Santander Consumer USA
Reviews and Complaints

Consistently charging too much interest, when they are notified they sometimes correct it, then do it again and again. They take the loan amount, (say $12, 000.00) figure the interest on the loan (say it brings it to $14, 500.00) then they charge you 14% on that amount until it is paid off-They are charging interest twice! (the amounts are for show only-not actual amounts) They are the most corrupt company I have ever done business with -they bought Road Loans which is where our loan was first. It has been nothing but a huge headache trying to stay on top of them. I need to know where to file a formal complaint!

Loan amount differs each month after same payment do not understand how they calculate figures.
Payments not applied, different story each time I speak to a representative. had them send me full payment
details of all payments Interest information never correct.

In 2012 car loan purchased by Santander. Company failed to send notice and payment coupon to us. Every month coupons are late being sent to us or none are sent. Jwhen contacted, the representative told us we should pay online . The fee is way too high. Told rep I pay most bills on line and companies make no charge. Also rep claims Santander has a contractor that sends out payment coupons. So they have no control over when payments are sent. They try to get bank acct number an want to do automatic deductions. Do not believe company is reputable.

First, my original loan was NOT with this company. I had autopay with CitiFinancial--the company I did use to finance my vehicle--and so was somewhat surprised when I received an email informing me that Santander had taken a payment in the amount of my monthly loan payment from my checking account. I was surprised because I had no clue my account had been sold. I did a little research and found that CitiFinancial was no longer servicing their customers. I was angry at the lack of communication from either company involved, but didn't make a formal complaint because the latter company was taking only the amount of my normal loan payments. I deeply regret being so complacent now.

I recently refinanced my car through my credit union at a much lower rate. I took all the steps I was told to take by Santander's customer service rep, up to and including making an online request and fax request that the autopay deductions stop as Santander no longer had a lien on my vehicle. Unfortunately, and now I see after reading this complaint board, unsurprisingly, they still took the full amount of my payment 22 days after they received the check from my credit union. I tried my very best to be businesslike and non-combative. This got my NOWHERE. Upon calling and describing the problem to another CSR, I was asked to fax a printout of my bank statement to them. I did so immediately. I was told the problem would be resolved in 72 hours. I waited 7 working days before calling back after I still had not received the returned funds. That was when I was told that the second CSR I'd spoken to had made a mistake; according to the THIRD CSR, it took 72 hours for the accounting department to receive and review the request for a return of the funds they had no right to--but it could take up to 45 days for them to actually return them.

I'm sorry. WHAT?!?! Can I start charging you interest and penalties, Santander, as you most certainly would do if I were 45 days late on a payment?

I'm a pretty easygoing person in most cases. I'm a middle school teacher; patience is a required virtue. However, after repeatedly speaking to yet more CSRs, I have reached the limit of patience and good Southern upbringing. I've explained ad nauseum that I need to make a car payment to the company that actually does currently hold my loan and have received nothing but sarcasm, snark, and discourteous language from the legion of CSRs I've had the pleasure (sarcasm and snark of my own) of dealing with.

I highly suggest the people who write the phone script for these people remove the "How may I offer you excellent service" spiel from their greeting before someone injures themselves laughing at the incongruity of this statement and the actuality of dealing with Santander.

Also, and just to add a bit more insanity to the situation, my most recent CSR pal told me that if I filed a complaint it would reset the magic 45 day countdown to getting my money.

Rock. Me. Hard Place.

I originally had my loan with HSBC Auto, I have the original loans papers and then I received a letter that Santander was taken over, I have had nightmare after nightmare. My loan with HSBC auto states that my loan will be paid off November 21, 2012. Here it is October 19, 2012 and Santander states I owe the loan $12, 000.00 more dollars. I have requested over 10 times that I want the documents and statements of all these charges, they reply they will mail out to me. I have never got them. I have asked over and over I want an itemize statement of all charges, to this day I have not received any documents. They stated to me that I extended my loan with HSBC before they bought the loan. AGAIN I said where is the documents, nothing... I have not extended any loans, I DO NOT OWE $12, 000.00 more dollars, they repo my truck.! Really... So I try to get my truck back, paid 1, 500.00 to santander for the repo, plus $435.00 was added on to the loan for repo fees, plus had to pay towing $235 at the tow yard, they wouldn't give me my truck, then the tow company charged me $235.00 plus I had a jacket in my truck, so they charged me $75.00 more for personal belonging storage. Is there anything we can do? Is there a lawsuit we can join and stop this madness? PLEASE, We the people are begging for some answers and justice.

Sovereign Bank (straightforward, good) became part of Santander. My Sovereign loan is paid in full, I have documents from Santander saying paid in full, but they still try to collect monthly. The 800 number cannot look up payoff information (many tried for me). The branch was cut off from the old computer system without being given access to the new, so they can only call the 800 number. There is no effective way to contact anyone about anything - not only that, but payments are split into interest and principle before being posted, and the 800# CSRs do not have to help you if you cannot give the amount of your last payment (and of course, your total payment does not equal either of the partials that they post). Only one positive aspect - CSRs 800 and branch are all really nice and want to help, but their set-up prevents that.

I recently changed my bank to Santander. I changed because my other bank were too fond of making exorbitant charges for me slightly exceeding my overdraft limit – and not on a regular basis either!
As we all know the charges the banks make for exceeding overdraft limits are out of all proportion to what it actually costs the banks to administer.
I was promised by Santander that they would take care of all my existing direct debits set up on my old account. I was very surprised and upset to find that they had not set up all the direct debit payments as they promised.
Their incompetence has cost me money as I have incurred late payment charges as a result. Santander have refused to compensate me for these late payment charges I received. Do not open an account with this bank as they are rubbish!

