Citifinancial Auto
Poor Service, Lack of Due Diligence, No Communication

Letter to Citifinancialauto, which also details the events:

To whom it may concern,

Below are the details of a series of events that has occurred with Citifinancialauto over the course of the last few weeks.

The short version is as follows:

I contacted Citifinancialauto on 12.08.07 to take advantage of a "skip-pay" program offered for customers in good standing, giving them the ability to skip their December payment. I called on 12.08 at 9:02am and took advantage of the program. I was told that my next payment would be due "on 01.15.08."

Citifinancialauto, making an error, failed to post the {skip-payment{ for December, causing my account to go {past due{. After multiple failed calls, meaningless conversations, poor customer service, and failure of your management to return ANY promised phone calls, my account is now showing as past due on my credit report.

Citifinancialauto is now in violation of Federal Lending Laws which govern the fair and accurate handling of account information and credit practices, including the FCRA. Failure to correct the error may result in further action by me, as appropriate.

The long version is as follows:
12.08.07,9:02am EST. During the month of December, I received a letter stating that I could "Skip my December Payment." The letter contained a number (866-917-7842, shown on my phone bill below) which I called on 12.08.07. I spoke to a "Chris", who said that my account was noted and that my next payment due was going to be 01.15.08. (I still have a copy of the letter with a note regarding the person's name and the next due date communicated to me.)

Call details to your skip-pay office, per AT&T, are as follows and are hereby documented.

Fast forward a few weeks: On Saturday, 01.05.08 at approx 3:15 pm, I received a call from Citifinancial Auto (in India?) stating that my account was past due. I advised the rep that my account was NOT past due, and explained the letter. He stated he had "no record of the skip-payment and that I would continue to receive calls until I made a payment."
01.07.08, I called Citifinancial Auto at 800-486-1750.
_at 10am I spoke to a "Jessica", explained what happened. She promised to connect me to someone who could help, and hung up on me.
_at 10:10am, I called back and spoke to a "Ms. Berry", explained again what had happened and asked to speak to a supervisor. She blind-transferred me to someone's voicemail.
_at 10:15am, I called back and spoke to a "Laura", and again explained the situation. She advised me that she was in the collections area, and that she could arrange a differed payment, but it would have to be based on "hardship". I explained that I should not have to do that, that I had already arranged to have the payment skipped based on the letter I received, and that no further action should be required of me.

She connected me to a "Termaine" in the department that apparently, originally handled the "skip pay promotion". Termiane indicated he would not help me and he would have to connect me to a supervisor named "Charles" who was not in.

At 10:25 am, on 01.07.08, I left a voicemail with a man (apparently named Charles Fisher). Mr. Fisher never returned my call.

01.07.08 4:00pm
Obtained Copy of letter allowing skip-pay, with name of rep spoken to (Chris) and date quoted from next payment due-date (01.15.08) on letter at time of conversation from home file.

01.07.08 4:42pm Call never received from Charles above, so called back with above letter in hand. Ms. Beecham, told issue, transferred to a Mr. Rice (supervisor) Blind transferred to his voicemail, so left a brief message.

01.07.08 4:50pm Called back again, got a Ms. Page
Explained to Ms. Page what happened, put on hold Ms. Page returned, advised me I need to call the # on the letter.
I asked her why she could not connect me, and she said since I had been bounced around so much, she preferred I call instead. I asked her for a supervisor, she blind transferred me to a number, where I received a recording "you have reached a non-working number{.

01.07.08 4:57 Called back again, got a "Marie"
Explained to her the situation. She advised I had two options: Give me # on letter and I can connect you, or I can get supervisor here. I asked for supervisor.

01.07.08 5:00 Marie above connected me to "Chrissy", a manager? Explained to Chrissy what happened.
Placed on hold at 5:17 pm for manager in skip-pay department. Chrissy reached "Sydney". Chrissy remained on line and waited for supervisor with me.

01.07.08 5:20 pm, "Greta" came to the phone (in skip pay.) Chrissy explained to Greta that she showed me as 22 days past due, that I qualified for skip-pay, and that she "felt it was unfair to request me to do a differed payment when we made the error"."Greta" apparently understood situation, and says that she will send email to "Charley". I asked her if that was the Charles Fisher that was supposed to call me back earlier today? She said yes, and that Charley was out that day but she would send him an email. I advised her he also had a voicemail from me from 10:25am the same day. Greta explained that she didn't know if Charley could do an override since my account was now past due (??!!) Greta provided me with a phone number 972-653-9224 and her hours (arrives at 9:30 CST.) She advised to call her back by 2 or 3 on 01.08.08 if I had not received a call from Charley.

