Crest Financial Services, LLC

At Crest Financial, we provide families with no credit needed lease options through select retail partnershipsCustomers select merchandise from their local retailer, Crest Financial purchases the merchandise from the retailer and the customer signs a lease agreement, entering into a 12-month
lease, depending on the terms outlined in the agreementAt the end of the lease, the customer takes full ownership of the merchandiseMs*** signed her lease agreement a week before she received the merchandise and the lease beganOn the day Ms*** received her merchandise, our agents called her to set up payments and explain all the terms of the lease, including the total of lease fees and the day buyout optionMs*** had access to the lease agreement for days prior to that phone call and could have asked any questions at that timeThis welcome call happened on August 8, The customer missed her first payment a month later, but never complained about not understanding the lease agreementBecause we offer leases, rather than loans, the customer is responsible for making payments for the amount of time they have possessed the merchandiseA customer’s scheduled payments are payments for the last time period in which they have owned the merchandiseIn this case, Ms*** was scheduled to make weekly payments of $Each payment authorized Ms*** to maintain possession of the property for another weekAs explained in the lease agreement, in order to return the property, Ms*** needs to make all payments for the amount of time she has had the merchandiseBecause she had the merchandise for more than months and has paid only $360, she has a past due amount of $1,that must be paid before a return can be initiatedOnce the past due balance is received in full, we can make arrangement to return the merchandiseThe returns policy is explained in Items and of the attached lease agreementWe have tried to make alternate payment accommodations with Ms*** which she has failed to honorBecause of many broken payment promises previously on the lease, we are unable to offer any other discounts or arrangements at this timeMs*** can contact our returns or collections departments who may be able to offer special one-time discountsThey can be reached at ###-###-####

We apologize for the oversight on Ms***'s accountIt has been marked paid in full and will be reported to the credit bureau accordingly

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:
That is not my signature on the lease, therefor I did not agree to the said terms listed.
Sincerely,
*** ***

As was explained to Ms*** when she called our customer support team earlier today, we are willing to offer her a discounted buyout amount to be paid no later than August 2, She must pay $on both July 1, and July 16, 2017, with the remainder of the balance ($940.72) due on August 2, If the remaining balance is not paid by that date, a daily rental amount of $will be added to itDue to Ms***’s most recent payment (May 19, 2017) being returned unpaid by her bank, she also understands she needs to provide us with our form signed by her bank that reinstates our authorization to draft ACH payments as scheduledWe need to have this returned to us business days prior to her next payment being draftedThe attached lease agreement was emailed to her upon execution on April 1, 2017, but is included again here for her convenienceIf she has any further questions, we are happy to assist her

We are willing to reimburse the customer’s bank fees if we
can confirm that the fees were a result of our erroneous paymentsThe customer
will need to take the attached Bank Fee Refund form to their bank
representative and send us the completed form along with the relevant bank
statementsInstructions are included on the form
We are also working on improving this unusual
application/funding process with this particular retailer to avoid this issue
in the futureAgain, we apologize for the inconvenience

Ms*** signed a lease agreement authorizing bi-weekly payments of $*** for a period of months totaling $***She used the Crest Financial online portal to make additional payments and chose to use those payments to replace future scheduled paymentsShe selected that option on the portal when making the paymentsWe have included a copy of the customer’s payment history documenting all payments received and the corresponding datesAs of Ms***’s 90th day, September 25, 2015, she had paid $***In order to take advantage of the day buyout option, Ms*** would need to have paid $***It is not the responsibility of Crest Financial to remind customers of their early buyout dateIt is a customer responsibilityWe do, however, provide the date of the end of the day buyout option on the customer portal, which the customer has used several timesIt is the CUSTOMER responsibility to make additional payments to utilize the day buyout optionWe have listened to all recorded calls with the customerWe have talked to the customer on very few occasionsOur first conversation with the customer was a manual welcome call on July We call customers to explain the lease terms and their payment plan, including their day buyout dateThe customer answered the phone and declined to speak with our agent as she claimed she knew the information and had read her lease agreementWe next spoke to the customer on October 14, nearly a month after her 90th dayWe send automated calls to customers reminding them about their scheduled paymentsThe customer called us back, asking the reason for the callOur agent explained that it was a payment reminder for the next scheduled paymentThat was the extent of the conversationAt no point did the agent say this would be the final paymentAll other calls were very recent and well after the customer’s 90th dayWe are legally authorized to continue to collect payments in accordance with the signed lease agreementWe are trying to work with the customer by offering additional discountsWe are willing to offer a 45% discount off the remaining balance making the total payoff amount $***We are even willing to split this payoff amount into bi-weekly payments of $***If the customer would like to take advantage of this limited-time offer, she needs to call our customer service department

