Consumer complaint received 2023-07-20
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease — Billing problem
Company: CARS Acquisition, LLC (NY)

I have become recently involved with a buy here pay here situation where a local dealership hires a finance company by the name of CarFinancial services, a quick contract is drawn up and I purchased a vehicle with financing. I had originally set up auto pay but they couldnt seem to get that right so issues with them have stated from day one. On the day that I looked at my vehicle ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) it was located at XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, NY XXXX, I am a huge fan of this particular make and model especially since XXXX no longer manufactures this vehicle. I had to have it! This was on a Saturday, nobody was at the dealership but there was a note to callthis number if immediate service is needed. So my boyfriend called the number and spoke with a XXXX who seemed to be the owner. We told him we are very interested and wanted to put down a deposit right away to secure the purchase. XXXX came immediately to the dealership took our {$1500.00} cash scribbled out a hand written receipt and told us to come back on Monday. So we didfilled out some paperwork provided my dmv info then he tells us he will call us when everything is ready to pick up the vehicle. This took 3 days which I thought was extensive but I was just happy to finally be able to pick the vehicle up. On the day we picked up the vehicle, on or around XXXX XXXX, my boyfriend XXXX, had also paid for my first months payment for XXXX so leaving there I was comfortable in thinking I didnt have a payment until XXXX, XXXX. In the meantime another person by the name of XXXX, who was explained to me is the manager of Car Financial Services spoke to me confirming my information and set up auto pay to come right out of my checking account.and I had specifically told him during that conversation the my first payment for XXXX was already made in cash to XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXX so he confirmed to me at that time no payment will be drafted from my account until XXXX. Well I kept getting bills and reminders delivered to my email address about an upcoming payment that will be drafted from my account in XXXX. So naturally I called several times and even sent emails and text messages reminding them of the payment we made in cash that was to be applied as XXXX payment. Nobody returned my calls or messages so Of course this was never done so my account was unexpectedly drafted for a payment anyways. Now as most people these days I live paycheck to paycheck so this naturally overwhelmed me and my account became overdrawn resulting in several fees. I finally spoke to a customer service rep at Car Financial directly who was very apologetic and explained to me that if I ever make a cash payment in person again to call the 800 number at least 48 hours prior to the draft date so they can stop it. So this being my first major issue I became very skeptical and questioned the reputation of this whole buy here pay here arrangement. Since this issue was eventually resolved, I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and thought maybe this was a one time fluke so left my auto pay in effect. A couple of months later I had been laid off from my job so I sent an email explaining my hardship and asked if I could skip a payment I believe was in XXXX, again my message was ignored so a couple of my payments ended up being returned from my bank as there were insufficient funds. ( See copies of messages sent via email ) Again more fees added to my account only this time I am unemployed and really struggling. My frustration level was increasing by the day. Since this happened car financial ended up locking me out of my online account. So whenever I did want to make a payment in attempts to catch up I couldnt do it electronically. I felt extremely nervous about having to pay at the dealership as XXXX from XXXX XXXX auto made me extremely uncomfortable. Since I had no choice I sent my boyfriend a couple of times to pay cash. I wouldnt get receipts until days later. One time the payment that he tried to put through was more than my normal {$300.00} payment so this XXXX had repeatedly tried taking out additional payments in all different amounts which confirmed my doubts about their reputation so I ended up stoped the auto pay altogether. I cant tell you how many times their transactions resulted in overdraft fees. To this day my account remains locked out, its almost as if they purposely force my account into default each month so that they can harass me and threaten me. Ive even tried setting up auto pay again all so I didnt have to deal with them but they wont let me nor will they allow me to make electronic payments anymore. I fell behind again.I was eventually caught up on my payments this past XXXX but they sent the repo guy out anyways as XXXX from Car Financial refused to apply my payment after asking him several times. See conversations via text message. Luckily I had my receipts so the repo guy eventually backed off. Im trying once again to make a payment, not due until the XXXX but cant make it because Im now locked out of my online account AGAIN which shouldnt be since I am caught up. Ive spoken to both dealership XXXX and manager of Car financial services XXXX SEVERAL times ..they continued to be rude, condescending and extremely unprofessional. I dont want to have to talk with them ever again. They have to this date caused me much XXXX to the point that Ive gone into full blown XXXX XXXX. I dont have the best credit so cant find any other company for refinancing. Im at my wits end with these people and they repeatedly treat me awfully. I feel like returning this vehicle but Ive already made almost 12 months worth of payments plus {$1500.00} down ( which they have not applied to the balance of my loan ). At one point I had made two payment but they never applied them using the excuse that my account was suspended and I had to make another double payment which according to my records was not the case. Both XXXX continue to threaten me and Im afraid they will send the repo guy out again. I forgot to mention earlier that this repo guy threatened me with a taser gun the first time he was here because I wouldnt get out of his way of taking my vehicle.. Of course after he spoke with someone over the phone he had learned that my payment were in fact up to date. We ended up sending him in with XXXX 's payment just in case and now they are saying I am due for XXXX 's payment when I paid the repo guy for XXXX 's payment?????!!!!!! I shouldnt have to go through all of this chaos in order to finance my vehicle. This posse of auto salesman, finance manager, and repo guy terrify the XXXX out of me and they're obviously all in cahoots. My XXXX  is out of control at this point. I have been working extremely hard to re-establish my credit but with their repeated reports to credit bureaus saying Im late is having a negative impact keeping my score low so I cant refinance with another company. This whole experience is nothing short of a never ending nightmare and I dont know what elses to do so I am filing this complaint in the hopes that something can be done to reprimand this organization from mistreating myself or anyone else for that matter. I cant imagine that I am the only one to complain about this scam of a dealership and finance company. I believe these XXXX XXXX are somehow in cahoots with each other and continue to scam other customers along with myself. For what? I don't know I hope that you all are able to investigate them and find out for sure and put a stop to their harassing ways. I appreciate you taking the time to read about my concerns, if you need me to do anything else from here on out you have my full cooperation. Sincerely and respectfully, XXXX XXXX.