ComplaintsforEquity 4 U, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  09/17/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Equity-4-U are supposed to make my vehicle payment for me. I did not request this service , it came with signing up for the auto loan. They debited me 3 times for ****** and have not made any of my vehicle payments and now I'm late.

  

  Business response

  09/19/2024

  Good afternoon,

   

  We have provided proof to you in the form of payment tracking number, check number and amount that showed we sent your payment timely and it was delivered to your lender timely. As discussed in email correspondence with you on 9/19 we do not have control of how quickly the lender applies the payment. We believe this issue was resolved via email as you decided to stay in our service.
  

• Initial Complaint

  07/11/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I didnt sign up for this ************** keep trying to take money from my checking account

  

  Business response

  07/17/2024

  Good morning,

  We received your enrollment into our bi-weekly debit service for your 2021 ****** Corolla from Jerry's ****** when you purchased your vehicle and were debiting according to the dates on the signed authorization form. We sent you a welcome email on 6/24/24 which had the details of your account with **********************. Your account has since been cancelled with Equity 4 U due to unsuccessful debits. We will send you a copy of the signed form we received for your records. If you have questions please feel free to contact our offices at *************.
  

• Initial Complaint

  12/26/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Our car loan is paid off and they keep taking payments no money has been put back in our accounts and so far 2 over payments have been taken out !

  

  Business response

  12/27/2023

  Equity 4 U has not received notification from the customer that the loan was paid off.  The customer needs to contact our customer service at ************ or email ******************* to verify account ownership (typically last four of SS#) to stop debit activity.  Once deleted we will be happy to return all funds in escrow. 

  Thanks,

  ****

   

  . 

   

• Initial Complaint

  09/05/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Equity4u has failed to make 2 months of my auto payments. A payment was missed back in April and August 2023 for a payment of $402 each month (total $802 for 2 months). I have my car payments on auto pay but have now received notification from my credit report that I was impacted 60 points for 2 missed payments that equity4u failed to make. I tried calling them and leaving a voice-mail and have not heard anything back. I'm now accuring interest on my auto payment due to equity4u negligence and mistakes. They should be making the payments to ****** ********** ***** ******* and are failing to do so but are quick to take the money out of my bank account.

  

  Business response

  09/06/2023

  There have been no missed payments as Equity 4 U has made payments every month and every check has cleared. Unfortunately it seems as the lender has misapplied a payment. Had we been contacted we could have easily resolved this issue and provided proof of payment to the lender for the month they are stating was missed and in turn the lender will have to correct their negative credit reporting. We would suggest you contact our office at ************* to speak with a customer service representative and resolve the issue.

• Initial Complaint

  06/02/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  June 2nd 2023, Equity4u charged my account after I requested a cancellation. They said they couldn’t cancel the first payment. I called my bank and they had no charges pending which means they charged after I requested a cancellation. I never agreed for third party financing. They claim they have a form that I signed. But I don’t have a copy of it.

  

  Business response

  06/07/2023

  We were contacted on 6/1/23 via email with a request to stop a debit transaction that was in process for 6/2/23. All debits go into process the business day prior and this is why it is stated on the Equity 4 U contract that we require a 3 business day notice prior to a debit in order to stop it. Customer was informed that the transaction was already in process and could not be stopped on our end but that we would cancel his account on 6/8/23 and refund the funds on 6/9/23 as is our process. Customer emailed again on 6/2/23 asking why the debit transaction occurred and stating that his bank was going to charge it back. He was informed by customer service that as stated in the email on 6/1/23 the debit could not be stopped on our end. He then requested copy of the contract he signed with Equity 4 U as he stated it was a scam. We provided that copy to him via email on 6/5/23 and no further communications were received.

  Customer response

  06/07/2023

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  They sent the document after I posted my complaint. I am not lying. See time in attached screenshot.
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** **

  

  Business response

  06/08/2023

  We were contacted on 6/1/23 via email with a request to stop a debit
  transaction that was in process for 6/2/23. All debits go into process
  the business day prior and this is why it is stated on the Equity 4 U
  contract that we require a 3 business day notice prior to a debit in
  order to stop it. Customer was informed that the transaction was already
  in process and could not be stopped on our end but that we would cancel
  his account on 6/8/23 and refund the funds on 6/9/23 as is our process.
  Customer emailed again on 6/2/23 asking why the debit transaction
  occurred and stating that his bank was going to charge it back. He was
  informed by customer service that as stated in the email on 6/1/23 the
  debit could not be stopped on our end. He then requested copy of the
  contract he signed with Equity 4 U as he stated it was a scam. We
  provided that copy to him via email on 6/5/23 and no further
  communications were received. The copy of enrollment was received by the customer and that was the reason for his complaint.

