So my wife gets a car loan back in the mid-90s while going to school in Toledo. In the late 90s she moves back to Cleveland, meets me and we get married. She gets pregnant and quits her job and I finish making the payments in March of 2001.

But we don't get the title. We call and they assure us it's on the way. Time passes, it slips our minds. Next time she has to renew the registration we think, "Hey, we should get the title." They assure us the account is closed and they'll find out where the title is and call us back. We follow up three or four times before life intervenes again, and it slips our minds.

Until the next time she has to register it. We dutifully call. Same song-and-dance. This shit is getting old. Somewhere in one of these iterations someone suggests that maybe the title was sent to the Toledo address.[1] Despite the fact that the statements had been coming to the new address for three years.

Couple months ago, it's time to sell the car. I hand it over to a co-worker and he gives me the money. Promise to get him a title. More song-and-dance. I'm getting pissed. Finally my wife drops the kids with her mother and goes into the local branch and camps out for several hours. The rep there also does the phone menu tango for over an hour.

Finally we get someone who tells us we still owe money on the car. Late payment fees and interest. WTF?! For three years we've been calling about this and no one ever noticed before? And they never sent a letter asking for payment? And they never sent anything to her father, who co-signed it?

I take the morning off today because the co-worker is moving to North Carolina, and needs to go down this weekend to get his new license, which expires on his birthday, which is Saturday. I go to the local branch and enter the fucking Twilight Zone.

The story now is that in March of 2001 the account was closed, and an outstanding balance of $1066 and change was moved to a "write off" account. Customer service has access to this information, but it's in a comment screen. Their main screen doesn't indicate that there are comments, so unless they think to check they never see it. (I was watching the screen while she looked the account up.) No one in customer service ever looked until I told them where to look.

The reason I knew where to look was that someone else in customer service forwarded me to the title department to order a replacement title. TItle department says they can't release it, because there is an amount that was written off. They forward me to collections to pay it.

This is the great part. The collections department DOESN'T HAVE ACCESS TO THAT SCREEN! All they can see is that the account is closed.

And guess which is the only department that is able to accept a payment?

Come on guess?

Oh, but it gets better. I ask customer service, since they are able to actually see the comments, what the money I supposedly owe is from? Late fees and interest? How much in late fees and how much in interest? Have you been accruing interest on the (supposedly) unpaid late fees for three years without telling me I owed anything? Is this the first time anyone's ever noticed that the only department set up to accept payments doesn't have access to the amount due?

Their answer? "Oh this is a three-year-old account. We don't keep that information."

...

...

WHAT!?

Okay, so all you have is a note in the system that in March of 2001 someone closed the account and moved an unpaid balance into an account no one can actually do anything useful with. You never contacted the primary person or the co-signer of the account to tell them that they owed anything. You may have accrued interest on that amount while still not telling anyone they owe anything. And now you can't even tell me what it's for?

"Oh, you're not the Louis Dell listed as co-signer on the account?"

No, that's her father, I'm her husband, the one who actually paid it off.

"I'm sorry, I'm not supposed to be talking to you about this account. Your name isn't on it."

This is a fucking community property state! If she doesnt' pay for it I'm liable. I just bought a house last summer and this didn't come up on either of our credit reports. You didn't even tell the credit agencies that there was an amount due. Why the FUCK should I pay anything?

"Because we can't release the title until you pay."

[1] Did you know the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles stamps title mailings with "Do Not Forward"? Because of course you wouldn't want the proof that you own your car to follow you to your new address.

