Crest Financial Services, LLC

We apologize for Ms***'s frustration and our part in causing itWe have settled her account as of 3/16/

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because: I have emails of me responding and the number that they had on the account was no longer my numberI will not fill out a fraud report because I have not "claimed" anythingI was told by there representatives that the store had went out of business , they did not reach out to me via email to provide an updated The only thing that I have is them telling me to pay , the same as they did back in November when told them about the merchandiseThe reason I reached out to them was because the store told me that he would have my items in and he kept giving me dead ends That is when I decided to proceed with notifying the loan companyI can be belligerent if I want because no one in that company has took me serious as a consumerIf they have been trying to contact me then why is there no finally a solution and it is on their terms? I have a life and it is not to sit on a phone with this company for hours explaining the same thing over againI want them to pull all of my calls and submit them to you to see that I updated my phone number and they have my email addressThis company has been trying to cover the fact that they dropped the ball on this account. This is not the first time and they know thisI have screenshots of other customers with the exact same issueI was just the one that went further as I told them I wouldThey are trying their best not to pay me my moneyAfter all this time they are just now trying to say they have called and contacted me about my merchandise ? That is a lie the only reason they was calling was to pay my billI also have screen shot of my conversation with Leon telling me that he will have my items and how I waited until November because He said that he was going to have it and did not.
Sincerely,
*** ***

We respect our customers’ personal and banking information and
protect it carefullyWe are PCI certified and follow all PCI compliance
standards and requirementsAccording to PCI standards, we are not required to
remove customer information after a lease have been paid offWe keep
all
customer information on file for legal reasonsWe also need to keep the records
on hand to be prepared for any future auditsWe need to be able to tie all
payment drafts to a customer account.We have marked all customer information on the account as
invalidIt will not be accessed or used for any reasonUnfortunately this is
all we will be able to doWe apologize for any inconvenience

Ms*** signed a lease purchase agreement on 7/25/(copy attached for reference)At the time of transaction, this agreement was emailed to her at the same email address in this inquiry form (***)Her payment history is also attached for referenceAfter thoroughly
researching this account by reviewing call recordings and interaction notes, we found the following facts to exist: 1. On 8/3/17, Ms*** participated in a welcome call with one of our representatives in which the details of her agreement and payment schedule were describedShe acknowledged her understanding of the bi-weekly payments scheduled on her stated payroll dates and that the first payment would be due 8/11/She also provided a credit card as her default payment method (Visa ending in ***)2. On 8/11/17, the first payment scheduled for this card was declinedWe subsequently discovered that the expiration date on the card was formatted incorrectly, which caused the attempt to be declinedOn 8/12/17, Ms*** called in to ask about the declined paymentOur representative entered the payment manually and the payment clearedThe returned payment fee of $was waived as a courtesy3. On 8/22/17, Ms*** called in to ask that her payment schedule be set for one day after her payroll date (8/26/instead of 8/25/17), and we made that change to her payment schedule moving forwardShe was told her payment amount would be adjusted slightly to accommodate the new schedule (from $to $bi-weekly)Due to the change in payment schedule, the payment method reverted to the default account (Wells Fargo checking ending in ***)4. On 8/26/17, the scheduled payment of $was processed and cleared from the Wells Fargo account5. On 8/29/17, Ms*** changed her default payment method from the Wells Fargo account to the Visa ending in using the online customer portal6. On 9/9/17, the scheduled payment using Visa *** was declinedWe subsequently discovered that the expiration date on the card was formatted incorrectly, which caused the attempt to be declined7. On 9/11/17, we contacted Ms*** about the declined paymentWhile on the phone with Ms***, our representative processed the payment manually and it clearedThe returned payment fee of $was waived as a courtesy8. On 9/21/17, Ms*** called in to advise us that her bank account had been hacked and the money for the scheduled payment on 9/23/would not be availableAs a courtesy, we moved that scheduled payment to 9/28/9. On 9/28/17, the scheduled payment was declined by her bankAccording to our merchant processor report, it was declined due to insufficient funds10. On 9/29/we spoke to Ms*** about the declined paymentShe insisted there were funds available to cover the payment so we manually ran the paymentIt was declined again due to insufficient funds11. On 9/30/17, we found that the expiration date on Ms***’ Visa was in our system in a format that was incompatible with our merchant processor and that is what caused the 8/11/and 9/9/payments to be declined12. On 10/2/17, we spoke to Ms*** regarding the declined payment on 9/28/She stated during this call that her bank had sent her a new card as a result of the declined attempts in August and SeptemberShe refused to provide this card number to us13. On 10/4/17, we spoke to Ms*** regarding her past due balanceShe again refused to pay the balance using an alternate payment method14. On 10/7/17, the scheduled payment on Visa ending in was declinedAccording to our merchant processor report, it was declined due to a “do not honor” orderWe then removed this Visa account from the payment processing system15. As of 10/31/17, Ms*** has a past due balance of $The issue with payments declining on 8/11/and 9/9/was related to the expiration date on the card being formatted incorrectlyThe payment on 9/29/was declined due to insufficient fundsThe payment on 10/7/was declined due to a “do not honor” order from the card issuerMs*** has a responsibility to provide a viable payment method to bring her account currentShe may contact us at (855) 552-in order to do so

