I financed a vehicle through HAFC (Household Auto Finance) which is now known as HSBC Auto Finance. I pay my bill through personal check, electronic bill pay through banking web sites, and Western Union Quick Collect.
On numerous occasions HSBC has accepted and cashed personal checks & on-line bill payments, deducting the payment amount from my checking account, but have failed to update my account as having been paid. They routinely hold payments until the payments are late, and then charge late fees.
Twice I have had to hire a lawyer, (Parker-Stanbury LLP), to represent me and force HSBC/HAFC to credit my payments to my account after proving that they had been made. They also had to force HAFC/HSBC to remove negative reports to by credit rating that were not valid. Recently I requested a payoff balance because I am within one year of my loan maturity date. They informed me that they had "added an extra year of payments onto my contract" because the interest balance had gone up due to these late payments, although the late fees had been paid, and then refunded.
They maintained that the additional interest had been accruing, but they never bothered to notify me in any way. No such penalty clause is listed in my contract and they refuse to provide me with any piece of paper that I ever signed that would allow such a penalty. I requested a payoff balance be mailed or faxed to me and they refused, saying they only provide them orally, in case the amount changes due to additional fees. I am now hiring a lawyer again for round three.
This company is an absolute fraud and will rip you off every chance they get. Their customer service and telephone reps have all beeen outsourced to India and it's almost impossible to find someone that speaks English and then when you do, they will not cooperate. This company is entirely dishonest and disreputable. Do not do any business with them!
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