This sounds like a nightmare in the making! WOW! You just can't accept this. Either there's a mistake or someone got screwed by some shady people. Sorry brotha! Fight this to the end!

 

Moral: NEVER lease. Get a loan and BUY. Leasing companies are low-lifes.

 

Debt collectors and repo men are also low lifes. Never lease and never buy until you have the cash. It's about the same amount of money, just learning to delay getting that new car until you've saved up the money rather than spending now and paying for it later with compouding interest working against you.

 

Hmm...

Are you sure that it was a call from US Bank? That sounds like a scammer trying it on to me.

 

Hmm.. You might be right. I called US Bank using the number printed on my statement and the representative told me that I have a zero balance on my account and that was the end of the story.

As a precaution, I just added a security freeze on my SSN to all three credit agencies.

 

Turn it over to your insurance company. Let the bank fight with them.

 

No, because this might turn into giant rate increases. Put the burden on caller to show you the car, show the damage, and prove that the damage wasn't caused by some dealership employee joyriding over rough terrain. When the car was turned in, the at was inspected, that should be that. Get an attorney that is so mean even you don't like him (or her) and rattle your saber that you've always wanted to own a piece of a finance company.

 

Scammers are relentless of coming up with new ways to steal, always get it in writing. No legitimate company would call on the phone ( or government like the IRS ), they would ALWAYS us US mail to inform you of an issue.

You should change the title of your thread to reflect a scam, its not US bank you have an issue with

 

I'm still not 100% sure this is a scam. I called US Bank back using the number printed on their statement and got transferred to the same department. I spoke to a US Bank rep and he said that my balance is showing zero, but the other department might know something he doesn't know. Unfortunately, their offices are now closed, so I can't get any additional information out of them today.

Here's a more technical question. If the battery cables on the bottom of the Volt were severed, would the car even be driveable?

 

Did you Google the phone number that called you?

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

I got two calls. 800-562-5205 and 800-437-1998. Searching the first number was inconclusive. The 2nd number seems to indicate a scammer. I'll call the official US Bank number printed on the US Bank statement tomorrow to confirm.

 

US bank would send a letter not call you.

 

The link is broken but there may be a cached version I can't reach from my phone.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

The link is broken but there may be a cached version I can't reach from my phone.

View attachment 130281

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Here is the cached version. All it does is list the phone number.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...eedy-excess-wear-and-tear-charge-371769+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=safari

 

I think you're being scammed. You couldn't drive the car with any severed battery cables. The only one under the car is the APU cable and if it somehow got damaged there'd be warning lights aplenty, if the car didn't just shut down. It's an armored cable running along the fuel lines. Pretty hard to damage.

 

Interesting. If it's a scam, how do they get you to pay them without tipping their hand that they're not really US Bank? I mean if your insurance company gets involved, surely they'll figure out, or already know that this is a scam that's been done before.

 

They probably come up with something like this;
"Sir, you sound like a reasonable guy who's not trying to get away with this...so here's what we can do for you. In order to save extra handling charges and interest costs, if you can arrange to wire, or e-transfer $8000 to us by 10pm tonight when we close, that will square things away on our end...sound good"

Or something to that effect. Like somebody above said earlier, scammers are relentless in their efforts to come up with ways to help people part with their money. Because they know one thing for certain....and that is that a hard working honest person will do almost/pay almost ANYTHING, to make a problem go away. Never forget that

 

Sounds like a scam to me. Not only is the process odd, the claimed damage seems strange, the amount owed seems crazy high, and the amount is oddly even (ever get a car service bill for $100 even?). Plus, and perhaps to the point, US Bank has no record of the issue.

No doubt the idea is to let you negotiate what you owe "down" to a more reasonable amount.