At Crest Financial, we provide families with No CreditNeeded leasing optionsAll customers sign a lease agreement which details themonth and frequency of payments and which gives the total amount of leasingfees and the total amount the customer will pay over the course of the lease.Item of this
customer’s lease agreement says, “In addition to the InitialPayment, you must renew this Lease by tendering Weekly payments of $***for a Total Cost of $***…The Total Cost is $*** more than the CashPrice.” We’ve looked into this customer’s account and according toour records, there haven’t been any additional fees charged to the customer’saccountMany customers get confused by our day buyout optionWe offer adiscount to customers who pay off their account within the first days of theleaseWhen that discount ends, it may appear that additional fees were addedto the account, but in actuality, the lease fees were present and explainedfrom the beginning of the lease.We offer another buyout (separate from the day buyoutoption) that is based on a percentage of the remaining balanceThis customeris very nearly paid in full, so the discount was not as substantial as it wouldhave been earlier in the leaseBecause the customer has made all of her previous paymentson time and in full, we are willing to work with herShe has another weekly paymentscheduled for October If thatpayment clears, we will accept an early buyout amount of $***Thisrepresents a $*** discountThat payment would need to be made before OctoberAfter we receive that payment, the account will be closed as paid in full

We understand the customer’s frustrationOn September 26, our manager in charge of credit reporting personally submitted another revision to Equifax on behalf of the customer, listing the account as paidBecause we are not credit experts, we cannot offer any information about the affect this will have on the customer’s credit score or reportWe are doing everything we can to help the customerWe have submitted a revision, but this may take up to days to have an effect on the customer’s credit (if it appears at all)Once we have submitted the revision, we cannot control or track the status of the revisionWe apologize for the inconvenienceAll we can do is encourage the customer to be patient in seeing any changes in her credit report

Mr *** has not yet contacted us (other than in this response) regarding this recent discovery of damage to the furniture he leasedWe have a process and policy in place to address situations like this, and would be willing to work with him on a resolutionHowever, he still must make payments as described in his agreement during that time in order to keep his account in good standing

At Crest Financial, we provide families with no credit needed lease options through selected retail partnershipsCustomers select merchandise from their local retail stores, Crest pays the retailer for the merchandise, and the customer enters in to a month lease with Crest Financial, at the end of which they own the merchandiseAt the point of sale, customers sign a lease agreement which explains all the terms of the leaseWe have attached a copy of the lease agreement for referenceBecause we offer leases rather than loans, we do not charge interestWe charge a one-time lease fee at the start of the leaseThis is explained in Item of the lease agreement and in the box on the first page of the lease agreement (where the customer signs) labelled “Cost of Lease Services.” We offer a significant discount to customers who buy out their lease within the first daysUnfortunately, the customer is well past their 90th day and this option is no longer availableWe do offer another discount to customers who buy out their lease with one final payment any time after their 90th dayIf Ms*** pays $1,before the next scheduled payment on May 4th the account will be closed as paidThat discount will still be available after that date, but the amount may change slightly depending on the status of the scheduled paymentOur collections team may be able to work out other payment arrangements with Ms***She can call them at ###-###-####

