Buying and selling a car the hard way, a case study
Friday, April 14
In the morning, I call Citibank to pay my credit card balance of $380. As I suspect, they can’t take my money. They have sold my debt to a collection agency.
Meet American Recovery Services Inc (ARSI)
ARSI is the collection agency that bought my Citibank debt. When I call their number, they have trouble locating my customer information. We finally find my information after a few dozen questions. They have been sending demand notications to our old home address, and the letters have come back with address incorrect notices.
The lady, Bea, I am speaking with is friendly and accomodating. I mention that I have a car loan pending, and she understands my credit resolution has time sensitivity. I tell her about the Meriworst request to provide them a letter proving that my balance has been paid-in-full. I also mention I need the letter on Citi letterhead.
Apparently such requests are not uncommon. She informs me that this can be accomplished. Good news! Now for the bad news. She tells me that it takes 7–10 business days to generate a letter once a payment has been processed.
Visions of the 2016.5 Deep Crystal-Blue CX-5 vanish in my imagination.
I plead with her to see if there is any way to expedite the letter. She says she’ll ask. She puts me on hold. After a few minutes, she returns. She has good news.
She can get me the document by the end of the day if I pay with a bank-to-bank transfer or debit card payment.
Hell yes! Debit card payment sounds good. She takes my payment. She tells me a payment confirmation email will be sent immediately. The letter with the Citi letterhead will be emailed to me before the end of her business day, 3:30pm PST.
I like Bea, but I’m surprised that she doesn’t know that this letter can be generated same-day. I figure she must be new to the company. Out of curiousity, I ask her how long she has been working at ACSI.
Somewhat embarrassed, she says she has been there for 2 years. 2 years? I am surprised. How is it possible that after 2 years, she doesn’t know this payment letter can be generated same day? Regardless, I am getting what I need, so its all good. We can get the show back on the road. I plead with her to try and expedite the letter. She will try, but can’t promise the letter before the end of the day.
Back to Meriwest (now referred to as Meriworst)
I call my Meriworst agent to let her know that I have paid the debt. I forward her an email showing the email payment confirmation email from ACSI.
Unmoved, she tersely states that an email receipt is not sufficient. She needs the proof on letterhead. I tell her that that I understand her instructions. I will have the letter to her by the end of the day.
At this point, my patience had worn thin with the obnoxious attitude of Meriworst.
Through the entire process, they have shown a dismissive and apathetic attitude. I tell my agent that I am not only shocked, but disappointed about their attitude. I mention that I don’t know if the steps they are asking me to complete are industry standard or not, but as a returning customer, they sure don’t seem to care about helping me. Not only did I not miss monthly payments with my first Meriworst loan, but I paid the loan off early. Rather than being treated as a valued repeat customer, they are treating me like a deadbeat loser they would prefer not to do business with.
After my lengthy tirade, she blandly apologies for my displeasure. Her apology lacks credibility. We are stuck in a waiting game for the letter.
Back to the CX-5 hunt
With the credit debacle finally unwinding, I need to start nailing down inventory and pricing for the CX-5. The problem is that the 2016 and 2017 CX-5’s are different enough that we are going to have to go back to the dealership to compare the models before finalizing our decision.
Finally luck is on our side. Alex at Oak Tree Mazda has a 2016.5 CX-5 Touring with Moonroof and Bose in Deep Crystal Blue. One left. He is not sure he can match Fremont Al’s price. We play phone tag back and forth throughout the day trying to see if he can match Fremont Al’s price quote.
Clock is ticking and still no letter
Around 12:30pm I decide to give my pal Bea a call to see how the letter is coming. She is out to lunch. Instead I get her douchee collegue. Totally unhelpful. He tells me that these letters take 7–10 business days to process. I tell him that’s not what Bea told me. Now I’m worried. Is this douche right? Could Bea be wrong, or worse, misleading me?
I finally connect with Bea around 1:30PM. She is much less peppy than she was in the morning. I suppose listening to angry customers all day wears you down. She said she will look into the letter question and call me back.
No call. I call Bea back around 2:30. No Bea, just voice mail. It looks like Bea is dodging my call. Rather than risk getting transfered to Mr. Douche, I decide to try Bea back later.
Alex at Oak Tree can price match…with a catch
Alex calls me mid-afternoon to inform me he can match Fremont Al’s price, but he needs me to run it through Mazda Credit. Without knowing my credit score, which I am afraid to run again before fixing the Citi problem, he thinks the rate will be around 5.5%.
5.5! That is a non-starter. I tell Alex that we won’t go with Oak Tree with that loan rate. He will need to match Fremont Al’s price, and let us to use our own loan service. Alex needs to check with his manager again. With my credit in limbo, there is no rush to get the pricing approved. I figure that we may need to give up on the Deep Crystal Blue color and take our business to Fremont Al if Oak Tree Alex can’t manage the price match. Again, it looks like the Deep Crystal Blue 2016.5 CX-5 will be gone before we unwind the credit issue.
