On January 2nd at 3:45 A.M. My 2001 Ford Mustang was repossessed by Western Automotive Recovery due to financial hardship. On January 5th I was able to borrow enough money to pay restitution back to WFS Financial in good faith that the car would be returned to me in the same condition as which it left. Upon accepting the money I owed for restitution WFS Financial is legally obligated to return the car in the same condition as it left my possession. I hold WFS Financial responsible for any and all damage and or theft to the vehicle since it was in their possession.
When I went to pick my car up on January 6th, the car had been transported to South Seattle Auto Auction to be sold. Upon my first inspection of the vehicle when it was given to me I was appalled at the condition in which the car was in and I could tell immediately that my car had not been given the professional care it should have while away from my possession.
The car was completely filthy inside and out. There was dirt and rocks in the seats, pop bottles, cigarette packages, and wrappers left in the car that did not come from me. There was wires hanging all over the place, papers from my glove box were strewn about the car. I also noticed upon inspection that some of my personal effects were not removed from the car as required by law. These items included a baseball hat, a wood grain shift knob, and the already mentioned personal papers from the glove box. Upon further inspection the first time I noticed that my MGW shift knob was not on the shifter and assumed it had been removed by Western Automotive Recovery.
George, the fleet manager at South Seattle Auto Auction, brought the car around where I first inspected it and gave me a waiver to sign which relieved them of all legal ramifications. I questioned him on this waiver because of the condition the car was now in that there was no way of telling if the car was in the same shape mechanically, I was not allowed to test drive my car to make sure their was no further damage to the vehicle.
I reluctantly signed after being told "well if you want the car you have to sign" and got into the car to find out that my car had no gas in it. Now when it was picked up it had about a quarter of a tank left in it, which would get me around for at least 35-40 miles longer, meaning the car had been driven quite a bit more than I would expect for an inspection for the auto auction.
I left the auto auction at 11:30 to go to Western Automotive Recovery to pick up my personal effects they had removed from my vehicle. When I arrived at Western Automotive Recovery I expressed my displeasure to both the supervisor and the owner about how my car was taken care of. The response I got back from both of them was that the auto auction must have done it because they would never do anything like that.
After paying the storage fees of $50.00 I was given my personal effects back in a black garbage bag. I looked through the bag only to find out that none of my receipts I carried in the car (which contain personal information about me such as address telephone number, social security number and credit card numbers) were there, as well as my MGW shift knob valued at $78.00. I asked the owner where they were and he stated to my wife and I that they were not removed by them, probably were stolen by employees at the auto auction.
I immediately called the auto auction an asked to speak with George, but he was not in and would return my call in about 15 minutes. I explained the situation to Tim who answered the phone and he did not express any concern and that George would call me back. I called them every half hour to speak with George and every time he was not in. Finally after three hours he returned my phone call only to deny any wrong doing and told me he would look into it and call me on Monday the 9th.
After observing the bad business practices of Western Automotive Recovery, South Seattle Auto Auction, and WFS Financial; I am convinced that WFS Financial, had I not made restitution, would have sold the car in the condition it was returned to me and the car would not have been represented fairly or commercially as required by law. The car would have sold for bottom dollar increasing the amount I would owe WFS Financial.
WFS Financial taking advantage of my hardship in this manner is both illegal and immoral. I have been treated by WFS Financial as a second class citizen. I hold WFS Financial responsible for the condition and care of my car as well as the missing receipts containing personal information (privacy act) and my MGW shift knob stolen from my vehicle while in their possession.
I have looked up WFS Financial, especially the branch located in Irvine, California, on usacomplaints.com only to find that they have reports a mile long. There were too many reports to print out. I also checked with the Better Business Bureau and not one of the three companies are members and not one of them is in good standing. WFS Financial has over a dozen names they operate under so finding all of their information was very extensive.
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