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,
*** ***

The exact marketing phrase the customer is referencing is “$
down, take it home today.” We feel this phrase is more forthcoming than saying
our leases are “$down” and then charging an application feeWe try to be as
open as possible with our customers regarding all fees that could be
incurred
on the accountWe include all possible fees in the lease agreement and are
happy to explain them to any customer who calls inThe application fee goes
toward our costs in processing and reviewing applications and approving
customers
As the customer said, the details of our $application fee
are explained in the lease agreementThe lease agreements says, “The Initial Payment
of $is due at the time of signing.” This is listed in large print of the
first page of the lease agreementWe cannot control how the retailer promotes their
financing options as retailers may offer other options whose features conflict
with ours
We are looking into phasing out that particular marketing
phrase and thank MsW*** for her thoughts on the subject

While we understand the frustration Mr*** is feeling, it seems as though his complaints are based on shortcomings in the staff at the retailer’s store and not with usWe, too, spoke with the retailer as a result of this complaint, and were informed that the store’s employee who assisted Mr*** was terminated and is no longer representing their businessWe maintain best business practices, ongoing internal training, and strive to always act in good faithAs we previously noted, the welcome call (which is recorded and has been reviewed by our quality assurance team) and welcome email he received from us both clearly mention a lease transactionThe lease agreement he received via email at the time of transaction (copy attached) is clearly labeled as a “lease agreement with option to purchase.” His electronic signature on that agreement is certified by DocuSign (certificate attached), a leading provider of secure digital signature technologyIn addition, he also initiated his Crest Financial online account access on 6/13/17, which allowed him to see the details of his lease transaction and access a copy of his signed lease agreement and original store invoiceA screenshot of today’s view of his account is attached for referenceWe hope this information is helpful, and invite Mr*** to contact us if he is interested in making a discounted early buyout lump sum payment on his lease

We've had extensive communication with Ms*** from June through June regarding this situation, including an email specifically detailing the refund of $1,that has been processed to her credit cardThat email was sent June 23, and it stated the refund would take 2-days to be
reflected on her accountThe letter is attached for referenceWe hope this clears up confusion and confirms that the refund has been processed

It sounds like Mr*** is misunderstanding the Early Ownership Options defined in section of the attached Rental Purchase Agreement he signedThe Early Purchase Option (B) is calculated as 65% of the amount remaining when the payments received are subtracted from the Total of PaymentsMr
***e’s payment scheduled for 4/23/($378.69) was declined by his credit card company (see attached payment history), so with that overdue payment his outstanding balance is $plus tax and feesHe has the following options: 1) bring his account current by paying $and then continue to make regular monthly payments as scheduled for 5/23, 6/23, 7/23, and 8/23; or 2) exercise his Early Purchase Option (B) by making a lump sum payment of $1,(which is calculated per section 6) prior to 5/21/

We apologize for the confusion and for our agents’ inability
to give you any information or help to resolve this problem more quicklyOur
customer service agents couldn’t give you information regarding your friends
account, or issue a refund, because you aren’t listed as an authorized user on
her
account
After some digging, we were able to find your friends
account and we are working to correct the mistakeYour credit card should have
been listed as a one-time payment, but it wasn’t listed as such in our systemWe
have initiated a refund and you should see the payment returned in to
business days, depending on your financial institutionIn order to refund any
overdraft fees, we will need your bank representative to fill out a “bank fee
refund form” which is attached to this responseOnce we receive that completed
form, we will initiate a refund for those overdraft fees
Again, we apologize for the mistakeOur agents are human and
we are working with our managers and training department to ensure this doesn’t
happen againPlease let us know if there is anything else we can do to resolve
this matter

