Kia of Stamford

Review: We are filing this complaint against Kia of Stamford, Kia Finance, Sales Manager of Kia Stamford [redacted] and Finance Manager of Kia of Stamford, [redacted]. In January 2012 we leased a 2012 Kia Optima on a 39 month lease term. In December 2014, we were offered by [redacted] at Kia of Stamford, to take advantage of a “pull-ahead” program. This program is offered by Kia Financial. The premise of the program is that if you turn in your current lease early and finance a new Kia, they will waive your last 3 lease payments on your current lease. We took advantage of this offered anad were told our lease payments for January, February and March would be waived and no early termination fees would apply. On January 24, 2015 we turned in our 2012 Kia and picked up our new 2015 Kia on new lease. We were assured by both [redacted] and [redacted] that there was no remaining balance on the old lease and there were no early termination fees. On March 24, 2015, we received a bill for $209.20 for a payment on our prior lease which was due 1/21/2015, claiming that since the new lease did not take place until 1/24/15 we were responsible for a full months payment. We contacted [redacted] who we would like to quote, “Kia Financial always tries to get extra money out of people. Just have them contact me and I will straighten it out.” In calling Kia Financial, we spoke with a person names [redacted] who claimed to be a manager of the Lease Maturity department. He was rude and adamant that this money was owed and regardless of what we were told by the dealer, we are responsible for this amount ($209.20). On our follow up conversations with [redacted], he said he would correct it. He then stopped returning phone calls or emails regarding a status. I ([redacted]), went into the dealership and was told by [redacted] that he is very busy and this is not his responsibility to help us. But as a repeat customer, he will make sure it was taken care of that day. His exact words were “consider it done as of today.” We never heard back from him.

We have since paid the amount due but are hereby disputing it, as we do not want to risk any negative information on our credit report. We are seeking reimbursement of $209.20 as was promised under the terms of the pull ahead program along with confirmation that we fulfilled our obligations under our prior lease account #[redacted]. We are asking for your help as we have gotten no where.

Please direct any correspondence to [redacted]Desired Settlement: We would like reimbursement of our last payment of $209.20 and confirmation that our previous lease has no further obligations due. Previous lease account #[redacted].

Business

Response:

I have reviewed the customer complaint with our management staff. Our Sales Manager, [redacted] tells a bit of a different story. [redacted] claims that he followed up with the [redacted]'s for many months to take advantage of the pull ahead program. On 1/24/15, when they finally decided to use the program they told [redacted] that they did not pay their past due payment due 1/21/15. At that time, [redacted] claims that he told Mr [redacted] that he may need to pay that payment because it was already past due.

That is exactly what happened. Kia billed him for his past due payment and now he's blaiming us. He has now complained with bad reviews online to the CT DMV and to the Revdex.com. I would be happy to resolve this by cutting him a check for the $209.20, if he were to take down all of his negative comments, close the case with DMV and Revdex.com and promise not to swear or cause a scene in our showroom again. I have reached out with a phone call and I will await a response.

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because: The statements in the response are incorrect. It was not MONTHS that offer was presented it was a couple of weeks. We agreed WELL BEFORE 01.21.2015 and as stated in original complaint asked in advance about the dates. As the three days past the due date was only because of weather and scheduling the new vehicle was not picked up on or before 01.21.2015. Second correction is that I have not raised my voice or used foul language in his dealership. The ONLY time I ever used foul language to [redacted] was on Monday May 11th 2015 via the phone.