Post #159,133 by drewk 6/8/04 10:54:40 PM Reply	National City Bank can suck my balls So my wife gets a car loan back in the mid-90s while going to school in Toledo. In the late 90s she moves back to Cleveland, meets me and we get married. She gets pregnant and quits her job and I finish making the payments in March of 2001. But we don't get the title. We call and they assure us it's on the way. Time passes, it slips our minds. Next time she has to renew the registration we think, "Hey, we should get the title." They assure us the account is closed and they'll find out where the title is and call us back. We follow up three or four times before life intervenes again, and it slips our minds. Until the next time she has to register it. We dutifully call. Same song-and-dance. This shit is getting old. Somewhere in one of these iterations someone suggests that maybe the title was sent to the Toledo address.[1] Despite the fact that the statements had been coming to the new address for three years. Couple months ago, it's time to sell the car. I hand it over to a co-worker and he gives me the money. Promise to get him a title. More song-and-dance. I'm getting pissed. Finally my wife drops the kids with her mother and goes into the local branch and camps out for several hours. The rep there also does the phone menu tango for over an hour. Finally we get someone who tells us we still owe money on the car. Late payment fees and interest. WTF?! For three years we've been calling about this and no one ever noticed before? And they never sent a letter asking for payment? And they never sent anything to her father, who co-signed it? I take the morning off today because the co-worker is moving to North Carolina, and needs to go down this weekend to get his new license, which expires on his birthday, which is Saturday. I go to the local branch and enter the fucking Twilight Zone. The story now is that in March of 2001 the account was closed, and an outstanding balance of $1066 and change was moved to a "write off" account. Customer service has access to this information, but it's in a comment screen. Their main screen doesn't indicate that there are comments, so unless they think to check they never see it. (I was watching the screen while she looked the account up.) No one in customer service ever looked until I told them where to look. The reason I knew where to look was that someone else in customer service forwarded me to the title department to order a replacement title. TItle department says they can't release it, because there is an amount that was written off. They forward me to collections to pay it. This is the great part. The collections department DOESN'T HAVE ACCESS TO THAT SCREEN! All they can see is that the account is closed. And guess which is the only department that is able to accept a payment? Come on guess? Oh, but it gets better. I ask customer service, since they are able to actually see the comments, what the money I supposedly owe is from? Late fees and interest? How much in late fees and how much in interest? Have you been accruing interest on the (supposedly) unpaid late fees for three years without telling me I owed anything? Is this the first time anyone's ever noticed that the only department set up to accept payments doesn't have access to the amount due? Their answer? "Oh this is a three-year-old account. We don't keep that information." ... ... WHAT!? Okay, so all you have is a note in the system that in March of 2001 someone closed the account and moved an unpaid balance into an account no one can actually do anything useful with. You never contacted the primary person or the co-signer of the account to tell them that they owed anything. You may have accrued interest on that amount while still not telling anyone they owe anything. And now you can't even tell me what it's for? "Oh, you're not the Louis Dell listed as co-signer on the account?" No, that's her father, I'm her husband, the one who actually paid it off. "I'm sorry, I'm not supposed to be talking to you about this account. Your name isn't on it." This is a fucking community property state! If she doesnt' pay for it I'm liable. I just bought a house last summer and this didn't come up on either of our credit reports. You didn't even tell the credit agencies that there was an amount due. Why the FUCK should I pay anything? "Because we can't release the title until you pay." [1] Did you know the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles stamps title mailings with "Do Not Forward"? Because of course you wouldn't want the proof that you own your car to follow you to your new address. === Implicitly condoning stupidity since 2001.
Post #159,134 by Steve Lowe 6/8/04 11:03:22 PM Reply	and we trust these outfits with our 'money'. -- Steve
Post #159,135 by Another Scott 6/8/04 11:04:02 PM Reply	Condolences. I think you need to take it to the man [link\|http://www.nationalcity.com/about/News/ExeTeamBiographies/DavidADaberko/default.asp\|upstairs]. It's a good thing you don't have access to an armored bulldozer, er, do you? :-( I hope you get it resolved soon. Cheers, Scott.
Post #159,137 by drewk 6/8/04 11:08:36 PM Reply	Of course it's resolved: I gave them money === Implicitly condoning stupidity since 2001.
Post #159,139 by Another Scott 6/8/04 11:18:41 PM Reply	I still would write him. They cashed your payment checks. They should try to straighten it out for you. You've tried the more direct channels; you need to go to the top. It's worth a letter or few, I think. Cheers, Scott. (I'm not optimistic that you'll get the money back, but you know you won't if you don't try.)
Post #159,138 by drewk 6/8/04 11:11:54 PM Reply	Oh, and from that bio Mr. Daberko earned a bachelor\ufffds degree from Denison University in 1967 ... Mr. Daberko began his career with National City Bank in 1968 as a management trainee. So he's never done a day's real work in his life. === Implicitly condoning stupidity since 2001.
Post #159,140 by Another Scott 6/8/04 11:30:02 PM Reply	He's doing OK, isn't he. [link\|http://www.forbes.com/finance/lists/12/2003/LIR.jhtml?passListId=12&passYear=2003&passListType=Person&uniqueId=4WIU&datatype=Person\|Forbes] page on his compensation. Maybe his [link\|http://www.denison.edu/student-orgs/greek/delta-upsilon/alumni/alumni.html\|Delta-Upsilon] frat brothers gave him a leg up.... Sheesh. Cheers, Scott.

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