Back on June 19th, I traded in my vehicle for a new one. There was still a balance owed on my previous car (~$6,000) and I had auto payment set up on, through GM Financial.
I didn’t even think about turning the auto payments off because previously when I’ve traded cars in, the payoff gets paid within days and the account is closed.
So, on June 30 I get a notification that my auto pay had processed on my GM Financial loan ($463). I was still on vacation for another few days and thought I’ll deal with it when I get home.
I called GM Financial and explained to them the situation. The customer service rep from GM explained to me that I need to call the dealership and they’d issue a refund.
I call the dealership and leave a message with the girl who deals with this issue. She calls me back the next day and tells me they paid off the loan on June 27, and the money was pulled from their bank on the 30th. She tells me GM owes me the refund.
I call GM back with that information, and I’m told the loan still showed as active, with no payoff from the dealership. It’s the dealership’s responsibility to issue a refund.
I called the lady back at the dealership, she seemed perplexed but told me to call GM and they’re responsible for the refund.
So what do I do? Am I forever out the $463? Do I keep running around in circles with these phone calls? My dad said to take this to court, which I don’t want to do over such a small amount of money.
What do I do?
Comments
Try posting this on /r/legaladvice
They’re playing hot potato with your cash call their bluff with proof then file a complaint and watch them scramble
Sometimes it takes 3-7 days to reflect it on the loan’s balance. That’s why some dealers will calculate or they will call the financial institution of your loan and ask for an estimate in case they did not receive the loan payment in time. I had this issue and the dealer called and then added about another $17 on the loan full payment just to make sure it extends over the next couple of days. But this mostly happens when you are really close to the next loan payment due date.
And last time this happened to me the loan company actually sent a check back to me in a couple of weeks stating extra $xx.xx amount of money will be returned and your loan is officially paid off and your title has been issued to blalala financial company(the company you sold your vehicle to.)
If you are uncertain then you may always check and confirm. And they were correct. GM is most likely responsible for the refund and will send you a check after they found out you overpaid the full amount.
It will sort itself out. Their accounting software will show they owe you the money and they will cut you the check.
Call your congressman
This is actually the fun with banking hours. Dealership transferred money on a Friday after 3pm but the problem is the transaction is not actually completed until sometime Monday (next business day).
Since GM did not receive the money before the 30th their system automatically withdrew the funds like normal. Since GM now has the $6000 plus the $463 they owe it to you.
Something similar happened to me many moons ago with a cheque. We paid off furniture before the due date but the cheque wasn’t deposited until after the due date. Found out when applying for a loan and I had a creditors hold against us for $40 in interest (interest free if paid off before due date). We were never notified or I would have fought it. We never moved so there were no excuses.
Things you can do:
Wait. Once all the payments have been applied & your payoff has been processed, you should get a refund check. With huge lenders, this could take a while. If it takes more than 30 days or the next payment is withdrawn, start option 2.
Ask dealership for proof of payment, either the cleared check or ach or however they paid it. Then call the lender, providing all the documentation that the loan has been paid in full. This should get the refund to you faster.
Good luck!
How is the money transferred? Maybe cancel the credit card, call your bank, etc
You could call the dealership one more time and ask to speak to the finance manager. If that didn’t work I would leave a 1 star review on the dealerships Google and explain the situation. You have called them. They deserve it.