• Initial Complaint

  12/16/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I recently financed a vehicle and chose to use the Equity 4 U program. Equity 4 U took out my first payment from my bank account on December 2, 2022. My payment due date for my auto loan was December 12, 2022. Equity 4 U claims they sent in my payment on December 5, 2022, but I just spoke with my auto loan company, and they have not received any payments. I have been unable to get in touch with anyone at Equity 4 U and need this repaired immediately.

  

  Business response

  12/16/2022

  **********************,

  According to our records in your account one of our representatives spoke with you on December 14th, 2022 at 12:57pm and we responded to an email from you this morning at 8:15am via *********************************.  On the 14th we verified that your lender is in fact ******************************* and we did finally get your loan account number from you for Regional.  We mailed your December payment on December 5th via Priority Mail with **** and tracking number 9405536106051131219497.  Please note this tracking number and all your payment information was again provided to you this morning via email.  Please provide the tracking number to Regional as the payment has been delivered and is being held up on their end.  We do apologize for this inconvenience but unfortunately we cannot control what happens with the payment once it has been delivered and is with the lending institution.  Since we now have your loan account number we have changed the payment method on our end and are now able to make your payments to Regional electronically and this should avoid any issues in the future.  If you need further assistance from me directly please feel free to call me at ********************.  Thank you.

   

   

  Customer response

  12/16/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  11/04/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This company processes payments to lenders through auto dealerships. My car purchase was a mess and my financing was redone In the meantime, Equity4U sent my first payment to the first lender that I never got lending through. That lender received and kept my $300 dollars and now I cannot get my money back. It has been 3 months with no recourse. I have to wait to get a check from the lender that they sent the payment to in error, even though they debited the funds from my account.

  

  Business response

  11/04/2022

  The customer is correct that we received her paperwork from the dealership and at some point the lender changed from the time that Equity 4 U received the original paperwork.  Unfortunately, neither the dealership nor the customer contacted Equity 4 U to update the change in the lender.  It is stated on the contract that was signed by the customer any changes to the loan the customer (*** ******) is to contact Equity 4 U directly.  The customer contacted Equity 4 U on 10/7/22 stating the lender had changed, Equity 4 U issued half of the monthly payment ($317.07) to Regional Acceptance Corporation on 9/28/22 and this check cleared our bank on 10/7/22, therefore could not be stopped by Equity 4 U.  On October 13th, 2022 Equity 4 U faxed a request to Regional Acceptance Corp requesting the funds they had received to be refunded back to either the customer directly or Equity 4 U.  (Copy of the fax is attached)  The customer was notified at that time Equity 4 U had put in the request to Regional Acceptance Corp.  On 10/31/22 the customer contacted Equity 4 U inquiring about the refund, she was told the supervisor (myself) would have to research that and contact her back on 11/1/22 as she was out of the office.  I was still unexpectedly out of the office still on 11/1/22 with an extremely ill child.  On 11/2/22, the customer emailed Equity 4 U's customer service email address very unhappy and demanding money back.  I responded to the customer's email that unfortunately Equity 4 U does not control how quickly Regional Acceptance Corp refunds the money to the customer or Equity 4 U and that I would send a second fax requesting these funds be returned and as soon as we receive them we will post the funds back into her account as quickly as possible.  (Copy of fax is attached) It was also requested of the customer to verify the correct lender on the loan as we were told the corrected lender was ** *********** ****** ****** ***** and a portion of their loans are being sold to ******.  ******** ********** **** has also been sold to ****** and it was explained if we knew the correct lender we might be able to get the funds applied to the loan and this would be done much faster than a refund that can take up to 6-8 weeks.  The customer refused to confirm or deny the correct lender after multiple requests.  Equity 4 U is doing everything possible to get the funds back from ******** as quickly as possible to refund the customer directly. 

  So yes, Equity 4 U is waiting on a refund from ******** ********** ***********.  But no, the customer has not been waiting for 3 months, that is a blatantly an inaccurate statement.  We sent the first faxrequest on 10/13/22 and which was less than a month ago.
  

• Initial Complaint

  08/30/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I bought a car 2 weeks ago and the dealership set up biweekly payments with this company. The day i bought this car was one of the most stressful days i have ever had. The dealership probably took advantage of this and did not explain to me that payments would come out of my account on the 1st and the 16th and then the company would supposedly pay my lender. when i got the email that this was going to happen i panicked because that is my rent money. i was not expecting my car payments to start until september 24th which is what all of my paperwork stated. i called this company to cancel these bi weekly payments. i was told they were cancelled and they payment would not come out. it came out anyway and now i don't have my rent money. i called them and they stated they told me they could not cancel it until the 6th. i was not told that. i need this money back by the 2nd to pay my rent

  

  Business response

  09/14/2022

  We do apologize for the delayed response, it was an oversight on our end.  We sincerely apologize that your vehicle purchase was a stressful situation. We do understand that purchasing a vehicle can be stressful, which is why you should have been provided a copy of your contract with Equity 4 U with the debit dates and amounts listed.  You also would have received a welcome email from Equity 4 U when your account was enrolled in our service.  Once a customer receives the debit alert email the debit on our end cannot be stopped, we do not have that capability and that is not an option for our representatives.  The debit was not successful, and we were notified on 9/1/22 that it had failed.  The account was cancelled on 9/6/22 but there was no refund issued as we did not collect any funds from the customer.

