MR in Michigan said: “Last month I called Beneficial/HFC to get a payoff balance to close our account. I was giving the amount $3,119.86 good until 6/22/09. I was told I could pay it on-line at no charge or pay it with the rep for an extra $15, so I paid it on-line 6/19/09. This month instead of getting a pay-off notice I get a new bill stating I owe $27.78 and have a minimum payment due of $28.54.
7/16/09 I go back on-line and it shows no balance due, so I call customer service. Automation tells me I have a balance and payment of $27.78 due, so I navigate the phone prompts and get a service rep. I explain that I called a month prior and was given the payoff amount and thought the loan was closed. She states that no one noted the loan that a payoff was given in that amount and that the amount I sent was probably a statement amount not a payoff.
Now I ask why I have a bill for $27.78 with a payment of $28.54. No explanation, but she tells me if I want to pay-off the loan in full (which I assumed I already had) I would have to send $130.14 which is only good for one more day (7/17/09). Apparently there was “deferred interest” of $101.83 (which not included in the balance.
What the heck?!?! Why doesn’t the balance show all the money owed and where did this come from? She says I can pay the amount over the phone (again, for another $15) or I can go on-line and pay it for free. So, I go back on-line, attempt to pay the $130.14 so I can be done with these folks and the system rejects my payment because it is more than the amount due!?!?!
Why was I able to make a larger than normal payment a month prior and now that they are apparently “aware” that I attempting to pay it all off, I’m prevented from doing so. I call back and try to use their automated phone payment option (which states in the message, that there is no charge to use). I enter all the banking info and $130.14 amount and it doesn’t take it, but attempts to transfer me to customer service to handle. At this point I get a message stating they are closed.
7/17/09 I call back this morning, attempt to enter the “payoff” amount again and do get transferred to a person. He takes all my information again, asks what amount I was told over the phone last (shouldn’t he know that because they suppossedly notate that info?). Then says he can process the payment for me, but it’ll cost $15 more.
I complain that I’m already paying something I wasn’t told I owed in the beginning and now they want to charge more for something that their two automated systems suddenly cannot do!?!?! He said he would waive the fee. he processed the payment and said the loan is paid in full and I’ll be receiving a notice ina few weeks stating that.
It seems to me they were attempting to prevent my complete payoff and keep interest building in the background for the next few years.”
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