First of all, let me say that the rather rude and dismissive responses posted by ex-employees of this company speak volumes about its terrible attitude toward its customers.
Yes, Peak5, AKA Flatiron Financial, AKA Centrix, is in business to provide loans to those with credit on the lower end of the scale. Yes, such customers often have poor payment histories or other financial difficulties that prevent more reputable and above-board lenders from extending them credit. And yes, I have made credit mistakes in the past, leading me to the auto loan which I have almost paid off with them. However, none of these facts explain or justify the egregiously bad behavior of this company and its representatives, and the complete disregard they have for common decency. This company is the epitome of the predatory lender forced upon those of us who have made credit mistakes in the past. The company has reorganized at least three times that I know of, one of them evidently because Centrix declared bankruptcy! It seems that their own financial picture is far from perfect.
Now, in the interest of honesty, I have missed a couple of payments with Peak5, and I have subsequently paid the extra interest charges as indicated by my loan contract. However, even when my payment is on time, they are ridiculous to deal with. The company charges $10 for any check-by-phone payment, which is by far the most convenient way to make payments, at least for me. I know of no reputable company that charges for the priviledge of making payments to them. Yes, I could mail them a check and avoid the fee, but such responses avoid the fact that this company attempts to make a profit EVEN ON THE REPAYMENTS FOR LOANS FROM WHICH THEY ARE ALREADY PROFITING. Such double-dipping in customer money is ludicrous and hopefully will be outlawed in the future. I work in the computer industry, including with point of sale systems, and I am well aware of the fact that no $10 charge per electronic payment is justified in terms of the cost of payment processing. Believe me, any such claims are outright lies and should not be trusted.
Give the fact that I became tired of being dinged $10 extra for actually PAYING my loan, and the fact that I pay every other bill I have online, outside of rent, last month I began using my bank's online bill payment service to send checks to Peak5.in cases where the payee does not accept electronic payments, my bank mails regular paper checks with my name, address, and account information, to the same address included with my monthly loan statement. My bank processed the payment request, debited my account, and mailed a check to Peak5. They claim they never received it, and my bank says it hasn't been cashed. My bank's customer service furthermore offered to work directly with Peak5 to determine what happened to this check, but Peak5 refused to deal with them directly. I ended up having a conference call with my bank and Peak5... The reason for their initial refusal was because they insisted they had to verify my address/insurance info, as they do every time I call them, even though my address hasn't changed in over a year. Ridiculous, ridiculous company. Additionally, I am in the process of shopping for a new car and the dealership where I was shopping called Peak5 to verify my payoff amount. Again, they refused to help because of the dispute over whether my last payment has been cashed!
This company is truly terrible, and should be avoided at all costs. I was able to get a loan offer from Wells Fargo, even though my credit still isn't perfect, and I look forward to dealing with a company that can perhaps avoid bankruptcy and restrain themselves from treating me like a criminal. I wish anyone who is under the bootheel of this company the best of luck in getting rid of them.
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