Crest Financial Services, LLC

We understand the customer’s frustration and we are working to resolve the problem with our automated credit reporting. In the interim, as a customer service, we are manually reporting to the credit bureau Equifax, on behalf of customers who request this manual reporting. When we report credit...

manually, we submit these reports through a third party service that “translates” the information we provide into a format that the Equifax processors understand. The process takes approximately 30 days to translate updates to reports that had been created using our automated system. We recently discovered that this translation service takes longer to report leases for the first time as they have to create the initial report which requires more information. We have found this process takes closer to 90 days. This time frame is beyond our control. We have already reported the information as far as we are able to. Once our automatic reporting system is operational (which we anticipate within the next few weeks), we will re-report the lease to make sure the information is provided to Equifax as timely as possible. As a disclaimer, none of our agents are credit counselors and we cannot provide any information on how to improve a customer’s credit. We have reported payment and lease information to Equifax, but we cannot guarantee what impact this will have on a customer’s credit, or that it will appear at all. Once we report, those decisions are out of our hands.

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]

If Ms. [redacted] settles her account for the discounted amount of $684.19, her account will be recorded as settled. However, we cannot control how that will appear on reports from credit reporting agencies. As previously noted, if Ms. [redacted] wishes to pay the outstanding balance of $1,293.33 plus sales tax, her account will be recorded as paid in full with a $0 balance.The bank statement provided to us by Ms. [redacted] is attached. The statement does not show a payment made to Crest Financial on or around 3/26/17. However, it does show a stop payment fee on 3/28/17. The merchant processor reconciliation we have on file for the returned payment on 3/26/18 shows that it was returned as the result of a stop payment order by the customer.Our settlement offer of $684.19 split into two payments and received by us no later than 2/19/18 is still available to Ms. [redacted], as is the option for her to pay the outstanding balance so her account will be recorded as paid in full.

Unfortunately, lease fees are non-negotiable because they are explained in the lease agreement. We have already offered additional discounts beyond what is offered in the lease agreement, but we are unable to offer anything lower. All customers are offered an opportunity to pay their lease off...

early with very limited lease fees. After that time, the customer is responsible for the full lease and all associated fees. All lease fees are explained in the lease agreement, on the first page (with the customer signature), in bold, in callout boxes. These boxes explain the total amount the customer will pay over 12 months, the total amount of fees and the agreed cash price of the merchandise. We have attached this portion of the lease agreement for reference. Our representatives have offered a standard early buyout option listed in the lease agreement with an additional $100 discount. This additional discount may no longer be valid after today. The customer will need to call in to confirm those arrangements.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
Sincerely,
[redacted] first of all the couch was not new as stated the bottom cover was torn,it had a one inch cut under the armrest.I discover it while wiping it down, the legs was not assemble right, the leather(set) did not match.$2600.00 is to much to pay for used furniture.

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.
  I would also like to add that if that was the case with the additional fees, it would have been nice to receive that in writing!  The payments were set up automatically and could have easily been corrected  by doubling up on the returned payments.  The frustrating part is Crest Financial never sent anything in writing to document these 'returned' fees, but I'll agree to disagree.  I'll never do business with them again nor will I recommend their services to anyone!
Sincerely,
[redacted]

At Crest Financial, we provide families with no credit needed lease options through selected retail partnerships. Customers select their merchandise from their local retailer, pay and initial payment and sign the lease agreement. At that time, Crest Financial pays the retailer for the merchandise...

and the customer is entered into a 12-month lease with payments scheduled according to their payment schedule.Because we offer leases, rather than loans, we do not charge interest. Instead, we charge a one-time lease fee at the beginning of the lease. This fee is based on the cash price of the leased merchandise, not on a remaining balance at any point during the lease. As our agent explained on the phone, we offer a 90 day buyout option which offers significantly discounted fees to customers who buy out their lease within the first 90 days. Ms. [redacted]’s 90th day was 11/20/15. After that time, she was responsible for the full amount of the lease, including all lease fees. All of these terms are explained in Item 2 of the attached, signed lease agreement, which is legally binding.We can offer Ms. [redacted] an early buyout discount. If Ms. [redacted] pays a total of $[redacted] before 5/31/16, her lease will be closed as paid in full.