I paid off my car loan back in February and still today they have not released the lein they have on my title to my car. They are saying today August 16, 2012 that I have to now pay to have it released?

I paid my debt in full I think that it’s there responsibility to provide me with the documentation showing the title has been released.

this company is currently under investigation for so many violations that its not even funny. they are being investigated and cited by the state of md for repossessing cars with one payment left. if we hold on i am sure they will be history before we know it, they treat their customers bad because they are tryign to assist in rebuilding credit and they somehow think they have the upper hand but when they are all out of a job we will see who has the last laugh!

Got a Nissan Sentra, make my payments on time, should be paid by 11/2011, santander took over my account, now my payments end on 11/2012, payments still $457 a month, have had problems every month, they reject my bank statements, saying its not proof of payment, have now been reported twice to the credit companies, no help from the "Customer Service", made online payments thinking the problems would stop, had been making payments from western union, got late fees charged, tried mail, they said they arrived late, there feels like nothing I can do to get this over and done with, according to them I still owe almost $9000, the car is worth less than $5000 now, appears to be never ending with these people, and of course no one knows what is going on over there!

Takes forever to get through to a person, who then knows nothing and refers you to an obnoxious associate. My husband died and the account was in his name- had to get a lawyer. Once the lawyer established that I was the personal representative of his estate, they demanded a payoff (and notification of my intent within 30 days). Called them immediately to tell them would do the payoff. One associate just kept talking nonstop so that I couldn't ask questions, the next one was so obnoxious that she would wait forever between sentences for the payoff address like she didn't want to give it!

Wondering if Santander trains its employees to be nasty- the fewer questions you ask, the better for them! Either that or nobody is actually listening to their "recorded" conversations and doing some employee management.

I have been paying on my loan for 18 months. My balance wasn't moving. I called and they told me that because I had been paying early on my payments the interest is higher because the payments are sometimes more than 30 days apart although they are never past due! If this is true shouldn't someone have told me about his practice? I feel like I have been cheated out of a lot of money!

My situation is different. I have been through Santander since 2013. I also have used the skip a couple payments option in order to make repairs on my vehicle. Other than that I have kept my account in good standing. However, after 4 yrs. I was upset to find out that the many on time payments have barely been applied to the principal balance. There are times when only $82 is applied to the principal and 380.00 has been applied to interest. Times when 249.00 is applied to principal and 259.00 to interest. And I'm talking 3years into the loan. No wonder the payoff is so high. And I have continuously had car repairs as well.

I had my car through Santander. I was 65 days past due and I did not get a call or letter. They came and took my car on Saturday, early morning. I called them and they told me that they do not allow payments once they are in possession of the car. They only way I can get my car back is to pay for the whole loan. I was willing to pay for my car to get back. I am now with out a car and having to fight with the company that they used to tow my car to get my personal items. They said that they cannot help me until they get a letter from Santander and I will need to make an appointment after. Both companies are extremely rude and I would never use this company again. Stay away from them

https://www.facebook.com/SantanderUsaTruth/
Please follow this group on Facebook, When enough people join I want to send their stories to the Attorney General

please follow the facebook page and share your stories, with enough people we can reach out to the Attorney General and bring down this company
https://www.facebook.com/SantanderUsaTruth/

Santander keeps charging "property inspection fees" at over $10 a pop each month on a mortgage that is paid every month before the end of the month. In this economy, the average person who gets up, goes to work every day, does not live lavishly and just tries to make ends meet is treated so unfairly. The rep first said that those "inspections" are done when a payment falls more than 30 days behind. An "inspector" drives by the home to ensure that it is not abandoned. I did a mortgage modification last year to help make the payment affordable post divorce and ever increasing cost of living. I have made every payment since then within the month it was due. I asked for a way to help remedy these "inspection" costs as I clearly am up to date on my mortgage. She spoke with her supervisor who has to "call me back" as she thinks they can impose this whenever they want to. I find it highly unethical that santander allows you to make a late payment after the 15th of the month, for which you can be sure they make late payment charge and that charge is also paid, then imposes this bogus fee. Banks are the most unethical entities. It doesn't help that the reps that work for them are clearly those that don't like their jobs and show it with their nastiness on the phone. My "inspection fees" probably pay their salaries.

You only need explain your situation and they are willing to help you. People, you have to repay your loans!

I don't know, Santander helped me twice already. The rep. Was so nice . Her name is Sindy. I will give her10.

At the end of my auto loan which originally was with Sovereign Bank, Santander reported to credit bureaus that I had missed a car payment when I had not. In effect, the deal was that they were trying to collect an extra car payment to feather their pockets. I had the receipt from my payment so screw Santander, the most corrupt bank I have ever seen.

Nuff said... from the BBB which they are not a part of...go figure.
Complaint Type Total Closed Complaints
Advertising / Sales Issues 39
Billing / Collection Issues 1677
Delivery Issues 22
Guarantee / Warranty Issues 5
Other 1
Problems with Product / Service 1261
Total Complaints 3005

My mother had a car loan with Santander she had passed away April 18th we told them she had passed they still continue to call several times a day.My mother had given her body to the gift of life they said we won't get death Certificate for another two weeks but santander won't accept that.Everytime I answer the phone or see thier number come up on caller ID it brings back the thought of my mother passing

Is there anyone out there that has been successful in logging onto their site? Even when they email me a temorary password it doesn't work. So then we try forgot username...How the heck do we answer a security question when we can't see the question. This has been going on for 8 months now. Irritated.

