I am a small business owner, and have been for 8 years. About three years ago, when things were going well, I purchased a truck. I borrowed the money through the dealership, from BB&T. I have paid nearly $600 a month for about three years for this vehicle, on time. During this time I have had a tree destroy my house and a fire close down my business for 49 days. I have been married, and I am soon to have a child. Not to mention that the economic situation has slowed down my income. The balance on my truck is 15,000.
I got the bright idea to call BB&T just to see if I could get the loan refinanced so my payments would be lowered. It would not hurt to ask, right? I wrote three different letters, for three different months, telling them my situation and asking if anyone could at least give me the contact information of who I needed to talk to about this. I finally got a call. A lady gave me a phone number for the repo department, which I called. A guy named "George" answered. He talked in a monotone voice, like a robot. I told him my situation, and he told me the process took 30-35 days to apply for a refinance. I said okay, and he said he "WOULD get back in touch with me" and to "go ahead and make my next payment." I said okay, and did.
A month went by and my next payment was due. I called back and got George on the phone. He did not remember me, and I explained to him that I had spoken with him before. He went through the whole speech again, like he was reading it: "The process takes 30-35 days" and "Go ahead and make your next payment." I asked him if the 30-day process started from the FIRST or SECOND time I spoke with him. He stated that the process started when the application he filed got to where it was going and was entered into the system. He told me he would contact me later that afternoon to ask me questions to enter on the loan refinance application.
I said okay, and he called me that afternoon. He reminded me how much money I put down on my original loan application three years ago. He wanted to know how much I was making now, and he said that "VERY few of these applications work." Why is he just now telling me this? I stopped him and asked him a few questions. I asked, "How much could I get my payments lowered to?" The answer was only $100 less.
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