Help.... My husband and I leased a vehicle (I know dumb move) when the lease was up we weren't in the position to be able to buy the vehicle. The lease was up on 8/9/2001. We had been in contact with the lease company, GE Capital, and told them of our intentions to turn in the vehicle, they told us we needed it inspected, they would have the inspection company call and make an appointment. 2 weeks later we were able to get in touch with the inspection company. They weren't able to inspect the vehicle for 3 1/2 weeks. After the inspection was done, it took a week just to get the report from GE Cap. by now it is already the middle of Sept. I had to fax receipts of repairs that had been made that they were trying to charge us for. They then informed me the transport company woudl be calling to set up a time to come pick up the vehicle. By now it is well into the beginning of Oct. I played phone tag with the transport company for about 2 1/2 weeks. The last message I left for them took 2 weeks to be answered. I had, in the meantime, called GE Capital and spoke with one of the reps, told him the situation of playing phone tag with the transport company, and asked if I was going to be charged for the time that the vehicle had been sitting in my driveway, he replied "No you're not responsible for any lease payments after the lease matured" (wish I had that in writing) Anyway the vehicle wasn't picked up until 11/21/2001 and they are trying to charge up until that date. Is this legal??? Don't know alot about issues like this..........do know NEVER LEASE A VEHICLE!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm getting completely screwed here. Sorry for the long post........I'm new at this and wasn't sure how much detail was needed. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I have been through several situations where I was told I had to pay money I did not owe, or for services that were never rendered/poorly rendered. My advice: pay it and then argue. They will screw your credit for a fare-you-well. The money isn't worth it, because of what it will cost you later. When you pay it, send a certified RRR letter detailing what happened and why you do not believe you owe the money, and request that they change their records and refund the money within xx number of days, or you will take action against them. Action against them could be filing complaints with AG, BBB, FTC, your states motor vehicles dept., etc.(any agency that might be remotely interested), or you could continue the paper trail a little more (one or two more letters), and then try suing them in small claims court.
I spoke with a manager back on 3/11 (wrote down what was said between the two of us) I had told her my entire story and she said "Well, it's a judgement call, and I have to get with one of my other supervisors and think this over, and I'll call you tomorrow" Ok by my calander that would have been 3/12. At this point my credit is screwed anyway. I don't really want more marks against me, but I'm tired of getting screwed by these creditors. (They should at least kiss me first, ha,ha) Should I try to call this idiot that calls herself a manager back??
As long as consumers are so willing to bend over for it they will keep on doing it. When are we gonng to say enough is enough?
That's what we're doing. But, I don't think everyone is going to cease using credit, buying insurance, houses, cars, etc, though. Kinda trims the lifestyle down too much.
Send GE Capital a bill for storage of their vehicle in your driveway, in the exact amount they are trying to charge you. j/k
$15 a day is an industry standard rate for storage. shame on them for even trying this... if I were on a jury and I heard a case like this, I'd sock it to GE but good in punitive damages. If they do screw with your credit, then apply somewhere, get denied, sue them for fcra violations... and tack on the storage fees, late fees for payment (send them a bill now for the storage), atty fees, interest etc... you get what you settle for.
