Crest Financial Services, LLC

At Crest Financial, we provide families with no credit needed lease options through selected retail partnerships. Customers select their merchandise from an independent third party retailer. Crest pays the retailer for the merchandise and the customer leases the merchandise from Crest Financial over...

a period of 12 months, after which they own the merchandise. Because we offer leases rather than loans, we do not charge interest. Instead, we charge a one-time lease fee at the initiation of the lease. The terms of the lease are explained in the first page of the lease agreement, which the customer admits to signing. Further terms are explained in the rest of the lease agreement. Our lease agreement is legally binding and it is a customer responsibility to read the lease agreement prior to signing. We cannot waive the lease fees outlined in the lease agreement. We do offer an early buyout for customers who buy out their lease in one final payment. This is explained in Item 6(b) of the lease agreement. If Mr. [redacted] makes one final payment of $682.50, before the next scheduled payment on May 30, 2016, the account will be closed as full. Mr. [redacted] would need to call our customer service team at ###-###-#### to finalize these arrangements.

We apologize for Mr. [redacted]’s confusion regarding his account with Crest Financial. To clarify, on 12/20/16, he electronically signed (via DocuSign) a 12-month rental purchase agreement for his merchandise. A copy of that e-signed agreement is attached for reference (note the unique Envelope ID...

code on each page and above his signature on the first page, which is authenticated using interactions via his personal email account). Mr. [redacted] also received a copy of the agreement via email ([redacted]) when he electronically signed the document. The terms of that agreement reflect weekly payments (per summary grid on page 1 as well as section 2 within the agreement), and sections 9 and 10 describe the automatic payment process via ACH draft. Per the agreement, we must receive regular payments as scheduled or the account will be considered delinquent and late payment fees will be charged (details in sections 8, 10, and 11). Although we offer early ownership options that include a 3-month buyout equal to the initial payment plus the cash price, that does not fit the definition of what Mr. [redacted] refers to as “90 days same as cash.” Because we require confirmation that merchandise has been received in good condition by the customer before we consider an agreement to be fully executed, the three-month period for the early ownership option mentioned above was rescheduled from the date of the lease (12/20/16) to begin on 1/30/17, which is the date we confirmed the merchandise had been received by Mr. [redacted]. We note that Mr. [redacted] has created and logged into his online customer portal account as of today (2/8/17), so he is aware of his 3-month buyout date and the amount he will need to pay prior to that date in order to avoid paying additional rental fees associated with the 12-month agreement. Although we do require regular payments to be made, Mr. [redacted] is welcome to contact our support team at (855) 552-7378 to modify his payment schedule from its current weekly status, which we will do for him and waive any associated service fees. He can then manage extra payments online via his portal account in order to reach the payoff amount by his 3-month payoff date of 4/30/17. We hope this is helpful in helping Mr. [redacted] better understand the terms of his transaction.

As our agents have explained, our automated credit reporting system is down indefinitely as we make upgrades and repairs. Until that process is complete, we manually report payments to the credit bureau, Equifax, for customers who request that service. When we manually report credit, we do so by...