When Santander took over my auto loan from HSBC, I called to ask if I could get a lower rate as my credit had inproved. I also had a cosigner with excellant credit. They told me there were no options to refinance, even with a cosigner with a 740 credit score. I am paying a 10.6 percent loan, and am seeking to finance the balance of $9000 of my $25000 loan at a lower rate. I did not ask for Santander to take over my auto loan.

I have experienced almost the same as all the rest of you.

Here is the name and HOME address of the CEO of Santander. See how he likes to be bothered. All info was taken from BBB (of which they have logged 2064 complaints) and the Dallascad.org website. Happy trails folks. The internet is a powerful tool.

Mr. Thomas Dundon, President / CEO
5103 Southbrook Dr.
Dallas Tx 75209

Our loan mysteriously was taken over by Santander last year. Our loan was scheduled to be paid off in December. They continued to take two more payments before stopping. Lastly, as we have paid it off they refuse to send us the pink or title slip for the vehicle!

I just received a letter from santander, they bought out citifinancial auto, I got this letter 2 days ago, now they want me to pay a late charge because they say they sent me a letter last month. I phoned them to set up a payment arrangement and they want me to give them an extra 12 dollars, to process my payment, I ask her if that was for her Christmas bonus! I have 1 year to pay my truck off, I am so pissed!

I have borrowed for a car in 2008 for $26, 000 I have paid $40, 000 on the vehicle. The loan has reached maturation. The company has lost my original paperwork and is still saying I owe $11k. They are harrassing me and they are illegally trying to glean more money than what was owed them.

I will have my car paid off on 11/5/14 loan complete with 72 payment I had to defer a few payment but not once did they tell me that this will be this much over charge on my loan . I have had other finance companies defer my payments before and have never had a finance company charge this much on interest before,

Sovereign Bank recently sent all their telephone service jobs to India. The people spend all their time asking you if you've had a nice day etc, rather than being serious about your business, what's more they don't even understand what you are asking them. I recently called to check if an overdraft protection I had applied for had gone through, I asked them repeatedly to make sure, and they assured me that it had. I got hit with 5 overdraft charges totalling $150 the next day because I made a withdrawl that night. When I talked to someone in America, they said that it hadn't gone through. They seemed somewhat concerned, and said that they recorded all their phone calls, I gave them a time window of about 20 minutes as to when I had made that call. Despite promising me they would get to the bottom of it on 4 different follow up phone calls, they never did.

Sovereign is a foreign-owned blood-sucking organization, with no respect for consumer rights, which we assume to be the starting point for business dealings in the US. Their overdraft protection is represented as a convenience, when it is designed to trap typically younger, lower income individuals. My son has just been assessed over $600 in the past two weeks, for overdrafts precipitated by overdraft fees. He has banked with Sovereign with direct deposit for over two years. Massachusetts law recognizes a covenant of good faith and fair dealing. I am an attorney. I typically carry around $500K in trust and estate accounts at that bank. It is all coming out this week. My efforts thereafter will continue until the practice is stopped.

Today, I recieved $600 in insufficient funds fees because I was in the red from a charge I DIDN'T want and specifically called and asked them to remove (which they said they couldn't, but that it would just get bounced and I might get changed a bounced check fee), and they never declined my credit card over the holiday weekend. When I called, they basically said "too bad."

I have always had trouble with them, but this is too far. I am switching banks at the earliest opportunity, and will spend my dying breath shouting at people to switch banks.

Sovereign Bank Sucks plain and simple. I've had nothing but horrible experiences with them. Speak with your wallets and avoid them. Use a good local bank or credit union.

i had a bad feeling when i walked into the Soveriegn Bank branch on Grand st. in NYC. The bankers just didn't look like they were on the ball...but i put my gut feeling aside and signed up for the $150 promotion.

open an account, sign up for their credit card and deposit $15K in the next 90 days. I did all of that, but somebody screwed up and enrolled me in the wrong VISA credit card account, instead of the "Premier" card.

ive been working with the branch manager for 2 months trying to figure out how to resolve this, have them live up to their promotion despite their screw up. They "put the call in" to resolve this issue. either way, im outta there... no confidence in them.

this bank sucks can you believe I had a manager from a bank at my work trying to lure people into direct deposit

I admiited to her Iwas one month behind
she said NO problem she would set it up
so she set up a direct deposit on my checking account and had it set up where 100 a week went towards my auto loan payment

so even though I am paid through september, . the repo guy came today and took my car nice eh? its going to cost me over 1000 to get the car out. nice isnt it?
even though its up to date it went on the principal and late fees only

Yes, they are incredibly arrogant. You call them and get an idiot in Bangladesh, India, who knows precise English, and nothing else. We recieved a notice of defualt 3 days after our loan was finalized. Their response was to say we had been late with last payment, which my wife paid by phone 1 day before payment date. Then they said they were sending the title to the last posted address on the loan: we bought the car in Georgia, moved to Florida 7 months later, moved to Texas 3 years later, and have notified Citi Bank of every address change. They were sending their invoices to our TX address, but are sending the title to the GA address, even though the car has been legally registered here for past 2.5 years. Their reasoning is it is the first title address, therefor our responsibility to recieve the title no matter where they send it. If you don't get it, well then notify them in 45 days, they will be in touch! This company is a drug cartel money laundry operation, wether from down south or up north-east, doesn't matter. THEY DON"T FRIGGING CARE!

san tan der are the worst the bad and the f***ing ugly

since my loan was bought by these [censor]s, and NEVER EVER got notice from Citi bank auto loans about the the new [censor]s that bought my loan...if this crap from san tan der auto [censor]s continues the state attorneys office where ever they are Will be contacted!