  Customer response

  09/14/2022

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  I am rejecting this as I was not given anything and I I had to make sure that this failed through my bank as this company was absolutely horrific to deal with and absolutely no help. I was told the debit would not come out and if it did it would be returned immediately. I had to make sure it would not go through because they would not return it. They are absolute frauds and have multiple complaints against them for taking peoples money and not paying the payments to the loan holders. I had to work with my bank and the bank my loan is through to stop them from doing this to me. Quite frankly this company should be investigated by the *** and charges brought against them and this company shut down
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** *****

• Initial Complaint

  07/01/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Spoke to Ms. ***** today at this location she was very rude with no ounce of customer service. She sounded very irritated while speaking to me and stated that I paid for June and not July but today is July 1st so I am not sure what is the issue and why would I have to pay directly to capital one. She did not explain well the issues and did not attempt to resolve anything and wanted to rush me off the phone. I called several times after and she kept sending it to voicemail. Staff is horrible with customer, horrible service disgusted.

  

  Business response

  07/12/2022

  First and foremost I apologize for my delay I was out of the office until today.  According to the information I have on my end the customer was very upset that the account cancelled due to excessive NSFs.  It is our company policy that accounts are cancelled if they have two debits fail in a 45 day period.  This policy is in place for numerous reasons, 1) failed debits cause the customer's payments to the lender to be short for the monthly payment or no payment made at all and causes the account to be delinquent. 2) the customer incurs fees every time a debit fails.  3) Equity 4 U incurs a fee every time a customer's debit fails (however we do not pass on these fees to the customer).  Therefore, when two debits fail as did happen with Ms. *****'s account the account is cancelled.  Ms. ***** had debits fail on 6/13/22 and 6/27/22.  E4U had enough funds to make the June payment from previous debits but would not have any funds to make the July payment.  Ms. ***** tried to explain to the customer that because of the two failed debits there was no money to be issue for the July payment and the account would be canceled on our end due to Excessive Failed debits.  The customer requested her call be sent to my voicemail (the supervisor) and the call was transferred however the customer never left a message.  If our representatives are on the phone it does automatically go to voicemail but we do not have the ability to forward a call to voicemail.  I do sincerely apologize the customer did not understand that the account was cancelled because of the debit failures from 6/13/22 and 6/27/22 and I will go over the account again with Ms. ***** on how to better explain an account.  Equity 4 U has not successfully collected a debit from Ms. *****'s bank account since 5/31/22 and the account with us is cancelled and she will need to make a future payments to Capital One Auto Finance directly.

  Customer response

  07/12/2022

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:You guys are being biased. If you have not received a payment since 5/31 i contacted your company July 1, 2022 regarding the account therefore by then i had no missed any payments if the new month had just begun. I will continue to comment and report this company to any and everyone for the inequality. Thank you
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******** *****

• Initial Complaint

  04/19/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased a car at ***** **** ******. They set up for Equity 4 U to take biweekly payments of 179.53, which they are to send to my lender ********* ****. They have now taken this amount 3 times from my account and have not sent anything to the lender. I have received a call from ********* **** stating that my car payment is now 14 days late. It was to have been made on 4/5 in the amount of $354.07. I never received any communication from Equity 4 U via email, or anything outlining how this works. Now they are not answering my phone calls, nor returning my messages

  

  Business response

  05/09/2022

  First and foremost, I sincerely apologize for the delay in my response.  My BBB link has not been working properly.  According to our records on 4/19/22 when the complaint was filed a representative attempted to return the customer’s call twice, however the phone number would not ring.  The representative then called the number on file for the customer.  The payment we had originally issued to ********* **** was issued on 3/28/22 via USPS Priority Mail with tracking number **********************.  This payment is still showing as not received.  When we received notification from the customer the payment had not yet been received we stopped the payment and reissued it on 4/20/22 and mailed the payment was mailed next day to ********* ****.  (USPS tracking number *************.)  Equity 4 U provided this tracking number to the customer on 4/26/22.  Every email or voice message we have received had either been returned or attempted to be returned.  As for no communication from Equity 4 U we have the customer selected to receive email alerts.  Email alerts are sent to the customer every time Equity 4 U debits the account and issues a payment to the lender.  The customer was also issued a welcome email when the account was enrolled and an email requesting the loan account number for ********* ****.  If the customer has late fees E4U would be willing to contact ********* **** and request that these fees be waived as the payment was sent priority and was lost within the postal system.  The customer can contact myself directly at ************ *** *** ** ***** ** *********************

   

  Thank you.

   

  ***** ***** ********************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