Complaint Review: E Trade Financial

After shopping all over for a loan to re-finance my house, and finding nothing but snakes, (specifically Ameritrade, Lending Tree, and Quicken) i thought i'd finally found an outfit - E*Trade - that was not trying to rip me off.

I first spoke to a gentleman, "Robert" who was very smooth and assured me that "E*Trade will give you 'guaranteed' closing costs", so there wouldn't be any surprises. Robert then passed me off to his associate 'Johnny', after explaining that he (Robert) was the manager, but Johnny was his 'very, very best loan representative.' I told him I preferred to continue with him, but he insisted, so I was transferred to Johnny.

Well Johnny seemed nice enough, but soon his story started changing. First I could get rate A, and pay closing costs of X, but then the 'guaranteed closing costs' started to change.

I informed him that I had received a letter from E*Trade giving me $500 off my closing costs, and first he insisted that he could find no record of such an offer, then told me to find some special ID number on the letter, then tried to suggest that I was making the whole thing up. I offered to fax him the letter which he declined.

Suddenly, my closing costs ROSE $500, which he explained was because I wasn't impounding my taxes and insurance and the rate he first quoted assumed I was impounding. So effectively, he zeroed out my '$500 off' offer.

Now i'm starting to get suspicious, because he has quoted me at least four different figures for my 'GUARANTEED' closing costs. Next he tells me I need to give him a $600 deposit.

Naturally I assumed he meant AFTER we'd hammered out the details of the loan and I'd received IN WRITING a good faith estimate and confirmation of terms.

NOOOOOOO.

He wanted the $600 FIRST, saying 'this conversation is being recorded' and that if there were any discrepancies between what we discussed verbally and the loan they eventually offered, that I could just ask for a copy of the recording. OH, SURE.

Of course, we all know that they're recording the conversation for MY benefit. and all I have to do is ASK, and they'll happily hand a copy of my conversation right over. They must figure we're all IDIOTS.

To make a long story just a little longer, DON'T DO BUSINESS WITH ANY COMPANY THAT DEMANDS A DEPOSIT BEFORE THEY PUT THEIR OFFER IN WRITING, and preferably, not at all.

i'm happy to say that I contacted another company and they were more than happy to IMMEDIATELY fax me their complete offer, including ALL fees (good faith estimate, which was only $700, a good $3500 less than ANYONE else I spoke to)AND told me their offer was good for FIFTEEN DAYS, not hours or minutes like all the other ripoff artists out there will tell you.

And don't believe their B.S. about having multiple inquiries on your credit report and how this lowers your score. After dicking around with all these jerks I ended up with at least 10 inquiries, and guess what...? My credit score at the end was exactly the same as it was at the start.

So take advantage of my experience and go straight to (this other company). not their website, which is more restrictive, but call them. (phone number deleted). i don't know if they work with everyone, because i received an invitation by mail, but they're certainly worth a try. good luck!

Lenette
corona, California
U.S.A.

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