Consumer complaint received 2026-01-03 00:00:00
Product: Payday loan, title loan, personal loan, or advance loan — Payday loan
Issue: Can't contact lender or servicer — 
Company: Zip Co US Inc.
State: VA

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX, around XXXX XXXX., I again contacted Zip through its inapp chat support to request a change to my upcoming payment date due to financial hardship and to avoid a {$7.00} late fee. When Zip closes a chat, the chat history disappears from the app and there is no way for me to see any record of the conversation. The only option shown is start a new chat, so I have no transparent record of my repeated attempts to resolve this issue before the due date. 
I receive only generic automated emails telling me to open the chat and respond, but these are not effective because I am not continuously monitoring my email and Zip does not provide realtime notifications when an agent actually joins the chat. Zips queue can last many hours, yet agents close the chat after only a few minutes with no real effort to communicate or assist, and then the chat thread disappears. This design makes it practically impossible for a consumer with normal obligations to reach an agent and complete a paymentdate change in time. 
Zip provides no customer service phone number where I can speak with a live agent in real time about my account. There is also no option within the app to change my payment date because Zip claims I already changed it on XX/XX/XXXX, even though my income is monthly and their system does not offer a monthly due date that aligns with my pay schedule. As a result, my payments are misaligned with when I actually receive income, which increases the likelihood of late payments. 
When I can not reach support in time, Zip charges a {$7.00} late fee and may reduce my credit line, even though I have had the account for years and have been in good standing. Their policies appear to penalize customers experiencing financial hardship with unavoidable late fees and credit line decreases, despite repeated, goodfaith attempts to obtain assistance and adjust the schedule. In my view, this is an unfair practice because I can not reasonably avoid these injuries when Zips systems are designed in a way that blocks effective access to customer support and to the paymentdate change options they advertise. 
Zip also does not return refunds in the way it represents. When I return a product, Zip intercepts the refund and applies it to other orders that still have active payment schedules, instead of refunding the money to my original payment method. Zip has also stated that late fees would be refunded, but I have never actually received any late fee back to my original payment method, even though they have been doing this for months on my account. My account history shows repeated late fees and returns without corresponding refunds back to me. 
Because Zip is a buy now, pay later lender, it should be treating these returns and credits like a credit card issuer would, including promptly crediting refunds on returned items and providing refunds of account credits when requested. Instead, Zip is using my refunds to offset other purchases and continuing to collect late fees that it has told me would be refunded, which leaves me worse off and unable to rely on what the company tells me about refunds. 
Zip also represents that if a customer makes a payment within XXXX days of their due date, the late fee will be refunded. Customers are required to contact support to request this refund. However, Zip does not send any confirmation email that a latefee refund was processed, and there is no record in my bank accounts that any of these late fees were ever refunded, despite my timely payments within the stated XXXXday window. This pattern has occurred multiple times over several months on my account. 

I believe Zips conduct may constitute unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices ( UDAAP ) under the Consumer Financial Protection Act. Specifically : Unfair practice : Zips design of its customerservice and accountmanagement systems causes substantial injury to me in the form of late fees, misaligned due dates, and possible credit line decreases, and I can not reasonably avoid these injuries because : ( XXXX ) there is no live customerservice phone number ; ( XXXX ) the only support channel is an inapp chat with extremely long wait times and no realtime notifications ; ( XXXX ) chats are closed within minutes and then completely disappear, leaving no record; and ( XXXX ) I am blocked from changing my payment date in the app even though my pay schedule is monthly and misaligned with their due dates. These injuries are not outweighed by any benefits to consumers or competition. 

Deceptive practice : Zip represents that ( a ) customers can change payment dates and get help when struggling to pay, and ( b ) late fees and refunds will be returned, but in practice : I can not actually access or use the paymentdatechange and hardship options because of how the system is designed ; refunds for returned goods are intercepted and applied to other orders instead of being returned to my original payment method ; and late fees that Zip says will be refunded are not actually returned to my original payment method. These misrepresentations and omissions are likely to mislead reasonable consumers about their ability to manage payments and receive refunds. 
Misrepresentation of latefee refunds ( deceptive practice ) : Zip tells consumers that late fees will be refunded if they pay within a stated period ( for example, within 7 days of the due date ), but then fails to actually provide those refunds or to give any confirmation that a refund was processed. This is a deceptive act or practice because it is a specific promise about fee refunds that is not honored in practice, and a reasonable consumer would rely on that promise when deciding when and how to make payments. 

Abusive practice : Zips practices take unreasonable advantage of my reasonable reliance that the company will : ( XXXX ) provide a workable method to contact it and exercise options like changing due dates or requesting hardship assistance ; and ( XXXX ) handle refunds and latefee credits in accordance with their own statements and with applicable buy now, pay later refund and dispute protections that the CFPB has said should be comparable to credit card rules. 

Refund and dispute protections for buy now, pay later : The CFPB has stated that buy now, pay later lenders must honor credit cardlike protections for disputes and refunds, including timely credits when consumers return goods or challenge charges. Zips practice of intercepting merchant refunds and applying them to other orders, and its failure to actually return promised latefee refunds to my original payment method, may violate these refund and dispute obligations.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation