Consumer complaint received 2017-07-12
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Struggling to pay your loan — Denied request to lower payments
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (TN)

I am hoping you will be able to assist me. On XX/XX/XXXX I purchased a new XXXX XXXX from XXXX XXXX of XXXX. On the day that I purchased the car I signed a finance agreement with the understanding that the interest rate would be 6.5 % since the papers I signed that day said 6.5 %. Also, the financial officer told me I was getting 6.5 %. The agreement was that I would get 6.5 % interest and my payments would be XXXX. Also, the dealership financial officer told me he would get me 45 days before my first payment. If I had known what that 45 days was going to cost me I would have never purchased the vehicle. The cost of that new car has been much more than the dollar value of the car. It has caused me financial difficulties, physical health issues and a lot of stress, putting it mildly. I could have gotten the car financed at my credit union for 6.8 % interest the next day, but they insisted that they could get me a better deal. <P/>I never received a copy of the original finance agreement that I signed on XX/XX/XXXX. I was told that they would put it in the glove box along with the other papers relating to the car. The only papers that were in the glove box of my new car were the manuals that come with a new car, the window sticker and a copy of the CarDocs program flyer for the service program I agreed to purchase. I did not realize that the loan papers were not there until several days later. At that time I asked to wait until the next day to pick up the car to make sure the loan had processed and everything had cleared, but they insisted that I take it with me and that everything was fine. <P/>Over the next six weeks my credit union called me repeatedly to ask why the car I traded in had not been paid off. Each time I called XXXX XXXX and they told me that they would contact the finance company and see why it had not been paid off. In my experience if a loan is approved the day you purchase a car and you have traded in a car the trade in is paid off in the next day or two. <P/>The last week of XXXX ( about 45 days later ) the XXXX XXXX finance officer called me and asked me to come in and sign some more necessary paper work. I was confused since I had never in all the car purchases I had made signed anything six weeks after the original sale, but I went to the dealership. I was then told that the company who originally agreed to finance my new car had changed their mind. Why did it take them six weeks to tell me about this change? He assured me that he had found another finance company that was willing to finance the car with the same terms as the original agreement. I should have given him back the keys and walked out then. I felt pressured and like I was being duped. I will admit that I signed the paperwork without reading the terms. After all I had already been driving the car for six weeks and I wanted my credit union paid for my trade-in. It never occurred that they had changed the terms. <P/>Honestly, I was very frustrated with the entire situation and I was eager to get everything finalized. XXXX XXXX took advantage of my situation. When I received a statement form Chase/JP Morgan a month later the payments were much higher than we had agreed and by this time I had been driving the car for XXXX weeks. <P/>I called Chase/JP Morgan and they told me that my interest rate with them was 10.24 %. I contacted the finance officer at XXXX XXXX and was told that I signed the papers and there was nothing they could do about the situation. Again I contacted Chase and was told that the only thing I could do was refinance the car at another financial institution. No one would touch that loan. After a few months of trying to get Chase and XXXX to help me I finally contacted the Better Business Bureau about the situation on XX/XX/XXXX and after two months of the BBB trying to get a response from XXXX XXXX the general manager final responded. On XX/XX/XXXX and this was his response : After reading the info above I can only address that we work to provide the most competitive financing available based on our clients credit worthiness. Also if we are not able to meet the original agreed upon financing terms we would always give you the option of using whatever lending institution you would like or to unwind the transaction all together. We have our clients sign an acknowledgement of voluntary resign if something changes on any transaction giving you the option of accepting any changes or declining them. We are not a lending institution therefore we can not re finance any loans. We work on behalf of many lenders to secure the best financing possible for our clients. I would be happy to help you in any way we can as we would do for any client. If you agreed to a payment that is now difficult for you I would be happy to meet with you personally and see if we can maybe get you a more affordable car. We are here to help. I called you and left you a voicemail but have not received a return call. Please reach out to me and I will do anything I can to help. His entire response was exactly like the double talk that I was given the entire time I was purchasing the car. First of all no one from XXXX XXXX contacted me in any way about my BBB complaint. I check my calls, voice messages and texts several times a day and respond to them as quickly as possible. If they had tried contacted me they would have talked to me. Second, they told me they were meeting the original terms and they did not say anything about me contacting my own lending institution or undoing the agreement. After six weeks of driving the car I had no reason to believe that I had any option except to continue with the agreement and they did not offer me that possibility. Third, I did not decide in XX/XX/XXXX or XX/XX/XXXX that I was unable to make those payments. I told them the maximum I could afford before the car was financed which is why they were supposed to be getting me the lower interest rate. Then I spent the next six months trying to get them to give me a solution to the situation. Not once did they mention that I was not obligated to keep the car. Not once did they suggest that I had any other options. And last I did not knowingly sign an acknowledgement of voluntary resign, because I was told the terms were exactly the same. Also, I never got a copy of the second set of paperwork either. My response to the BBB was that I never got any type of contact from XXXX XXXX concerning my complaint and that I disagreed with everything the general manager of XXXX XXXX said in his response. The