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Audi Financial Services
I purchased an Audi Allroad and financed it through Audi Financial Services in 2004. I set up the payments to be automatically debited each month from my bank account. Roughly 9 months ago (aug 2005), we moved into our new house and I was not paying attention to all the debits on my account because we were spending for this here and that there.
Fast forward to march 2006, as we were doing our taxes and referring back to our bank account to reconcile some expenses, my wife and I discovered that we had been debited twice for one month :mad: (we have removed the auto-debit once it was discovered we got double-dipped). We had plenty of funds in the account so insufficient funds was not a factor. I've contacted them numerous times, getting a different rep who gave me the canned answers of we'll look into and get back to you -- and then no response. :mad:
I've asked my bank to get involved and they have faxed all documents which showed what had happened. It has been 3 months since my initial inquiry. And nothing.... :mad: I just can't believe it. I've filed a complaint with the Los Angeles BBB, where I found out Audi FS has a "D" rating. Which is about as bad as you can have. Basically, you want to run away from anyone who has this kind of rating.
In principle, I can no longer respect the Audi brand, although I still love my car, I will not buy another Audi after this experience -- they lost me as a customer and this was my second audi.
If you're going to buy an Audi and have to finance, just make sure you finance it through your bank that you have a long relationship with. It blows me away STILL that a company that's doing this well would have an affiliation with such a poorly rated finance company.
My guess is... any finance company affiliated with an auto maker would be the same.
Fast forward to march 2006, as we were doing our taxes and referring back to our bank account to reconcile some expenses, my wife and I discovered that we had been debited twice for one month :mad: (we have removed the auto-debit once it was discovered we got double-dipped). We had plenty of funds in the account so insufficient funds was not a factor. I've contacted them numerous times, getting a different rep who gave me the canned answers of we'll look into and get back to you -- and then no response. :mad:
I've asked my bank to get involved and they have faxed all documents which showed what had happened. It has been 3 months since my initial inquiry. And nothing.... :mad: I just can't believe it. I've filed a complaint with the Los Angeles BBB, where I found out Audi FS has a "D" rating. Which is about as bad as you can have. Basically, you want to run away from anyone who has this kind of rating.
In principle, I can no longer respect the Audi brand, although I still love my car, I will not buy another Audi after this experience -- they lost me as a customer and this was my second audi.
If you're going to buy an Audi and have to finance, just make sure you finance it through your bank that you have a long relationship with. It blows me away STILL that a company that's doing this well would have an affiliation with such a poorly rated finance company.
My guess is... any finance company affiliated with an auto maker would be the same.
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Comments
Niggling charges up the whazoo on a very, very undermileage car. M Benz was a wonderful experience on a similarly driven vehicle turned in only two weeks later. No turn in fees, not even the disposition. Audi was horrible.
Somebody should tell AFS about customer service, it was a nightmare and isn't going to help the brand. Of course, I couldn't even get a supervisor on the line at Audi to discuss the issue. I am very dissatified with Audi. Kudos to Mercedes though!
Niggling charges up the whazoo on a very, very undermileage car. Mercedes Benz was a wonderful experience on a similarly driven vehicle turned in only two weeks later. No turn in fees, not even the disposition! Audi was horrible and had many unjust and even incorrect fees.
Somebody should tell AFS about customer service, it was a nightmare to reach anyone there. Of course, I couldn't even get a supervisor on the line at Audi to discuss the issues and the clerks were bored by my calls. I am very dissatisfied with Audi. Kudos to Mercedes though!
When you lease your car, you have a negotiated residual. If you want to trade in your leased vehicle through AFS, you simply pay the negotiated buyout price, which decreases each month of your lease until the end when it equals the residuatl value.
However, AFS will only sell the car at the contract price to you. So if you attempt to trade the car in to a dealer and buy a new car, they will give you a "special quote" based on "fair market value". This is much higher than the price you can buy the car for.
In other words, they will jack up the price making it impossible for you to trade in your Audi without paying significant out of pocket. This is truly a customer hostile policy. They will not negotiate. You can't buy the car and turn around and sell it to the dealer for the same price because you will incur substantial sales tax, unless you are in a no sales tax state.
So basically you can forget a lease trade in of an Audi without eating at least $1000. From what I understand, they are the only financing company that does this.
While there is no question this is unfair and customer unfriendly, the question is whether it is even legal in all states or constitutes an unfair business practice.
I just wanted to offer another side of the coin (so to speak).
Or maybe you know who to talk to there!!! When I called in, it seemed that the people in CS were less interested than the ones you get transferred over to sometimes in India....
new lease but no way! AFS demanded that I pay the $150 nevertheless; even a letter to Jo Lebeck, AFS's Director, was answered by an "assistant" who would not relent on my obligation to pay the fee despite their offer. I wouldn't go to court for such a trivial amount but I am now ordering a 2008 S4 but AFS no more! I will lease it through Chase.