In March/April my 22 year old daughter purchased a used 1999 Honda CRV from a local dealer and used Chrysler's Financial Services to finance the balance she owed on the vehicle. She is a full-time student who has consistently paid her monthly account bills on time or before they were due.
On November 26, my daughter was involved in an automobile accident. She is/was fully insured by State Farm Insurance, who reviewed the accident and later (e.G., within a week) deemed the vehicle a total loss. Within approximately a week, on behalf of my daughter I made contact with Chrysler Financial Services to notify them of the accident and to make them aware that, at the time, the insurance company was wanting to "total" the vehicle. At that time, I spoke with a representative in the Insurance Resolution Group (male representative, foreign accent - contacted through #800-556-8172) who assured me that should we choose to retain the vehicle (e.G., salvage), take the insurance settlement minus salvage, and have the vehicle repaired to "factory standards" as per State Farm, that Chrysler Financial Services would maintain my daughter's loan with the vehicle as collateral and that my daughter would not be required to pay off the loan in full, but could continue to make payments. Currently, her balance is approximately $1,700.
During the course of resolving the accident issues with State Farm and the collision repair shops, I contacted Chrysler Financial Services two more times to VERIFY that the information I had been given was accurate so that we (e.G., my daughter and I) could make a final decision to either retain or repair the vehicle. On all three ocassions, I spoke with the same individual at Chrysler who ASSURED us all three times that there would not be a problem, even with the insurance company wanting to declare the vehicle a "total loss." Furthermore, this individual stated that he would note my daughter's account with the status so that it would be referencable for future representatives. On all three ocassions, this individual also indicated that what would be needed for Chrysler Financial to continue to maintain the loan would be:
1. The original State Farm Insurance estimate.
2. A Work Order from the collision shop.
3. A Letter of Satisfaction from my daughter following the repairs to the vehicle stating that it had been repaired to her satisfaction.
4. The insurance settlement check, which was made out to my daughter, myself, and Chrysler Financial. The representative ASSURED us that Chrysler would sign the check so that we could pay the shop for the repairs.
Again, this individual stated on ALL THREE OCASSIONS that these were acceptable to Chrysler Financial and that there would be no consequences against my daughter's loan status.
On January 7, we (my daughter and I) sent the above referenced items to Chrysler Financial via Expres Mail. The items were delivered on January 8 at 6:53 AM and signed for by J. Garlach. As we had not received the signed check from Chrysler Financial as of Friday, January 11, we contacted Chrysler Financial and were told that they had never received the items listed above. At that time, we used our tracking number with the post office and verified that they had indeed received the above items. Further attempts to speak with representatives within Chrysler Financial netted the same "we don't have it answer, " until late Friday when I was finally able to reach Janice, who said she could not discuss the account with me until my daughter (Jenae Temple) verified that I had access to her account.
On Tuesday, 1/15/08, at approximately 2:00 P.M. (Central Time), my daughter and I again contacted Chrysler Financial to determine the status of the check as we had not received any information from Chrysler Financial regarding our previous inquiries. We were again told that Chrysler did not have the check, to which we responded that they did indeed as per the post office, at which time the representative looked again and noticed that the check was "held up" as unendorsable. As per further investigation, the representative (e.G., Janice, Beverly, and then the supervisor Christine) told us that Chrysler Financial would not honor their oiginal agreement with us (as stated above) because the insurance company had deemed the vehicle a total loss. I again reiterated that we had already spoken with a representative (the same individual) on all three ocassions who had said that Chrysler would, indeed, honor the agreement given the items listed above. We were passed from RUDE representative to representative and I finally requested to speak with a Supervisor regarding the manner. After being disconnected several times, I was finally transferred to Christine's voice mail and received a return call from her at approximately 5:30 PM.
Upon speaking with Christine, I was again told that Chrysler would not honor the agreement as stated above because the insurance company had deemed the vehicle a total loss. I explained to Christine that we (e.G., my daughter and I) had made the decision regarding the vehicle based upon false information provided by her department and that I did not feel it should be our responsibility to absorb the consequences given that her department did not have the wherewithall to review their own policy and verify that policy. I furthermore indicated that the vehicle, which has indeed been repaired to "factory standards" is certainly worth the balance on the loan as a collateral vehicle and that State Farm is contining to provide full coverage insurance on the vehicle based upon those repairs. I further iterated that based upon the information provided by her department, the vehicle had been repaired and that there was now an outstanding $6,166 balance due to the collision shop, the amount of the check which Chrysler Financial is refusing to sign. Christine continued to be combative and rude, stated that we should "read our contract, " and made excuses for Chrysler Financial's ineptness and false information regarding the repairs to the vehicle. At that time, I asked Christine to speak with her supervisor, which she declined, stating that "There is nobody else who CAN or WILL speak with you." I told her that this was unacceptable, demanded that the check be returned, and stated that my daughter would NOT be paying off the balance on the loan, but that she would continue to make timely payments on the loan with Chrysler until the matter was resolved. Furthermore, I informed Christine that I would be gowing WELL ABOVE her head within the Chysler Corporation to resolve the matter. Christine then stated that she was going to close the account and report my daughter to the Collections Department for not paying the loan. To my knowledge, Chrysler Financial cannot do this as they have accepted my daughter's payments and have "cashed" those payments each and every time.
Given the information above and the inadequacy and inadept behavior of the Insurance Resolution Group, I do not feel that my daughter (who is a full time student) should have to relinquish $1,700 of the insurance settlement check to pay off a loan that is in good standing nor do I feel that Chrysler Financial should "stronghold" and "threaten" her or the status of this loan to achieve its own wishes. Furthermore, based upon the repairs performed by the shop as well as assessments by State Farm, the repaired vehicle is more than worth the balance of the loan in a collateral situation. Ultimately, however, this situation would not have arisen had Chrysler Financial provided us with accurate information from the beginning. This MOST CERTAINLY would have made a difference in how the matter was addressed and would not have placed us in a financial hardship pending coming up with $1,700 to cover the loan.
Not only has Chrysler Financial demonstrated less than acceptable customer service relations, they have provided false and fradulent information to the customer, failed to investigate and understand their own policies, and are now covering their own inept "asses" by punishing the customer.
We are certainly more than willing to honor our loan and continue timely payments to Chrysler Corporation, but WILL NOT suffer the consequences that have arisen due to Chrysler's own stupidity. The customer should NEVER be punished for an employee's inability to comprehend, understand, and/or investigate a matter such that the matter escalates and spins out of control to the detriment of a) the customer and b) Chrysler Financial's further interactions with potential customers.
We have tried to locate an e-mail address to complain to parties that ARE NOT customer service and have been completely unsuccessful. I guess Chrysler must have something to hide, eh?
Note: anybody considering using chrysler financial to finance their vehicle should definitely consider going somewhere else! Chrysler financial does not care about the customer, is willing to lie to the customer rather than investigate and present accurate facts, and will bully the customer at all costs!
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