I contacted Swapalease in August because I was contemplating exiting the lease of my two year old Honda Civic. Jeff Keck was the sales rep I spoke with. Because Honda Finance does not allow Lease Transfers I was advised by Jeff that my alternative would be the Swapalease New Lease program. The New Lease Program involves Swapalease purchasing my lease outright and releasing it to someone new. This is only done after finding a lessee through the Swapalease network. I provided the details of my lease to Jeff. This includes the current buyout cost, mileage of the car, options on the car, etc. Jeff said my car would initially be listed as a new lease with the terms of $380 per months for 36 months. I asked Jeff what would happen as I made payments on my current lease since that would reduce the current buyout. Jeff said that after I make two payments to contact him and he would readjust the numbers. He assured me that the listed monthly payment would go down. I agreed to pay the $500 to enroll in the service.
After several weeks and no interest in my vehicle I contacted Jeff. I had since made a payment and I wanted Jeff to readjust the terms. Jeff informed me of a new the system they were implementing in which the user would update their data each month (current buyout, mileage, etc) and the terms would automatically be adjusted. He informed he was activating my account in the system. I updated the figures as I was instructed. After a few days the New Lease terms for my listing adjusted unfavorably. The monthly payment increased almost $50. I immediately contacted Jeff Keck. He assured me it was just bugs with the new system. He told me to wait a few days and the system should be corrected. Again he assured me the monthly payment should drop. After a week and nothing had changed I contacted Jeff again. Again he said to give it a few more days. After a few days, still nothing had changed. I contacted Jeff once again and he told me there was nothing he could do. He said, The numbers are what they are. I was irate. I asked Jeff for the contact info for his manager. He gave me the number for Andrew Hall. I emailed and left a voicemail for Andrew Hall. Andrew Hall never responded to my messages. My monthly payment did decrease slightly from $428 to $418 dollars. This is still almost $40 dollars more than when I initially listed the car.
Over the next two months I continued to adjust my buyout amount and mileage on the vehicle after I made each new lease payment. The Monthly Payment for my listing remained at $418, almost $40 more than the initial listing.
In early December I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau in hopes I could persuade Swapalease to refund my money. Scott Hall, EVP of Operations at Swapalease, responded to the BBB complaints I filed. He refused my request citing their no refund policy as well disclaimers of terms for New Leases are subject to change due to market conditions. I find it absurd that Swapalease is contending in a repressed economy in which car prices have been slashed across the board and interest rates have plummeted that my car could possibly be rising in value. This car is two and half years old, has a buyout price of $1500 lower than when I first listed it with Swapalease, and has almost 2000 more miles. There is no possible way the market conditions justify the increase in monthly payment for the terms listed with my vehicle. Keep in mind this all occurred after the implementation of an admittedly flawed system. So basically for $500 Swapalease provides poor services and implement admittedly flawed systems that will negatively affect vehicle listings. I urge you stay away from Swapalease. They will rip you off.
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