ComplaintsforBMW Bank of North America

• Initial Complaint

  08/26/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Issue: BMW Financial Services has failed to release auto loan lein. I recently went to the Colorado DMV to get a copy of the title to one of our BMW cars we were selling. The DMW indicated the BMW Bank was still holding a lein on the vehicle and therefore I could not receive Title to close the sale. I was surprised that a lein had not been removed since the auto loan was fully paid in December of 2019. In contacting BMW they indicated that they had purged their records for anything that old but could provide a "letter stating they had no ownership interest". This problem is this will take time and is now jeopardizing the sale not to mentilon the time it is taking to sort this out. I think it is unfair (if not illegal) to withhold a lein release for a loan paid in full for over 5 years. In checking we have 2 other cars financed through BMW whose leins have also not be released. This feels like unscrupulous and deceptive business practice that BMW should be ashamed of and should be a warning to anyone else financing through BMW. It should be BMW's responsibility to reimburse us for expenses resulting from this matter including jeopardized sale as well as resolve the matter as quickly as possible.

  Business response

  08/27/2024

  Dear Mr. Brock:

  We received your complaint (ID #********), but we are unable to locate your customer information with the information you have provided. Can you please respond and provide one of the following: 1) account number, 2) full social security number, or 3) the last 7 digits of the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) for the vehicle(s) referenced in your complaint. This will help us properly investigate your complaint.

  Best regards,

  BMW Bank of North America

   

  Customer response

  08/28/2024

   
  Complaint: 22196826
  
  In response for further information I have attached an old account statement for reference with the name, account no, VIN no, The last 4 digits of the primary holder SSN is 4114. The problem is that in contacting BMW the reason they cannot find the account is that it was deleted (Not sure I understand how that could happen before the lien was released or title provided).
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Keith Brock

  Business response

  09/11/2024

  Dear Keith Brock,
  
  Thank you for giving us the opportunity to address your issues regarding the referenced vehicle through the Better Business Bureau complaint process. We hope the following information will assist you.
  
  Our records indicate BMW Financial Services NA, LLC no longer holds a lien on the referenced vehicle. In response to your complaint, we submitted a request to our title vendor to send you a No Interest Letter. This letter was sent on September 9, 2024. Please allow appropriate mailing time for the letter to arrive at your above address. Once received, you may bring this documentation to the Colorado Department of Motor Vehicles to have the lien removed from their records. If you have any issues, you may call a BMW Financial Services NA, LLC representative at the number below and reference Service Request (SR) number ** ************
  
  We are committed to providing you with the highest level of service. If you have any questions, please contact us at (800)578-5000, Monday through Thursday, from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET and Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET, or by mail at either address listed on this letter.
  
  Yours sincerely,
  
  BMW Bank of North America

   

• Initial Complaint

  10/09/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I recently purchased a vehicle from BMW Fremont, CA. When I purchased the vehicle, the dealer told me that I had to take a loan in order to get a discount. I was also told that I could payoff the loan any time. However, after I purchased the vehicle, it took a lot of time for BMW finances to show my account online. After the account was shown on their website, there was no immediate ways to payoff the loan. I had to mail a check to BMW finances to payoff the loan. The whole process takes time and eventually I was charged $177.37 interest. BMW's practice is very unethical. They intentionally make the payoff process complicated to charge additional interest. I called BMW finance with regard to this issue and they refuse to admit that they did anything wrong nor did they offer any ways to fix the problem.

  Business response

  10/11/2023

  Thank you for your message. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer a refund for the interest owed and paid on your auto loan in accordance with the signed contract. Regarding the payoff process, we can assure you we do not intentionally complicate the process to charge additional interest. For loan payoffs we require funds be sent via a regular or certified check. BMW Bank of North America is a separate financing entity from the independently owned and operated BMW centers (dealerships). As such, we can only address issues dealing with your Motor Vehicle Retail Installment Agreement (Contract), or your account with us. For further assistance regarding your experience, we encourage you to contact the dealer directly where you purchased your vehicle or BMW of North America, LLC at ###-###-####.