 

I use my smartphone as my only phone. I screen my calls and do not answer any whose number is not identified either from my phone's address book or recognized by me. My thought is that any legitimate caller with an important topic will leave a voicemail. No voicemail, no call-back, and I call back only if I feel the message is important to me. It's amazing how many Caribbean cruises or Florida land ownership opportunities I miss out on

I was very, very leery upon turn-in to leave my 2012 leased Volt with the dealer to await an unscheduled arrival of an inspector. I took pictures of the car at the suggestion of the salesman who leased the car to me and who thoughtfully took off the plates for me, as well as the registration and inspection stickers on the windshield. I feel blessed that all went well for me and I got the letter of acceptance from US Bank a week or two later. I will never, never do a lease again! The risk is too great for my taste. Three months later I went back and bought the year-old 2014 from them (same salesman - actually, the only one trained in the Volt) that had been sitting on their lot and displayed in their showroom. It's been a very good car for me and great as a road car.

The OP's experience smells too much like a scam to me (my ex-wife hints at my being too cynical about people's motives). My advice to the OP is to call back on Monday and be very curt with whomever he speaks to telling them to send him a letter, including photos of the alleged damage, that he will have no further contact with them pending receipt of their letter and photos, and that he will no longer accept calls from them until the letter arrives. Politeness in this instance is unnecessary. IMHO, if this is legitimate, they will comply .

I'm sorry for the nightmare the OP is going through. This is a sh***y mess!

 

Leased 7 cars so far between us and never been a big issue. Take pictures and repair properly any damage that would be excessive and you should be fine. Tons of cars are leased and it is a good thing. Need people to buy and lease new cars or the whole industry fails. You can find just as many stories of people "stuck" with a car they don't like because they are upside down, car broke outside of warranty, etc..

Basically, this sounds like a scam and I don't think US Bank is any worse than others when it comes to lease returns.

 

UPDATE:

I called US Bank this morning (using the printed phone number on the statement) and another rep told me that I am showing a zero balance. I told the rep that someone from US Bank called me last week saying they found additional damage to the vehicle during auction, but the rep said the notes said they already billed me for it and it is showing a zero balance. The manager in charge wasn't in the office, so they'll have to call me back again.

 

Thanks for the update.

Please continue to keep us informed.

Good luck!

 

US Bank finally called me back and it looks like this wasn't a scam caller. They emailed me the pictures of the damage, the estimate, and the transport receipt information. I don't know how much I can/should share because I believe this is now going through a formal arbitration procedure.

 

I still think it's a scam. How do you know what car is in the pictures?

I think that there is an inside person feeding the scammer information and copies of documents.

Get ahold of the US Bank fraud department and send them a copy of the material you were sent, including the envelope.

 

I changed our my tires before returning the vehicle and I recognize the tread pattern in the pictures I received. They also emailed me using the US Bank email and I also checked LinkedIn for the person's profile. While it's conceivable this is a very elaborate scam, I don't think it's likely. Regardless, they will be dealing with my insurance and I'm sure my insurance company is going to scrutinize everything.

 

If this were formal arbitration, you would be asked to pick one arbitrator. Did that happen?

 

It could have likely happened during this "Transport".
The trucker damaged the bottom of the car loading it onto the transporter.

 

That's my thought as well. The US Bank rep told me they ruled out transport damage because the bolts that were shorn had rust on them and that if the transport company had done the damage, the bolts would have been shiny at the shorn areas.

I don't completely buy this explanation because I returned the car on in early December and the vehicle was not transported until early January. So that's over a month that the car was out of my possession.

I'm no expert on rust formation, but I read that depending on weather conditions, it can form in a couple of days. I believe the transport from the dealership to the auction house did take several days.

 

Can you post the pictures? I would demand to examine the car personally yourself. Look for other damage, additional mileage that can't be explained, stuff like that.

 

 

Well, that sucks, I agree it's now up to your insurance to handle it.

 

Those are ground straps. There isn't any power going through those. Some welding to reattach the studs and it's good to go.

 

According to the quote they sent me, they want over $10K to install a new battery because the battery compartment is no longer waterproofed.

 

They won't get it. The car would be a total loss according to any insurance. They are hoping you'll settle for less and they will patch it together.

 

'Tis a wicked world we live in...

Do you happen to know if the grounding straps are actually bolted to the battery? From the pictures, it seems that they are bolted to some sheet metal, but not necessarily the actual battery.

 

I'm not sure. I can see if I can squeeze under my car tomorrow and see what a intact car looks like.

 

That would be much appreciated!