Consumer complaint received 2025-01-16 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Other banking product or service
Issue: Managing an account — Funds not handled or disbursed as instructed
Company: ALLY FINANCIAL INC.
State: MN

Complaint narrative:
Using Ally 's online bill pay service, I scheduled a payment for delivery on XX/XX/XXXX to pay my property taxes ( due XX/XX/XXXX ). The payment was received by my county late, with a postmark of XX/XX/XXXX ( they credit the payment date as the postmark date for mailed payments ). I was charged a late fee of {$41.00}. The county sent me a letter detailing this and including a photocopy of the check from Ally dated XX/XX/XXXX as well as the envelope it was received in with a postmark of XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. 

Per Ally 's website, they will " work with you to resolve the issue '' of a late fee as long as the scheduled payment delivery date was on/before the due date and the account had sufficient funds at the time. Both of these conditions were met in my case. 

I called Ally 's customer service on XX/XX/XXXX to request reimbursement for the {$41.00} late fee. The customer service rep told me that Ally would do this, but that because the amount requested was greater than {$25.00} I would have to send documentation of the fee amount via the messaging service in Ally 's mobile app. I sent a scan of the above-mentioned letter the same day, and Ally confirmed receipt. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, having not received any reimbursement or further response from Ally I requested an update via the app messaging service and received a response that my request " has not yet been updated '' and that the customer service rep would follow up with the " back office team ''. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, still having had no updates from Ally, I requested another status update. Ally responded " a paper check was created for the refund on XX/XX/XXXX ( sic ) ''. However, it is unclear whether the check is currently en route to you or if it will be mailed out shortly ''. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I received a voicemail from Ally requesting that I call them back. On XX/XX/XXXX I received an email to the same effect. 

I called the customer service line back on XX/XX/XXXX and was told that my request to be reimbursed for this late fee had been denied. I requested to know Ally 's reasoning, and was told that Ally had called XXXX XXXX to verify the due date of the payment and was told that the payment was due and received on XX/XX/XXXX, thus they were not late and would not be reimbursing me. I explained that this was not true, that the payment was due on XX/XX/XXXX, and that Ally had a copy of the letter confirming as much. Next I was told that Ally had called the county and asked them, on my behalf, as a courtesy, to waive the late fee. I don't expect the county to do this. I expect Ally to reimburse me, as they are responsible for the lateness of the payment. Finally, after nearly 2 hours of explaining the dates involved and the nature of the USPS, I was told that Ally recommends against using their bill pay service to pay taxes and court ordered payments, and that they do not reimburse late fees for these types of payments. The rep clarified that because of this policy, the dates the payment was scheduled for and received do not make a difference in denying my request. I requested a copy of the written denial that the rep was reading from, and was denied. The total length of this call was 1 hour 54 minutes, with seemingly only the last 3 or so spent in discussing the true rationale for the denial.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief