Consumer complaint received 2024-07-14
Product: Payday loan, title loan, personal loan, or advance loan — Installment loan
Issue: Problem with the payoff process at the end of the loan — 
Company: Affirm Holdings, Inc (AZ)

I purchased the XXXX XXXX using Affirm on XX/XX/XXXX for {$5000.00}. I paid off my loan with Affirm in-full on XX/XX/XXXX. Loan ID XXXX. 

I opted to return the XXXX XXXX during the recall, and XXXX issued a refund of {$4700.00} on XX/XX/XXXX of my original purchase to Affirm. 
Affirm processed the return on XX/XX/XXXX, and in several transactions, Affirm credited my bank account a total of {$3900.00}. 
I was never refunded the remaining amount {$860.00} due back from the total refund amount. 
I contacted Affirm via customer service chat on XX/XX/XXXX, and after a lengthy discussion with a representative where she told me I didn't pay off the loan, I received the full refund amount already, and finally conceded they still owed me money but it would be issued by check. See transcript below. 

Chat transcript : Chat Started : Monday, XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX ( XXXX ) ( XXXX ) Affirm assistant : To better assist you, I will need to engage a member of our live chat team, but first I need to gather some information. 
( XXXX ) Affirm assistant : Is your issue regarding a specific loan?

( 6s ) Affirm assistant : { ChatWindowButton : Yes, No } ( 7s ) Visitor : Yes ( 9s ) Affirm assistant : If you don't know your Loan ID, type N/A. Enter your Loan ID : ( 2m 11s ) Visitor : N/a ( 2m 12s ) Affirm assistant : Do you have any additional information?

( 2m 14s ) Affirm assistant : { ChatWindowButton : Yes, No } ( 2m 16s ) Visitor : Yes ( 2m 18s ) Affirm assistant : Please provide any additional information.

