Dealer Screw Up on Trade in - Late payment on Credit Report

[shiv.nandak]

Hello,

I really need advice regarding my current situation. At the end of Nov 2015 i returned a F30 328i lease to get into a F82 M4. The lease had 6 months of remaining payments left - i paid these payments directly to the dealer. Some time later the dealer called me stating that they accidentally mailed the check for the remaining payments to me instead of BMW Financials. I am realizing now that this whole situation has caused a 30 day late payment on my credit report for only one of the credit bureaus.

I called BMW Financials and they created a case number. In order to dispute this - they require me to send a letter explaining the situation along with a support letter from the dealer that confirms my version of events.

I called the dealer 2 weeks ago and was able to get in touch with one of the finance managers. He asked me to email him what BMW Financials sent - he said he will reply with the letter. I never heard from him after that, he does not respond to emails or calls. This past weekend i was able to get in touch with the GM of the dealership. I explained the situation and he said that he will be able to have the letter ready on Monday. He hasn't replied to any voicemails or replied to my emails since.

This is a very frustrating situation for me. It feels like this dealership has no respect for their repeat customers. This is a situation that they put me in and they are not even making any effort to fix it.

Does someone have any advice on how to deal with this situation or force them to take my situation seriously? Is there any consumer protection agencies i can file a complaint at? Should i leave a bad google review?

[RickFLM4]

What did you do with the check when you got it back in 2015?

[ano0oj]

1. Definitely write a bad review.

2. Send an email to BMW NA, the dealership, the GM, and whoever else you can.

3. If you want to be taken very seriously, I'd suggest sending them a certified letter in the mail to every person you can.

4. Or if you have the time, show up at the dealership every day until they respond to you.

[Darth One]

Man, this is bad news. Dealer GM should be a decent human being and understand how big a deal it is to fuck up someone’s credit report. He of all people should know what that does.

One suggestion - how about writing the letter yourself (brief, factual, gets the message across without containing any language they’re likely to object to), and then tell GM, i’ll make an appointment to come see you - take 5 mins of your time to just read it and sign it

[f80er]

Shiat man my dealer did the exact same thing when I traded in my 2015 for a 2018. What worked for me was emailing BMW NA Pres directly and getting them involved. He had some CS rep call me who told me they were going through and notifying the credit agencies that they screwed up, within a week it was gone and my credit was back to normal. Honestly the biggest bitch would have been having to file disputes with all agencies but in the end I didn't even have to because BMWNA took it upon themselves to notify all of them that they made a mistake.

Neither the dealer or BMWNA took responsibility for it but in the end BMWNA rectified for me, dealer didn't do shit other than make some good will repairs to my car (PDR and some bolts).

Ian Smith <ian.smith@bmwfs.com>

[z335is]

Simple, walk in to the dealership and don't leave until you have your letter. Emails / calls are too easy for them to ignore.

[Kief]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

What did you do with the check when you got it back in 2015?

^^^This

I had something similar when I traded in my F-Type Coupe R for my '18 Tanzanite M3ZCP. BMW was to payoff the car, but after the sale I anxiously waited for JLR confirmation. Weeks went by and nothing. It was also the Holidays, so banking was closed some days. My payment was due any day, but instead of pussy footing with the BMW dealer, I made the Jag payment myself despite not technically owning the car any longer. I was eventually credited those monies back once the payoff was finally received, even more days after the fact.

[SMGCFP]

Dealing with the dealership when you're not actually in the act of buying something is completely frustrating. I find that my dealership will not return emails, or phone calls. z335is is correct. You have to go there and make your situation a priority. They will have no choice but to talk to you, and hopefully rectify the situation.

Squeaky wheel always gets the grease. I hate being that guy, but most situations force this because customer service is so short-sighted.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by Kief

^^^This

I had something similar when I traded in my F-Type Coupe R for my '18 Tanzanite M3ZCP. BMW was to payoff the car, but after the sale I anxiously waited for JLR confirmation. Weeks went by and nothing. It was also the Holidays, so banking was closed some days. My payment was due any day, but instead of pussy footing with the BMW dealer, I made the Jag payment myself despite not technically owning the car any longer. I was eventually credited those monies back once the payoff was finally received, even more days after the fact.

Yeah, I'm struggling a little to understand what happened. If giving money to a dealer to make lease payments, presumably there is paperwork with a matching cancelled check. Personally, I would have followed that through to make sure my account was closed - just as I did when I return my leased vehicles with no actual cash changing hands. If a problem arose, it needed to get resolved with all parties, with clear documentation in writing, when it happened. But I get it that not everyone would find it necessary to worry about it if they paid the dealer.

Trying to get a dealer to write a letter about a screw up 3+ years ago seems like a difficult thing to accomplish. GM and back office staff could have turned over. They have sold thousands of cars in that time. If there is nothing easy to find in their records about their screwup in this particular deal, I don't see them writing a letter.

Even if they don't, there should be enough of a paper trail to at least prove OP made lease payments to the dealer and then paid BMWFS as soon as the dealer accidentally sent him the money back.

[Agent - ///M]

That's messed up. Hopefully you get it rectified.

The downside is that it's ultimately your responsibility to ensure a loan is satisfied.

Was there no follow up on your end after taking delivery to ensure it was satisfied?

Try and go above the GM.

If the BMW store is owned by a public company such as AutoNation, Sonic, etc. you can always go directly to corporate.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

[shiv.nandak]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

What did you do with the check when you got it back in 2015?

They gave me a choice to either cash it and pay BMW directly or return the check to them. I was pretty naive back then and just cashed it and payed BMW directly

On the bright side, the GM got back to me with the letter i needed last night

[shiv.nandak]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Yeah, I'm struggling a little to understand what happened. If giving money to a dealer to make lease payments, presumably there is paperwork with a matching cancelled check. Personally, I would have followed that through to make sure my account was closed - just as I did when I return my leased vehicles with no actual cash changing hands. If a problem arose, it needed to get resolved with all parties, with clear documentation in writing, when it happened. But I get it that not everyone would find it necessary to worry about it if they paid the dealer.

Trying to get a dealer to write a letter about a screw up 3+ years ago seems like a difficult thing to accomplish. GM and back office staff could have turned over. They have sold thousands of cars in that time. If there is nothing easy to find in their records about their screwup in this particular deal, I don't see them writing a letter.

Even if they don't, there should be enough of a paper trail to at least prove OP made lease payments to the dealer and then paid BMWFS as soon as the dealer accidentally sent him the money back.

I used trans union to check if the account was closed. It was closed and TransUnion did not show any derogatory marks. Equifax also shows "0 Derogatory marks" on their main page. However, i recently realized that Equifax shows a 30 day late if i navigate into the account and view each payment over the course of the loan. I didn't check the details of the account until now since it was closed. My mistake, lesson learned.

The good news is that the GM sent me the letter i needed.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by shiv.nandak

I used trans union to check if the account was closed. It was closed and TransUnion did not show any derogatory marks. Equifax also shows "0 Derogatory marks" on their main page. However, i recently realized that Equifax shows a 30 day late if i navigate into the account and view each payment over the course of the loan. I didn't check the details of the account until now since it was closed. My mistake, lesson learned.

The good news is that the GM sent me the letter i needed.

Great. I recommend getting something in writing from BMWFS that acknowledges they will fix the credit report and then check it in a month or two to ensure they actually follow through. If they don't and you need to dispute the item through Equifax, then you will have pretty good documentation to clear it up that way, if necessary. Hopefully BMWFS just fixes it and there is no need to go down the dispute route.