Ms. [redacted] signed a lease agreement on 12/10/16 (copy attached), with scheduled monthly payments of $170.68 ($157.67 payment plus $13.01 sales tax). Her 12/26/16 payment cleared her bank as scheduled. Her 1/26/17 payment was returned to us unpaid by her bank. The make good payment via credit card...

she scheduled for 2/1/17 (which included fees) was declined by her credit card. This payment was not made good until 2/17/17, in the amount of $229.68. Her 2/26/17 payment cleared her bank as scheduled. Her 3/26/17 payment was returned to us unpaid by her bank due to a stop payment order she placed. At that time we cancelled all future scheduled payments, her account was placed in default status, and we attempted to contact her multiple times between 3/30/17 and 7/31/17 with no success. Her account was then transferred to a third-party collection firm for further action. A copy of her payment history is attached for reference. On 10/29/17, we responded to a credit dispute from Ms. [redacted]. At that time we validated her account with supporting documentation, and modified the account to reflect charged off status. A letter was sent to customer with a summary of this information on 11/15/17 (copy attached for reference). On 11/27/17, she called in to discuss account status. She was offered a settlement payment of $734.19 but declined. On 1/5/18, Ms. [redacted] called in to settle her account for $734.19 (total outstanding balance $1,334.90 plus sales tax). She requested the settlement be split into two payments for 1/12/18 and 1/26/18, which we scheduled. When she was told account would reflect settled status versus $0 balance and paid off, she asked that payments be removed and informed us that no further payments would be made. Later this same day, she called back to make a payment of $50, and informed us she would make additional payments as possible to settle the account. To date we have not received any further payments and the outstanding balance is $1,293.33 plus sales tax. If Ms. [redacted] wishes to pay the outstanding balance so the account will be recorded as paid in full with a $0 balance, she may do that. However, collection activity will continue until the balance is paid in full. She may also pay a settlement amount of $684.19, split into two payments, by 2/19/18 and we will record the account as settled.

This error in processing sales tax was due to an error in processing the paperwork at the time we were implementing a change to the way we charge sales tax. We were switching from charging sales tax at the initiation of the lease to charging sales tax on each payment. Because of a delay in...

processing paperwork, the customer was set up on a payment plan with sales tax although he had already paid it before the start of the lease. We apologize for the error and have initiated a refund for the sales tax amount.

As we explained in our previous response, we made a mistake in processing an additional payment and have issued a refund for that amount. Since our last response, the customer has submitted the paperwork we need to provide a refund for the resulting bank fees. We apologize for the inconvenience, but we have refunded the payment and all associated fees. Because of the way refunds process through the bank system, it make take 3-5 days for the refunds to process back into the customer’s bank account. We processed a refund for the initial payment on September 22, and a refund for the bank fees on September 28. The customer’s lease has been marked as paid in full and all necessary refunds have been initiated.

We apologize for the confusion. This seems to be a paperwork
error on the part of the retailer’s corporate office. We were given signed
documents for the account in addition to one of our competitors. When we
received this paperwork, we paid the retailer the entire cash price of the...

merchandise.
We were unable to cancel the account without approval from the [redacted] corporate
office who submits the paperwork.
After the customer contacted our customer service agent, she
initiated contact with [redacted]’s corporate office and we sorted out the
problem. As of June 17, 2015, we have initiated a refund of the funds taken
from the customer’s account. The total amount of the refund is $88.62. The
funds should be returned in 7 to 10 business days depending on the customer’s
financial institution. We apologize for the delay.If there is anything else we can do, or if we can provide a copy of the signed paperwork which initiated the funding process, please let us know.