( 4m 26s ) Visitor : This is regarding the XXXX XXXX refund from the recall. XXXX processed my refund for {$4700.00} on XX/XX/XXXX. I received a partial refund from Affirm on XX/XX/XXXX for {$3900.00}. I have not been refunded the remaining {$860.00}. 
( XXXX XXXX ) Affirm assistant : Let me try to connect you with XXXX of our agents to further assist you. 
Agent Chatbot transferred the chat to XXXX XXXXXXXX Chat Started : Monday, XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX ( XXXX ) Chat Origin : Affirm Help Center Chat Transferred From Affirm assistant To XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Hi! Thanks for reaching out to Affirm. My name is XXXX and I'll be assisting you today. Please give me a moment to review your details. 
( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Good afternoon, XXXX! I hope you're well! 
( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : I appreciate your time providing us with that information, please allow me to go ahead and check this for you and see what I can provide to help. 
( XXXX XXXX ) Visitor : XXXX XXXX. Im doing well. I appreciate your help today. 
( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Glad to know that! 
( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Please give me a moment to review your account. 
( XXXX XXXX ) Visitor : XXXX thank you ( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : To confirm, you are referring to your loan with XXXX  ( XXXX ), processed on XX/XX/XXXX for {$5000.00}. Am I right? 
( XXXX XXXX ) Visitor : Yes ( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Great! Thank you for that. 
( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : From what I am seeing here, this loan is amounting to {$5000.00} and the merchant provided a a partial refund of XX/XX/XXXX amounting to {$4700.00}. 
( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Please know that if we receive a partial refund, you will still be responsible for the remaining balance. Your loan balance will be adjusted and will lower your final payment as well as reduce the number of installments that you need to settle your loan balance. 
( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Affirm paid the merchant in full upfront. Since the merchant charged Affirm for your order and they did not credit us back for the full amount of the purchase, you are still responsible for repaying the remaining balance of the loan. 
( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : If you are expecting a full refund, please reach out to the merchant directly to issue the remaining refund, because refunds and cancellations are always subject to the merchants policies, and we arent able to take any actions in our system unless they initiate it. 
( XXXX XXXX ) Visitor : Im not expecting a full refund. I only received {$3900.00} from affirm when I was supposed to receive {$4700.00}. 
( XXXX XXXX ) Visitor : I paid off that full loan on XX/XX/XXXX so I should receive the full amount of the partial refund back from affirm. 
( XXXX XXXX ) Visitor : I am still waiting to receive an additional {$860.00}, to have the total of the partial refund returned ( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : From what I am seeing here, you should be receiving 29 refunds amounting to {$130.00} and 1 refund amounting to {$130.00} which sums up to {$3900.00}. 
( XXXX XXXX ) Visitor : I did receive that but the total of my partial refund from XXXX is {$4700.00} so I havent been fully refunded. 
( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Oh, for that, just a reminder that returns and refunds are subject to the merchant 's policy. After the merchant completes processing a refund, Affirm will credit your loan balance for the amount of the refund. 
( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Any funds returned to your original payment instrument may take up to 10 business days from the time the refunded amount was applied to your loan. 
( XXXX XXXX ) Visitor : I understand that but Affirm has not fully credited me for the refund and it has been well over 10 days since the refund ( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Okay, here how it goes. 
( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Affirm paid the merchant for the full amount of {$5000.00} and the merchant provided a partial refund of {$4700.00}. So, after receiving that amount we adjusted your loan accordingly. 
( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Since we adjusted your loan, you are about to received a refund for the amount you've made minus the remaining balance of the loan. 
( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Keep in mind that Affirm paid the merchant in full upfront. Since the merchant charged Affirm for your order and they did not credit us back for the full amount of the purchase, you are still responsible for repaying the remaining balance of the loan. 
( XXXX XXXX ) Visitor : There was no remaining balance. I paid off the loan XX/XX/XXXX ( XXXX XXXX ) Visitor : I should be receiving the full amount of the partial refund because there was no remaining balance on my loan ( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Technically, there is because the merchant only provided a partial refund for you. 
( XXXX XXXX ) Visitor : I already paid the full amount of the loan off. I did not owe any money. The full amount of the purchase was {$5000.00}. The partial refund was for {$4700.00}. Of that, I have only received back {$3900.00} from Affirm. I am still due {$860.00} from affirm to account for the amount of the partial refund ( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Alright. 
( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Allow me to double-check. 
( XXXX XXXX ) Visitor : Thank you ( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : No worries. Please hold patience with me. 
( XXXX XXXX ) Visitor : Thank you ( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : I really appreciate your time waiting, I would like to let you know that XXXX still reviewing your account so I'm going to need a little bit more time. I'll be right back. 
( XXXX XXXX ) Visitor : Okay ( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : I appreciate your patience during this chat! I apologize for the long wait. 
( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Upon double-checking, here what I noticed : {$5000.00} - {$4700.00} = {$310.00} {$5000.00} - {$310.00} = {$4700.00} I can see that you should be receiving a refund of {$4700.00}, however, you only received a refund of {$3900.00}. 
( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : It seems like the some of your payments are made outside 180 days. 
( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : According to our policy, payments made outside 180 days will be refunded via check. 
( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : In that case, can you please help me with your mailing address? 
( XXXX XXXX ) Visitor : It is ( XXXX XXXX ) Visitor : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, AZ XXXX ( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Alright. XXXX moment, please. 
( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Thank you for verifying this information, XXXX. 
( XXXX XXXX ) Visitor : No problem ( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Just to set your expectations, it XXXX take XXXX business days to process a refund by check so we are asking for your patience. 
( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Do you need assistance with anything else today, in addition to this? 
( XXXX XXXX ) Visitor : That was it. Thank you ( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : XXXX! Feel free to get in touch and ask for another session if you still need assistance. 
( XXXX XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Thank you once more for visiting Affirm 's live chat service. It's XXXX here. Enjoy your day! 

As if XX/XX/XXXX, I still did not receive payment by check. I contacted Affirm by phone on XX/XX/XXXX, and the customer service representative told me a check was issued on XX/XX/XXXX, and I should have received it. I explained that I did not receive a check and my Affirm account online shows that I still haven't been refunded the full amount. He insisted that they couldn't reissue a check and there was nothing he could do because it was already issued. I asked to speak to a supervisor and told him I would like to file a complaint. I did not receive the check. He placed me on hold and finally said they would reissue a check for {$860.00} within 30 days. 

It is XX/XX/XXXX and I still have not received the check. My account in affirm still shows that I have not been refunded the remaining amount of my purchase. 

I have no confidence that I will receive a check, and it seems at each point of contact their strategy is to insist that I was already paid or am not entitled to further payment. I am utterly frustrated and want my entire refund as soon as possible.