submitting the information to a third-party service which “translates” the information into a format the Equifaz servers can understand. We are finding that external process takes as long as 90 days for first time reporting. There is nothing we can do to expedite this process. Because we are not financial advisors, we cannot guarantee that anything we report will show up on a credit report or be reflected in a credit score. We report the information and cannot do anything beyond that. The content of credit reports is entirely at the discretion of the credit reporting agency. We have already manually submitted Ms. [redacted]’s payments to Equifax. There is nothing else we can do at this time.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
Sincerely,This is my response to Crest:I have issues with this. I called in numerous times and was told that you switched lenders and that was the only reason for the delay.I also asked to be called by management, which never happened. To be told that "because of our low volume of business" our deposit was delayed is completely unacceptable. We are long time customers of yours. We do business in an honest forthcoming manner, I cannot say the same for your company. We were never notified that your changed lenders. We were never told that deposits could be delayed because of this. We were never made a ware that because of our "low volume of business" that our deposits would be put to the back of the line. To the "not victimizing" response-if you are withholding funds for an extreme amount of time, this does victimize your customers cash flow and is just plain wrong.Is every customer not important? We treat all of our customers the same whether they are buying an $89 mattress or a $4000 mattress. By doing so we have a 3rd generation customers and grow our business on repeat and referral customers.Since we are such an unimportant customer with such low volume we have chosen to discontinue doing business with your company.As of now, we have not seen the funds hit our account. I will press until they do. It is the principle -not the amount of money.
[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:When I entered into contract,I chose monthly billing on my application. The contract breaks down how they do weekly billing. However it also breaks down all other options to pay, as well as the price one will pay if you pay before said date. Nowhere does there contract say when they would start billing.  What the contract says is the first billing would begin the day of your next paycheck. Which based off my application would be the first Friday in June. It is unbeknownst to me how they would begin to a) charge me on Thursday May 27, which is not one week after my purchase, one month from my purchase or the date of my next paydate is a strong arm tactic. This company feels they can do whatever they want w/out merit. Simply because they have my information. Although they contacted me, to set up my account. They never contacted me by phone, mail, or email to say they would begin billing me on said date. And for the record I did contact them immediately after the charged debited my account, and I reiterated that my account should be billed on a monthly basis. They may not refund my money, but I will continue to pursue this. Their practices are unethical and I will make sure that others who are like me choose not to do business with them. I have dealt with other companies i.e. Progressive financial and tempo and they notify you of there intent to bill, they don't just bill you.Thank YouTiffany W[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:  I do not believe that this firm acted in good faith in this instance.  I’m sure that I share some of the blame because I did not fully read the contract but it was never explained to me that this was a lease. Furthermore, it was never explained by the store nor the finance company in their welcome call. The paperwork given to me by the store was for a purchase contract and said nothing regarding a lease.  In speaking to the store regarding this issue they stand by their assertion that this was a purchase and in no way was it ever deemed a lease and has no idea how the finance company has construed it in this regard.  I believe this firm to have acted in bad faith and I am positive this is not the first time they have done so.  I wish to warn consumers to be aware of this finance company as it appears they are not honorable in their business dealings. 
Sincerely,
[redacted]

After investigating this situation, we cannot find an account in the name of [redacted] that has any of the same identifying information as what Ms. [redacted] has included in this complaint (email address, street address, phone number). We reported credit on two other accounts under the name of...

[redacted] to Equifax in 2016 and earlier this year. Because the information we have on those accounts is not the same as what Ms. [redacted] included here, it is most likely a data reporting error on the part of Equifax. Ms. [redacted] can most efficiently resolve this error by contacting Equifax directly and providing the information they require to have it corrected. We don't have a reporting relationship with the other two credit bureaus, so we would not be responsible for anything related to items appearing on reports generated by those two credit agencies.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
Sincerely,
Robert J[redacted] I only became past due because crest financial did not put it in their system that I became past due and you can't just take whatever amount you want. That's FRAUD. This company STEALS AND LIES!  I was told two different amounts for return fees and I did not AUTHORIZE crest financial to deduct from the chase account. So, they took it upon themselves to STEAL money out of this account and then say I didn't pay the return fee. So now that the return fee has been paid and there is no balance I would like this taken off my credit or I will hire a lawyer and take this to courtThe item was returned and the payment for $[redacted] was paid. That is the amount I was told to pay so why is this on my credit report. I will dispute this with the bureaus!

I have already paid $900 towards this merchandise (washer & dryer).  I had every intention on paying the $1100 that I purchased it for.  I have no intentions on paying $2000+ for this merchandise.  The company can offer me a payout amount closer to the amount of the original purchase price and I don't mind a interest being applied but not highway robbery.  They can take the merchandise back and refund me my money.

All Crest Financial customers sign a lease agreement prior
to receiving funding through Crest Financial. In Item 10 of that lease
agreement, customers authorize us to draft automatic payments from a particular
bank account. It says: “You authorize us to initiate electronic fund transfer
(“EFTs”)...