BBB sent my response to them about their double talk on XX/XX/XXXX and resent it on XX/XX/XXXX. Finally, on XX/XX/XXXX the general manager of XXXX responded with : I tried contacting you by phone. I have reviewed your file and would like to review it with you. We as a dealership prepaid your interest difference on your loan and I 'm unsure if maybe due to the time since your purchase you forgot this took place or possibly we did n't review it with you so you had a complete understanding. I have both forms and would be happy to sit down with you to re review when you have time. You can call me at XXXX. Thank you Again, he lied about trying to contact me. Had he tried to contact me he would have talked to me. I contacted XXXX XXXX and agreed to meet with him to review the paperwork that he claimed to have reviewed. When I got to the meeting he had some paperwork that were copies of something that could not even be read. He met me in the customer waiting room and started showing me the papers in his hand which he claimed were my finance agreement as we walked toward his office. At this time he put the papers in front of me and said this is what you signed and by the way we paid the difference in the interest on your loan. I flat out asked him why I was told the terms were exactly the same if they had paid the interest difference. Why wasnt I told that instead. He never responded. He just changed the subject. The entire time he never stopped talking and by the time we got to his office he asked me if I understood and I told him I understood what he was saying, but I disagreed. I also told him that the papers he had did not prove anything because from the two second glance I got I had no idea who signed those papers or if they were even mine. He said then you will tell the Better Business Bureau? I agreed that I would tell the BBB what I had just said. He took that to mean that I agreed with him. How he got that from what I said I will never understand. When I received notice from the BBB on XX/XX/XXXX saying that the case had been closed I felt that I had been mistreated again only this time by the BBB so as soon as I could on XX/XX/XXXX, I sent a statement to the BBB saying that I was not satisfied that the case was closed. On XX/XX/XXXX, the BBB received this statement from XXXX general manager, XXXX XXXX XXXX : I personally met with XXXX XXXX and we resolved her complaint. She informed me that she would notify BBB to let them know its resolved. There is nothing we can do further on our end. As I stated above I did not agree with him that the problem was settled nor did I agree that I would notify the BBB that it was resolved. I agreed to tell them The papers he had did not prove anything because from the two second look I got I had no idea who signed those papers or if they were even mine. I did not actually send the BBB the above statement, but I did tell them that I was not satisfied with XXXX XXXX explanation. Our entire meeting was us walking from the waiting area to someones office with him talking constantly and shoving a piece of paper in front of my face for a couple of seconds. I would not say that he resolved anything. XXXX XXXX basically called me a liar and got away with it. On XX/XX/XXXX I sent BBB another statement telling them that I did not agree with what XXXX XXXX has said and that I was not informed of the change of the interest rate at the time I signed the paper work and that although XXXX XXXX did feed me the line about them paying the difference in the interest rate up front I was sure that they did not and if they did they raised the price of the car so that it covered the difference and I wound up financing it with my car. My point being that how ever they did it they cheated me and cause me major problems. The BBB closed the case on XX/XX/XXXX. I was still defeated by a dishonest car dealership, but BBB could not help me. By this point I had been trying to resolve the problem with XXXX and Chase for almost a year and I was tired of fighting. I had contacted Chase every month to ask for refinancing or any other possible relief. My finances were shot and I felt that I had nowhere left to turn. All of my household bills were behind and the only way to fix that was to stop paying the car payments. I decided that I would just have to accept that I had been taken and let the situation play out. In XX/XX/XXXX I contacted Chase again with my monthly plea for help and at that time I told them that because they had not been willing to try to help me that I was going to have to stop paying the car payments. I had to start trying to get the rest of my finances in order, because the car payments had caused me to get behind on several other obligations while I was trying my best to be the honest person who always pays their debts like I have always been. I told them to start the repossession process and send someone to get the car. Apparently they did not believe me because they did not come to get it until about three weeks ago. Since the day I purchased that car my credit rating has dropped from XXXX to XXXX, all of my bills are behind, my health has declined and I am now having to take mood stabilizers. Last week I signed a contract with XXXX XXXX to help me sort out my financial situation. These are all changes brought about by being cheated by XXXX XXXX of XXXX and/or Chase/ JP Morgan on my car purchase and financing. On XX/XX/XXXX I contacted XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, but all I have gotten from them is an automated response telling me they appreciate my patience. I also contacted www.dealer.com/ and posted a review there. Today I was told by an attorney friend to send you a letter explaining my situation. These things may not help my situation, but maybe it will keep some other unsuspecting soul from winding up being taken by these XXXX companies. One really sad thing is that almost a year before I purchased the XXXX from XXXX XXXX I purchased a used XXXX XXXX XXXX form them for my daughter. When the interest was so high on that loan I assumed it was because of the age of the car, but now looking back I am almost sure they did the same thing to me then only their partner was XXXX XXXX that time. Well, this is where I am. Chase repossessed the XXXX XXXX with only XXXX miles in XX/XX/XXXX. I was told they would sell it at auction on XX/XX/XXXX and then they would let me know how much I still owed them. I have not heard from Chase yet. I am sure I will soon. Is there anything that you can do for me or at least to keep other people from being ripped off? Thank you for your time reading this letter. I know it is long. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do concerning the situation.