Complaint Review: santander USA

You also seem to think I have poor credit because I didn't pay bills or did some other terrible thing in my life that cause me to have poor credit - well I've got news bub, if you think that is the only way to get poor credit the you're just another single-minded-melling-bobblehead in the world of finance

- Let me guess it was "someone else" who caused you to have bad credit.  Well guess what.  It does not matter how you got "subprime" credit..all the creditors care about is that you got it.  But the only way to prove otherwise is to pay your bills on-time.  By your own admission you were late.  Now you didn't say how late or how long it took you to get "caught up". 

Despite what the agreement you have says, there is no grace period. If you're one day late, you're going to get charged a late fee...

- You of course have proof of this right?  Because if what you are saying is true then you would have lawyers beating down your door to take this "slam dunk" case. 

Research the FDCPA, arm yourself with knowledge of the laws that protect YOU

- I highly suggest you follow your own advise.  Because if that proof of your payments is like your "research" on the FDCPA you may want to take a step back.  Santander is not bound by the FDCPA, because they are not a 3rd Party Collection Agency.  But even if they were to violate the $1,000 "penalty" is not PER VIOLATION it is PER COMPANY.

But if you think I am wrong go file a Small Claims suit against them using your research on the FDCPA.  But when you do I challenge you to post the court information(location and docket number) as well as the result..even if you (gasp) loose.

It's funny how you're so quick to defend your precious company - when there are NINE pages (and counting) of rip-off reports about Santander.... all those people (all of us) can't be wrong.

You also seem to think I have poor credit because I didn't pay bills or did some other terrible thing in my life that cause me to have poor credit - well I've got news bub, if you think that is the only way to get poor credit the you're just another single-minded-melling-bobblehead in the world of finance... perhaps you should educate yourself a little more on how people manage to get into a situation before you start "preaching" about how you just "know" how it happened... idiot, you're an idiot!! if there was a idiot tax, you'd be in the highest bracket!

And another thing, since when does someone not having stellar credit mean they should be taken advantage of? I understand that someone who has poor credit has to pay a higher interest rate, I get that... but tailoring a car loan like a mortgage should be flat-out illegal. In a mortgage you're paying down a loan on an ASSET - even in todays market- that doesn't necessarily depreciate (exempting the historical bubble burst we've recently seen) - tailoring an automotive loan like this only serves the lender and screws the client:

Paying interest first, then principal ensures the owner will be upside-down in their vehicle for virtually the entire note, and by A LOT - with no chance of escaping the clutches of Santander by selling the vehicle off until the very very end (when you're vehicle is worth the least and Santander has made the most).

Santander makes it's money on late fees and other lame charges. Despite what the agreement you have says, there is no grace period. If you're one day late, you're going to get charged a late fee... you can try and fight it, but chances are you won't get anything done until you take them to court - and I encourage everyone who has been unfortunate enough to be sucked in by Santanders lies and are now being screwed to do just that - take them to court.

2. Santander claims this is a simple interest loan, and it is, but the find print on their paperwork spells out how they will screw you at every turn - even when you pay on time, you're not paying on time... even when you send extra payments for PRINCIPAL ONLY - they don't get applied that way. a payment here or there gets "lost" but has mysteriously been cashed, and yet you still get assessed a late fee. folks, THERE IS NO WAY TO WIN WITH SANTANDER,

3. Santander has THE WORST customer service in the industry. They claim to be "helping those with bad credit" - but once they have your signature on a note, you're just another cog in the wheel... Their customer service isn't geared towards helping customers, it's geared towards squeezing every nickle out of you they can - even by lying to customers and promising things (like waving late fees) and then not doing it.


MY ADVICE IF YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH SANTANDER

First of all, my advice is DON'T have anything to do with these loan sharks.. If you're thinking about getting a loan or have been approved for a loan with this idiots, STOP - TEAR THAT LOAN PACKAGE UP, BURN IT, SHRED IT - but whatever you do DO NOT SIGN IT.... there are companies out there that can help people own a car without having to deal with these knuckle-heads... If Santander is your only hope for getting a loan - DON'T GET A LOAN AT ALL - save your pennies, use a buy-here-pay-here lot if you have to, but getting involved in a financial transaction with these jokers almost ensures that you will end up with another bad mark on your credit. It is virtually impossible to pay off a loan with these idiots without getting negative reports on your credit. Even if you're on time all the time - they will make sure that you're reported at least 30 days late at some point in the loan - probably many points in the loan. READ THE OTHER RIP-OFF REPORTS - all these people can't be wrong folks. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it has to be a duck.

