Wells Fargo Dealer Services (WFDS) applied an insurance charge to our car loan. When we asked why, they said that their records showed that we had a lapse in insurance. We did not, and contacted our agent, and repeatedly faxed and emailed (pdf) copies to show that there was no lapse in coverage. After talking to numerous WFDS reps, we finally had someone say, that we were right, she was sorry, and that she would take off the charges and all would be well.
Later that month, we payed our car payment, on-time. However, unbeknownst to us, the insurance fee was never removed, and instead of our car payment going to or car loan, it was used to pay the insurance. We later received numerous phone calls from a variety of WFDS people, all of which had extensions that they could not be reached at, informing us that we were late on our car payment.
So we went through the whole process again of proving that we had insurance, that they payment that was just made was supposed to be for the car payment and not insurance that we didn't need or want. (Funny enough, during one phone call, while on the phone with my wife, a different rep called me to talk about the same thing. We have since learned that they DO NOT put notes onto your account like they say, and often enough, the left hand has no idea what the right hand is doing.) After many days of phone tag, different reps, not being transferred to managers, we finally got someone on the phone on a Tuesday that said, "You're right" and said that she would take care of it and apply the payment to our car payment and fix the insurance debacle.
That following Sunday, as my wife and I and our four children are walking out the door to church, the repo man shows up. He was very gracious, and explained that if we didn't release the car to him, he would call the sheriffs department, he would still get the car, and we would be facing legal fees for the sheriffs dept as well. He let me take my kids to church and clean out the minivan, showed me the paper work, and gave me his card. Not bad for a repo guy.
We promptly call WFDS on Monday, and they showed no record of repossessing our car. The rep assured us he would look into it and call us the next day. He called on Wednesday (no one had answers on Tuesday either, and he couldn't be reached at his extension), and told us that his department no longer handles our account, and gave us the "repossession" department. No one answered or returned our calls there. On Friday, we got a hold of someone in the "repo" department, who told us that we had to fill out some paperwork authorizing us to talk over the phone about the account. They mailed us the paperwork, we filled it out and mailed it back priority.
They then said they couldn't do anything about the charges and that it is what it is, and that we would be receiving information in the mail. We received more paperwork on a Wednesday stating that we owed $5500 by Friday to them by money order only (and whatever fees the repo yard charged) or the car would be sold at auction and we would owe the difference. I'm a school teacher, I don't have that kind of money just lying around for emergencies like this.
We owed less than $5500 on the van before they repo'd it. We told them to keep the van, and we'd see them in court if they wanted to pursue it. Consequently, our insurance agent called us a few weeks later saying a claim had been made on our van by WFDS and that apparently, when they repo'd it, they did some significant damage to it and wanted our insurance company to pay for it. We said no. I'm sure now they won't get any money for it at auction, and they will fight me for the rest of what we owe.
I tried on numerous occasions to pay it off in full. They wouldn't let me, or would charge me such huge processing fees that I just couldn't justify it. I signed an agreement and intended to payoff the car, but what they did was criminal and has left my family in the lurch and I don't feel that I owe them anything.
Can anyone help me please? |