They are a nightmare. The fact that you do the right thing and mail your check in early to then get collection calls that they haven't received payment. To call and find out that they have your check but they entered the check information wrong-is your fault! So I suggested that if you have the check then why not process it again? Light bulb! I was told that they cant do that- ha! They want to then charge you an additional $ 10.54 to process payment -right away, so my payment is not late. Then I explained, I rather pay online then to not be charged an additional $ 10.54 processing free... Which I was then told if you do that you'll still be charged the additional amount of $ 10.54 on top of your car payment! This is ridiculous! I then ask to speak with a manager and was placed on hold for over 15 min. They did wave this " one time only fee", but only after all of my attempts to fix this situation and because they did have my check. This has to be the WORST car loan system EVER! I have been having issues with this service since day 1 "SantanHell" is more like it!

ChrisAT1961- divorce decrees are contracts between yourself and your spouse. If you cosigned on a loan with her prior to the divorce, the decree will have absolutely no bearing on who is responsible: you both are. If worse comes for worse and the loan goes unpaid to the point of charge-off, not only will your credit will be ruined but should Santander choose to take you to court, you will likely end up having a judgment entered against you which could lead to wage garnishments, bank levys, or property liens. Your attorney will confirm this sad reality. Your best bet is to sue your ex spouse for defaulting on the divorce decree and use those funds to settle the account for less than the full balance. It seems unfair, but the law is pretty clear.

My exwife asked for the car in the divorce and by doing so assumed the payments. She defaulted a couple months later and this f...ing Santander Consumer company has been hounding me for the money. I have sent them several copies of the divorce decree which shows in the property settlement that she was taking the car. I shouldn't have to be harassed by these people. They even had the manager at my apartment leave a post-it on my front door.

If they bought your loan they cannot charge you anything that is not in the original loan
See your state UCC or the federal uniform commercial code
If they are just servicing it they can’t charge anything either. Send a letter certified mail request a copy of your original contract and proof they own it. You may find out they don’t.

SAN TAN DARE...hahaha they call all the time from different phone numbers and leave v/mails and you cant understand the name of the company cuz its such a *** name to begin with...The cool thing is I just keep adding them to my contact list with a no sound ring tone on my cell phone...U SUCK SAN TAN DARE

This is happening to me right now. The auto loan was paid off 2 weeks ago. The automated payment still took money out of my bank account this week. I called customer service to let them know the situation, they told me I have to fax them my bank statement to show them proof, and then they will send me a check. What the heck?, they can't check their computer to know that it was paid off and money was still withdrawn from my checking account? Another thing is, mailing me a check? What? You ETA from my bank account every month but you can't refund me the same way?

I had the same bank mistake and they waived my $10.95 processing fee without me asking.

Agreed on the above comments. I dealt with them yesterday trying to get a refund due to my husband and I on an overage on an auto loan, instead of taking the accrued interest to close out the loan they took a regular payment and overdrew our account. Calling customer service is absolutely horrendous, I talked to a couple of managers/ supervisors, the ones that I dealt with were Kristen Walker and an English woman named Fiona. I asked very politely if the refund could be electronically put back into our account to take care of the overdrawn problem, being a young family living on one income in this economy is difficult enough, trying to deal with a CSR who didn't even know what a puncuation period is completely off the chart. I didn't think my problem or my question to please have the overage put back into our account was out in left field or something that 'one of the largest banks in America' couldn't handle. I was told after being hung up on from a couple of CSR's and supervisors (mind you I didn't raise my voice) that I had to fax my bank statement to prove that they took a regular payment and not the accrued interest! I told them I wouldn't fax them my bank statement, there's personal information on there and they are the ones that originated the payment they should have it on their computer. Outraged and appalled at what a distasteful and disrespectful company this is.
On another note when I did get an answer or a supervisor saying that they would take care of the problem and call me back in as little as 30 minutes and it would be taken care of, I would be left hanging, no phone call no appeasement to me. They told me what I wanted to hear, hung up and went back to doing whatever the hell they get paid to do, which I'm still trying to figure out. Santander is a horrible auto loan company to deal with and I hope that we never have to deal with them again.

no help at all

they need a new make over

This bank is the worse one in customer service people is rude and no respect at all to customer this why the go out of business

I was told by the dealer/salesman that the only way I would get approved for a loan was with santander. THEY even raised the price of the vehicle. At the time, I had "no credit history'" and a 708 score. HE rushed me through the paperwork and I was in my new truck. After several years, I realize that my premium hasn't gone down hardly at all and they still want over 5 thousand dollars. in total, it would be over 40 thousand for a 16 thousand dollar truck. They will never get another penny from me.

