Okinus, Inc.

Mr. [redacted] did enter into a lease agreement with Okinus for the amount of $2063.34 as a cash price before sales tax. Okinus is a leasing finance...

company and we have to charge the sales tax and pay them to the county each customer lives in. The retailers that use Okinus as a finance company does not include sales tax in our customer's cash price when they do the contract due to this. Had they went ahead and included the sales tax Mr. [redacted]'s cash price would have been $2254.20. This would have been the amount he would have paid had he not financed with Okinus and bought the merchandise straight from the store. If Mr. [redacted] decides to do 90 days same as cash with Okinus the $2254.20 will be the amount he pays to Okinus. The contract that Mr. [redacted] signed states that sales tax will be charged will be included throughout the contract. I also reviewed Mr. [redacted]'s invoice to make sure the retailer MR. [redacted] went to didn't include sales tax and it wasn’t. Okinus will not be able to deduct the amount of the taxes from Mr. [redacted]’s account being it does state in the contract he will be charged sales tax on the merchandise. If Mr. [redacted] would like a copy of his signed lease and invoice he can contact Okinus and we will be glad to send him a copy.

Okinus processes the information for Ms. [redacted] per the Application that was submitted to Okinus. The customer fills the application out at the respective stores and faxes to...

Okinus. Okinus apologizes for the embarrassment Ms. [redacted] experienced due the misinformation given; this was not our intention. Okinus can provide a copy of the application where the information was given for the account to draft out of. Okinus’ payment portal does instruct the customer to contact Okinus if the due date within certain amount of days. It is very unfortunate that Ms. [redacted] experienced what she has experienced. Per the account records it indicates that Ms. [redacted] has a credit entered for $182.69. If anything further is needed you can contact Okinus at ###-###-#### or [redacted]
Senior Manager

After review of the call where Ms. [redacted] called into Okinus on 2/18/14, Ms. [redacted] stated that needed to make an extra payment for $250.00 and to ACH debit the account that we had on file. The...

representative concluded the call that the extra payment was set up for 2/18/14, Ms. [redacted] did not state that intention was to pay account off in the SAC period. The recording is available if Ms. [redacted] would like to review.
                Due to the confusion of Ms. [redacted]’s intentions for the extra payment Okinus will honor the SAC payoff and refund the overpayment of $70.76 to the account on file. Okinus will not be responsible for any fees associated with this transaction.
[redacted]
Senior Manager

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
[Provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.]
Regards,
[redacted]
 
 First of all let me explain that Okinus is once again misrepresenting themselves and what they did.
1st. I never received any welcome letter from them and when I talked to the rep I was told they never sent it.
2nd. The first and only contact I ever received from them was an email yesterday stating when my next payment was due. 3/1/14
3rd. If you look at the payment schedule they have with the same as cash option it is also a lie.
The total price of my SAC payment was 697.95 without tax. Here is a breakdown of the amounts I should have paid and what Okinus said the payment would be.
697.95 -137.00 (Down Payment) should have left me owing 560.95 with my first payment being on 12/1/13
                    What I owed                    what Okinus said I owed.
1st payment 560.95-133.63 =427.32                               577.35 (150.03 more)
2nd payment  427.32-133.63=294.69                              519.46 ( 224.77 more) Both of these amounts I listed in what I still owed should have been the SAC option.
 
Now the first two amounts should have been the SAC option so all I should have owed was 294.69 but you can see Okinus says I owe 519.46 which is 224.77 more than what I should have owed with the SAC option. 
3rd payment ...294.69-133.63=161.06                            488.61
 