At Crest Financial, we provide families with no credit needed lease options through selected retail partnershipsCustomers select merchandise from their local retailer, we pay the retailer for the merchandise and the customer leases the merchandise from Crest FinancialIn the store, customers sign
a lease agreement that outlines the terms of the lease including the payment schedule and how to make changes to said scheduleAs a customer courtesy, we set payments up to process of their pay dates, but customers can change their payment schedule any time within the first days or make smaller adjustments to their payment schedule any time after thatThe customer needed only to call in and make other arrangementsMs***’s first payment was scheduled for 12/25/and returned unpaidOn January 6, the customer called in to our customer service team and made arrangements to make a double payment on January 22, 2016, in addition to the scheduled payment on January 8, which couldn’t be cancelled without days noticeThat second scheduled payment, scheduled for 1/8/16, also returned unpaid so we never received payment on the first scheduled payments of the leaseThis means the customer has been in a past due status since the time her first payment returnedItem in our lease agreement authorizes us to draft payments at any time on or after it’s due dateWe try to draft payments on their due date as a courtesy to customers, but if a payment returns, we will try to process that payment on other dates in an attempt to help the customer into a current statusThat is why we drafted a double payment on March 5, We apologize Ms*** had a bad experience with our phone agentsWe are always trying to improve and will make a note of those comments to see how we can improve in the futureUnfortunately, because all of the payments drafted from Ms***’s account were drafted in accordance with the lease agreement, we will not be able to offer any refunds for bank feesIf our agents had made a mistake in drafting the payments we would have been able to do more to helpWe have attached a copy of Ms***’s signed lease agreement for your referenceCurrently, Ms***’s payments are set up for every other Saturday, so the next payment of $*** will draft on this Saturday, March 19,

At Crest Financial, we provide families with no credit
needed financing through selected retail partnershipsWe do this by offering
leases on merchandise from retail storesWe pay the independent retailer the
full price of the merchandise and the customer leases their selected
merchandise from
Crest with an ownership optionIf the customer makes all
scheduled payments over the course of the month lease (or if they execute an
early buyout option) the customer will gain ownership of the merchandise.Customers are given a copy of their lease agreement and we
are happy to provide another copy upon requestWe also offer customers a
welcome call to help them understand their lease and set up their payment
scheduleWe encourage customers to check the portal for information on their
upcoming scheduled payments and the date of their 90th day so they
can make payment arrangements accordinglyMost customers can also find a
digital copy of their lease agreement in their customer portalThe lease agreement is a legally binding document and
customers are expected to read and understand the lease agreement and what they
are agreeing to prior to signing the documentOur lease agreement does not
promise reminders about future payments.Because we offer leases, rather than loans, there is no
interest on the financed amountThere are lease charges applied at the
beginning of the lease and listed in item of the lease agreementWe offer a
significant discount on those lease fees for customer who pay of their account
within the first days of their leaseWe also offer a (smaller) discount to
customers who pay off their lease in one final payment after their 90th dayBoth of these discounts are explained in Item of the lease agreement and
were explained to the customer in his online chat with our customer service
agent.We have ceased credit reporting for the time beingWe have
never advertised nor promised that we will report payments to any credit bureau
or credit reporting agencyIt is not listed as a benefit in our lease
agreementIf a retailer is promising something else, that is an error on the
retailer part and it is not supported by the lease agreement or statements from
Crest FinancialWe offered it as a customer courtesy, but it is not available
at this time.We formerly produced in-store marketing materials with the
phrase “Build Good Credit with Crest FinancialThis former advertising
referred to status and potential for future lease with Crest Financial and were
not in reference to reporting to any credit bureau or credit reporting agency
Those advertisements are no longer in production nor used anywhere in our
company.We will take the customer’s comments on our portal and
website under advisement, but all content and information is in compliance with
CFPB policies and other industry best practices

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:The information stated was falseWhen the bank started to notice all of the declined payments they presumptively sent out a new cardThe payments have never gone through on time from the time that I started making paymentsI have called in multiple times saying I have no issue in paying the balances as soon as the business could tell me why the payments kept getting declinedEach time I have asked to speak to a supervisor they have said they would look into it and call me backNone of which has happenedI just get a call a few days later saying that I owe a balance without anybody having telling me what is going on with their payment systemThey then ask to see my bank statements which I have told them I do not feel comfortable giving them that informationThe one manger that was helpful told me that I was not the only one who was having these issues so I know that it is their system and not my bank account like they try to make it seemThis is becoming ridiculous and I got into a verbal argument with one of the customer service reps who started to raise her voice at meWhich was beyond unprofessional.
Sincerely,
*** ***

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:I understand that I need to pay the cancellation fee in order to return the itemWhat I am disputing is the fact that I have to continue paying for the item or pay it offThose are my only optionsI can't return the item and pay the past due balance over time.
Sincerely,
*** ***