We apologize for the delay in responding to this issue, however it required a very thorough investigation. Mr. [redacted] (and his authorized user [redacted]) has used seven different payment methods since the inception of this lease in January 2017. In addition to his checking account, he has...

also used credit or debit cards ending in [redacted], and [redacted]. The accounts ending in [redacted] and [redacted] were the accounts that were declined as payment attempts were processed. We found that the account ending in [redacted] was declined between June 10 and 12 for reasons relating to the merchant processing system we use. The account ending in [redacted] was declined because the customer entered the expiration date incorrectly in the online portal on July 20 and payment attempts from that date until September 18 were declined for that reason. It was during a call from the customer on September 18 when a manual payment entry was processed that the incorrect expiration date was discovered and corrected. This account is scheduled for weekly payments of $31.50. Mr. [redacted] has not made a payment since September 18 and, because of this, his account is currently past due in the amount of $126.00, which includes payments scheduled for September 21, September 28, October 5, and October 12. There is also a $5.00 phone pay fee from September 18 to be paid, however all other fees, totaling $90.00, have been waived. Please see attached fee schedule and payment history documents. The customer is eligible for payment assistance due to his residence in the national disaster area of Florida after Hurricane Irma, and payments past due will be moved to the end of the lease. However, Mr. [redacted] must make his weekly payment of $31.50 on October 19th in order for this offer to be validated. Unfortunately, we cannot correct the credit reporting relating to the payments that were declined during the course of this lease because they are related to the customer’s actions and responsibilities. The customer is an active user of his online account and it is clearly noted on the payment history when a payment doesn’t clear. We made many attempts to contact the customer when these payments didn’t clear, and were unable to speak with him. The customer didn’t reach out to us until September 1 to request that we investigate the declined payments for the account ending in [redacted]. We have been unsuccessful in trying to reach Mr. [redacted] via numerous daily phone calls since this inquiry was filed, and when we reached Ms. [redacted] (authorized user) on October 2, she referred us to him. Until we speak with either Mr. [redacted] or Ms. [redacted], we cannot move forward with adjusting this account. Please contact us at your earliest availabililty at (855) 552-7378.

We apologize for the frustration Mr. [redacted] is experiencing in not seeing his Crest Financial account reflected on his credit report. Although we report to the Equifax credit bureau on the 5th of each month, we cannot control how the credit bureau processes the reporting we provide. We sent a manual...

report on Mr. [redacted]’s account to Equifax today (2/27/17) showing that it’s paid in full. There is also a paid in full letter attached to this complaint that Mr. [redacted] can provide to Equifax as well.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
Sincerely,
[redacted]I called the business today and was informed my pay off date is 03/06/2017 after informing the rep that that's the 3rd date I received I was placed on hold, when the rep returned she informed me that they can not currently give me a pay off date and indicated I would get a text message as soon as everything has been updated. I did sign the lease agreement which does not include a pay off date.

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 for the time being. I am going to follow up in 30 days, again in 60 days, then again in 90 days. I would appreciate accurate information from Crest Finacial at the time of those follow ups as to not provoke miscommunication. I do appreciate those working diligently to resolve this matter.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

At Crest Financial, we provide families with no credit
needed lease options through selected retail partnerships. Customers select their
merchandise from a locally-owned store. We pay the retailer for the
merchandise, and the customer leases their selected merchandise from Crest
Financial,...

