Consumer complaint received 2019-06-09
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan — Payday loan
Issue: Charged fees or interest you didn't expect — 
Company: TMX Finance LLC (FL)

" Instantloan '' located at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, Florida, XXXX, Phone # XXXX XXXX XXXX, Office contact : XXXX I was attempting from my home in XXXX, Texas to assist a young friend in Florida obtain a loa from this company. He indicated he had borrowed from them before. Apparently he still had a balance due before he could obtain a new loan. I paid off the amount of his old loan as stated by " XXXX '' the office agent. She stated that in order for him to obtain his loan for XXXX he needed to send them {$650.00} " assurance money '' that he would not run off with the loan and not pay. This made little sense to me, but I sent her the {$650.00}. The loan was to have been processed that day, XX/XX/2019. However it was not. The {$650.00} was to have been returned within two days when the loan funded or if it did not fund. I have been attempting to obtain this money from " Instantloan '' ever since, but am told repeatedly, by text message, since no one answers the phone at this company, that the it has been sent to the main company and it will take time to return it. It has now been nearly two weeks and no money has been returned to me or to XXXX, and no loan has been funded for XXXX XXXX. 

Since that time, the information coming from " XXXX '' at this company has changed daily, and sometimes several times daily. Apparently, she has no control locally and has to send everything in to someone else who then relays information back to her. When the XXXX loan did not go through she said she could start a new loan process but I would have to send in an additional {$350.00} to assure it would process that day. Reluctantly, I did. Then she discovered, after having assured me the loan would fund that day, XXXX still had a balance for a prior loan of {$350.00} that was keeping the loan from funding. I instructed them to pay that balance with the additional {$350.00} I has sent. They refused to do this. As a result on my instruction, XXXX told them to discontinue his loan application and to return my {$650.00}, and my {$350.00}, " loan assurance payments. 

From that point forward, both XXXX and I have been unable to obtain a response from this company. They do not answer the phone, and now will not respond by text message. XXXX was desperately in need of this loan, and lives XXXX miles away, with no transportation to go back and forth to speak with them in person. I am in XXXX, XXXX miles away. 

I have sent multiple messages and I have called repeatedly trying to get this company to honor its word to return my money. They do not respond. Initially, the clerk there, named " XXXX '' misrepresnted her company as being named " Instaloan, '' which is a true and legitimate loan company in XXXX XXXX, Florida, located on XXXX XXXX. When things began to appear a " step off, '' I called Instaloan to ask if she worked there. They indicated she did not. I caught her in a lie, misrepresenting her company with a " sound alike '' name of a legitimate company and reported this to Instaloan. 

Is there anything that can be done to have my money returned. Their refusal to return it has caused serious hardship to both XXXX XXXX and to me.