Consumer complaint received 2019-08-17
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Lease
Issue: Problems at the end of the loan or lease — Excess mileage, damage, or wear fees, or other problem after the lease is finished
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (CA)

I ask Chase Auto Finance to:1) Please honor the written agreement and refund an amount of $XXXX based on the excess mileage amount in Section 12 of our lease agreement.2) Change their policies so that they specifically communicate the effective due date in writing so customers don’t feel threatened to pay any amount they claim as soon as possible before the account gets closed and sent to collections without prior notice.Please find the details of my claim below.OnXX/XX/XXXX I returned a leased car for which I had a car loan with Chase Auto Finance. OnXX/XX/XXXX I received a letter from the End of Lease Department at Chase Auto Finance with my total lease liability, including excess mileage.The excess mileage amount due was $XXXX, which assumed a charge of XXXX cents per excess mile. However, this does not match what was stipulated in my lease agreement with XXXX XXXX XXXX, which stated in Section 12 that “You may be charged for excessive wear based on our standards for normal use and for mileage in excess of (a) XX/XX/XXXX miles per year at a rate of (b) XXXX  cents per mile.” (Please find a copy of my lease agreement attached)This came as a surprise to me, because a few months before the end of my lease I spoke with XXXX XXXX from JXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, the sales person I attended me in XX/XX/XXXX when I took lease of the car. I explained to him that my lease stated an excess of XXXX  cents per mile instead of XXXX cents per mile and he said that someone probably made a mistake.The excess mileage amount stated in the lease agreement is XXXX  cents, not XXXX cents. Therefore, the amount owed for excess mileage should be $XXXX. I ask Chase Auto Finance to please honor the written agreement and refund the difference of $XXXXI have tried to remediate this issue with Chase before reaching this point. I called the End of Lease Department at XXXX XXXX several times and I spoke with different people. The first time, onXX/XX/XXXX, I was asked to fax my lease agreement so they could compare it against what they had on their records. I called again on XX/XX/XXXX, and twice on XX/XX/XXXX. In all instances I was told that the agreement stated XXXX cents per mile, and that the amount owed would not be amended. On XX/XX/XXXX I tried to escalate my complaint to a supervisor. I spoke with someone with IDXX/XX/XXXXXXXX, who told me I would get a call back from another supervisor in 72 hours. I asked for a contact number in case I did not hear back and I got a phone number, XXXX XXXX, and a name (XXXX), but they refused to give me a last name. I never received a call back or a voicemail.During one of these calls, I also asked what the due date to pay the amount owed was, because the letter I originally received from Chase just said “Please pay this amount upon receipt of this letter.” I was told that they would close the account after between 120 and 119 days after being open and send it to collections. I asked to get that in writing but they refused several times.I got in touch with XXXX XXXX, Chase Private Client, and XXXX XXXXXXXX, Chase Branch Manager from the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX CA office, who helped escalate the issue with Chase Auto Finance. They first asked me to call XXXX XXXX extension #XXXX and ask for XXXX, who I talked to and got the same response as before. Then they opened a ticket with the Chase Branch Complaint Escalation team, and I got in touch with XXXX (XXXX XXXX   extension #XXXX), who reached out to Chase Auto Finance. They reviewed my case and they stood by their decision of charging me XXXX cents per mile.I then asked XXXX if she could ask Chase Auto Finance to get clarity on the due date. She called them and was told that they could close the account and send it to collections as soon as 30 days after being opened, and again refused to provide written proof.Given the circumstances, I felt threatened to pay the total amount due to protect my credit score.