In August Brandon from the Collections dept. Called me regarding my July payment. I had gotten a new bank account and sent my payment through online bill pay. He said that they had not received the check. He advised me to do a stop payment on the check since it had been 2 weeks at that point, and that he will waive the check by phone fee. I asked to call my bank first to make sure that I would not incur any fees. Brandon told me to call him back.
My bank did not charge due to bank error, and said that the funds would be back in my account in 3-5 days. I called brandon back but he was not available and instead spoke to Terrance. I advised him that I will call back within 3-5 days to do the check by phone and he said that was ok.
Later that week I again received another call from the collection dept. We agreed to set up a post dated check by phone for August 30th to pay both July and Augusts payments. I gave the representative my new bank account information, as the account information that he had on record was a closed account.
About a week later I received a letter from Drive verifying the payment amount (with the check by phone fee waived.) But the bank account on the letter was my closed account! I called customer service and spoke to Kim C. And was told that I had to wait until the payment was returned so that I could call back and give my new account information again!
Once the payment was returned I called and gave my corrected bank account information. The representative clarified the payment amount was the same as before (without the phone fee). Since I had already marked that payment down in my checkbook on 8/30/07, I did not feel the need to update it again.
I received my Drive Financial statement shortly thereafter in the mail. I noticed I had received fees on my account. I was charged for a stop payment, and for a returned check from the closed account! I managed to have both fees (supposedly) reversed, although it only reflects one of the fees being reversed online.
This week, I received my bank statement and I immediately proceeded to balance my checkbook. I received 3 overdraft fees for $32 each. While going through the debits I noticed that Drive Financial drafted the payment we agreed on PLUS the phone fee from my account, causing 3 transactions to overdraft my account.
I immediately called and explained my situation to a representative on 8/9/07. I was advised to fax my bank statement to the Verification Dept. At (800) 417-0251, which I did. I called everyday for 3 days to make sure the fax was received. When I called today, (Friday) I was told there was no fax received and to please fax it again. I asked the representative if I faxed it again today, would I have to wait another 3 days before finding out if it was received? I was then told that, There is more than one customer. Since I did not like the representative's tone or attitude, I asked to speak to a manager. She immediately told me there was no manager available. I said that it was OK and that I would hold. She then told me that, there really is no sense in speaking to a manager anyways.
I was able to obtain a name and phone number of a manager to speak to (Frank Airehart). I left 2 messages and have not received a return phone call. I called customer service again and per the notes in the system I had been notified that I would not be receiving a refund (which was a lie). I again asked if to speak to a manager. Again I was told that no one was available, and I said I would wait. This time I was told to call back tomorrow, I promise a manager will talk to you.
I'm continuously being told that since I already had a $25 fee waived as a courtesy that I will not receive any more refunds, and that I've paid the phone fee before. (Which has no bearing on the situation at hand.) Drive Financial representatives are rude and deceptive every time I call! I am requesting that all $96 in overdraft fees that I have received due to the incompetence and deceptive practices of the customer service department be refunded back to me in a timely fashion. I truly hope that changes will be implemented within the customer service department to avoid problems such as this occurring in the future. The only time I call customer service is because of a problem and I get the same excuse of a manager not being available every time! If I am going to be upholding my part of my contract by making my payments every month, the least I expect is for this company to uphold it's part by ensuring that any and every issue is handled correctly, in a timely manner, and courteously.
Cmwchicago
Round Lake, Illinois
U.S.A.
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