The Area 0

I bought a car last summer. Nothing special, it’s a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta 1.8T, but I love it. I don’t however, love the bank that loaned me the money, Golden Plains Credit Union Not only did they rape me with a 13.5% rate (which I can understand, I was a first time buyer with no credit history), but they have this crazy habit of screwing around with my money.

First - my first ever car payment was made by check because I hadn’t got my automatic deposit set up yet. It was sent post-dated for the day the payment was due. Obviously, being a bank, they cashed it anyway. Over half a month before the date on the check. I know legally they could do so, but most places honour post-dated checks. The money was there to make the payment without an issue, however after that money came from my bank account, I had three or four bills I had paid by check not go through, a $35 service charge each time. Lovely.

Learning from that, I set up a system where my employer throws $170 out of every pay into the savings account that came with my loan, and then once a month, $338 comes from that savings account and is applied to the loan. 100% automatic. The reason being, I never see the money, so I don’t miss the money, and it’s impossible to ever be late or miss a payment. Until….

The back of my November statement had an interesting message on it:

“Have extra money to spend with our Holiday Payment Extension. If you qualify, you can skip your December loan payment. Ask for details!”

I thought: “awesome.” I could definitely use the money for Christmas, since I was flying back home and renting a car while there. I called my bank on December 18, and asked if I qualify. When I was told that I did, I asked to please go ahead and process it. I then asked if I could transfer $300 from that savings account to a checking account I have at another bank. (Because I don’t have a check/debit card for this savings account, but why get a holiday extension if I can’t use the money, right?). The transfer cost me $15, and was done by a sweet young girl named Kayla. I then had money for Christmas.

Christmas holidays back at home came and went, and I arrived back home to a pile of mail in my mailbox. One of the items was a letter from my bank, I opened it curiously, since it wasn’t the same envelope that my statements usually come in. It read:

“27 DEC 07 - Since we know you value a good credit rating, this is a reminder that we have not received your payment of 338.34 which was due 19 DEC 07. Please call us with any questions or to make arrangements if needed.”

My first thought was “well no shit, idiots…” and Monday came and went. When I got home, there was another similar letter in my mailbox:

“03 JAN 08 - We appreciate the fact that you came to us for this loan. However, we are confused as to why you have not made your payment due 19 DEC 07. Please remit your payment of 338.34 in the next 5 days to avoid further correspondence from our collection department. Please disregard this notice if you have sent your payment or have made other arrangements.”

What… the… hell? I couldn’t believe what I was reading. I calmed myself down, thinking “it’s not a big deal, they just forgot to apply the extension”, and called them. I spoke to a woman named DarLynn Beaty, who said there was a form I had needed to sign, and pay $10. I was informed of neither of these conditions when I had called to ask for the extension. Also, since I never received the form she spoke of, again it was clear that the fault was on their end. I thought: “why would I transfer $300 out of my account only two days before payment was due, if I wasn’t getting the extension?” I played it cool, saying something like “no worries, just go ahead and send me the form and I’ll sign it for you.”

Her reply sounded less then pleased, saying “umm… no. The extension was available in November and December only. You will need to make a payment to your account.”

And thats when I got angry. “uhhh…. like hell. YOU screwed up, YOU fix it. NOW!” She asked to put me on hold, and then came back about five minutes later saying they would be sending me the form. Problem solved, or so I had thought…

Today I received my “Extension Agreement” letter, which was clearly not the one everyone else got. It read:

“Since you have expressed to us that you are unable at this time to comply with your current repayment terms on the loan(s) referenced below, by signing the agreement you agree to the repayment plan listed below:”

Wait a second… unable to comply with the repayment terms? That’s not true at all! I knew what would happen if I signed this, it would mean I would be admitting fault, and they could do as they pleased with my credit record, and they would have my signature to back it up. I don’t think so. So, I called them back.

I spoke to DarLynn Beaty again, and this conversation was even less pleasant then the previous one. She explained that because the Holiday Extension was for November and December only, this letter was coming from their collections department. I explained to her that I was unable to sign a document containing false information. I said something like “why would I sign something that isn’t true? You screwed up, not me.” Her reply sounded like a mother scolding her child “dont start with THAT again….”

She offered to get “John”, the guy who runs the collection department (I can’t recall the exact title) to call me. I said I would appreciate that. As of 3pm that day, I still hadn’t heard from him.

I called the other branch, the one that actually did the transfer. I asked to get the name of the person who processed the transfer. They told me they would find out and let me know. Kayla called me not long after. I explained what was going on, but she had no recollection of the situation or my transfer. She did offer to phone DarLynn Beaty at the Liberal office and talk with her. I haven’t heard back from either of them.

To top everything off, the money that was in my savings account was automatically applied today to the “delinquent account”, minus a late fee. So, not only is Decembers payment one large clusterfuck, but now January’s payment wont clear, either. Beautiful! It’s really looking more and more like their mistake is going to cost me my credit rating.

This is just one more chapter in my story about how much I hate banks, and credit card companies. I do everything right, by the book… and I get screwed. Every time.

*update*

Jon from Golden Plains called me after this post was written. He confirmed that it was no fault of mine, that the form is a standard wording that they aren’t allowed to deviate from, and that he would take care of everything. He assured me that nothing would be put on my credit, the incorrect payment using January’s funds would be reversed, the late fee would be removed, and the past due would be removed. He also said to forward the form to him, and he’d make sure the $10 processing fee would be waived.

Also, he called again telling me that he learned that another letter had already been sent to me, with no better tone to it then the form they sent, and that they were required by law to send to all delinquent account holders to inform them of their rights. He told me that as it didn’t apply, to ignore it or throw it away. He stated that he wanted to call me to let me know, just so I wouldn’t get worried or upset by it.

I have to say, Jon was very polite the entire time, never used an accusing voice unlike the other woman, and seemed to really honestly care that the situation was looked after. Thank you Jon, I really appreciate it.