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Santander Consumer USA

Santander Consumer USA review: excessive late fees 6

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5:45 pm EDT
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I had an auto loan with soverign bank, which was purchased or however it panned out now became santander consumer usa. Usa... Really? Every time you call them you speak to someone in another country. Never the usa! Besides that... They are rude and arrogant and very non-caring. I have less than a year to pay on my vehicle. My husband and I separated. I asked them if they could put a payment on the back of the loan so I could get a grip on my finances. They said they didn't do that. But somehow or another, they changed the due date?! So it always looks like I am a month behind. Hence... All the late fees accumulating on this account.
When I called them to discuss the late fees... They said there is nothing they could do about it.
They first said, "oh you just missed our promotion" it ended yesterday. Are you kidding me?
So now... It's on my credit report, late fees accumulate every month, and they won't do a damn thing about it.
Makes me feel like any day they have the right to come and take my car. Not!
Not to mention, when you make your payment on line, they charge you 10.95 western union fee. Really?
No one charges to make payments! That is stealing in my opinion.
There are no local banks to make the car payment. And now... When I try to make the payment, it tells me that I can't use that account! Why? I have no idea. But, it takes time to make phone calls for payments. I work two jobs, it's very inconvenient.
I hate this company. They are not even registered with the bbb. Gee, what a surprise!

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The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

6 comments
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HELP MAKE CHANGE
Venice, US
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Sep 23, 2010 1:50 pm EDT

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!

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Tooz
Los Angeles, US
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Oct 09, 2010 4:23 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

The poor customer service is inexcusable. The fact that they wont defer a payment makes them look really inflexible...besides deferments arw often a win win for the customer AND bank alike...not doing it for you is a bad business decicion. As for the fees...pay on time and you wont get charged a late fee. Youre not taking responsibility for being late. Finance companies cant just change due dates on a whim as due dates are typically in tge contract. For them to change it would require a addendum signed by you or a recorded verbal authorization. If they really did change iylt without your knowledge like youre implying then take your contract to an attorney and go over it. I have a feeling you asked for the change though...and it didnt work like you'd hoped and now you want to change it and move it up forward so that it looks like youre not late...and they wont do it. Not many finance companies will though so cant blame them here. As for the western union fee, a good customer service oriented company would waive the check fees or keep them minimal. However, remember phone checks and paying online are a convienience service. You dont have to use it. Therefore I dont understand the problem. You can mail a check or money order for the cost of a stamp. You dont HAVE you pay by phone. If you dont like the fee, dont pay by phone check. Problem solved. There are more important things to worry about and to compain about when it comes to Santander. Basically pay your bill, pay it and mail it on time and late fees and check fees will not be an issue.

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Malenkaya
Austin, US
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Oct 19, 2010 4:04 pm EDT
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I am having issues with Santander too. As far as paying on time, I set up auto pay, they claimed the first time they tried to process it was rejected (the bank disagrees) and so they tried a second time and then charged a $25 NSF fee.

I log into the account today and it says the payment is a day late. Why? I have auto pay. Well, no, after the NSF fee they took it off auto pay. And admitted they don't tell you when that happens. Then blamed me because I "froze" the account when the bank declined last month's payment (which never happened and they still want their $25).

So what about when all you want to do is pay the bill and they still mess with you?

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Rebino
US
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Apr 14, 2011 7:57 pm EDT

I have to agree. When Santander took over my CitiFinancial car loan, they bumped my car payment from the 15th to the 2nd. I told them that it was impossible to pay on that day. They said that I had no choice and they couldn't change it. so I was accumulating late fees everymonth, plus with a simple interest loan, being late, the payment was barely covering the late fees and daily interest! Finally they have changed my due date and late fees have not been an issue. If you yell loud enough and strong enough and keep asking for higher ups, you will get something done. With the website charges to pay, unfortunately, every car loan does that. That is unavoidable. The only way to get around that is to mail a check, or do a bill pay from your bank account. I never do autowithdrawal, so every month, a few days before the loan is do, I send off a bank bill pay and I'm never charged to pay my loan.

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Rebino
US
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Apr 14, 2011 8:03 pm EDT

I do agree with Malenkaya. We took out the loans. It is our responsibility to pay them. Deferments are a luxury, not a right. We have a contract to pay, and if they don't defer, that's not them being nasty, that's just them holding to a contract that we agreed to when we bought a car and took out the loan. This is with any credit company. If you don't like the loan process, pay cash for a car. Loans are loans. They are a financial obligation and we can't complain when a company wants their money. It's their money, and our responsibility. The phone payment and online transfer is a convenience like Malenkaya said. we don't have to use it. No one is forcing you to dial the number and pay over the phone. People didn't have problems paying their loan payments 50 years ago, and they didn't have online or phone payment options. We have become spoiled where we want everything for free. If you want a service, read the contract before you sign and don't sign if you don't agree. With the due date change, everyone received a letter or e-mail that due dates were changing and to what day that would be. It said that if we didn't want that change then to call in the next 30 days and it wouldn't be changed. If we didn't call, the date was changed. So my date change was my fault for not calling. I got lucky that they changed it for me after a while, but I didn't expect that they had to. I had the chance to opt out of the date change. It all boils down to this. IF YOU DONT LIKE LOAN PROCESSES, DONT USE THEM. Simple. A business is in business to make money, not to benefit you.

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Curious customer
Leitchfield, US
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Aug 07, 2022 12:51 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Is it legal for them to add $644 for a late fee for 19 days. That is more than my car payment. I just feel with late fees like this no one is able to catch back up.

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