3:15PM. More calls to ACSI. Now I am convinced that Bea is ducking my calls. I no longer expect to receive the letter by the end of the day. Not ready to give up, I decide to try to push harder.
The receptionist at ACSI is getting sick of hearing my voice. I explain to her that I need to talk with Bea. I have been calling numerous times and only getting her voicemail. She explains that she is just a receptionist and can’t do anything about that.
I’m pissed. I tell her loudly that I don’t care that she is just a receptionist. I was promised a letter from Bea by the end of the day, and I expect ACSI to follow through on this…
DIAL TONE.
Apparently she doesn’t enjoy listening to angry customers. I call back. Without a greeting, she says “hold please” and puts me on infinite hold.
I call back, “same game” — Infinite hold.
One more time. She says hold please, and this time transfers me to a live person.
The guy she transfers me to is not Mr. Douche and is quite helpful. I suspect he may be the supervisor. He explains that Bea has gone home for the day. As calmly as I can, I explain that I was promised a letter by Bea, and I have not received it. He says that he can help. He give me his extension and tells me he will call me right back. He takes my number, and the call ends.
For some stupid reason, I believe him. Unlike Mr Douche, he seems credibile and competent
Surpise, surprise. He calls back in 2–3 minutes. Finally, someone who calls back when they promise to. He has found the letter and emails it to me. Was that so hard?
Victory at last, victory at last, oh lord, victory at late.
…hold the phone.
I read the letter, and my heart sinks. The letter mentions Citibank, but is generated on ACSI letterhead. Meriworst has been so uncaring, rigid, and unhelpful, I worry they will reject the letter since it comes with ACSI rather than Citibank letterhead.
Hoping for the best, I send the document to my Meriworst account contact. Almost at the same time, my account contact emails me. This is the email I receive from her at 4:22PM.
No big deal. We were planning to put $5,000 down, and proof of income is not an issue. She must have gotten my ACSI document shortly after sending the above email. This email comes from her at 4:31PM.
I send her the paystubs at 4:44PM.
I call her a few minutes after I send the email, but she is busy with another customer. I figure she may be going home at 5PM. I hope to get our loan approved, and most importantly find out our loan rate before she leaves.
I call back around 5:15pm. She has gone home for the day. The credit issue will have to wait one more day.
Is the 2016.5 CX-5 Touring the one?
After speaking with Alex at Oak Tree, we decide that despite the unresolved credit problem, that we should go ahead and check out the 2016.5 CX-5.
We get to the dealership around 6pm. The Deep Crystal Blue 2016.5 CX-5 Touring with Moonroof and Bose is up front. The doors are unlocked so we check out the interior.
Immediately we are disappointed. The 2016.5 CX-5 Touring comes with what they call premium cloth rather than leatherette. We can also now see why the sales reps have been warning us about the white interior. It just doesn’t look great.
On top of that issue, the wheels and rims are not near as nice as the 2017 Touring CX-5.
During our research, we received prices on the 2016.5 CX-5 Grand Touring model. That version is $2000 more than the Touring with Moonroof and Bose. The Grand Touring has leather seats and the nicer rims and wheels. We decide that we were not satisfied with the 2016.5 Touring CX-5. We are now deciding between the 2016.5 Grand Touring and the 2017 Touring with Premier package.
The issue is that Alex was out of the 2016.5 Grand Touring in Deep Crystal Blue. He does have the 2016.5 Grand Touring in Silver with the black leather interior. The drawback for even the 2016.5 Grand Touring in Deep Crystal Blue is that it comes with a two tone leather (parchment and black) interior. Not terrible, but the black interior is nicer.
Weighing all the prices, options, colors and availability, we finally decide that the best option for us is the Silver 2016.5 Grand Touring CX-5. Alex has 2 left.
Credit limbo
Anxious to wrap up the sale before the busy weekend, Alex suggests we talk with the dealer’s finance manager. We figure we may as well talk to a non-Meriworst finance expert for loan advice.
We mention our situation to the finance manager. Although we could and would have to run a credit application through Oak Tree before we could drive off, the problem is that without a Meriwest interest quote or a known auto credit score, we can’t be sure we are receiving a competitive rate from Oak Tree. We are approaching the finish line with Meriwest, and not wanting to put any further hard inquiries on my credit report, we all agree that a conversation with Meriwest Saturday morning is the best plan.
We leave a disappointed Alex with the promise to come back tomorrow if and when we finalize our Meriworst loan approval.
Although the loan is still a question, we at least are satisfied with the version and color of the CX-5 we like. The winning CX-5's is the 2016.5 Grand Touring in Silver or Deep Crystal Blue.