  Customer response

  10/17/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  BMW Bank of North America failed to provide evidence showing that they are not intentionally complicating the payoff process. I have evidence showing that BMW Bank of North America is intentionally complicating the payoff process in order to rip off money from their customers:

  1. BMW Bank of North America provided no information on how to payoff my loan while setting up my account, which took a lot of time.

  2. After my account was set up, BMW Bank of North America failed to provide an immediate method to payoff my loan. I had to mail them a check. This process again took time.

  3. While BMW Bank of North America set up this time-consuming process, they should be responsible for the time consumed to payoff the loan. Instead, BMW Bank of North America charge their customers "interest" for the time spent to payoff the loan. 

  BMW Bank of North America's practice is very unethical and unacceptable. 

  I've purchase vehicles from different brands. It is not unusual for dealers to ask for a loan in order to offer a discount. However, it is the first time I've seen an automotive OEM not allowing customers to payoff the loan immediately. 

  What's more unethical is that BMW Bank of North America is trying to push the blames to their dealers. This payoff process is set up by BMW Bank of North America, not the dealers. Even if BMW Bank of North America believes that their dealer made a mistake, it is still easier for BMW Bank of North America to reach out to the dealers instead of asking their customers to reach out to the dealers. Asking their customers to reach out to BMW's dealer on this matter is unprofessional and unethical. 

  Sincerely,
  
  ******* ***

  Business response

  10/20/2023

  Dear Customer:
  
  As stated in our previous response, the loan payoff process is not intentionally made difficult to collect additional interest. You signed your loan contract on July 29, 2023 and the account was created on August 3, 2023. It can take up to two weeks for loan documents to be fully processed and uploaded in an account that the customer may access via the web; however, your account was created within only five days. The time between contract signing and account creation is not due to intentional delay but is instead due to the time it takes to process and record loans. We see that you accessed your account on August 5, 2023 to request payoff documents. On August 10, 2023 we received your payoff check and applied it to your account. Our internal systems do not allow for electronic payments over $7,500.00 and as such it is required to send in a personal/business check, certified check, or money order to pay more than that amount. The amount of interest you were charged during the 12 days your loan was active was in accordance with your signed contract, and therefore we are unable to issue a refund for the $177.37 in interest that accrued to your account.
  
  Also, in our previous response we provided contact information for you to discuss with BMW any dissatisfaction regarding your dealer experience. We assure you this was not to push blame to the dealer, but because we see that you called our customer service department and stated you had issues with the dealer when purchasing your vehicle. At that time, we gave you an opportunity to transfer you to another team within BMW to file a dealer complaint, but you declined at that time. We also see that you expressed dissatisfaction that we required funds of that amount to be paid via check. We wish to reaffirm our position that our loan payoff process is not cumbersome, but instead follows reasonable processes that were in adherence to our policies and procedures.
  
