Consumer complaint received 2020-08-12
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan — Installment loan
Issue: Charged fees or interest you didn't expect — 
Company: Uplift, Inc (FL)

On XX/XX/XXXX I purchased an XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX cruise through XXXX for my family of XXXX. My work had announced an annual bonus for XXXX to be paid in XXXX sometime. So I booked using the advertised lender Uplift. The interest was really high but I figured Id pay it off sooner with the bonus money when it came in ... Only Covid-19 happened and my income went down so I stuck with the monthly payments. XXXX XXXX eventually canceled our cruise. They offered 100 % refund or 125 % Future Cruise Credit. I called Uplift to inquire about these options worried about the interest wiping out the benefits of the 125 % future cruise credit. I also looked up future cruises but they were more than 125 % the cost I paid for our cruise because one of my children would no longer qualify for kids sail free and that made XXXX adults XXXX child so bogo promo was not favorable either. Uplift said they were waiting on the email notification with the offer for the cancellation and terms. They said not to worry about interest or payments I could stop my monthly payments without worry or hassle as soon as they got the confirmation that the cruise was cancelled and the terms of reimbursement. Once they received the funds for reimbursement theyd pay them out to me. On XX/XX/XXXX they received the first adjustment of {$2200.00} and sent me a reimbursement of {$950.00}. I was confused because this was not 100 % of the cruise cost or what I paid. The cruise cost {$2600.00}. I paid {$1400.00}. So I called and emailed all three companies. I was told that they had up to 90 days to reimburse me the 100 % and that was just a first partial payment to Uplift and I most likely the taxes and port fees would still be paid back at a later date. To call after XX/XX/XXXX which was 90 days if I didnt get the full 100 % reimbursement. On XX/XX/XXXX Uplift got another {$280.00} and sent that out to me. So Uplift received {$2500.00} of the {$2600.00} paid for the cruise and they reimbursed me {$1200.00} of the {$1400.00}. I feel that I am still owed {$230.00} from Uplift to make good in the promise of 100 % full refund. Again, not understanding why I didnt get the full 100 % reimbursement promised to me with the 2 options presented to me and after asking questions via phone and email so I could make a fair and sound decision based on information presented to me I called XXXX and Uplift XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX XXXX was not clear or transparent on their offers of 100 % rebate vs 125 % future cruise credit and the consumer costs associated with them and they are not flexible to change terms now that I have answers that I should have had when I made the decision and I was diligent in trying to get the information before making the decision. XXXX says they paid Uplift 100 % of the funds XXXX paid them except a {$24.00} processing fee and Uplift says they are not giving back 100 % they are still charging the origination fee {$39.00} and the interest that accrued up until the cruise was canceled {$160.00}. I asked these question was not told this information had I known this I may have taken the 125 % future cruise credit because I was paying a lot of money for something I did not get and I wouldnt be getting back 100 % Id actually be getting back 84.17 %. They got paid handsomely for a product/service I did not get delivered and they were dishonest at the several points of inquiry. If Uplift wasnt going to honor the 100 % reimbursement and they were going to charge me fees and interest then Id like to have the opportunity to have the option for the 125 % with XXXX only they wont allow you to change your option once selected. And XXXX was the same about their fee. I also noticed Uplift on the XXXX list they get the opportunity for a forgivable loan and dont do the same for consumers thats really disheartening.