My last car was financed through Arcadia. During the life of the loan, I experienced both a job loss and medical problems, causing me to fall behind.
As a result, I was past due a number of times. I never said I didn't owe what I had borrowed, and it was very stressful whenever I wasn't able to pay on time. Yes, many of us do pay our bills, but have fallen on hard times. Trust me, it can happen to anyone... Especially those who think they have job security.
But during those times, Arcadia reps would offer to defer payments. They were more than happy to help. Yes, I understood this would accrue interest, however, the reps never gave any idea of how much. (I believe they deferred 5 payments over 4 years.)
So, when I refinanced my mortgage earlier this year, and took out enough to pay off my loan with Arcadia, I was shocked by the payoff amount. I owed 11 payments of $245, totaling approximately $2700. The payoff was $6109!!!
The difference was for the interest on the deferred payments. I can understand having to pay the interest, but at $3.00 per day??? This information was finally given to me when I called for a payoff.
Had they been honest about how much interest would accrue, maybe I would have reconsidered... Maybe borrow from a relative, whatever it took.
I was able to negotiate a payoff of $5000, but that still meant $2300 interest for 5 deferred payments! Ludicrous! That's taking advantage of the customer.
0 comments