Consumer complaint received 2017-06-16
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan — Installment loan
Issue: Charged fees or interest you didn't expect — 
Company: CNG FINANCIAL CORPORATION (CA)

I applied for an installment loan to pay the deposit on my new apartment in XXXX  2017. At the time I did not qualify for a regular loan due to my credit history. I had  used check-n-go for smaller payday loans ( {$300.00} or less ) before and paid them off consistently. Check-n-go had been sending me emails, mailers and other notifications to apply for a large installment loan. Due to my credit and inability to obtain a conventional loan or credit card, I decided to obtain the installment loan from Check-n-go, because they did not consider my credit rating, and offered to use my " job as my credit ''. My plan was to rapidly pay off the loan once my deposit was returned from my former landlord. The loan was issued to me in XXXX with a six month repayment schedule from the store in XXXX, CA. My first payment was due in XX/XX/XXXX by the First on my pay date of XX/XX/XXXX, in an amount of over {$500.00}. I could not make that payment because I had not received my deposit back from my landlord, and needed to use my paycheck funds to pay rent at my new place. When I went in the store to postpone my payment, I was offered a refinance deal by the clerk XXXX. She informed me that if I refinanced the loan for a longer term, I could skip two payments and nothing would accrue or be due on the loan until XX/XX/XXXX. She told me that repaying on a longer schedule would lower my payments, and I still had the option to repay the entire amount in advance. I agreed and we completed the transaction to refinance my loan. She explained the paperwork was identical to the original loan document, so I signed them based on my understanding of the original terms, with a longer repayment schedule and lower payment. She then offered that I could make a payment for a lower amount of about {$350.00} in advance of my due date, that would reduce my overall balance and delay my first payment even further. I agreed and paid her the {$350.00} or so.
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On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a message from XXXX  to inform me they had attempted to process a payment and it did not go through on my account. I was unable to return her call until XX/XX/XXXX, where she informed me that I was two months past due and accruing on interest for the loan issued since XX/XX/XXXX. She indicated that any payment I would make would go directly to interest, since I was past due more than three months. When I protested and said that I did not expect a payment due until XX/XX/XXXX, she became defensive. I made a payment again which was entirely absorbed by the interest accrued on the account.
<P/> XX/XX/XXXX directed me to file a complaint with Check-n-go customer service regarding the interest and the new terms. I did and two weeks later spoke with XXXX XXXX, district manager for the store. XXXX informed me that he understood my confusion and would attempt to get approval from his manager to waive the additional interest so I could pay down my loan. When we spoke about the terms of the refinance, he became defensive and said " It 's not our fault that you do not understand your contract, '' and then hung up on me.
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Since then I have called the customer service line several times to escalate the complaint to get the additional interest waived ; the last time I was informed I would receive a call back within 7 days and there has been no reply. Meanwhile my balance has been ballooning and I currently owe nearly 50 % more than the disbursal amount on the loan. XXXX will not return my calls and has hung up on me several times. In XX/XX/XXXX I attempted to make a partial payment to reduce my balance but XXXX and XXXX from the store would not accept my partial payment because I would not provide a credit card and wanted to pay with my bank account as I did with prior payments.The store refused to allow me to refinance the loan again to obtain lower payments, I was told it was a " done deal. '' Since then, I have received one call from the store requesting payment, but not addressing my complaints regarding the payment and interest issues.