After making 18 on time payments I called them because the balance on my account wasn't moving. At that time I was told that because I had made some of my payments early it caused some of the payments to be more then 30 days apart (even though I was never past due) so I was charged a higher interest rate. I might as well made late payments! Is this fair business practice? If this is true shouldn't I have been told about this crazy rule of theirs?
Tammy
owm1959@gmail.com

omg i wish i would've seen these complaints ahead of time, these people are scammers. for 3 yrs everything was fine, then out of the blue they said payments weren't giving said i was missing 3 months worth (i used money orders) never thought about making copies of each one. even after i found the stub with the tracking number they then told me i had to have the original( a copy of the whole check) i said how am i suppose to do that when i sent you the money order? I said you can track the check with these numbers, they didn't wanna listen.oh by the way get this the payment they said was missing just happened to be the last payment to pay of the interest(go figure) so than i had to go back and start paying the interest basically all over again, a yr later back at paying that off again and yep you got it same months and everything payment not made or late (so they say) i had the stubs and everything and copies, so get this they went back the previous yr and said i was missing jan, feb, mar payments(they knew i didn't have the copies) i said why has no one i spoke to said that b4 they had excuse after excuse, so i lied and said i had copies of the whole check, next day got a call from someone different and now they used different months. i had already paid so much on the car i just paid again. so now i'm down to my last year to own the car and they wanted me to drop my payments from $286 to $130 a month at first you think that sounds good, don't ever do it, i said i'll get back to you give me a few days, i realized what they were doing is making my payments longer so instead of paying it off in a yr with my regular payments i would've been paying for almost 2yrs taxes and fees they make [censored] sound good and people will usually jump right in without thinking and by the time you realize whats happening it's to late, well i said no and of a sudden payments are late, or missing, they began with the threats to reposes on a daily basis, asking for numbers and addresses to my family, work, friends, i finally just said get the damn car, i'm done, now i still have that on my credit report, and have to finish paying for a car that i don't have. so basically everytime i got down to paying off the interest i went back to paying for 4yrs, last three 2yrs just kept paying same payments over.

Anyone have any information about current lawsuits? Santander repo'd my car on 7/19/19, i got behind after being in the hospital, there was no reasoning with them and when they took my car, it was parked in the lot of a private business, my husband was sitting in the passenger seat looking for something in the glove box when the repo guy jumped in and tried to take off, when my husband got out and told him he couldn't take the car from where it was, the repo guy got out pushed my husband back, jumped back in the car took off again hitting a pole messing up the passenger fender and door and KEPT GOING!
Would LOVE to get in on this cause we got my car for 17, 000, after financing with these RIP offs we started with a total of 41, 000!
My email is something2remember4evr@gmail.com
Please contact me with any help
TIA

I financed a Mazda cx7 in 2015 I too was consistently harassed for payments as my loan increased called on weekends even got repo had to pay a large amount to get the vehicle back the interest was out Landis and when my car was totaled santander tells me sorry the GAP insurance won't cover anything now I have two repose on my credit and no vehicle please help

Hey everyone. So after santander told me as long as I stayed in contact they wouldn't take the car blah blah they did. Honestly I'm glad it's gone. I was drowning in fees from them. I bought the car in 2015 for 14000 and when they took the car i owed almost 17000. I have since found another car at a really good deal for 500 however I need all the financial help I can get if every one could share my go fund me page that would be greatly appreciated every little donation helps. the car needs alot of small repairs.
https://www.gofundme.com/p6qkz-need-a-reliable-vehicle

Wow I thought I was alone in this fight against Santandar. I've never experienced such a horrible company. I try my best to stay on top of my account but this company makes it impossible with all its lies and 'no documentation". I dont understand how they can get away with what they do. If there is any help out there, please contact me at williams.jazmens@gmail.com. Please I just want this nightmare to end.

Drive financial was bought by this nightmare company named santander consumer USA. I have lived nothing but nightmare with them ever since. I never encountered a company with so much harassment towards the customer who they want money from and are willing to pay, but as soon as you need something from them you will never get it and you will speak to about 6 reps before you get an answer like this is the best that i can do for you and that is emailing someone else within the same company for a simple letter like a pay off letter and they keep saying lies that i will get it but i never do and the amount continues to change every time you speak to someone and every rep has a different version and that just proves no one knows exactly what to say to us as customers and for a rep to admit that santander has bought out to many other finance companies seems like the reps are told to not give the proper help the customer and continue to lie to them to get more money out of us. Santander is full of fraud in everything they do and sadly make people lie for them...

I have an auto loan that was initially given to me from Drive Financial. Since being bought by Santander USA, I have had the worst stress levels in my life. They calls saying that if pay them a small amount (150.00) that would make my account current because they would move two payments to the back of my loan. I stress myself out and scramble up the money and pay the amount. Not 24 hours later, they are calling again saying that I need to make another payment, a full one, or my vehicle will go into repossession. It has been repossessed once before and I'm being threatened again. I make payments, with it doing nothing to the balance. I can't afford to be sick about this because then i can't work. What am I to do?