01.08.08 2:26 pm Received collection call from Citifinancialauto (from India?) from # 803.835.2505 stating that my account was "22 days past due" and that I needed to make a payment. I advised the rep of the situation, advised her I was working it out with the main office, she needed to note my account, and advised her to contact the Citifinancialauto main office if she had any issues. I said "ok?" and the rep then hung up on me.

01.08.08 2:59 pm Called Greta at 972-653-9224 advising her that I have not received a call from either supervisor, specifically her or Charles Fisher regarding my issue. I asked her to call me back at 954.296.5450 anytime.

01.08.08
_Received another collection call. Explained to rep situation. He noted account. I told him that was underway, and that I had sent an email to the disputes department.
_Called Greta at 972 number, got voicemail, left message asking her to call me.

01.09.08 (Day 5) 2:30pm Still no call from Charley or Greta to date, so called Greta back.
The status of the correction is.

01.10.08 Received another collection call today which I did not answer. Called Greta again at the 972 #, asking her that she simply call me back and let me know the status of my situation. No callback received.

01.14.08 10:12am Sent complaint to Dispute Resolution Department at Citifinancialauto via email. No email, voicemail, or written response to date.

01.14.08 4:09pm: Contacted Better Business Bureau. Complaint filed, under file # 32004871. BBB returned contact, stating the file was being processed.

01.16.08 12 noon: Called the Customer Service number and got transferred to an "account manager"?
Placed on hold: then someone came to line. Asked for account info, and without warning, I was put me back on hold again... Then transferred back into the same queue.

01.16.08 This dial-transfer comedy of errors continued for several return calls until I got a "Kim", who had to connect me to another area, but gave me 888-433-5107 "in case we were disconnected."

Disconnected again, so called the 888# back. After several transfers and holds, I was transferred to "JuJoe" (spelling?). Explained to JuJoe the entire situation, and advised him I had filed a report with the BBB on 01-14... He said, in what can be mildly described as hard-to-understand and broken English that "there is not record you called for a skip-pay... You did not call us until 01-07."

I explained again that that info was incorrect. I asked him, short of suing Citifinancialauto, what can we do to straighten this issue out today? His answer? Make a payment today. I asked him again why I needed to make a payment other than the current payment; He explained that I could make current past due payment (according to him, the December payment they were supposed to differ.) and he could differ my payment for January payment. (Based on my history with Citifinancialauto thus far, I am leery to do that... Will it go thru? Will I qualify since my account is past due (their fault)... A comedy of errors.)

I asked him if he saw anything regarding a dispute. He said he saw notes that my account "had a dispute on it" and I "needed to call the dispute dept." I advised him that I had heard nothing from the dispute area. (Sounded like he was trying to get me off of his line.) He gave me 800-711-4945.

I called 800-711-4945, but the menu options do not indicate anything regarding disputes and don't allow you to do anything other than speak back to customer service.

01.18.08 10:00 am. The comedy of errors continues. When I attempted to make the ONE payment that is now due, $570.16 I was blocked from doing so online. The message indicates I need to "call customer service."

The remedy:

I am demanding due diligence in this manner, as follows:

(1) Process the skip-pay that was originally requested, or skip any current payment to bring my account current. This should not require any action on my part.
(2) Correct the Credit Bureau Report error, which shows my account as aging past 30 days.
(3) Re-age my account, as appropriate, to show real-time status.
(4) Refund any late fees and residual finance charges as a result of your error.
(5) Re-allow access to on-line payment.

It is clear to me that your process is broken. Not only is your voice-response system a confused maze of menus, but your customer service department has failed to meet my consumer needs. They have also failed to assist a customer who quite clearly is able to document that the error in question is the fault of their organization, and NOT the customer.

In addition, the managers named above (Charles Fisher and Greta) have no business in management. Simply failing to return a concerned customer's phone calls, specifically after promising to do so, is enough evidence that not only is customer service not a part of their organizations agenda, but it is also clearly not their strength.

As a manager with a Fortune100 financial firm myself, the constant and repeated pattern shown above, resulting in the failure of Citifinancialauto to process due diligence, is grounds enough for dismissal of staff. It also places your firm on shaky legal ground at best.

I am eagerly awaiting your response.

Company: Citifinancial Auto
Country: USA
State: Texas
City: Coppell
Address: PO Box 9575
Phone: 8004861750

  <     >