Consumer complaint received 2025-01-07 00:00:00
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Lease
Issue: Problems at the end of the loan or lease — Termination fees or other problem when ending the lease early
Company: Volvo Car Financial Services U.S., LLC
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
In XX/XX/XXXX, I leased a Volvo XXXX from Volvo Cars XXXX on a Flex lease. I entered into the lease because we had a reservation for the XXXX XXXX, and we intended on acquiring the vehicle. I was told that if I need to return the XXXX before its lease ends, I could do so after five months and five payments on the lease and would only have to pay the lease termination fee. 

In late XXXX, after multiple delays in the XXXX delivery date and being offered a better price with Polestar, I decided to cancel the XXXX reservation and lease the Polestar. Before making my decision, I spoke with Volvo XXXX XXXX and they asked us to check with Volvo Car Financial Services ( VCFS ) about my options for ending the lease. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, at XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, I contacted XXXX to discuss my options for terminating my lease early. I spoke with a representative and explained my situation, including that I had entered the Flex lease with the intention of acquiring an XXXX, but no longer planned to do so. After reviewing my lease, the representative informed me that since I was on a Flex lease and had already made five payments, I could return the vehicle to any Volvo dealership at any time and pay a {$450.00} lease termination fee.

To verify the information provided by the first representative, I made another call on the same day at XXXXXXXX XXXX and spoke with a different representative. I gave them the same details and received the same response. They also went on to check if the {$450.00} fee could be waived, but confirmed that I would have to either buy or lease another Volvo vehicle to qualify for the waiver. Purchasing a Polestar would not qualify, as it is a separate car company. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I returned the vehicle to Volvo XXXX XXXX and called XXXX at XXXX to notify them of the return, as they had requested during the XX/XX/XXXX calls. 

On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX, I received a call from a XXXX representative stating that they had reviewed the calls from XX/XX/XXXX with both representatives, and apologized for providing incorrect information. They said that I would have to do one of the following : take the vehicle back from the dealer and continue to pay the monthly lease fee, pay off the remaining lease to exit the lease, or allow them to perform an assessment to determine a settlement value based on the vehicles condition. 
XXXX is not taking responsibility for the incorrect information provided by their representatives in any of the provided options. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, at XXXX, I received a call from another XXXX representative saying I apologize you had received incorrect information but according to the lease I would have to pay {$6400.00} for the early termination of the lease by XX/XX/XXXX. They identified themselves as the Lead Customer Service Representative and stated that I could not speak to anyone else regarding a reconsideration of this matter. They mentioned that according to the lease, it could only be terminated early without incurring this charge if I acquired a new car from them.

As I had already taken on a new lease with Polestar based on the incorrect information provided to me by XXXX representatives, I now have no choice but to pay the {$6400.00}. 

This has created a financial burden for me through no fault of my own. It is unfair for a company to provide incorrect information to the consumer and not take any responsibility. 

We were told from the start that the lease would be a Flex lease, and the fact that this does not adhere to the conditions of a Flex lease as stated in Volvos own marketing material makes it a case of bait-and-switch. Please refer to the attached pdf for the promo that we received from Volvo. I have no choice but to pay the amount at this time, otherwise it would negatively impact my credit.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation