Complaint Review: HONDA

HONDA  VANDALISM  -  NO  MORE  HONDAS  !!!

Dear Sirs,

This letter is to chronicle the terrible treatment we received from Honda Finance in the last month. In July of this year we were down to 4 payments left on our 2007 Honda Odyssey. In July Honda Finance called us and asked when we would make a payment and I said next week which I did on July 17. I made a payment of $768.85. This left 3 payments plus fees. On July 18 Honda accepted the payment from our checking account. However, on July 19 we found that our Odyssey had been dragged from our driveway and was repossessed. Furthermore we couldnt receive any information from Honda where it was and how we could recover it. Only by calling the police could we get the truth that it had been repossessed.

Furthermore, Honda wouldnt answer our questions for 10 days how much we needed to pay to get the car back so we had to pay $25 dollars per day for storage or $250.  Finally, we gathered the information that it had been taken by American Recovery at 2:30 in the morning and transported 45 miles to Ft Myers, FL. The person at Honda Finance, April Allen, said that we would have to pay the full remaining amount plus the $768.85 that we had already paid to recover the car and that the car was already scheduled for auction.

They said they were refusing to accept the last payment we sent and would return it to us (this is obviously a tactic to make it hard for us to make the payoff so they could profit by auctioning this car that only had three payments due). However, even though they accepted the payment on July 18, now on August 6, they still havent returned our money and have lied repeatedly that they were returning the payment.

We paid the car off on July 27 and recovered it that day immediately after receiving information from Honda. The remaining amount due on the car was $4067.49 but they demanded $4607.26 for us to recover the car. We believe this to be a careless (or deliberate)  clerical error.  American Recovery in Ft Myers was very difficult to find. It was located in a dirty office in the corner of a warehouse that belonged to some other company and there was no sign or indication whatsoever that American Recovery was located there. After paying the only employee he drove our vehicle carelessly out of the gate with the front splashguard dragging the ground, obvious damage due to the haphazard towing operation.

Also, all of our possessions were out of the vehicle. He could easily have stolen items since I cant be sure that everything was there from such a large vehicle. They prepared it for auction already. The attendant slapped some tape on the splashguard so we could drive it home but the part still needs to be replaced. The price was listed at $49.95 at Charlotte Honda in Port Charlotte, FL plus $30.00 installation. The wheels on the Odyssey now also need alignment which they charge $79.95. This is a total of $159.90 in damages to our car due to the rough treatment received by American Recovery. We also suffered mental anguish of $100 per day for a total of $1000.  

We require the compensate our losses immediately:
Payoff Amount (Invoice from 06/01/2012) $4,067.49
4 Payments Remaining
Our Losses $$
 Online payment on July 27, 2012:  768.85

Honda Charged: 4,607.26
Towing:  430.00
 Damages: 150.00
 Our total spending: 5,956.11
 Our losses: 1,888.26
 Mental Anguish: 1,000.00
 Required compensation: 2,888.26

This is an obviously well thought-out  attempt by Honda Finance to take my family for thousands of dollars. The timing is perfect for optimum profit for them and Im sure this isnt the first time they have used this scheme. They should be severely punished for trying to take advantage of their customers like this. I know I am no longer a customer of Honda.