Consumer complaint received 2020-06-12
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Lease
Issue: Struggling to pay your loan — Lender trying to repossess or disable the vehicle
Company: Global Lending Services LLC (VA)

The company, Global Lending Services, has continued to issue harassing phone calls no matter what I try to do to stop them, including making payments or setting up arrangements to make payments. I entered into an auto loan with the company on XX/XX/XXXX. Unfortunately, due to personal circumstances, I have fallen behind on payments a few times. The first time, when I lost my job in the summer of XXXX, I called the company and made arrangements with them. However, they began to call me every single day, sometimes even twice a day. I found that if I answered, a customer service agent would use language suggesting I was trying to get over on the company, or that I was a terrible person for falling behind on my payments, and otherwise attempting to guilt or embarrass me into making payments. If I did not answer, then a long automated message would be left. These automated messages began to clog up my voicemail. 

During my unemployment, I picked up gig work, and thus entered a cycle of being able to pay my bills and sometimes not being able to pay them. The calls continued no matter what the status of my loan was, even if the balance was paid down. They merely increased if my payments were late. 

In XXXX, I moved from one state to another, XXXX miles apart. In adjusting my insurance, I made an error and left off physical damage coverage. I rightly received a notice from GLS, and I corrected the error as soon as I realized it, but since then, I have continued to receive notices from them about supposed insurance problems. These notices threaten to end the loan contract and collect the car if I don't correct them, but there's nothing to collect. I have received one notice a month since the valid one in XXXX. 

Meanwhile, my job transfer was put on an indefinite hold due to covid-19, and I was out of work from my move in XXXX through the beginning of XXXX. I was able to use my stimulus check to bring myself only one month behind, as the harassing calls continued. Unfortunately I came up short in XXXX. With calls coming in once or twice a day, and spiking my anxiety attacks, I ended up burning that phone number a couple of weeks after calling them to set up a payment date. During that call, I explained that my job had been impacted by covid-19 but that I was certain I would have a payment for them by the end of XXXX. The customer service agent interrogated me as to whether I had received a stimulus check, what I had done with it, why I had no job, and how I expected to survive the shutdown. After these aggressive questions, I asked what programs GLS had in place to help customers affected by the pandemic and shutdown. The agent had no answer for me. 

However, the agent stated that he would list the matter in the notes on my file, and I expected that that would be enough. The calls continued and I burned my old phone number thanks to them. The calls had become a fact of life by that point, but I thought things were settled as regarded the upcoming payment. However, GLS contacted my significant other, one of my references, today. As I had already stated when I would pay them, I have no idea why they would feel the need to reach out to him. I now have a job and will be able to make the payment in late XXXX, as I stated. I called GLS to demand answers, but got no explanations, just the offer of filing a cease-and-desist on my behalf if I wrote them a letter. I do not have the wherewithal to write, fax, and/or email any such letter at this time. 

To add insult to injury, I just received a default notice that demands full payment before XX/XX/XXXX, which appears to be intentionally scheduled before my promised date of XX/XX/XXXX. 

I understand that I am behind on my payments. But the difficulty directly stems from covid-19, due to my job transfer being put on hold. The fact that GLS has no recourse for people suffering during this time is galling. Their profile on the XXXX  even has several reviews of people who, like me, are in distress and are being harassed or have had their cars repossessed already. 

GLS should already be on the hook for their incessant phone calls. Their abusive customer service is also a massive problem. The threatening letters about nonexistent insurance problems are bad business. But their willful exploitation of their own customers during covid-19 takes the entire cake. It absolutely must be stopped.