So, Jess and I paid off our car on the 14th of this month. Happy time, right? Wrong.
When we paid off our car, we thought we just had to pay it off, and then call the company (C.A.F.) and ask them to cancel our automatic payments. Ha! Well, we did that, and all was well… until the 22nd. Suddenly they took our usual payment (which is about $315, not a small amount) from our checking account.
So I’m pissed… I call up C.A.F. and they tell me that is wasn’t them who took the funds, no, it was my bank. They say that the way their automatic payments work is that the bank (G.W.B.) takes the money and sends it to them. I didn’t believe them, but what could I do?
I call G.W.B. and ask them to stop sending payments to C.A.F. right away and to refund our money. We’re told that they don’t send the money unless it’s requested, but they can put a stop on it for the low, low price of $25. We yell, but we have to pay, so I shell out the $25 and they give us the remaining money back. All is well, right?
Wrong. I get an e-mail today from a new company (M.V.C.) saying that they paid the $315 for us, since there was a stop put on the check. So we now owe them $315. WTF? I call them and have a nice chat… this is what I find out. I was apparently supposed to cancel my automatic payments FIRST, and pay off the car second. Good to know. Also, it seems that the company that requested the money isn’t the same as C.A.F., they’re the C.B.M. company. They’re under the same umbrella as C.A.F., but they seem to be completely blind to each other. So while C.A.F. says I don’t owe them any more, no one told C.B.M. to stop taking my money.
You following so far? Just incase you’re not… quick recap:
Okay… so C.B.M. thought I needed to send another payment to C.A.F. and got my bank to send it. I put a stop on it, so C.B.M. got another company (M.V.C) to pay and just get the money from me later.
Got it? Let’s continue. Now then, this is what I was told I need to do to fix it:
1. Call C.B.M. and convince them to close my account with them.
2. Call C.A.F. and ask them for a refund of the $315 (when they ask for proof that it’s paid, I need to get them to talk to C.B.M.).
3. When I get the refund we need to remove the stop from my bank and make sure the money is there.
4. Finally I have to call C.B.M. and have them re-take the money from us.
Nice. So that’s a lot of effort and I’m down $25 and possibly a tick on my credit score, as M.V.C. is technically a collection agency. Yay! :angry:
And here I thought things would be easier now that I paid it off. Sure showed me.
