My husband and I purchased a truck just over a year ago. A couple of months later we realized we had not yet received paperwork from the bank, and we had to owe at least one month's payment. I refered to the paperwork the dealership had given us at the time of purchase to get a phone number to see what was going on and where we should send our payment. The bank listed on the paperwork turned out to not be our bank. After many phone calls and a huge headache, we were told we had been financed with Drive Financial Services.
I spent a week or better trying to contact Drive. Every phone number I found for them had been disconnected and two addresses I found turned out to be invalid. I attempted to get infromation from their website, but was unable to because I did not have our account number, which I could ONLY get from someone at Drive, which I was unable to contact.
Another week or maybe two passed before Drive contacted us. The representative was extremely rude and nasty, and berated us because our payment was already past due. When we tried to explain what had happened, we were told that it was not Drive's problem. Our payment was due on the due date regardless of the fact we had not recieved any paperwork from them, regardless of the fact that we didn't know where to send the payment or even have an account number. The representative stated that even though we did not have an address or account number, we still should have sent our payment.
We hoped that this attitude would not be the norm. We tried not to judge the company based on our encounter with this one employee. Unfortunately, we were wrong. Every time we have spoken to these people they have been rude and nasty and berated us.
We have made several payments on our vehicle, when we were having a tough time—as people sometimes do—we made partial payments. We have done nothing but try to work with these people and get our account caught up, but they continue to be disrespectful.
At one point in time, we were told that our account was current. This was quite a relief since my husband and I are trying to rebuild our credit. One week later, we received a bill stating that we were about two months behind in our payments. When we inquired about this discrepency, we again were met with slanderous comments and general rudeness. We were not even able to speak to the person who had told us we were up-to-date. When we asked to speak to this person, we were told nobody by that name worked there. We have gotten that same answer everytime we have tried to speak with someone we had spoken with previously. These employees of Drive have even gone as telling us we should have thought twice before we purchased a vehicle that was out of our price range.
This vehicle was not out of our price range—not that that's any business of the person on the other end of the phone. It is Drive Financial's fault that our account initially became past due, yet they assumed absolutely no responsibility for their actions.instead, they stuck us with $11 in late charges per DAY. We did not even become aware of this daily charge until we had been told the account was current over the phone and then received the bill stating we were not. They had been charging us $11 everyday since the very first day our payment was late.
Once they held on to the paperwork and prolonged contacting us until our very first payment was late, it pretty much became impossible to get caught up—especially since they also failed to tells us about the daily charge that they had been applying to our account everyday for six months. There are many reasons we have not been able to pay the past due portion of our account, but the most fault lies on the shoulders of Drive Financial Services. Though our account is in default, we have made numerous efforts to bring it up-to-date.
About three weeks ago my husband was in a car accident while at work. At first, we were told he had only sustained minor injuries and would only be off work for a couple of days. Money would be tight, but we would be okay. We even had planned to make two month's worth of payments to Drive Financial. When my husband attempted to return to work after the accident, he found himself in tremendous pain. He then went to another doctor who discovered that he has fractures in his face and his neck is actually broken. He cannot drive, he cannot work, and he cannot help me with our three children or any chores around the house.
Since the accident happened on the first day of the pay-period, he did not receive a paycheck the following payday. We were unable to make the large payment to Drive that we had been planning on. We were not even able to pay half what we were planning to pay, but we did call Drive last week and spoke to someone and made arrangements to make a partial payment. We were told our account was past due $1,321 and some odd cents and if we paid $300, we would stay out of collection for at least another 30 days.
We made the partial payment and ONE HOUR later, a gentleman was at my house to reposess the vehicle. He was actually very polite, and when we explained that we had just made a payment; he asked for a confirmation number and left us with our vehicle.
Today, my husband spoke with yet another rude person with Drive. This person informed him that our vehicle has been charged off and they are sending someone to get the vehicle. This person also stated that we were six months behind and the past due amount was $1,321 and some odd cents. First of all, that's the same amount we supposedly owed last week BEFORE we paid the $300. Second, with a payment of $531 a month, that's only 2.5 months behind.
My husband asked how much money we have to pay to keep the vehicle from being siezed. The employee stated that they would accept no less than the pay-off amount. This amount was stated to be $20,466 and some odd cents. This amount is $2,381 MORE than the purchase price of the vehicle, and we have made 9.5 month's worth of payments and I owe almost $2,500 MORE than the price of the vehicle? How is that even possible?
During the year that we have had this vehicle, we have made numerous efforts to make our account right. We have made numerous arrangements with Drive Financial employees and today we were told none of that matters. We were told that none of our arrangements mean anything and none of those employees who mad e the arrangements will be held accountable for anything they told us. For example, the lady that told us the $300 would keep us out of collection for 30 more days.
During the year that we have had this vehicle, we have been harassed by phone calls from Drive Financial. These people have left rude messages on my answering machine that were only 2 or 3 minutes apart for hours at a time. They have harassed the people we used as references and been rude and disrespectful to them and once even tried to demand that my mother pay my bill. She was a REFERENCE, not a co-signer.
When we do speak to them, they are always rude and hateful. Nothing we say is ever good enough for them and we can never speak to the same person twice.
Something has got to be done. Hard working people do not deserve to be treated like this. How can I owe $1300, pay $300, and still owe $1300? How can I make 9.5 payments and my payoff be $2500 more than the price of the vehicle? Drive Financial is ripping people off and I want them to stop ripping ME off.
Butterfinger47167
Pekin, Indiana
U.S.A.
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