according to the signed lease agreement.
To keep up with the technology innovations and to reduce
paper usage, many retailers encourage customers to e-sign a digital copy of the
lease agreement. These signatures are as legally binding as a physical signature
and work through the customer’s personal email address.
On August 3, 2015, we received e-signed documents from
[redacted] initiating a lease for [redacted]. We have attached
these documents for reference. Item 2, on the first page of the lease agreement
explains the total cost of the lease, including lease fees. It says, “In
addition to the Initial Payment, you must renew this Lease by tendering 26
BiWeekly payments of $[redacted] for a Total Cost of $[redacted]… The Total Cost is
$[redacted] more than the Cash Price.”
We do offer a 90 day buyout option, which offers
significantly discounted lease fees to customers who pay off their account
within the first 90 days of the lease. This option is explained in Item 5 of
the lease agreement. Unfortunately, this option is no longer available to the
customer as their 90 days expired on October 31.
We do offer another buyout option that offers a percentage
discount to customers who pay off their account in one final payment. This
option is also explained in Item 5 of the lease agreement. If Ms. [redacted] pays
$[redacted] in one final payment before her next scheduled payment on February 5th,
the lease will be closed as Paid in Full. This discount will still be available
after that date, but the amount may change to reflect the status of that
payment.
We cannot remove the lease from the customer’s credit
report, but we have performed a manual update of the payments to date to the
credit bureaus so the information is accurate and up-to-date. This update may
take up to a month to show on a credit report, if it shows up at all. We cannot
make any guarantees regarding a credit report.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
Sincerely,
[redacted] Bottom line is that the process shouldn't have been so miraerable.  The service is horrible.  The question had nothing to do with anything.  This is unacceptable and upon further researching of the companies reputation it is apparent that this company has a large dislike for there service. I'm just stating facts and I don't care for any response from the company.  I just want this document for others to see.

According to our records, the customer has spoken with our
agents on four occasions. They have done their best to explain our policies
regarding fraud. As the agents explained, the account was submitted for review
by our fraud department, even without the police report. Upon review, the fraud
department determined the lease was opened fraudulently, using stolen banking
information, and the account was closed. The customer was never promised a call
from our fraud department as that is against our policies and would affect the
fraud department’s ability to make a reasonable and unbiased decision.Typically, all a customer needs to file a police report is a
bank statement and the city the banking information was stolen from, their local
city. As we explained previously, this report was not required, but recommended
to expedite the fraud investigation process. As it is, even without the police
report, we closed the account, we did not receive any payments and we have
reversed any credit reporting.We reserve the right to protect our retailers’ privacy and we
are not required to release any information about them without their
permission. Our investigation has determined that this was a fraudulent
customer, using stolen banking information and it was not the fault of the
retailer. We have done everything in our power to correct the issue and prevent
it from happening again. We encourage the customer to review their bank
statements, as the stolen banking information, may have been used by the thief at other
stores or financial institutions.

We sincerely apologize for this significant error, particularly if our agents weren’t helpful in explaining the situation and what we are doing to fix it. We use a separate company to work with banks to process payments efficiently. There was an error in their system which caused payments processed...

on September 23rd to process again. We have been working tirelessly with this processing company to get the error resolved and the get refunds processed back to consumers. The customer should see the money returned to her account at this time. Our records also show that she was sent a bank fee refund form. We are happy to refund any bank fees charged by her bank (like overdraft fees) because of this erroneous draft.

After a few attempts at cancelling her lease by returning the merchandise to the retailer, Ms. [redacted] contacted us on 12/22/17 claiming she was not the one who signed the lease agreement. We explained the process for cancelling the lease and returning the merchandise during that call. She did not...

follow through on the steps for cancellation and return. On 1/3/18, we received a call from an authorized user on Ms. [redacted]’s account, [redacted]. He reiterated Ms. [redacted]’s claim of fraudulent signature on the lease agreement. We explained the same process to Mr. [redacted] regarding cancellation of the lease agreement. He requested a return call from our fraud investigation team. On 1/4/18, our fraud investigation team spoke to Mr. [redacted]. We explained the fraud investigation process to him, and sent the fraud investigation form via email. We are still awaiting the returned and completed form. For reference, we are including the signed lease agreement (with Ms. [redacted]’s digital signature) as well as the certificate of completion from DocuSign, the leading provider of secure digital signature technology that was used to execute Ms. [redacted]’s lease agreement. Until we receive either the documents to execute the cancellation or the documents to continue pursuing a fraud investigation, the lease remains active and is currently in a default status.