Even if you add in tax and whatever lease fees that they refuse to tell me about. it still doesn't add up to be a difference of 328.52. Even the paper they sent me in the Revdex.com response refuses to list those LEASE FEES they are talking about.
According to your answer you said each month after the SAC expiring would be 65.88 more. The SAC expired would have been on 1/24/14 according to you.
Take 161.06 x 6.75 (NC State tax) 171.94 +197.53 (65.88 x 3) =378.47 Still over 110.00 less than the amount of the payoff they say I owe. When does the supposed 57.88 come off at? What are the lease fees? What is the interest rate? What amount is the sales tax based on?
As far as the call. They said they listened to the CALL. (Which one) I was contacted by a rep of theirs three times the day I was in the store.
I have paid 537.89 on the furniture that only cost 697.95. Okinus wants 1000.00 for the furniture if I paid it off at the 4 month mark. 8 months early. 1505.00 if I go the whole 12 months. If this is the case then I would like to discuss the return option in my contract. Since this is the way you have chosen to lie, commit fraud, price gauge and not honor what I know I was told in the call. I think it is my best option. I would also like to know what egregious amount I am going to be charged if I do return it?
1505 for the full 12 months
1000 for paying it off at 4 months. So the other 8 months would only be 505?
537 paid already and the payoff is 488.61 more. How? Break down the 488.61 amount.

Ms. [redacted]
has been a long time customer of Okinus. The most recent purchase was from [redacted]e in Houston Texas (purchase made...

5/26/11). The last
successful payment that was made to Okinus was made on 10/26/11. Okinus has made
several attempts in leaving messages, sending letter to Ms. [redacted] so that a
resolution could be made to bring the account back to good standing. The
account information that Okinus has is the same information that Ms. [redacted]
made the 1st payment on 5/1/11 (payment was returned NSF). Okinus would like to
work with Ms. [redacted] to bring account back to current and reporting positive on
Equifax credit report.
 
In
reference to settlement Okinus cannot refund the payment (payment was returned
NSF) nor the NSF fee incurred. Okinus urges Ms. [redacted] to contact our office at
###-###-#### to resolve account.
 
 
[redacted]
Senior Manager

The above payment was returned to Okinus as payment stopped. Ms. [redacted]'s due date remains 3/4/14 with the last payment of $79.98 being received on 4/21/14. The account has been notated per the last response from Ms. [redacted]. Ms. [redacted] needs to contact Okinus to provide a date when the payments will resume, again the last payment (partial) that was received was 4/21/14 in the amount of $79.98.
Okinus will make an exception when a customer has fallen on difficult
times provided they communicate with Okinus the difficulty in making the
monthly payments on the contract (provided approved by management). Okinus
needs to discuss with Ms. [redacted] the status of account.
[redacted] [redacted]
Senior Manager

Mr. [redacted] did purchase a king size mattress from [redacted] on 2/20/14, to which Okinus provided financing for with an option for 90 Day SAC (Same As Cash). As with each customer of Okinus a welcome letter is sent (Mr. [redacted]'s is attached), which outlines the regular monthly payment, due date,...

expiration of the 90 Day SAC, and the number of remaining payments left after initial payment. The letter was sent to Mr. [redacted] on 2/21/14 and Okinus has not received any returned mail. The letter was addressed to same address that Mr. [redacted] included on above complaint. Mr. [redacted] stated in the complaint that Okinus is charging 142% interest, Mr. [redacted] was explained on 6/11/14 when contacted office and made the payment of $234.71 that Okinus does not charge interest, that when a customer chooses not to pay account off in 90 days that a LEASE FEE is calculated (the lease fee is retroactive to the date of purchase). Mr. [redacted]'s SAC should have expired on 5/23/14 based off of receiving merchandise on 2/22/14 (when Okinus was notified); instead Mr. [redacted] was given an extra 14 days up to 6/4/14 to pay the account out SAC. Okinus cannot extend the SAC any further.
 
As a courtesy to Mr. [redacted]; Okinus will offer to waive (1) lease fee ($79.15), until 6/24/14.
Mr. [redacted]'s reduced payoff is $217.77, this offer will expire on 6/24/14.
 
 
[redacted]
Senior Manager

I DO NOT recommend this business to anyone unless you want to be ripped off. They have been ripping people off for a while now but the Revdex.com seems to give them an A+ which is completely inaccurate. I am so disappointed with this company.