These people are terrible! I fell behind after my father died and I had spent 7 weeks traveling from MA to NC to be with him. I was making payments, granted they were not full payments, but I was trying. I also had the "special arrangement" messages and "programs" to work with me were total BS. Their idea of arrangements or programs is being able to take your FULL payment over the phone, plus the $10.95 fee they charge. (And unless you MAIL your payment, online or phone payments all cost $10.95) They did end up repossesing my car, without any notice. The repo man came at 1:30 am hooked my car up, then knocked on my door, waking up both my kids when the dog started barking. I had made a full payment that afternoon, and offered to show him the print out but he did not care. The service from the repo company (which is a sub contractor of another subcontractor was completely horrible and another complain all together).
I spent the next day calling them to make the full payment due to have my car released. At first with my consent they agreed to deal with my husband over the phone to get it straightened out, but then they changed their mind and I had to call myself. Making calls like that from work are not allowed. I stood outside in the freezing cold talking to YOLANDA (the rudest most ignorant excuse of a human I have ever dealt with) over the phone. AFTER she took the payment, she told me she had to have my bosses phone number and my employment info, and also 2 references to call. That until I provided that, and she could actually verify it, she would not send the paperwork to release my car. I was livid. I asked why I should provide references when I am the sole person responsible for my car. She said "Mam' if you ever answered our phone calls we would not have to do this. Since we can not reach you we need to know 2 other people, and your boss who can". I told her if they were not so rude I would answer. You cant have a civil conversation with these people. So why bother? Especially when they are calling you on your cell phone at work. I told her I fullfilled my obligation and fully paid what I owed. That you can not hold my car hostage because you want phone numbers of family/friends you can harrass looking for me. She refused, and also told me there was no one else I could speak with. She then asked me to verify my address. I told her they already have it, thay came and took the friggin car. Her reply, "just because that's where were picked the car up does not mean you live there". So I told her my address...again... and she asked AGAIN "so this is where you actually live" I said Yah, and she said "Mam, I need a yes or no". Then I asked her if she had to verify this information and actually call these people before she released my car and she said yes. Are you kidding me? I had to hang up with her and call around to see which friends I had who would actually be there to answer their phones. When I called back, I got a guy named Robert who told me she was wrong, I did not need to provide and have her call those people in order to release my car. That the paperwork should have been done right then. I hope to God she ends up in a position to be so finacially broken down that something is taken from her and she is treated like the ignorant Dbag she is by someone trying to collect from her. These people are total jerks and treat everyone like they are some sort of criminal.

Their website does not work for payments. I argued that I would not pay a fee for a payment over the phone as I went into the website as directed. It never took my new information. Now they are saying I am one day late. These people are terrible at customer service and I als asked if I was also paying a $14.95 fee just to have my account directly taken out of my checking every month. They said no, but I got a letter from them showing the breakdown of my payment. For the past 3 years I have been paying this fee and it was never disclosed to me that automatic payment would be charged. Let's see $14.95 x 12 months x 6 years. Add it up folks, it is thievery.

M. Klein
Herndon, VA

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE FILE A COMPLAINT WITH FTC SO THAT SANTANDER CONSUMER USA CAN BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS GO TO: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov AND FILE YOUR COMPLAINT ASAP, IT ONLY TAKES 5 MINUTES THANK YOU!

I was laid off 2 months ago. I am about to fall behind so I called Santandar to ask for a deferrment for this months loan payment. They told me that because my account is current, they cannot help me? I asked what advice they could give me then. She told me to go borrow money from a friend! What a total joke. I asked her then if I dont make this months payment, then will I be approved for a deferrment? She said she didn't know. Nice to know that I have never been late or missed a payment in 4 yrs and now when hard times come around, they dont give a damn. Thanks for the loyalty to your good paying customers with current accounts. I'm off to try and refinance now. I even told the girl that if I make the payment, I wont be able to pay rent and I'll be homeless. Think she gave a damn? Nope!

santander is a piece of ### company that just piles on all types of fees then cant tell u where they came from they r a ###in joke i deferred my november paymentand here we are the beginning of december and they are calling me to tell me i missed my payment in november wow what a ###ING JOKE SANTANDER IS A MOTHER###IN JOKE!

Wow, you must be rich and never fall behind in your bills or have never had a lay-off or a death in the family. These people are not making excuses, they have hard facts on their side and no-one will work with them.
My loan was recently sold to Santander. I got layed off in January and was only out of work for 4 weeks. I was one month behind on my payment and when I got a new job I immediatelly sent in the payments due. I found that Santander had aquired the loan and that they had added alot of fees. I called them to find out what happened to the original company and they told me simply the loan was sold.
Now that I am making regular payments again I find that they are cahrging me a $10.95 "convinience fee" on top of my loan. I find nothing convinient about it.
The other company was pleasent to talk to and was willing to work with people. Santander...not so much.
Just keep in mind those of us who arent rich and live paycheck to paycheck also need cars to get to work. If something out of the ordinary happens it throws us for a loop. We can't all be rich like you and never have financial problems.

Honestly if you had your truck repoed why wouldn't you think they would sell it? Are they going to sit on it without making any money? they didnt get it from you ? So they need to find someone who will pay for it so they can cut their losses and move to the next customer.

I had my loan through Sovereign. And the switch came so quickly to whomever. I'm still trying to figure that out. I've been trying to figure out the # to our customer Service whomeverit is now as I have automatic payments and no one even the bank can tell me who it is. So does anyone have the #? I want to find out my pay off amount and figure out how to pay more.

Honestly I didnt know Sovereign was a bank that took bad creditors. And seriously if you get behind in one payment why wouldn't you expect their be fine print?

Really we need to stop making excuses for ourselves and stand up and say I messed up let me fix it the way I'm supposed to and not get ticked at a company because their are rules. If they didnt have rules the money owed to them would never be paid.

