Consumer complaint received 2020-10-04
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Struggling to pay your loan — Denied request to lower payments
Company: Bridgecrest Acceptance Corporation (FL)

I was forced into purchasing another vehicle because I was one month into a brand new job. In XXXX of XXXX, I filed for divorce and my spouse successfully ruined me financially by going into his bank account and disputing all of the charges that were made to pay our electric, internet, mobile and my car payment, without notifying me of doing it. I found out when I walked outside on a Saturday morning to no car in my garage. My car was repossessed, I transferred money out of my IRA and paid the balance in full with cash to get the car out of repossession Monday afternoon to find out the car was already shipped to auction. 

After being completely defeated, I decided the only way I could keep my job was to purchase another car. I tried to find the cheapest car, which was a XXXX XXXX XXXX, the most basic model. I was not aware that on top of the insanely high 15 % interest rate, I was also financing a GPS software monitoring system that stopped working 6 months after I signed the contract. 

Bridgecrest Financial has been the worst auto finance company I have ever dealt with, and this is on top of my dealings with XXXX XXXX XXXX, - complaint number XXXX. 

I had made payments every other Friday using autopay up until I lost my job at the beginning of the Pandemic. I had been in constant communication with Bridgecrest about the loss of my job, income, grandfather and later my aunt to the XXXX XXXX. 

I explained the situation, in its entirety to Bridgecrest almost daily from XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX. They literally called me every single day, multiple times a day and they assured me that Bridgecrest was doing everything they could for their customers during this time and there was no need to worry about having the car repossessed. I was very relieved, considering I had such a traumatic experience with XXXX XXXX and was still responsible for making payments on my other vehicle, that wasn't even running after being shipped back from the Auction. 

This all happened in XXXX. I applied for Florida Unemployment XX/XX/XXXX and did not receive my first benefit payment until mid/late XXXX and paid the balance the minute I realized money was in my account. Had I known that Bridgecrest was going to report this to the credit bureaus, I would have sold something to make the payment as I have been trying so hard to get my credit in better shape. 

I don't have proof, but because of the amount of phone calls and communication, I feel like at some point I had to have asked if there would be any negative credit reporting. I would not have allowed my credit report to have another late payment on it, but sure enough, it is there and they refuse to remove it even though they expressed several times that I was doing a great job on the loan and I did not need to worry about repossession. 

I feel very betrayed by Bridgecrest and that they did not uphold their public duty to help their customers, who were/are the most financially vulnerable under the pandemic. This late payment has destroyed any chance that I have to purchase my first home within the next year. Granted, my ex husband is the ultimate cause of the unfortunate events that led me to even finance with this company, I also felt like they understood and were working with me as I explained that I had the money coming, but the state of Florida dropped the ball on the unemployment and I had to go to the news before getting my application pushed through and funds released. 

Every other financial institution that I currently work with has made every effort to help American 's throughout the Pandemic. Bridgecrest mislead me in the initial contract by having me finance software that does not work and was not explained to me. And even more so by refusing to delete the missed/late payment for XXXX.