Okay, I know that a lot of companies could fall into this category but today I am naming the Bastard King of corporate America....
GMAC
Without going into all the details, I have had a run-in with some unauthorized charges on my bank card. Once alerted I called the customer service fraud department of my bank. I was grateful for the email I received alerting me to possible fraud. Many things piss me off about banks and even my bank, but this alert feature has always worked well and, most importantly, quickly.
When the customer service rep answered I could barely understand him. We muddled through the conversation like some holiday game of verbal charades. Finally he understood what I had not authorized and informed me that due to possible fraud he was canceling my bank card and I would be issued a new one in 5 to 7 days. (WTF!...I'm geting ready to leave on vacation and I may not have access to my funds??) He then told me I would be emailed a dispute form from another department to lodge my case for the unauthorized charge. This was a $688 wallop I could not afford, especially this time of year.
So the card was canceled and it has now been 4 days. Good news...received my new card today, bad news...have not seen hide nor hair of my dispute form.
Okay, now on to the Evil Corporate Bastards...GMAC.
I have both my auto loan and home mortgage through GMAC. This is what is termed "all my eggs in one basket"...for better or worse.
Today is worse.
My wife had the idea to call GMAC and ask them to defer this months payment to the end of the note. Every payment for the last 5 years has been on time and there are only 8 payments left. Some call center agent who I could barely understand and never did get a name from, listens to my plight and then explains to me when my payment is due and would I like to make a payment over the phone. I then s l o w l y explained what I wanted them to do for me. When she finally understood, SHE explained that GMAC does not do payment deferments but not to worry because my payment will not be considered late until 15 days after the due date (the only funny part of this is she said my payment was due on 12/25 and wouldn't be late until January second...what??? then she corrected herself and said it wouldn't be late until after January 11th. Oh please!
I said she didn't understand (and clearly did not use a calendar I am familar with)...but then she gave me what must have been in her mind, the best news yet...and "nothing will be reported to your credit bureau until after thirty days!" You can make up your own versions of what I was itching to tell her after that. Useless bitch!
So no can-do with the auto loan division.
What the hell, I'm steamed already, let's go for the mortgage division.
You guessed it, I got her sister as the call agent this time. I asked for an English speaking male...I don't think she actually understood what I was asking for. I am stuck with her. Went three rounds with the same story but the twist was the payment is not due til January first so technically it is not a "December payment"! Explaining to her that in order to get the payment on time I had to make it in DECEMBER!!!!! In fact I would have to send it by the 26th to get to GMAC on time. She calmly told me my December payment had been made on 11/25 and I was current on my account...holy Jesus is the reason for the season!...not new information. When she finally grasped my situation, she bluntly informed me that they do not do deferrals and gave the same late payment/credit bureau bullshit her "sister" gave me earlier.
Now I do not do this type of request easily or frequently. I have however done this in the past for hardship circumstances and been able to just add another payment to the end of the note. Hell, I've gotten offers in the past from loan companies offering the holiday Skip A Payment option. Rarely used, but offered nonetheless.
Now I know GM, Ford and other auto companies who handle their own financing rely on these divisions to bail them out on the balance sheet, but really what was the hurt of moving a payment from this month to the end of the loan? They are still going to get their money from me.
They are just...
Evil Corporate Bastards
Thank you for letting me rant!
I promise tomorrow I will be back to the adventures of the Vacation Prep. As for now, my one week pre-vacation psychotic break has arrived right on schedule.
Merry Christmas
7 comments:
Excellent rant
Oh that sucks!
Great post, but it still sucks! I hate to laugh at the misfortune of others, but this was a damn funny rant.
Have you ever checked out, and/or are you eligible to belong to a credit union? They are SO MUCH more likely to help out their members.
I so much sympathise. I am resisting the temptation to tip in with all the parallels (though nowhere near this bad) with the companies I have had dealings with because your post should stand alone. This must be a really worrying situation and I do hope it doesn't interfere with your holiday. No wonder you are angry and upset and ranting!
Lucy
LOL, sorry not laughing at you but REALLY with you. :)
Jules @ Trying To Get Over The Rainbow
Kimber: It sure helped to get it down in print!
Pat: I belong to my companies credit union and my mistake was not going through them for these loans. Ironically, the last vehicle I financed WAS through my credit union and it was a breeze.
Lucy: This is the worst experience I have had in a while with big corporate America. Although I was probably speaking to a call center in Sri Lanka!
Jules: At least it's a little funnier today!
That blows. The call centre I work in exists solely so our big corporate customers don't have to deal with language issues when they're calling in a problem.
Captain: I knew somebody was getting preferential treatment. I couldn't have felt like I mattered any less.
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