I read both sides of the story. I can see both points of view. To the people who write such condesending remarks, I hope that life continues to treat you well and you don't experience a reposession. To the irresponsible people, what can I say, —ah nothing. To the others, that is life and you deal with it—this is where I fall in.
I too have had a reposession from this company. I left to fight overseas after the twin towers were hit. This caused a huge financial impact on me due to a loss of money, military pay screw ups from the government not paying me on time etc... Not looking for any sympathy here, this is just another of life's unexpected obstacles you deal with.
All I can say is I was aware of the contract and the implications of not paying on time. Yes this company preys on the uncredit worthy and the ways they go about it should be scrutinized a little. You do have the right to READ your contract just as I did, understand it, and abide by it. You also have the right to say NO and not sign the damn thing and take your business elsewhere.
The problem is that it is hard to say no especially when you need the vehicle, get caught up in the moment knowing that you've made a mistake. As you sign the contract the dealer just smiles and shakes your hand just like Tony Soprano would do. Whose fault is it really? Ours! Look elsewhere to get a vehicle especially when you notice that the cost of the vehicle is $16,000 and over the life of the loan it is $29,000. Duh! I took the chance to try to rebuild my credit. This is called predatory lending. They make their money betting on the fact that you won't live up to your end of the contract. It is in black in white and you should have seen this when you READ the contract. If you can't afford it, then live in your means and drive something dependable but not showroom new. I thought I could do it, was doing it and thought I did it until the end of the contract.
Here was my situation. I struggled to make the payments. I have a handicapped child that NEEDS reliable transportation. I drove a piece of crap truck just so that I could make the payments for my wife to have something I didn't have to worry about. Nobody really looks to be called to war. It just happened and I did what I was supposed to do. Go. This left the wife with loads of responsibility now with me overseas and a financial mess due to not receiving my money. I know—Wah, quit crying.
Americredit will work with you until it is in their best interest not too. Just be aware of this, this is how all these companies make their money. Is it right, hell no, but as long as people sign the contracts they will keep writing them.
I was behind off and on trying to get back on track. The problem is that once you get behind, all the fine print on the contact you failed to read or understand works against you. I don't need to restate the obvious, it has already been said in other remarks concering penalties, interest etc...
This is what Americredit does. They inflate the payments because you are not credit worthy, at their mercy and basically a second class citizen they can treat however they see fit. Even though you are on again off again but remain current, there are ways they can still reposses your vehicle (I mean their vehicle).
Myself, I was about to make the last payment on my 6 year loan. I owed only $1,000. I called them to make arrangements to pay it off over the next 5 business days. This call was made on a Friday and payment was to be made by the middle of the following week. Yea! I was going to finally own the vehicle. So I thought.
The repo man came to the house in the middle of the night, dragged the vehicle for about a 1/4 mile (front wheel drive) the skid marks told the story. I just had the vehicle worked on (the front end just days before this so it was destroyed now). This is pretty underhanded especially when verbal arrangements were made but anyway. There arguement was that it was over 60 days late during the course of the loan. Their record keeping sucks and you need to be able to support your claim of inadequate record keeping by keeping track of it yourself. If you can't support this to anyone such as the credit bureau or an attorney, you are wasting your time complaining.
Once the vehicle is worth more than the final payment, in my case the van was worth $7,500 on the blue book, you have been behind in payments, etc... They have every right to come get the vehicle and squeeze every bit of money they can legally out of you. Hey we signed the permission slip. They will now sell the vehicle at auction, tack on other costs, and get you for the rest. Not bad huh. This could be a Soprano episode.
Now, the vehicle is gone. You make the call and they ask if you want the thing back. I didn't want it back once I saw how far they dragged it in park. I was pissed. It is your credit, if you don't want to pay and settle it oh well. It is your loss not theirs. They will just write you off as a loss recoop the money using that avenue and sell the vehicle to someone else. You take the credit hit. It is a business. I am not defending them, I am now a little more educated on how the scam works.
Some young kid on the phone was laughing and saying I could have it back if paid the $1000 plus the repo fee plus the towing expense. Get this they transport it to another state for auction (and he asked me if I wanted to attend the auction to get my vehicle back—what nerve). If you want the vehicle back you have to pay in addition the cost of the transportation to and back to your home plus the license plate fees because the vehicle has to be placed back in your name to be registered etc...
Just be aware that this is what happens when you agree to a contract you know is a mistake. If you didn't understand it you should have taken it to someone who could call it to your attention. As for me, I gambled and lost. However, I was taken advantage of at the end of the contract. They will not reposses a vehicle until it is in their best interest to as I have stated. I'll bet most of the people that had repossessions fell into this catagory. It is a business whether you think it is crooked or not. What can you do? Vent! Right here. That is all that will happen. Your vehicle won't mysteriously show up back in the driveway unscathed. I just hope that someone reads these comments before they make a bad decision.
Americredit will continue to report this reposession to the credit companies, ding your credit score, go through many correspondence with you, possibly other credit collections agencies they will sell your debt to so now they can start calling you for the loan. Forget the fact that none of these companies talk to each other concerning the collection process of the loan. What I am saying is that you may pay off the debt with one collection agency only to find out that it was sold to another company and they will try to collect on the same debt twice. You will go through hell trying to straighten this out.
In summary, read the contract, don't sign it, or if you do you must live up to it to save your credit. No I am not happy with how I was dealt with but oh well. I will never be a victim again because of this learning experience.
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