over the ACH network (or another network of our choosing) from your
designated Bank Account for any scheduled payment you owe under this Lease on
or after its due date. In the event that this EFT is returned unpaid, you
authorize us to charge your Card for such payment. You also authorize us to
initiate a separate EFT or to charge the Card for any Returned Payment Fee that
you owe under this Lease. FINANCIAL INSTITUTION: XXXXXXXXX. ROUTING NUMBER:
XXXXXXXXXXXX.  ACCOUNT NUMBER:
XXXXXXXXXXX.”
This means that we
are authorized to draft all scheduled payments from the account the customer
used to get approved (we look at information from that bank account to
determine approvals and approval amounts). We apologize if the retailer did not
properly explain this distinction when explaining the lease agreement. We do
not have a representative in-store, so we train our retailers on the main
points of our lease agreement, but we also expect customers to fully read the
lease agreement prior to signing as it is a legally binding contract.
Legally, we cannot discuss any details of this particular
account. The account holder is a legal adult who entered into a lease agreement
and she is currently the only authorized user on the account. If the account holder
(Ms. U[redacted]’s daughter) would like to call in, verify her information, and
make her mother an authorized user on the account, then any of our
representatives would be happy to discuss the details of the account and all
payments with Ms. U[redacted].
We can tell Ms. U[redacted] that refunds take 5-10 business
days depending on the customer’s banking institution. None of our
representatives have guaranteed otherwise. We will process a return as soon as
the payment has fully processed through our system so that we can confirm we
have received the payment. At that time, we will process the refund. That can
take 5-7 business days to process though the customer’s financial institution
and be deposited into the customer’s account. The customer can expedite this process
by sending us full and official bank statements, which allow us to confirm that
the payment has been withdrawn from the customer’s bank account even if it has
not been received into our system. Please note: screenshots of online bank
statements, or partial statements, will not meet this requirement.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: Crest Financial is LYING and should be ABSOLUTELY ashamed of themselves.  As I have said before...LET'S GO TO COURT!!!!!!
Sincerely,
[redacted]

We apologize for the error. We report credit using an
automated system. There was an error in our processing system. We alerted our
IT department to the problem and they are addressing it. We submitted an
individual correction to Equifax on August 3. At that time, we resubmitted
information...

about the entire life of the lease. We corrected the information
and listed the account as paid off. We cannot influence what happens after we
submit the correction. It may take a few months for any changes to appear on
the customer’s credit report.
Again, we apologize for the inconvenience. We are working to
address the issue so it will not happen again and we have submitted a
correction to the credit bureau. We urge the customer to be patient in waiting
for that correction to appear on a credit report. In the meantime, we will send
the customer a letter stating the account is paid in full at the customer’s
request.

Ms. [redacted] entered into a rental purchase agreement (copy attached) with Crest Financial via PLC Bedding (the retailer) on 3/21/17. On 3/29/17, we received confirmation from the retailer that the merchandise had been delivered. We sent an automated text message that same day (time stamped 3:27pm MT)...

with detail on her first payment date and amount and informing her that we had received confirmation from the retailer that her merchandise had been delivered. Ms. [redacted] made her first scheduled weekly payment of $41.39 on 4/7/17. Her scheduled payments were made through 7/7/17, however the next three scheduled weekly payments were returned to us unpaid by her bank. We reached her via phone on 7/19/17, and she told us she was “not near” the credit card she needed in order to make the payments and would call us back. We did not get a call back, and made over 40 calls to her until early November. The calls either went unanswered or were answered and then immediately disconnected when we identified ourselves. We also sent at least 5 text messages. We did not receive any further payments (payment history attached) on the 12-month agreement. On 11/7/17, she called us to say she hadn’t received her merchandise. We provided her with a phone number for the retailer, and also explained we’d contact them as well. We attempted to contact her with follow up information regarding the status of the retailer on 11/10/17, however the phone number on her account profile was disconnected. We then attempted to contact her multiple times via the reference listed on her account profile but were unable to reach her. At this point the account was charged off and transferred to a third-party collection firm for further action. On 2/27/18, she contacted us claiming again that her merchandise had not been delivered, and that she found the retailer had gone out of business. We explained we had been attempting to contact her with that information and to provide her with the form to initiate a fraud claim. She was uncooperative, belligerent, used profanity, and then disconnected the call. We emailed her the fraud claim form and received email responses in return, however have not yet received the completed claim form or associated police report to document the failure of the retailer to deliver the merchandise back on 3/29/17 (email thread attached). At this time, we need to have the fraud claim form and police report returned to us in order to proceed with resolving this situation.

Until Mrs. [redacted] contacts our fraud team to initiate an investigation, there is nothing further we can do. We have a signed rental purchase agreement in her name ([redacted]) for this account, and while we recognize her assertion that it's not her account, we need more documentation in order to determine that this is fraud and report to the credit bureau accordingly.