In response to C_M_S, you are right, those like my husband and I have learned that if we ever have a loan with anyone, I'm going to read those papers with a fine tooth comb. We had our truck loan with Sovereign initially and was not ever asked/or told about this switch until it was done. And yes D/T a job loss, we got behind on payments and Santander came & repoed the vehicle without ever telling us that they were taking it, what we needed to do to recover it. When I called to get the info. and update them about our situation, as I had done before, they were very nasty and kurt with me. I also got the the total balance and instructions on how we should pay. Anytime I called to get instructions/or update them on our situation, I did not try to make excuses. Then we experienced a devastating illness in our family that resulted in death, just devastating our whole family. After we made it through that ordeal(about 2 weeks), I called to notify that I was going to make the full payment to bring the account current(just wanted to verify any other occuring taxes, etc.) and I was told that our vehicle had been sold. I nearly passed out...and the voice( I can't say he is a gentleman) on the other end of the phone acted as if we should have known that this is what was going to happen. I asked why could'nt you have called to notify us that it was going to be sold. Apparently they do not have to. And I know that may be there rules...but how can they sleep at night knowing that they are playing with peoples lives. I asked to speak to a supervisor and he wanted to know ...why?I even asked what happened to the personal items that we had in our truck were and he said that we should'nt have these items in the vehicle(money, tools, clothing).Who the heck does he think he is? I firmly believe that what goes around, comes around and I only wish that I could be there to see it when this guy gets his!

I just think it is funny how most of the complaints and other issues I have seen on the internet in regards to this whole "Santander Consumer Finance/ Sovereign Bank/ Drive Time Financial" thing all seem to start with "I got behind on my payments" or "I was only a couple of days late" etc... then they proceed to go on a rant about how bad the service is and such. I also think it is funny that all of the complaints I have seen were from people who got their original loan from Drive financial, a company which specifically markets itself to people with bad credit.

If you paid your bills on time you would not have anything to call customer service about so you would not have had the bad experience in the first place.

I am not saying that Santander has good customer service, because in my experience they do not, but I just wanted to point out what I found to be funny, that the people doing all the complaining had broken their end of the bargain in the first place.

I don't know if it is just me, or what, but why is it that it is always the people who do the most ### and moaning are usually the ones who have the least reason to complain.

There seems to have been a lot of banks going out of business or getting sold lately often with little or no warning to people who have accounts with them and I am sure that a lot of people are going through much of the same problems and some much worse, it should not come as a surprise that a company who makes loans to people with a history of not paying their bills went out of business or was sold by it's parent company.

Personally I feel much worse for all the people who were with Sovereign Bank, keeping their accounts in good standing paying on time etc then suddenly they get a letter out of the blue telling them their car loan bank has been changed and they are now supposed to start paying to some other bank that they don't know anything about.

The lesson to learn from all of this rambling nonsense is to transfer your car loan (not to mention savings and checking etc...) to a local credit union or local bank (that is actually based in your community). That way you always have a person to deal with face to face if you need to, and better yet, community credit unions are almost always more liberal with their loan criteria as compared to huge corporate banks, so you can hopefully rebuild your credit and help out local business and other residents in your own community at the same time.

Not sure who Drive Financial is, but Sandtander and Sovereign are different division of the same company. Prior to Sandtander taking over Sovereign, they rolled all your late payments and extra interest into the your last payment. Now Sandtander mails a monthly statement showing interest and late fees to date. Sandtander phone customer service is one of the worse I have ever dealt with. I have had my own issues with Sandtander that only got resolved when I badgered my local Sovereign branch manager to straighten it out.

As too late fees, if the posting of your car loan is more than 10 days late, they can charge you the fee. Like me, you signed a contract to that effect. They are under no obligation to wave that fee, and it is unlikely that call center personal have the authority to make special deals regardless of what they tell you. When I pay close to the due date, I pay in person at a Sovereign Bank branch and get a receipt. That way, there is no question that I paid on time.

Their website consististnaly claims that im so many days overdue when I login to make payments. I have tried to talk with the people that call me as well as calling them via their 800 number becuase of some qeustions I had regaurding some fee's on my account and wanted to also notify them I would be making a late payment. They never can explain any fee's in qeustion and this particular time they told me that I was 45+ days overdue and they were going to notify the credit reporting agencies of this at the end of the month. I wanted to arrange for payment to be pain a few days after this end of month date they had cited and was told that their computer system did not allow them ANY means to update my account with this information. Keep in mind I was notifying them out of courtesy, and they basiclly told me that since they cant even update my account and all they were able to do was process payments that even though I was letting them know about my late payment I should just "Pretend this call never happened since they had no way of updating my account status at all unless I made a payment of any amount right then and there." My last payment was for 300+ the standard amount I usually pay and I have their website records showing it was posted on 9/30/2009 yet when I login to their website it displays that my account is past due for 45+ days. Surely their is a means for a class action lawsuit based on their shady practice. Lets not even get into the banking fraud that I beleive occured between the dealer and the finance company when I purchased my car, but then they sell out the original finance company that wrote the loan. I suspect they get dealers to use them over other creditors via incentives, gifts and kickbacks and then the original finance company after a year or so gets purchased by the larger holdings company. THIS IS ORGANIZED CRIME and not to mention a whole list of other violations, but since I don't have supeiona power as a freaking consumer I have no way of even attempting to do the job that our state attourney general should be and was elected to do... contact me if you wish to get details of my situation. brokendash @ gmail.com

I have been paying my car loan since March 2006. All payments on time and above the amount due. I rounded the payment up from 292 to 300 every month. Come May 2009 payment, I did not receive a statement, nor my typical email alert that a payment was due. So I called customer service, (to me they are very hard to understand, broken English) this is when they where changing over their name from Drive Financial to Santander Consumer. I was told a payment was not due, because I had been paying more then the amount due every month. If you calculate it out, $8 * 36 months it comes out to about $288. My normal payment is $292. I thought that sounded about right then. But I decided to mail out a payment anyways. But I had addressed the PO Box it wrong and the payment was returned. Now come Sept 2009. They tell me I owe them $410 since I did not make a payment in May. Of course I called customer service and spoke to rep and she told me the supervisor would tell me the same thing, I held for a supervisor. So why is it 4-months later, you’re telling me this. I asked them since they record their calls, I would like them all pulled for the month of May 2009. I was told they would update my account, once accounting looked at the account. I said NO, I want someone to call me. They will come to the same conclusion you did, no payment made in May 2009. I did not receive a statement in the mail, an e-mail alert and was told by the rep a payment was NOT due for May 2009. I had been receiving all along, all of those EVERYTIME for the last 36 months, and none come May 2009. I will also be filling a complaint with the better business bureau and the AZ attorney generals office.

