- Oct 30, 1999
- 11,815
- 104
- 106
Sorry... just have to vent....
A while back I bought a Hyundai Vera Cruz. Love the car. No complaints there.
The Hyundai/Nissan dealer I bought the car from set me up with Nissan Financial Services for five years at 8.5%. Kind of a high rate, I know, but I was changing jobs, between residence and banks (my current bank, Wachovia, was not located where I was moving to so I closed the account) and could pay for the car in cash if I wanted to so wasn't concerned as long as there was no penalty for early pay off (apparently there often is!)
So I get to my new residence and my first invoice for the car arrives only a few days short of the due date. First off, the invoice was not from Nissan. Apparently they sold my loan to Regions Bank. Ok, whatever, the rates the same, my monthly payment is what they told me it was going to be... whatever. Big problem here is that Regions does not have any way to pay loan payments online. If you bank with Regions, you can do online banking. But I don't bank with Regions primarily because there are no Regions banks in Illinois!
I call up Regions to ask them why I only had five days to pay the bill. The lady tells me the statement was sent out eight days ago. I looked at the postmark and it was dated the 7th! The day was the 15th and the due date was the 20th. I told her, "I think this is going to be a problem." She said, "Don't worry about it, there's a ten day grace period." TEN DAYS?!? Holy crap. Ok. I won't worry about it. I sent in the check and don't worry about it.
Sure enough, they must have received my check in time because the next month I get my statement and there's no late fee and once again it's postmarked 8 days prior to my receiving the bill. Once again, I send in my check assuming they'll get it within the next fourteen days or so.
This past month I received my statement and there's a $25 late fee on it! I immediately called them up. "Hi, you guys send out my statement on the 7th, for some reason I don't receive it until the 15th and the due date is the 20th. I was told that there's a 10 day grace period on top of that, yet somehow my check arrived late and now I'm getting charged a late fee?"
"Yes," the service rep responds, "We received your check on the 31st."
WHOA!!!! I don't know if the problem with the postal service is in Alabama or Illinois, but since when does it take 15 days to mail a check!?!?
"Well, that's not my fault. Did anyone bother to look at the postmark?"
"No."
"Well, if you guys had online bill pay, I'd pay it the day I receive the invoice. It's not my fault that you guys are technologically challenged."
"Sorry sir."
"Can I have this late fee reversed. I've called with concern over the length of time it's taken for me to receive my invoice and I was told that I have nothing to worry about. A $25 late fee IS something to worry about."
"Sorry sir. Can't do anything about it. Late is late. Your check arrived late."
So I hang up, and call my new bank in Illinois. Not only is the interest rate going to go down from 8.5% to 6.2%, but I shortened the loan from 5 years to 4 years and my monthly payment is STILL less! Furthermore, I can pay online at 5/3's website and they actually give me another 0.25% off the interest rate for doing so. HA! Take that Regions bank. Jerks.
A while back I bought a Hyundai Vera Cruz. Love the car. No complaints there.
The Hyundai/Nissan dealer I bought the car from set me up with Nissan Financial Services for five years at 8.5%. Kind of a high rate, I know, but I was changing jobs, between residence and banks (my current bank, Wachovia, was not located where I was moving to so I closed the account) and could pay for the car in cash if I wanted to so wasn't concerned as long as there was no penalty for early pay off (apparently there often is!)
So I get to my new residence and my first invoice for the car arrives only a few days short of the due date. First off, the invoice was not from Nissan. Apparently they sold my loan to Regions Bank. Ok, whatever, the rates the same, my monthly payment is what they told me it was going to be... whatever. Big problem here is that Regions does not have any way to pay loan payments online. If you bank with Regions, you can do online banking. But I don't bank with Regions primarily because there are no Regions banks in Illinois!
I call up Regions to ask them why I only had five days to pay the bill. The lady tells me the statement was sent out eight days ago. I looked at the postmark and it was dated the 7th! The day was the 15th and the due date was the 20th. I told her, "I think this is going to be a problem." She said, "Don't worry about it, there's a ten day grace period." TEN DAYS?!? Holy crap. Ok. I won't worry about it. I sent in the check and don't worry about it.
Sure enough, they must have received my check in time because the next month I get my statement and there's no late fee and once again it's postmarked 8 days prior to my receiving the bill. Once again, I send in my check assuming they'll get it within the next fourteen days or so.
This past month I received my statement and there's a $25 late fee on it! I immediately called them up. "Hi, you guys send out my statement on the 7th, for some reason I don't receive it until the 15th and the due date is the 20th. I was told that there's a 10 day grace period on top of that, yet somehow my check arrived late and now I'm getting charged a late fee?"
"Yes," the service rep responds, "We received your check on the 31st."
WHOA!!!! I don't know if the problem with the postal service is in Alabama or Illinois, but since when does it take 15 days to mail a check!?!?
"Well, that's not my fault. Did anyone bother to look at the postmark?"
"No."
"Well, if you guys had online bill pay, I'd pay it the day I receive the invoice. It's not my fault that you guys are technologically challenged."
"Sorry sir."
"Can I have this late fee reversed. I've called with concern over the length of time it's taken for me to receive my invoice and I was told that I have nothing to worry about. A $25 late fee IS something to worry about."
"Sorry sir. Can't do anything about it. Late is late. Your check arrived late."
So I hang up, and call my new bank in Illinois. Not only is the interest rate going to go down from 8.5% to 6.2%, but I shortened the loan from 5 years to 4 years and my monthly payment is STILL less! Furthermore, I can pay online at 5/3's website and they actually give me another 0.25% off the interest rate for doing so. HA! Take that Regions bank. Jerks.
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