.00} that I add on each month ) to impact my credit. Again, Key Bank openly stated that they are at fault, but will not take the appropriate actions to resolve this issue. 
Also, early on in this process ( early XXXX ), I was told I should have received a letter telling me my processing date would be in XXXX ( I think the XXXX ) ; I did receive this letter, but it came pretty late, long after this conversation had started. At this stage in the game, the letter proved to be very unhelpful. The damage had already been done.