You will notice the words "loan shark" used a LOT in all of these rip-off reports.. and it's true, this is a professional loan sharking company running a legitimate "sub prime loans" front - there's just no other way to say it. Most of their practices are in the gray area of the law.

I will also say this: If you are constantly 30 days late with your payments or are always behind a payment or two, there's nothing you can do. You must be able to prove that you have made all of your payments and that the loan is current before you can do anything. So get the loan payments current - I'm not talking about late fees - I'm talking about the actual loan payments. Make sure you denote on your checks that the payment is for the LOAN only and may not be applied to any fees associated with the loan. They probably won't apply them properly, which is another piece of ammo you have in court.

If it's too late and you're already in their evil clutches. First, I'm very sorry. Second, you will have to be resigned to the fact that Santander will do NOTHING to help your credit - in fact, it will, more than likely, hurt your credit more... Most people come to Santander with the hope that they can begin re-establishing their credit - folks, I'm sorry, but this just isn't going to happen with this company.  But you can fight back - and potentially make a little cash in the process:

1. Write down every call you get or make from them, write down the time, the person you spoke to, a brief description of what the conversation was about, the outcome, the time the call ended and WHO CALLED WHO. Tell them you don't want any more calls... then wait for them to violate the FDCPA. They regularly violate the FDCPA by calling clients in excess as to preclude harassment. Each call beyond one or two a day is worth a cool grand in court (That's right, the penalty for Harassment under the FDCPA is $1,000 per infringement - PER CALL) . Research the FDCPA, arm yourself with knowledge of the laws that protect YOU. Loan Shark's like Santander are betting that you won't do the research or spend the time defending yourself, that's how they make their money... idiots like this Jimmy guy have even admitted that they make their money on late fees... time for you to turn the table. and make some money on their harassment.

2. If you can, record every conversation you can with them. and note which conversations were recorded on your log sheet - make sure you have plenty of paper as this sheet will fill up fast. Let the person on the other end of the line know are recording. Let them know you're not going to take their abusive practices lying down anymore and that you intend to seek legal remedies... The person on the other end of the phone won't care, I can tell you that, but this covers you legally. in some states you can't record a call unless both parties know it's being recorded.

3. be prepared to fight. you will, no doubt, have to take them to court to get anything done. There are many attorneys you can find online that specialize in suing the pants off companies like Santander. They specialize in consumer law and deal with idiots like this every day. They know their tricks, they know how to win in court and they work on a contingency basis (they only get paid if they win)

Santander is regarded in the financial industry on the same level as collection agencies - they are the scum of the industry. Just remember that when you have to talk to one of their "employees"  or see a rebuff from one of them here... they are at the bottom of the financial barrel folks... treat them as such.

Santander is a SUBPRIME lender which will finance people with SUBPRIME credit.  People like YOU have subprime credit because YOU have a history/reputation of NOT PAYING YOUR BILLS on time.  Nobody did that to you...YOU did it to YOURSELF!

Subprime lenders face extraordinary risks providing financing to subprime borrowers because far too many subprime borrowers do not make their payments on time, get repo'ed regularly, hide or damage the collateral etc etc etc.  As such, the interest rate to subprime borrowers is higher...much higher than if YOU would have paid YOUR bills on time and correspondingly, gave YOURSELF excellent credit. 

In a car loan such as this, the payments are at first mostly interest.  The proportion of interest to principle goes down a little with each payment.  Therefore, the principle loan amount takes a long while to be impacted.  That is why you see a higher than expected remaining principle amount.

This is the case with any auto loan and is not a rip-off, fraud or anything to exclaim "WTF" about unless you are saying "WTF, I don't know finance!", which you obviously don't.

The solution to this is for YOU to make YOUR payments on time, everytime, so YOU can give YOURSELF good credit instead of bad credit.