I still feel I
Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: they just now reporting. This has been effecting my credit all this time. I still feel it there fault because if I didn't pay they will report that. Then for them to tell me the system been down when I paid off the reason it haven't been remove. I feel I should get all my money back or some my money back for emotion distress. For lowing my credit score.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

We apologize if our customer service reps were unclear in their explanations or rude in any way. We automatically report payments on the fifth of each month, for the month previously. This customer’s first payment was on August 1st. The first time we would have reported any payments on the account...

would have been on September 5th. The first time we submit a report to Equifax, we send the report through a third party service that “translates” the information we provide into a format that can be understood and processed by the Equifax servers. This process can take up to 90 days, so the customer should expect to see something on his report around December 5th. Once the customer’s relationship with Crest Financial is documented in the Equifax server, updates happen much more quickly. We encourage the customer to be patient. We try our best to update customer credit as quickly as possible, but most of the process is out of our control. We also legally are not allowed to guarantee that anything will come of our reporting because we are not credit advisors. We can’t guarantee that our reporting will appear on a customer’s credit report, but we do our best to help customers improve their credit.

Mr. [redacted] made an initial payment of $42.80 at the time the agreement was initiated and has made 9 bi-weekly payments of 80.38 (which is the payment amount of $75.12 plus sales tax – refer to attached agreement, section 2) between 10/29/16 and 2/18/17. He also made a one-time payment of $249.99...

using his online portal on 2/23/17. His total paid to date is $909.72 and his balance due is $1,043.28. We apologize for any confusion created while Mr. [redacted] was attempting to identify his current balance within the online portal. It may have been related to his Internet connection or browser refresh, but regardless, the correct balance due is now showing. A copy of his portal home page is attached for reference.

Retailers will often offer several financing options. There
sales associates may get confused about which financier offers which benefits.
Other times they will talk to a customer about one financing option, then the
customer is approved through a different company. Because we don’t have...

a
representative on site, we cannot guarantee that the sales representatives
properly explain our leases to the customers. That is why we encourage
customers to read their lease agreements before signing and put the most
important information in larger print on the first page.
Item 2 of your lease agreement explains, “In addition to the
Initial Payment, you must renew this Lease by tendering 24 SemiMonthly payments
of $[redacted] for a Total Cost of $[redacted]… The Total Cost is $[redacted] more than
the Cash Price.”
Because this is a lease and not a loan, there is no interest
on the account. We do charge financing fees, but our 90 day buy out option can
significantly reduce those fees. The fees are added at the beginning of the
account and are not based on the balance after 90 days.
The $300 you mentioned being added to your balance might
have resulted from the two bounced payments on your account and the resulting $27
Insufficient Funds Fees (NSFs). This would make your account balance $[redacted]
higher than anticipated. The finance fees would show up on your balance after
your 90th day.
We do offer another discount for customers after their 90th
day. This discount is unique to each account but does require that the account be
paid off in one final payment. This discount is explained in Item 10 of your lease
agreement. This discount is based on a percentage of your remaining balance. In
your case, you discounted amount is $[redacted], but this amount will change
after your next automatic payment scheduled on May 5, 2015.
The customer service representative you spoke to offered to
allow you to break this final payment into two payments. We will honor this
agreement provided both of the payments are made before your next scheduled
payment on May 5.
If you would like another copy of your lease agreement, we
would be happy to provide one or you can contact customer service to request a
copy of the lease agreement. Please let us know if there is any way we can be
of further assistance.

According to our records, the customer has made 42 payments
of $[redacted]. The customer has paid a total of $[redacted]. There is a remaining
balance on the account of $[redacted]. We are offering the customer a buyout consisting
of the next scheduled payment (scheduled for tomorrow, 10/23) plus a final
payment of $[redacted] made in one payment by October 29.  This is a total buyout of $[redacted]. This buyout
will complete the lease and the lease will be closed as Paid in Full but the
buyout is contingent on the processing of the 10/23 payment.
This buyout option represents a significant discount and it
is the only discount we will able to offer. If the customer declines to take
advantage of this offer, we will handle the account in accordance with the
payments and procedures outlined in the signed lease agreement.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
[redacted]