Consumer complaint received 2025-11-26 00:00:00
Product: Payday loan, title loan, personal loan, or advance loan — Installment loan
Issue: Charged fees or interest you didn't expect — 
Company: Affirm Holdings, Inc
State: SC

Complaint narrative:
On Sunday, XX/XX/XXXX, I took advantage of an offer through Affirm.com for a 0 % XXXX short-term loan for a trip I was booking through XXXX ; XXXX total for this trip was {$1800.00} USD. I used Affirm.com specifically, and primarily, because of the 0 % APR offer for XXXX and 6 month loans, and because of previous experience with the company. 

From Sunday evening, XX/XX/XXXX until Tuesday morning ( all times XXXX XXXX ), the loan showed up in Affirm 's system as pending, but as {$1900.00} ; I found this odd, but not entirely atypical, as sometimes in the past, loans have shown up as being higher than the original amount, but then when finalized, show up correctly. Emails from Affirm on Sunday only show the monthly payment amount ; they show neither the XXXX, nor the total amount due. 

However, when the loan was finalized on Tuesday evening ( XXXX, according to the email I received from Affirm.com ), the loan was still for {$1900.00}. It was also now showing the reason for this - a {$130.00} charge for interest, at 24.59 %. 

Again, the ONLY reason I utilized Affirm.com for this loan was the 0 % XXXX offer for XXXX and 6 month terms. I'm not fond of XXXX XXXX XXXX, but the 0 % offer was reasonably attractive, and I wanted to give Affirm.com my repeat business. I would not have used them, in any way, at nearly 25 % interest ; I could, and would, have either paid directly via checking, or just put in on a credit card, which would have a much lower interest rate. 

I contacted Affirm.com via online chat shortly after XXXX on Tuesday, speaking with a XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, to inquire about this. They claimed there was no 0 % interest rate, and that no changes could/would be made. They recommended reaching out to the merchant ( XXXX ) to have the charge cancelled. I then reached out to XXXX at XXXX, who, somewhat predictably, said that the transaction was completed and not cancellable ; they further said that they were unable to change the method of payment ( I offered to pay using a different method ), and said that I would need to contact Affirm. 

I reached out to Affirm again, this time by phone, still on Tuesday evening, at XXXX, at XXXX. This time I spoke with, I believe they said their name was XXXX. He basically reiterated what XXXX had said - there was no 0 % interest rate, I'd need to reach out to the merchant to have them cancel, etc. 

At this point, I informed him that I would be fine with paying off the full amount, but I that I did not want a high interest, short-term loan appearing on my credit. He informed me that I was welcome to pay off the loan, but that it would be reported on my credit report, and that " would be positive thing. '' I informed him that I had no problem with the credit reporting policies, in general, it was the changed terms, with no explanation or consent, from 0 % XXXX to 24.59 % XXXX. 

Sadly, having done business with Affirm in the past, I didn't take screenshots of every single page of my booking- because who typically does that? Their site does still show the 0 % APR offer for XXXX, however, which I have screenshotted and saved. 

It's unfortunate that this company seems interested in advertising XXXX rate, sending only brief, vague emails on the date of the transaction that give the monthly payment amount, but neither the total, nor the interest rate. They send that only once the loan is " confirmed '', several days later, when it is too late to correct any errors, and then the interest rate and terms have suspiciously changed drastically.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation