Chase Auto Finance, Failure to remove late fees not my fault. Internet

I have to agree with Batman.  If you make a mistake and overextend yourself, you cannot blame the finance company.  I hear I am spending every penny on food, etc...yet many (not all) of those same people talk on their cellphone and go home to watch cable TV.  Live within your means, save a little for an emergency fund, etc.  And no, I am not sitting at some cushy job, have been laid off during this wonderful economic times, and struggle daily.  If I have to let a car go back then I do it, I signed a contract in exchange for for a piece of capital equiment. 

Was my rebuttal over the top? I don't know.

Was it all true? Yes.

Could I have coddled him? Sure, and I actually do sometimes, but I probably wasn't in the mood when I responded. Sue me and welcome to the internet, I guess. There's coffee in the back.

Sorry I didn't sugarcoat things for this guy, but he irks me. His Rip-Off Report opens with, "Do not use Chase Auto Fiance for your auto loan needs. They refuse to waive any late fees to their loan accounts, even though the error is the fault."

There is no error on their part. He owes them money and quite frankly, he's quite delusional about the way the world of finance works. It doesn't matter if he's retired, 50, 40, 30, or 18...he's got no clue that he's in the wrong here and it's going to hurt him financially for the rest of his life. I don't care about his situation because it's ultimately irrelevant. Rich, poor, young, old, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that he has to pay his bills according to the schedule he agreed upon, or he's going to continue to ruin his credit and rack up late fees. He can't continue to think that he's the victim here if he wants to avoid this type of situation in the future.

What's that? Times are tough? Can't afford the car payments? SELL THE CAR. People today live with all these privileges, all the while mistakenly thinking they're somehow entitled to them. I bet you if he canceled his cable, internet, and cell phone services, with all the money he saved, he could cover that car payment no problem. If times are tough and money is tight, it's all about priorities. He's surfing here thinking he's been ripped off instead of paying his bill and it's going to cost him.

You can feel free to type out a nice rebuttal that calmly explains things for him on your time if you want. That's your prerogative. Don't vilify me though because I didn't sugarcoat things for him.

If he were ripped off, it'd be a different story. I would be more than pleasant with him and if I couldn't offer help, I'd offer condolences. But he's not getting ripped off! The only thing he's a victim of is his own ignorance.

And besides, a wake-up call never hurt anyone. Not that it matters As you saw by his reply, it's not like he's going to learn anything anytime soon. He still thinks he's the victim. He's an excuse machine and will continue on having problems like this until he changes his ways.

You say they are treating you like a liability.  Do you know why?  Because you ARE!!!  And even more so now that you have fallen behind in your payments.  You must learn that the world doesn't stop because things in our life happen.  Why is it that when someone gives their opinion they are automatically an employee of said evil company or have a cushy job so they have no idea what its like to be on the smelly end of the stick?  I agree with everything said about how its YOUR fault, not the loan company's, and no I don't work for them, nor am I rolling in the dough.  I do know however that when I sign a loan contract I am responsible for living up to my end of the deal.  What would you say if the big cheese of the company had a financial issue and came to your house and said "I'm taking this car away from you" while you were making steady payments?  I imagine you would leave a trail of purple goo behind you, and be screaming from the highest hills.  But thats exactly what you did to them!!  Sure, they won't collapse due to your not making that payment, but a deal is a deal, and your word is all we have in this life.  Maybe you should have bought a cheaper car that you could afford if/when it hits the fan.  Stop blaming others. 

Even though what you say is true, you are the one who comes off as self serving and arrogant.

- So basically you are saying that batman is right.  Okay you don't like the way it was said, which you are entitled to your opinion, just as they are entitled to theirs.  I am curious what would you have said to him to perhaps avoid this situation in the future.  And what is that situation well....

and can make my payments, but when someone younger or less fortunate can't

- Okay then someone younger and less fortunate may want to THINK and perhaps not put themselves into that situation in the first place.

Let him vent.

- This site is NOT called "I Want to Vent" it is called "RipOff Report".  If the OP just wants to vent then they can go post a blog somewhere else.  But if they come here to post what they think is a RipOff then people are going to post their voice also. 

Batman, you are an a**. Even though what you say is true, you are the one who comes off as self serving and arrogant. You probably have a cushy job and are able to make payments on everything just fine, so you feel you are entitled to take someone less fortunate and get sarcastic with them and call them "thick". You don't know anything about this person, he may be right out of school, making little money. He is struggling just like millions of others and just needs a place to vent. Ripoff Report is a perfect place for that.

I have a nineteen year old daughter who bought a car last year and although she hasn't had trouble paying, largely due to the fact that she lives at home and has no other debt, if she did have trouble, I wouldn't want her to come across someone as asinine as you. I have a cushy job too, and can make my payments, but when someone younger or less fortunate can't, I don't think I am better than them. Yeah, yeah, I know, you didn't say you were better, but you didn't have too. Your pretentious, holier-than-thou attitude oozes from your letter.

Let him vent.

Apparently Batman did READ the article.  And then he stated the obvious.  You owe them. 

The level of self-serving ineptitude on this sight amazes me.  People think they can pay when they want, if at all, and not expect any type of recourse from whomever they owe.

You, sir, need to admit the obvious and stop being so ignorant.

And since when is it a requirement that being booted from your apartment as you state, should result in compassion from the bigwigs? Wanna know why they don't do it? Because it could simply be that if they did it for the long-time consumers as you claim to be, they'd also have to do it for newer customers. People could call up when they're down on a buck and say "Oh, I'm moving interstate tomorrow, can you put an extension on my loan payment?" Loans don't work that way. You miss a payment, you are screwed pure and simple. What happened to personal responsibility? We grumble that kids never seem to have it, yet here is an adult who also seems to be lacking it. Since when was that OK?

Ok Batman, did you accually fully READ the statement.  Relitive I had to move at the last minute. What you dont know is THAT relitive got kicked out of there appartment. You try and not spend $500 and get a boxes, a new location for you to live with a down payment, and a moving truck for under $700 and all in under 5 days! I will laugh at you all the way accross the internet!

You have no heart and compation. You probably work for Chase. I hope this happens to you so you can feel the same frustration and anger. This is not a ripoff, just that policys for Chase Auto needs to be reviewed and addressed. Just like every other bank they care less for the customer (Rule #1 in marketing is customer comes 1st) and more for themselves.

You really think you're being ripped off? That's so cute.

Here's the reality, you owe the money, plain and simple. You want this to go away? Pay what you owe and catch up on the loan. The lender has no reason to drop your late fees. Why? BECAUSE YOU'RE LATE. The lender also has no reason to change their update on your credit report "of being late for past dued [sic] owed." Why? BECAUSE YOU OWE A PAST DUE AMOUNT.

When you skip a payment like you did, until you make up that payment, ALL your other payments remain behind. Do you get it? Your payments are made IN ORDER. If you skip September and send them money for the October payment, it goes to September! You're making the September payment late and still owe October. It's that simple. If you haven't caught up that month, then you're behind October and so forth. You don't get to skip a payment and then continue on like nothing happened with a single late fee. What are you, thick?  

Why in the world would you think the late fees are the lender's fault? YOU chose to miss/skip your payment, not them. You borrowed money for a car under the pretense that you would pay it back under very specific circumstances. You already ran into financial trouble once before and the lender allowed you an extension, which sounds pretty nice of them if you ask me. Now you want yet another extension and are surprised when they say enough is enough? How many times exactly do you feel you should be able to break and renegotiate the contract you signed? Grow up. They owe you nothing. They lent you the money for the car and held up their end of things. Now it's your turn.

The lender doesn't show up at your door and say, "Sorry, but you can't have your car this weekend, we overextended our budget. We'll get it back to you as soon as we can though, pinky swear." This should be a wake up call to you. Welcome to the real world, pal. I hope they take your ride so learn to prioritize better.

As for the FDCPA, I'm fairly certain it only applies to third party collections, not for current loans/contracts. Also, even it does apply, the FDCPA allows them to call as much as they want per day, provided there is no contact. In other words, if you ignore the call and they don't leave a message, they can call back later. An unanswered phone means nobody is home and therefore, can't be a nuisance.

The bottom line? You have not been ripped off. You can't go and get all pissy because the lender wants what YOU promised when YOU promised it. Keep your word and like magic, all these problems will melt away. I promise.