We've investigated this situation thoroughly and found it to be the result of a paperwork error during the return processWe have notified North American Recovery to remove all reporting on Mr***' account as it is incorrectWe're sorry for the confusion this has caused, and encourage Mr
*** to contact us at (855) 552-if he needs further information or documentation

We apologize for the inconvenienceWe did attempt several welcome calls with Mr*** to explain the lease and to set up all future payments, but we were unable to reach himAfter this first payment processed, Mr*** chatted online with our customer service agentsAt that time, we changed
his payment schedule to coincide with his payment datesAll future payments are set up bi-weekly, every other Friday, with the next payment on April 29, Customers can make changes to their payment schedule any time by contacting our customer support team via phone, email or chat

An error in our email server on May 19, allowed several customers to be included in the “To” line rather than in the “BCC” line of an emailThis error allowed customer emails to be shared with other customers receiving a similar welcome emailOther personal information was automatically
entered into the body of the email based on the correct email addressWe have already notified all affected customers and are in the process of notifying any relevant organizationsBecause of the way our email processing system works, this error affected less than customers and the only customer information that was compromised was the customers’ email addressOther personal information included in the body of the email was sent to the correct customer and customers did not receive other customer’s personal or banking informationRather than contacting us about the error, Ms*** instead “replied all” to the email asking if these other customers could see her personal informationAt that time, she inadvertently forwarded the exact content of her personalized email, including her personal and banking information to every other customer involved in the errorAlthough we did not release this customer information, our error in our email server enabled Ms*** to share her informationWe have already offered a year of identity protection at no charge to all customers involved in the error and we have taken steps to correct the issue and ensure the mistake does not happen againWe apologize for the inconvenience this has caused and encourage Ms*** to reach out to our customer service team with any other questions of concerns

We're attempting to contact Mr*** on his primary phone number with an equitable resolution and look forward to speaking with him

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolute to be some what okayI don't agree with it in it's entiretyHowever I want it to be over with and my credit report to be cleared so I'm willing to settleHowever because it's so close to the 25th I can't make that payment date. I would like to know if they are willing to extend the time frame for for June insteadI just paid registration fees for school therefore it is impossible to meet that date
Sincerely,
*** ***

Ms*** signed her rental purchase agreement on 11/25/and received her merchandise on 11/28/The date merchandise is received is the date from which the 90-day early ownership option period is calculated (see section in the attached signed agreement)Therefore, her 90-day period expired
on 2/26/18, which is calendar days from 11/28/Once that 90-day period expires, lease fees (this is not a term loan so interest is not charged) are applied to all payments scheduled from the inception of the lease through completion of the leaseWhen Ms*** called us on 2/27/after the 90-day period had expired, we explained this to herWe offered her a discounted early ownership option that would be far less than continuing to make the rental purchase payments for the duration of the 12-month termShe became irate, and insisted on paying only the amount due per the 90-day early ownership optionWe accepted that payment, however her agreement is still in place and her next weekly payment of $is due 3/2/This is Ms***’s second rental purchase with us, and she took advantage of the 90-day early ownership option last time and is therefore familiar with the termsShe has an active online account which summarizes the details of her agreement, including the delivery date and the 90-day buyout dateShe logged into this account on 2/26/at 4:26am MT (see attached login screen), at which point the buyout date would’ve been clearly displayed below the balance (see attached portal screen as well as example screen that includes a buyout date, which no longer appears after it is expired)The discounted early ownership payment of $is valid until 3/12/18, at which point the early purchase option will be calculated as described in section of the agreement

At Crest Financial, we provide families with no credit needed lease options through selected retail partnershipsBecause we offer leases rather than loans, we do not charge interestInstead, we charge one-time lease fees at the start of the leaseAll customers sign a lease agreement that explains
the terms of the leaseItem of the lease agreement (in large print on the first page) explains, “In addition to the Initial Payment, you must renew this Lease by tendering Weekly payments of $*** for a Total Cost of $***… The Total Cost is $*** more than the Cash Price.” The customer has already bought out his lease by tendering one final payment on February At that time, we gave Mr*** a discount of $***The account is now closed as Paid in Full and we cannot offer a refund as there was not a mistake made in processing a paymentWe followed all terms agreed to in the lease agreement

We’re sorry to hear of the struggles Ms*** has been facingThe unpaid balance on her account is $1,145.43, which includes fees for returned/declined payments as well as sales taxWe’re willing to settle her account for a total of $591.72, and will accept payment of 50% ($295.86) by 4/30/
and the remaining 50% ($295.86) by 5/31/She can pay these amounts one of two ways: 1) using our online customer portal at https://dealers.crestfinancial.com/Login or 2) calling us toll free at (855) 552-

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

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to meThank you crest financial it’s really appreciated this kind gesture
Sincerely,
*** ***