About four months ago, my husband took out a loan through the cash store in sun prairie wisconsin. We were in the middle of a bathroom remodel that went over budget and were expecting a large check payment from someone in July, so we decided to borrow the money to finish our bathroom until then.
Upon going to the store, they offered us this great deal where you can extend your loan for 12 weeks and just make bi-weekly finance charge payments. We signed up for it and proceeded to make the payments every two weeks. The woman running the store was very nice and called us a few days prior to each payment and asked if we were coming with cash or wanted it withdrawn from our checking. We opted to have the money withdrawn every two weeks. As planned, in July we received our big check we were expecting and called and asked for a payoff amount. We proceeded to pay off the loan in full. We were given a receipt stating the payoff amount, payment made, and new balance.in big letters at the top, it said "PAYMENT IN FULL". The woman at the store also put a big red stamp on it saying "PAID". We went on our merry way and thought it was settled. We had no further contact with the cash store. Then, two months later, we receive a call saying we owe money still. My husband said he had the receipt and proceeded to fax it to the store. He then called the store to make sure it came through and was told everything was then covered. Less than a week later, we receive a collection statement from them.
We proceed to call them and talked to several different people at their "corporate" office. Each person told us a different story.
The first one said, we faxed the receipt and that there had been a computer error and the collection notice was sent out prior to us faxing the receipt and we could disregard it that it was taken care of. We asked for a letter stating that it was clear and we could disregard the collection notice. We were then told to call the store itself to get that. Upon calling the store, the lady was very rude and told me that we were given that receipt by error and should never have received it and we still owe money.
We then placed another call to the corporate office where we were spoke to the supervisor who was also very rude and told us that we had to send her ALL of our bank statements. She said that there had been a returned payment and we still owe money. I told her what my statements showed that they had tried to take out two payments at once and upon calling the store, the woman at the store reveresed the payment and credited it back to us. She still demanded the bank statements, which even my bank manager told me was not wise to send due to lots of personal info being on it.
I then called the store again and asked 4 times for the exact payment dates of all payments they had on record. I called my bank and asked if any payments had been returned. NONE! The only payment that was returned was the one that the cash store clerk authorized because she took out two payments at once. The lady in the store says that the one payment that was supposed to be returned was done on a date two weeks before i paid the loan off. The corporate office claims that it wasn't sent back to them as "not being withdrawn" until the middle of august, how convenient that that was after i paid the loan off. My bank confirms that no payment were returned in August.
I went to the cash store and asked for all paperwork they had on file, specifically the paper stating when the one payment was returned to me. They refused to give it to me.
I called corporate one last time. The woman would not even listen to me! She was extremely rude and accussed me of stealing said money from them. She said then said there was no payment returned in august (after she told me there was in a previous phone call). She says that my receipt is not valid. I thought that the receipt was to show that the loan was paid off, but apparently not! She says that there was an error in the computer system on their end and it took them this long to discover it and that i still owe money. Also, the girl that worked there when we took out the loan and paid it off no longer works there. Apparently she was fired... Wonder what for? So, my guess is that she screwed up and now i am being punished for it. They refuse to help me. I was told that they have been dealing with this all day and are tired of dealing with me and they threatened to turn me into a third party collection agency if i don't pay them. They won't accept a statement from my bank in regards to the payments and still demand bank statements which as i said before my bank advised me against giving out. I am now reporting them to the consumer protection agency and thinking about getting a lawyer. Not sure what else i can do because they basically admit they screwed up but don't care and are coming after me for it anyway. My advice to anyone thinking about borrow money from them is DON'T. First of all you are only putting yourself further in the hole and they will screw you over any way they can. I'm proof that even having a receipt for it doesn't mean anything to them!
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