Mr. [redacted] has been an exceptional customer with Okinus. Mr. [redacted] has made 19 of 24 payments on time with no issues. Okinus have not spoken to Mr. [redacted] since making his initial purchase on...

7/14/12. As with every contract; Okinus extends the option for customer to pay the account out in 90 days SAC (Same as Cash). Mr. [redacted] chose not exercise this option. Okinus’ contract states total the customer will pay if chooses to pay all payments that are on the contract. Okinus sends a welcome letter with every customer to thank them for doing business, goes over contract payment, terms, due date, SAC expiration. The last page is the payment schedule which gives customer an estimate of their payoff after each payment (so the customer can exercise the option to pay off the account at any time).  Mr. [redacted] did contact our office on 1/21/14 and inquired on the payoff, Mr. [redacted] was informed the current payoff is $418.55. Mr. [redacted] does have 5 payments remaining; if Mr. [redacted] makes the 5 remaining payments he will pay a total of $1106.25.
When Mr. [redacted] contacted our office on 1/21/14 we were unable to pull his account up with social. After review of application that was filled out by Mr. [redacted] the 3rd number of social may have been interpreted incorrectly. The representative that spoke with Mr. [redacted] on 1/21/14 informed him to send a copy of credit report so that can get corrected and reporting accurately to. Okinus only reports to Equifax at this time. Okinus has not received a copy of the credit report to date.
Mr. [redacted] is not due a refund.
[redacted]
Senior Manager

Response to case # [redacted]
We are very sorry to hear that the customer was unsatisfied with the initial response to the dispute at hand. We want to reassure the customer that the way our company obtains bank and income information isn’t done illegally . Our trusted partner, Decision Logic is an advanced bank verification system that deals with over 14,700 financial institutions around the world. Decision Logic isn't something that a customer would be able to call their local bank teller and get information on, it’s a program that deals directly with the financial institution itself. To elaborate further on how the process of receiving bank and income information works , we have included screenshots of exactly what links the customer received via text as well as email. Attached you will also find a copy of the Terms and Conditions that had to be agreed to prior to the customers user name and password information being put in. Also, it clearly states, the information retrieved is read only and that you are agreeing for your bank information to be released to Okinus, Inc. Information regarding Decision Logic is disclosed in the above links also. Unfortunately the denial cannot be reversed, however the customer may reapply with our company in 90days, that date still being December 7th, 2015

After review of the following account, proper Okinus procedure was followed.
When the customers information was ran through our system, it gave the following pre-approval message:
[redacted], Congratulations! You have been approved for the following two leasing options,
subject to...

verification of banking information and income. Option A: Approval up to $2500 with your initial payment at signing equal to your monthly payment.
$2500 would be approximately $306 a month for 20
In the above pre-approval message, it states that the leasing options offered are subject to verification of the customers banking information and income.
To obtain this information Okinus uses a verification service provided by our trusted partner, Decision Logic. The purpose of this link is to verify banking information electronically. We verify information such as banking and income electronically because it cuts down on the possibility of receiving fraudulent documents.
With this verification service a secure link is sent via text or email to the customer. Once the link is received the customer then has to enter in the user name and password to their online banking account. Once this is entered, they then have to Agree to the terms and conditions before moving forward. It is disclosed in the terms and conditions that the 90days of bank statement that is being received is a read only copy and Okinus does not have access to the customers actual checking account.
Once the information the customer enters in is verified, the customers financial Institution releases a read only copy of the bank information to Okinus. Unfortunately after review of Mr. [redacted] bank information and transaction history it was determined that he didn’t meet company qualifications and was denied for 90days. Mr. [redacted] may re-apply with Okinus on December 7th, 2015.

