I am the owner of a mechanic shop in Hawaii. At the end of 2006 I was contacted by an agent of Pacific Associates (whois affiliated with Genesis Capital) and offered funding as a loan or equipmentpurchase or lease. After we negotiated, we agreed on a lease program so we canbuy some equipment ie. Computers/laptop diagnostics equipment for Mercedes Benzand Jaguars. Part of our verbal agreement was that the lease will be such as inthe end of last payment there will be a $1 buyout. On our documentation thereis no mention of the $1 buyout but we assured us everything was fine.
A shorttime after we were told that our lease contract had been moved over to ManifestFunding/US Bank (may be a subsidiary) and that we have to make paymentsdirectly to them, which we commenced doing. I had forgotten that we stilldidnt have an original copy of the contract, so I kept calling PacificAssociates requesting the contract & my copies to be sent to me viaregistered mail and they kept on postponing and playing around for months. Finally they told me your contract is no longer with us and you have to dealwith Manifest Funding/US Bank. We called Manifest Funding/US Bank several timesasking them for documents over a period of time. We pretty much got the samerunaround from them.
Toward the end of 2008 I decided I have had enough withthese games so we called them and I requested from them a lease contractbuyout. After a few calls back and forth they finally faxed us a documentsaying contract buyout on the top and below, the lease contract number, and theamount. We wrote the check on 11/17 and sentit to them and everything was supposedly finished and done with.
In January of14 months later, I received a bill for a lease payment/rental past duefrom Pacific Associates as well as Genesis Capital. I called them and asked what is the story, saying I do not owe you anything because I bought out the lease contract. Aftera few calls and faxes back and forth they told me that, no you have only boughtout the payment portion of the contract and you still owe us fair market valueof the equipment or we are going to charge you another for 12 months for theequipment of $745/month. You will still after 12 months have to pay us for fairmarket value of the equipment. I was shocked, surprised, and very angry. (Nowhereon the contract buyout does it say that I bought out only the payments and nothingelse.) Then I faxed them the copy of the actual contract buyout and asked whatthis means and they told me that its vague and doesnt mean anything and thatwas only for Manifest Funding/US Bank and they did not notify us. So I calledManifest Funding/US Bank and asked them about the situation. They very rudelytold me in so many words we dont care and were done with you and we havesent all the documents to Pacific Associates, and now I have to deal with them.
Meanwhile, I told the gentleman from Pacific Associates that I have neverreceived the original lease agreement nor a copy to follow up with any chaptersor sections etc. And I also told him that it was supposed to be a dollarbuyout. (If they have any documentation or receipts showing that they mailedthe contract to me, I want them to present that proof. How would they expect meto know the conditions and stipulations if Ive never seen it?) He sort oflaughed at me and he faxed me copy of the lease contract and pointed out that Iam still liable for all of these amounts.
I am in Hawaii and theyre inCalifornia and I did not want to deal with this and I told them, if I have togive the equipment back I will give it back and Im sick and tired of youpeople. It seems like you are trying to cheat me and extort money out of me bybullying and threatening me. They started to pressure me by calling me 48 timesin 3 days to pay them, asking where our payments are.
And meanwhile a gentleman from Pacific Associates kept wanting tomake a deal over the phone with me. I kept telling him it seems that until nowwhatever was verbally agreed to and was supposed to be put in writing neverhappened and the result is that you are trying to screw me. I do not trust youI dont want to talk over the phone anymore, we do it in writing and we take itfrom there. He said no, we will make a deal over the phone first and then wellput it in writing, which they are still trying to do.
To save myself andeveryone headaches and hassles for the last offer I offered them either $5,000in cash or they can have the equipment although they are wrong, not me, bytheir own admittance. I want to put everything behind me and move on with mylife. They keep insisting & threatening for $13,000 or something like that. Seriously the question is why did they wait almost 14 months after I paid offthe contract to come back and try to bully money out of me. Company seems to bea tag team type of a business because during the last 2-3 months I havereceived almost 80-100 from quite a few different named people that work forPacific Associates/Genesis Capital, and I have no idea who Im dealing withanymore. They wontstop calling me everyday harassing me by calling & emailing. I know for afact that I am not the only one who has had this same exact problem with Pacific Associates. They have 2 complaints againstthem with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and there is another complaint against Genesis Capital, besides my own complaint, on usacomplaints.com. I want these people to be stopped. They use fraudulent tactics and they shouldnt be allowed to target anyone elselike myself. I am an honest working man who pays all his bills on time and hasa good credit rating.
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