  Respectfully,
  
  BMW Bank of North America

• Initial Complaint

  04/04/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 02/16/2023 I redeemed my points that I earned from using my *** world Mastercard Credit card on their rewards website which is linked from their credit card website. I redeemed ****** points for a $250 rewards gift card. A few weeks later I received the gift card in the mail and once I read the terms, I noticed that the gift card was only good to use at a *** dealership or *** retail Shop. I immediately called the number on the back of the card to let them know that I thought I was getting a gift card that was good to use anywhere. I advised the *** customer service rep that I no longer own a *** vehicle and I had thought it was a basic **** or Mastercard gift card. On the rewards website they do have a $250 gift card option and that is what i thought I was receiving. I have been a card holder with *** financial for almost 20 years, never made a late payment and spent tens of thousands of dollars over the years on that card. The *** customer service rep was kind and said, " not a problem "" I will void out that card and we can just credit your credit card bill and you will see the $250 credit on your next statement," they then thanked me for being a long-time loyal customer and I was pleased with the service. Then a few weeks later I received a letter in the mail stating that they can't credit my account and there is nothing they can do regarding the gift card that was mailed to me. I then called *** card services again and asked to speak to customer service and explained my situation again and they advised me that once the card was issued that there was nothing they could do since they do not know if that gift card was spent or not, so I advised them that they could call the number on the back of the gift card which is the quickcardbalance.com number and check the balance there and they proceeded to tell me they have no way of knowing. I then called the number on the back of the gift card which was the quickcardbalance.com number and I spoke to one of their customer service members and they advised me that they do have the ability to see the balances on the gift cards and they also can void the cards and re issue them at any time. With that information I then called *** card services for the 3rd time and asked to speak to a manager and when a manager was on the phone, I explained the situation to her and all she said was there is nothing she can do and that I am basically stuck with that gift card. I then asked her if I could speak to her manager or someone above her and she placed me on hold and a few minutes later a women answered the phone and proceeded to become very rude and annoyed with our conversation. I explained the situation to her and let her know that I would be fine with any other gift card or a credit on my account however She then continued to tell me there is no one else above her and that if I would like I could write a letter and send it to an address that she was reading off to me so quickly that I could not even write it down fast enough. At this point I was so angry and upset that as a longtime customer of *** and *** card holder that I was being treated so poorly. It literally takes charging $20k to reach that level of a gift card and they won't even cancel or void it out and let me get another gift card or put my points back on to my rewards balance. I explained to them that I would take any other gift card or just put the points back to my rewards balance since I can't use that *** card at the *** store when I know they can void the card. Who treats their customers like this after purchases 2 brand new ***'s and have had their *** credit card for almost 20 years all for a $250 gift card? All to be treated so poorly? I took a break for a week or so and I thought I would call again and speak to a different manager so when I called again, I learned that the manager that was rude to me wasn't even a manager at all she was a supervisor. The person I was now speaking to let me know a manager would return my call. after 2 days I received a phone call on a Sunday and it was a manager and when I explained the situation to him, I had let him know how poorly I was treated by all his customer service reps over 3-4 different phone calls and all the miss information and the manager didn't even apologize, all he told me was that if I don't like the decision from the rewards center then I can write them a letter letting them know. So, on 4-5 different phone calls with each customer service rep being rude and non-helpful with each saying something different, who do you trust? I also asked the manger if he could pull my phone calls since all the customer service reps advised me, they were being recording he declared that he could not go back and pull the recordings?? All I wanted him to do was pull the recording so that he could witness the first call I made where the first rep stated they would credit my account and void my gift card and then pull the call from the rude women who pretended to be a manager? I am so confused. *** credit card services should and could easily void my gift card as it has not been used and just reimburse my points back to my balance.

  Business response

  05/08/2023

  BMW Bank of North America does not own or service any credit card accounts. ************* Services participates in a co-branding arrangement with US Bank, where US Bank is the owner of the account. US Bank would be the appropriate entity to address regarding this complaint.

• Initial Complaint

  01/17/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I paid off my BMW on 10/24/2022 and have called many times to get the title and a paper removing the lien. Each time I was told that the title Co is the problem: no follow up. I called a sale man where I bought it and he said the acct. is gone. My acct number with BMW is**********. I want to sell the car and the value is dropping.

  Business response

  05/08/2023

  BMW Bank of North America does not own or service this loan account. Instead, ************* Services would be the appropriate entity to address regarding this complaint.

• Initial Complaint

  08/12/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  During Covid 19 financial hardship period between March 2000 and November 2021 BMW offered 2 month deferment Auto Loan payment thru an automated option on the phone.. I opt to take the deferment in March over the phone only to realize that it did not apply and as a result April May June July and August was not paid timely. I was of the understanding that no late fees were being charge during the hardship period and it would not be reported to the credit bureau. I spoke to an associate and I was told BMW did not have to follow that rule or law. These were unprecedented times and I was experiencing financial hardship and still continue to do so in the aftermath but slowly getting back on my feet. Upon recent check of my credit report the following months were report late due to the failure of the 2 months deferment to be applied in time. April 2021 July 2021 and August 2021

• Initial Complaint

  11/18/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  - Missed one payment on accident the whole time I have had the loan - Was sick when I missed the one payment - The loan is almost paid off - Want the one missed payment removed from my credit report

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