Mr. [redacted]'s account does reflect not to contact that have received a cease and desist on 7/9/14. The account was notated to contact Mr. [redacted] via email only. Per the attachments Mr. [redacted] has made 8 payments out of the 14 payments scheduling. This leaves Mr. [redacted] 6 total payments to make. Okinus...

understands the difficult time that Mr. [redacted] is currently experiencing, however the remaining 6 payments of $179.74 will need to be made. The total amount left owing is $1078.44. This is the amount that Mr. [redacted] will owe, the account will not accrue any further charges.
 
I have attached the contract signed on 9/7/13 with the terms and attached the payment history detailing payments made. Mr. [redacted] is urged to contact Okinus to take care of balance owed $1078.44.
 
[redacted]
Senior Manager

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.[Provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.]
Regards,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted]4, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.[Provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.]
Regards,[redacted]

The reason
the payoff is not lower is due to Ms. [redacted] getting behind when lost her
job 5/23/2014, Ms. [redacted] did inform Okinus of this....

Okinus agreed to work
with Ms. [redacted] and allowed Ms. [redacted] to make a partial payment of
$95.00 on 6/17/2014. Okinus spoke to Ms. [redacted] 7/16/2014 and made
arrangements to get account current. Okinus set Ms. [redacted] up with arrangements
that when completed Okinus would forward due date to current. Ms. [redacted]
made a payment 7/16/2014, 8/16/2014 & 9/17/2014. The payment that Okinus
has set up for 10/16/2014 was returned to Okinus as Payment Stopped. When Okinus
was notified of the returned payment, this subsequently caused the due date to
revert from 11/16/2014 back to 10/16/2014. Ms. [redacted] made an online
payment to Okinus 11/19/2014 and the due date was then advanced to 11/16/2014.
Okinus
sent Ms. [redacted] a Welcome Letter that included a payment history (provides
estimated payoff provided no issues with payments). Ms. [redacted] has
completed 13 payments of the 19 payments, the number of payments remaining is
6. Attached you will find the Welcome Letter and the payment history.
Ms. [redacted]
is not due a refund however due to the confusion of payments returning Okinus
will waive the past due lease fee and accept a payoff of $360.85. The reduced
payoff will be extended until 12/19/14. If the $360.85 is not received by
12/19/14 the offer will be rescinded.
Okinus asks
that Ms. [redacted] contacts Okinus to take advantage of the reduced payoff of
$360.85 to avoid any further confusion on account. 
Attachments:
Signed Contract, Welcome Letter, Payment History
 
[redacted]
Senior
Manager

Ms. [redacted] is correct her account is
past due, though the refusal to work out payment arrangements cannot be
attributed...

to Okinus. Ms. [redacted] informed Okinus in 2011 hours were cut; Okinus
requested proof so arrangements could be reached (Okinus received no proof).
Ms. [redacted] informed Okinus in 2012 that no longer had employment; Okinus
requested proof so arrangements could be reached (Okinus received no proof).
                Ms.
[redacted] contacted Okinus 4/2012 to inform that wanted to speak to a particular
representative at Okinus (due to receiving a collection letter that was emailed),
the message was relayed to the representative to contact Ms. [redacted] due to Ms.
[redacted] not wanting to discuss account with anyone but particular representative.
The contact number was not good, the return email was never answered. Okinus
has been trying to contact customer the rest of 2012, 2013 and 2014. Due to Ms.
[redacted]’s intentional refusal to work out arrangement with Okinus, Okinus has no
recourse but to collect payments per the contract that Ms. [redacted] signed. I have
attached a copy of the signed agreement (contract) that Ms. [redacted] entered into
with Okinus on 6/22/11, on page 2 of contract number 17; Ms. [redacted] gives
authorization for Okinus to ACH debit account.
                In
reference to account being in collections, the account has been in collections
and past due since the payment was returned to Okinus in 2011 (10/22/11
payment). Okinus has not sold account to a collection agency.
                Ms.
[redacted] is urged to contact Okinus to work out suitable arrangements on account to
bring current and satisfy the agreement from 2011.
 