January 4, 2016 My name is Denice Santander repossessed my Nissan Versa 2011 after I had made a payment 2 days prior. They put a charge off on my Credit report $14, 000.00 as well, and after they promised me they would not do that. I paid them the balance of $1, 100.00 in two days. Santander has taken my payments and did not applied it to the balance, because the balance due will still say the same amount. Also on my credit report it now does not say I am making payments at all. This is the worst Financing Bank I have ever been finance through.

I completely agree with the lot of you. The worst customer service I have ever encountered. I don't think I've ever had a positive experience calling into their CS, but just tried their chat today. I am thinking of selling my car which is tied to a Santander auto loan, and wanted to know the best way to coordinate the sale/title-transfer with the buyer and Santander. Here is my frustrating chat session...I swear it was a machine and not a real person:
info: Please wait for an agent to respond.
info: You are now chatting with 'Victor' In order to assist you today, please verify your First and Last Name.
Chris Wright: Christopher Wright
Victor: Thank you for contacting Santander Consumer USA where we appreciate your business, my name is Victor, how may I help you today?
Chris Wright: Yes, we currently have an auto loan, and we are considering selling the vehicle. I wanted to know what the best way is to coordinate the sale and release of title with Santander
Victor: I understand.
Victor: You want to know if we offer refinance, correct?
Chris Wright: No, are you a machine?
Victor: No I'm not.
Victor: You want to sell the vehicle and receive the title, am I correct?
Chris Wright: I want to sell the vehicle, but I want to know how to coordinate the sale between the buyer and Santander, as well as the transfer of the title.
Victor: As a procedure, I can see your payment is due in the amount of $XXX.XX inclusive of fees. This information is also available to you by calling [protected]. The title is mailed in 20 days after the payoff has posted. The only way to do this is by refinancing. We apologize, Santander Consumer USA does not offer refinance options. However, you may go to your local bank or credit union. You can also search in www.google.com and type "AUTO FINANCING" in the search engine and go from there.
Chris Wright: You are not a very helpful sales rep.
Chris Wright: I am not refinancing
Chris Wright: That is not even close to what I am asking
Victor: The title cannot be transferred.
Chris Wright: I am going to sell the car to SOMEONE ELSE. They are going to either give ME money or give it to Santander.
Chris Wright: Then the title either needs to be send to ME or sent to THEM.
Chris Wright: Of course, the title can't be transferrred when there is a loan on the vehicle.
Victor: You have to send us the money, but the title will come with the borrower's name.
Chris Wright: That is fine. THAT is what I'm asking.
Chris Wright: I know many lenders like to oversee the transaction and handle the paperwork with the buyer.
Victor: The title will be mailed in 20 days after the payoff has posted.
Chris Wright: I just wanted to make sure that Santander didn't have any specific requirements for selling a car with a loan attached to it other than "pay the loan off and we'll send you the title"
Victor: Thank you for waiting. I'll be with you in just a moment.
info: Your chat transcript will be sent to email@email.com at the end of your chat.
Victor: I will note/update your account for you.
Victor: Is there anything else I can help you with today?

TERRIBLE!

I have a loan with santander Consumer and have never been late. I have asked them to apply my extra payments to principal but they said I have to be three months ahead on payments in order for that to happen. I keep paying extra but all it does is reduce the next months payment. Is this legal?

I also have made extra payments and in the begining the loan was $4261.00 san TANdare took $335.00 from my principal that was paid to CITI AUTO AND ADDED it on there loan which now made it $4590.00, i wrote the BBB and then TEXAS state attorney still waiting on texas the BBB was great . Santandare has a F MINUS Rating
and they have no clue of what they do, Your better geting a loan with the mafia lol, there no different then sant usa.they always say oh that payment was for june or any month prior. LETS ALL GET THEM...

GOING AFTER THEM IN FLA...

Yes, I've had to deal with them too on applying principal payments. I will be writing a letter to my representative/congressman to assist with this issue that many people are having with Santander.

I have had the WORST experience with these [censor]s. i got behind because I lost my job. They did not work with me saying they did not offer loan workouts from HSBC. They refused a payment on an HSBC credit card. I made arrangements for half payments and neither their website nor they phone service accept half-payments. "Peggy" - CSR type. I had no choice in dealing with these people as they bought the paper. I cannot refinance - underwater, too many miles. Total ripoff.

It really doesn't matter if it applies to principal or future payments at all. In the end it's all going to come out in the wash. Here's why:

A loan is issued for $10, 000 on a 36 month term with an interest rate of 5% with a payment of $300.00. Payments are made of $450.00 per month, right? If it is applied to principal, then you would owe the next payment due in the next month, to future payments, you have a buffer of several months before it's due. Now, as you make these extra payments your due date keeps getting pushed back, and once it reaches the maturity date of your contract, you are done! It all is principal in the end anyways.

Don't worry.