We apologize for the confusion with Ms***'s accountIt has been marked paid in full, good standing, and she will receive a letter confirming that status within 3-business days

We apologize our customer service agents were unable to
properly explain this situation to youAn account was opened by a fraudulent
customer at one of our local retailers using your stolen banking informationWith
the information initially provided over the phone, we were unable to look
up
any account so we could not provide any information such as the retailer name
When you called us, we opened an internal fraud
investigation and have determined that the account was fraudulentWe encourage
customers to file a police report because this generally leads to a faster
resolutionIn the course of our investigation, we discovered several leases
processed through the same retailer with stolen banking informationWe have
helped this retailer develop more thorough screening processes for gathering
banking information in an attempt to keep this problem from occurring again
We have closed these accounts as fraudulentAdditionally,
we have submitted a reversal for any credit reporting that may have been done
on the account

We apologize for the miscommunicationMost of our customer service agents aren’t familiar with policies for accounts that are nearly years oldUnfortunately, we are unable to report credit on leases that were started before January of That was when we initiated our relationship with
*** and *** will not allow us to report on accounts that were started before that timeWe have already sent the customer a paid in full letter and a copy of her payment historyShe can send these documents directly to ***They may be able to help her further, but unfortunately, there is nothing else we can do

We’re sorry to hear of Mr***’s financial difficulties and want to help him stay on track with his commitmentWhile we’re accepting his weekly $payments, he should be aware that he’s falling further behind in his overall amount due in paying only that amountAccording to the payment
schedule in his rental purchase agreement (attached for reference), he should be making weekly payments of $His balance past due as of today is $Because he calls in weekly to make payments, he’s being charged a $convenience fee for each one he pays via phoneTo avoid this fee, he can set up his online account at https://dealers.crestfinancial.com/Login and submit his payments that wayAnd due to the number of previously scheduled payments that haven’t cleared his bank, he’s accruing excessive returned payment feesHe must ensure funds are available when submitting each paymentWe've waived the most recent three fees totaling $As a special courtesy and to alleviate the confusion between his regularly scheduled weekly payments of $every Friday (which aren’t clearing his bank), we’ve suspended his next regular weekly payments so he can continue to make weekly $payments on Monday during that time with no fees assessedHowever, he must contact us with status on his financial situation by 6/7/or the regular weekly payments will be reinstated and fees will be incurred

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:
That discount does not add up at ! This is a SCAM!They can't even add the payments and numbers up correctly!I want this account closed as paid off and for the credit report to be updated correctly!
Sincerely,
*** ***

At Crest Financial, we provide families with no credit needed lease options through selected retail partnershipsCustomers select merchandise from their local retailer, Crest pays the retailer for the merchandise and the customer leases the merchandise from Crest Financial over monthsWhile we
don’t require our customers to have good credit, or any credit at all, we try to help our customers by reporting customer payments to the credit bureau, EquifaxUnfortunately, our automated credit reporting system is out of commission while we are upgrading itThat is in the final stages of being upgradedIn the interim, we are manually reporting credit for customers who request itIn order to do that, we manually enter our information to a third party service which translates the information into data that the Equifax servers understandIf any payment information for a lease has already been reported to the credit bureau, we expect this process to take up to days for information or corrections to show on a customer’s credit reportFor first-time reporting, we are finding the process takes 60-days before the information will show on the reportWe apologize for the inconvenienceBecause we aren’t credit advisors we can’t guarantee that any information we report will show up on the customer’s credit report, nor can we guarantee what effect it will haveI have ensured that Ms***’s payment history has been submitted manuallyOnce our automated system is operational all the information will be submitted againThe automated system will produce much faster resultsWe encourage Ms*** to be patient as the information processesWe assure her that the information has been reported and that the process has been initiatedThere is nothing else we can do at this time