Attachments: Contract, Payment History
[redacted] [redacted]
Senior Manager

Ms. Norma
is a returning customer as stated in complaint and paid both accounts
off before the SAC (Same As Cash) expiration. Ms. [redacted] was making extra
payment on current account with the expectation of paying off within the 90 Day
SAC period, however the SAC expired before it could be completed. As previously
stated Okinus spoke with Ms. [redacted] on several occasions and Ms. [redacted] was
informed on the payoff after the SAC expiration. The revised payoff for Ms.
[redacted] will be $2137.13 (the current payoff on account is $2819.16). The revised
payoff will expire on 10/15/14 after 10/15/14 the payoff will be the current
payoff in Okinus' system. The amount that Ms. [redacted] references on her Equifax
report is the balance without tax. The reduced payoff that has been offered to
Ms. [redacted] is waiving the past due amount ($682.03) on account since have not
made a payment on account since June 2014. The reduced payoff will expire on
10/15/14, Ms. [redacted] is urged to take advantage of the reduced amount while
still available.
 
Okinus
apologizes to Ms. [redacted] for the confusion on account. Hopefully this will
resolve all issues.
 
 
[redacted]Attached
you will find the copy of the contract that details the payoff after each
payment, and a copy of payment history (list of payments made). The signed
contract was not attached previously (another document was attached by mistake
disregard SWGA Account)
 
[redacted]
Senior
Manager

Ms. [redacted] agreed upon a settlement with Okinus on 3/15/2016 for the Lease Purchase she has with Okinus. The agreement which was signed by Ms. [redacted] was for $850.00.  Okinus received 3 payments that posted on 3/16, 4/18, and 5/31 for the lease account which has the balance...

of the settlement as of today at $719.05. Ms. [redacted] was sent a copy of the settlement letter that was signed by Ms. [redacted] for the settlement amount of $850.00 from the representative that she spoke with on 6/28/2016 along with an email explaining how her balance is $719.05. The balance on Ms. [redacted]'s account according to the records Okinus has is correct. If Ms. [redacted] has made other payments besides the three that are listed we ask that Ms. [redacted] contact Okinus again so that we can discuss the date of those payments so that we can review the account again.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.[Provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.]
Regards,
[redacted]
 
As of now I have made it clear to them that they are not including all payments made by me in the total balance on the account as of the purchase to the last date of the  90 days. The starting balance after the 90 days should be a different amount even if it included taxes and  all there fees if I have not made payment is due to the lack of professionalism on their part when I tried to communicate my concern, they continue to avoid the issue in fixing the correct balance and adding the amount paid to be balance before the 90  days , so as they cannot and wont  correct this they can cancel in all my account I will never do business with them and they can send me to collections if they want I will take care of it then I cannot continue to have them report I am late in payments when that is not true as my credit report shoes I have paid them before on time in the previous account  and I always pay all my credit card on time.  If I have to contact that credit bearer I will do so as well I rather have a collection on my account then late payments every month from them, I refuse to pay them any more money as they will just end up saying it’s all fees and taxes and I will never be done paying them off they are a fraud and I will not settle with them with steading balance and all there fees!!
Thank you.

Ms. [redacted]’s asked for an extension for the 90 Day SAC (Same as Cash). Upon review of account Ms. [redacted]’s was misinformed and was given an extra day; Okinus honored the incorrectly given date. Ms. [redacted]’s elected to go ahead and payoff account.
The sales tax has to be paid on every purchase, and is regulated by the county government the store operates in. Any question on the sales tax can be directed to the local county government. In reference to the double taxing statement, this is not true. Okinus has to pay the taxes on the purchase. The taxes are collected with each payment (breakdown of payment on contract) and forwarded to respective county governments. Okinus contacted the store at the reluctant request of the customer and the store representative “[redacted]” verified that tax was not included on the invoice from the store.
All consumers should do their investigation on businesses they do business with. Okinus prides itself on the level of customer service and satisfaction given to each and every customer.