I've been really thinking about this. I played hardball with Nationsbank a LONG time ago when I really knew nothing except what they were doing was wrong... and I won with no atty and very little understanding of the law (I met them at their offices and they brought 3 attorneys... I had none: when they asked where mine was, I retorted "Well, I guess you know what you did was wrong and you're assuming I'm smart enough to go ahead and recognize your errors and sue you... huh". We ended up settling it that day... anyway. You basically have already been told by GE if you will roll over they'll financially screw you... and if you don't they won't... it's up to their discretion... so if I were you I'd do several things. *Start acting like you know you owe nothing... it's not in question...* if you go into this wondering if they'll be gracious enough not to violate your rights you'll have a tougher fight. anyway. 1. Send them a bill for storage (with something in for interest, atty fees etc if they don't pay) just like they do with us. $15 a day from the day after the contract ended til the day they picked up the car. 2 Call them and play hardball 3 Read you lease. If this is nowhere to be found in it, start calling your state's atty general's office If they do screw with your credit, then apply somewhere, get denied, sue them for fcra violations and reg z violations (Truth in Lending)... if you have to sue, send the demand letter and tack on the storage fees, late fees for payment, atty fees, interest etc... (actually, interest is not added in the demand but you put the state statute in the demand letter that will later enable you to get interest pre and post judgment) If I were you, I'd call back and ask this: Hi, I'm recording this for quality control purposes: "Now, please explain to me in plain english where I can possibly owe you more money after I've satisfied my contract in full... I couldn't explain it well to a lawyer looking at my contract and I am just wanting to explain it to him... cause he couldn't even begin to understand why GE would even try this... and I really couldn't explain it either... do you need to transfer me to your supervisor, or in-house counsel or do you want to explain to me?... and I need the explanation to also include it in terms of the "Truth in Lending Act" and the "Fair Credit Reporting Act"... ok. now: 1. How these supposed "charges" are being calculated 2. How this may or may not affect my credit... and you know, when we're all done, I'd like you to send this information to me in the form of a letter so he can look it over to determine just how many violations of my rights this is... because even using the "reasonable man" definition... well, I'm a reasonable man (woman) and this makes no sense... and since one supervisor already said it's a judgment call... well, this is... what did the counsel I was talking with call this ridiculous situation... possibly a good opportunity for a lawsuit, I think... anyway... and while we're at it, what's your physical address and fax number... I"m going to need to start sending GE bills for storage, my time and energy disposing of the car for you since you guys couldn't seem to coordinate it like you were supposed to.... and I guess I'll need that physical address so if I need to hire counsel you guys can be sent the proper demand letters and then later be served..." or something like that... and then follow through. send letters and have an atty get involved if you want. This is preposterous!!!!!!!!!!! I'm mad just reading about it! by the way, every time you talk with someone document it. get their name, employee number, extension, rank etc... have a phone log, go back and make one since this started... then start documenting in letters to them... by the way, a good lease is actually a cheaper way to use transportation but not eat as much in payments.. but most people really don't understand leases so they get screwed worse... but in general, leasing can be a very smart way to acquire and not own a car...
Oh, one last thing: whatever is said... especially if they agree that you owe nothing more and that your credit with them is fine... Have them fax it and then send it to you in writing. If it's not in writing it doesn't exist... and that way if their inhuman computer system reports you to the cras late.. then you have a document from them showing you didn't owe any more on the contract...
.....and the saga continues. I recieved a letter from GE Cap today (3/29) and it says: March 27, 2002 (by the way I'm still waiting for that supervisor to call) Your account is in a charge off status for $xx.00. It is imperative that you contact us immediately at 1-800-we will screw you, if payment in full has not been sent. Failure to resolve your account by not sending payment may result in referral of an outside collection source, whereby you will be liable for all collection and legal costs, including reasonable attorney's fees and court costs, to the extent permitted by law. Please remit the amount due within 5 days from the date of this letter. CAN YOU EVEN BELIEVE THESE PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a bunch of crap!!!! The frickin supervisor that said she would call still hasn't called, and then they send me this crap!! Aughhhhhhhhhhh
I wouldn't expect to hear back from her. She's got no clout; if she were a decision-maker, she wouldn't need to confer with someone else. If you have an attorney, perhaps it would be helfpul for him/her to draft a letter on your behalf.
You may really want to call a lawyer... they've now screwed your credit... and it's been 2 weeks so you need to take some action as they're certainly taking action against you.
Hi Mom, I'm Home! Did anyone call when I was out? I like the idea of charging them for storage. BTW, Don't forget the costs you incurred keeping "their" vehicle registered and insured in accordance with your local ordinances. After all, you couldn't have an unlicensed vehicle on your property and you incurred these costs in addition to the storage fees. Dancer
1* that's what Patty Dance says is happening to SHERIG. GE is not ripping off anyone. To hear them tell it Sherig is being delusional and just thinks they are getting ripped off.
