Complaint Review: Westlake Financial - Internet

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre27

     I worked in collections for 5 years through capital one, so as such we (capital one) had some very different practices then west lake. Some things i do want everyone to know, generally it is not the collector themselves calling you, it is the dialing system, once a call has been picked up, it gives the information on the computer screen for the collector so they can ask for the right party, and, at least in capital ones situation, it shows how far behind a person is, what their payment history is, and what status their account is in. However, once a collector were to see that the account is not behind, they should then apologize and move on.
     We currently have a loan through west lake myself as the economy was harsh on us and my husband has been now been able to find work, although it is slow and we have actually fallen behind on our payments. So with that, i of course having been a collector, expect collection calls. I am going to complain because west lake is the reason why good collectors such as myself often got yelled at vial the phone. what they are using is old school techniques on collecting. Calling your home 8 times a day is not illegal, unless you have identified yourself and they have spoken to you. After having spoke to me, they have continued to call back. That is harassment, and can be followed up with very serious charges if people are actually taking down information, such as Times the calls were made, names of the collectors calling you, then of course call an attorney. Getting your car refinaced through a different company was a wise thing to do. 
     With the issue of repossesion, if you have not paid your bill, that of course is a very real possiblity. So if they tell you your car may be repossesed if you do not make the payment, or a payment is not illegal, if they try to tell you that there is a warrant out for your arrest, that is, as it is not a legal matter but a civil matter. So therefore, it is illegal to use that as a threat, it is illegal to be degrading in any manner, such as, calling you names, profanity, and so on. It is not illegal for them to call your place of employment, but is illegal to give anyone other than the account holder any information other than they are from west lake finacial. That is called Third party disclosure, and is a felony.
     I am not sure about calling you before your payment is due, that is certainly unethical, most likely a glitch in the dialing system. If the above person is in fact a collector from West lake, then perhaps you should take a different approach to collecting. there are many reasons a person falls behind on their payments, it certainly not intentional, and it does keep you in a job. 1. always assume the positive of the customer. Meaning treat them as though all of them are telling the truth, you accuse them of lying and they are not, you can be sued. 2. offer them with options. Most people do not want to loose their vehicles, so offer them if possible, payment options to help them get caught up. each company has a different system and with setting up arrangement and taking payments by phone, but one that always worked for me was offering to date out, but not post date, a check to be taken out on the date that they need. 3. if they cannot make any arrangements at that time, state the facts, if repossesion is a close possiblity, then yes let them know, politely, and that calls will continue and that their account will continue to access fees until paid. then move on to the next call, because if people can't pay, they are not going to pay. you want to move on to the next call so that you can make money.
     I have been looking and i have read a lot of illegal practices and i have noted my own through my own experiance. this says to me it is how they are being trained to collect, they are most likely not paid well, and have to collect so much money to pay for their seat. If it is any consulation, we at capital one, could never hire people from these types of collection agents, it is easier to train then to retrain. which is sad because capital one, citibank, b of a, and so on pay really good. If there are people on here looking for a free car, well that is not going to probably happen, but there are many ways that you can end up no longer owing the debt, odds are they are not making those mistakes, and those can vary state to state, one common one is refusing a payment, this has to be a reasonable payment, but if they refuse it, and you document it, you do no longer owe that debt. contrary to popular belief, i cannot be only 20.00, but reasonable, say your minumum payment, maybe below, again odds are, they don't make that mistake however. If a person falls behind on payments, collection calls are inevitable, but they do not have to be degrading or harrassing, and unless the above persons credit is 850 which hey good for you, but you also should know that is not the common credit score due to economic crisis, and some how i doubt very highly that is your credit score. mine was 800, until my husband was in a car accident because a woman was texting and driving and didn't stop at a stop sign, he was injured badly, couldn't work, lost our house, our vehicles, our life, then it was hard to find more work, when we had to move back to our small home town oregon, and capital one had closed down their boise site. So do not assume that you know everyone and their situation, and do not assume that poor means dumb, the poverty stricken often have degrees in areas that you do not know and may know a lot more than you think.

It is not a matter of loaning people money..... That should be known... The thing is that they treat people like they are second class citizens.... Everyone has had problems. I work in customer Service everyday and I DO NOT make the customers feel inadequate or inferior.

 I'm not sure where you live but where i live it is  illegal for collection company to call and harass you. I make my payments.. They dropped the ball and put my payment on someone's account and then called and said that they were going to repo my car. I could never get a hold of the same person. I got phone calls saying that hey are going to take my car and that I was lying about the payment and that they wanted my banking information to prove that I was telling the truth. They would not except a letter from my bank. I told them that I will black out all the information on my statement and they told me that if I did then they would just throw it away. MY BANKING INFORMATION IS NO ONES BUSINESS BUT MINE. My payments were made and that's all they need to know.

 I did get another loan for another car. This is a reputable bank. So before you start on someone else you should check out the whole circumstances. Unless I'm mistaken detremation of character, slander, and threats are illegal. YOU MUST WORK FOR WESTLAKE FINANCIAL

Because this company was so horrible and actually loaned you money when no one else would you are going to sue them to "get even" with them?

Exactly what are you going to sue them for?

Being rude and belligerent?  Sorry but I have some news for you if that was grounds for suing a company the courts would be overflowing with new lawsuits.

Calling you before your payment was due?  Sorry but not illegal, and with your credit history probably quite understandable.

The missing payment?  Actually this may be grounds to sue them if you didn't screw yourself first.

Did you have a valid complaint..YEP.  Unfortunately once you turned the car in voluntarily you pretty much screwed what ever case you may have had.  First whether they come and get it or you turn the car in it is still a Repossession.  As such they will sell the car at auction and still come after you for the deficiency balance in the loan.

Now, had you let them come and get the car and it was repossessed only because of this missing payment you would have had a very valid claim to not only get the car back but have all of the negative information removed along with being credited with all fees and any additional interest charged.

But a "missing" payment is not grounds for you to decide to just cancel your loan.  So the repossession would stand since you turned it in.  The only thing a civil suit would be would be to get them to apply the missing payment to the deficiency balance.  But if there is still a balance owed on the loan they can still come after you in civil court.

Im dealing with this b.s. company too. If I would of done my research about this company before hand, I would of not purchase a vehicle with westlake. How can I get in contact with you about this suit?