I recently became a Drive Financial customer (FORCEFULLY!) because the other company I was with (which I never had a problem with) sold my account this these people. I did my research on this company prior to making my payment — which is due on the 15th of every month — I got so scared because I did not see ONE positive report about it.
I went into it, though, with a positive outlook hoping that maybe I'd be one of the few lucky ones who didn't have any problems... WRONG! As soon as I called them so I could get my new account number and also ask when I should expect my new paperwork (rather information regarding my account and statement for payment the following week) I was told that if I wanted my payment to be ON TIME every month I would have to mail out the check the 1st of the month so it could get there by the 15th and THEN allow 3 to 5 days for the check to be processed and posted.
I thought this was ridiculous. I was also told it would be a "foolish" idea to use the billpay at my bank because they couldn't guarantee they'd get the payment on time. NOW, keep in mind that I use billpay for a few accounts I have. Some of them pay electronically, others pay through check. Suntrust has NEVER once been late on any of my payments... I set the date for payment (which is usually 1 or 2 days before the due date) and it's done.
I told this to the lady and she immediately got defensive and got this rude tone in her voice. She instantly pushed their methods of payment as being the ONLY reliable sources otherwise I'd have to pretty much "ride it out." I hung up with her shortly afterward seeing that I was not getting anywhere with her.
I then proceeded to call Suntrust and inform them of this bull... That I had just been told by Drive Financial. The guy told me that it sounded absurd because the longest a check will take to get to a certain company is 5 days — they send everything first class mail — and when they get it, even that shouldn't take more than a day. He told me that it must be their way of pushing their "extra fees" on the customer (meaning, their $10.95 over the phone and online fees) so he just told me to put the "pay date" on Bill Pay for one or two days before — I did just that — and we hung up.
The 15th (of August '08) rolled around and I'm thinking "OK, they should have gotten my check by now... It might be posted to my account or maybe it will be tomorrow" I checked that day (the 15th) and nothing... I checked again the 16th... And nothing... Finally, on Monday the 18th, I checked again and it had posted to my account. I looked at my bank but no money had been taken out, yet. I decided to call DRIVE and see what the problem had been.
When I spoke with this lady (can't remember her name) she told me the checked wasn't received until SUNDAY the 17th — I immediately knew something was wrong with this picture because the mail DOESN'T DELIVER ON SUNDAYS — I told her just that and she said "well, that's when we got it and you accrued $19.98 of interest between the 15th and the 16th of August since your payment was LATE. Yes, she said "LATE!" I was appalled because they should have gotten that check on THURSDAY the 14th! The latest Friday the 15th.
I immediately called Suntrust to see what had happened. They told me they mailed out the check on the 8th or the 11th (I can't remember right now) and that Drive should have gotten the check by the 15th being the latest day he then proceeded to open an investigation. After I got off the phone with Suntrust I decided to call DRIVE again to verify again the exact date they received the check.
I spoke with another guy and he told me they didn't receive the check until the 16th and because they don't update anything until MIDNIGHT my payment didn't post until the 17th which was SUNDAY. I told him that, that is absurd because I had sent it in through Bill Pay with a promise of the check being there by the 15th, although, it should have gotten to them on the 14th (THURSDAY) one day before the actual due date.
I also mentioned that an investigation had been opened with the department at my bank and they'd be contacting them. He simply said "ok... But you have to keep in mind the mail takes up to 10 days to get here" I told him "yes, I do realize that but when it is sent through first class mail the longest it takes is maybe 5 days... And THAT is a MAYBE... Usually it gets there by the 3rd day" he didn't say anything so we hung up shortly after.
I was not able to keep up with the investigation due to the fact that the following week I had an accident at work but I called again last week (suntrust) and they told me they had spoken to DRIVE Financial and they told the bank that "they had received the check on time, I wasn't charge any late fees or any other sort of interest and the check posted on the 17th" I couldn't believe what they told the bank since in two different occasions I was told I had accrued $19.98 worth of interest.
I told this to Suntrust and the guy escalated the investigation and said they'd call again and inform them of this. So I waited a few days (during this time I had a payment already scheduled for the 12th 3 DAYS BEFORE MY DUE DATE... So do the math: first class mail, scheduled to be there by the 12th) I called on Thursday Sept 11th and Suntrust informed me that they had spoken yet again to DRIVE and were told the SAME thing as before and said that whatever I told Suntrust was not true...
I informed Suntrust that company were known to be liars and to open the investigation one more time he did just that and I also told the guy I'd be calling back shortly because I was going to call DRIVE and see what THEY would tell me. When I spoke to DRIVE they told me the same information as before "your payment was late blah blah you were charged $19.98 worth of interest" I got her name (Zinita) and her agent number and called Suntrust back with this information so I'm waiting to see what they say tomorrow...
Now... It seems like DRIVE is doing it AGAIN! As you read earlier I scheduled my payment to be there by the 12th of September, meaning that Suntrust probably mailed it sometime between the first week of September or the latest being September 8th, right? Well, I checked my account online every day this week and guess what? NO PAYMENT HAS BEEN POSTED TO MY ACCOUNT!
My due date is tomorrow... And if my payment isn't posted that day... I don't know what I am going to do... I REFUSE to use automatic draft from them, seeing how they take more money than they should from people's account, and I'm not paying their $10.95 fee — I find it ridiculous — I have NO PROBLEM paying my car and when I was with TRIAD Financial I was NEVER LATE not even by one day.
I'm sure Suntrust won't be happy to hear that these people are holding their checks for long periods of time. It makes them look bad. Like I said, I have other accounts I pay with Suntrust's Bill Pay and they have an impeccable record. So right now, it's just DRIVE purposely making my payments late.
Again, I have NEVER been late ONCE on my payments. And I ALWAYS schedule my payments on Bill Pay for 1 or 2 days before and for the month of September I scheduled it 3 DAYS BEFORE. So it's ridiculous what they're doing. Any advice??? I know no one will refinance me because I owe more than what the car is actually worth since I did a trade in and it added 4 grand to my total loan amount. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I will be updating this sometime next week... I REALLY hope my payment is posted tomorrow since it will be the 15th.
Juliana
Sanford, Florida
U.S.A.
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