Do Not Buy or Lease a Car from Genesis USA

Until You Know What Happened to Me

This is the story of how Genesis has caused financial harm to me by way of unfair credit reporting, financial irresponsibility, lack of accountability, and a complete disregard of customer service. I hope this information educates you as a consumer and helps you protect yourself and serves as a warning to the financial dangers of doing business with Genesis USA and Genesis Finance.

Being a Great Customer

I believe I am a model customer for the Genesis brand.

• I am STILL currently a lease customer of Genesis until December 17th of 2022
• I have been a continuous uninterrupted lease customer of Genesis since December 2016
• I have leased 2 Genesis G80s back-to-back and intended to lease my 3rd this year
• I have never missed a payment or made a late payment
• I have always had automatic deduction with Genesis Finance for all my lease payments
• I have complete visibility to all the lease finance details via their portal including lease payments, tax, tags, etc.
• I receive email notifications for all financial related transactions for the lease and regularly login and check the portal

Unfair and Incorrect Credit Reporting

In June of 2020 Genesis Finance began reporting a Charge Off with an Unpaid Balance to my credit history in the amount of $1,026.00 which has negatively impacted both my personal finances and business due to background and credit checks necessary of company principals.

According to Forbes.com: (A Charge Off) indicates that your creditor determined that you are unlikely to repay a delinquent account. In turn, the creditor closed your account and reported a charge-off to the credit reporting agencies. As a result, a charge-off will appear on your credit report indicating that you did not pay the outstanding balance and negatively impact your credit score.

• I have never received a bill
• I have never been contacted by phone or email
• This has never been posted to my online billing portal
• This is not included in my online billing history
• I am a current customer in "Good Standing"

Mistakes Happen Right?

As a principal in a software company I am the first to know that mistakes can happen. Although annoyed I assumed with a little leg work this situation could be easily resolved.

• I have contacted Genesis Finance 4 different times and been given the run-around in their "Recovery" department
• The recovery department has repeatedly offered me no avenue of escalation
• The recovery department has advised me multiple times to just pay the debt and accept the unfortunate credit reporting issue
• The recovery department employees have offered sympathy for the mistake and damage to my credit and advised me repeatedly there is nothing I can do except pay the debt
• I have contacted Genesis customer support 4 different times and they have just forwarded me to random people in the recovery department
• The "Recovery" department is a thinly veiled collections department that is in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)
  • In violation of FDCPA 15 U.S.C. 1692g on my first call they failed to notify me that they are a debt collector
  • In violation of FDCPA 15 U.S.C. 1692g on my first call they could not locate the debt in question or provide any details of the debt
  • In violation of FDCPA 15 U.S.C. 1692g after my first call they failed to provide the legally required information to me in writing
  • In violation of FDCPA 15 U.S.C. 1692g only after my 4th call over a year later did they disclose a written method available to dispute the charges
• I have called the dealership, ask to speak to the general manager, finance manager, and sales person involved and been denied contact to anyone except sales people
• The sales people have falsely advised me to "just pay the debt" and everything will be "good" similar to the recovery department

Personal and Professional Impact

Genesis operates their financial division with irresponsible policies and procedures and lack of accountability that provides existing customers in good standing no means of dispute resolution.

• Genesis Finance is the only derogatory or disputed account on my credit report
• As a result of this irresponsible derogatory reporting by Genesis Finance my credit score is below 700
• This has impacted my personal finances by limiting available credit amounts, increasing rates, and available loan options
• This has impacted business finance as a principal of a company
• This has impacted my personal work environment requiring me to explain and justify this charge off in various background checks required of company principals

According to Forbes.com: Charge-offs can cause your credit score to drop more than it already has if it’s preceded by a number of late payments. If a lawsuit and judgment follow a bad debt’s being charged off, that can deal another blow to your scores. Creditor judgments can stay on your credit reports for up to seven years.

My Willingness of Resolution

I have remained steadfast in my willingness to resolve this situation including paying any funds owed to Genesis by repeatedly contacting them.

• Eventually on my 3rd call to Genesis Finance I was informed the debt was related to excessive wear and tear fees for the return of my first Genesis G80
• Although I probably could; I am not disputing those charges and remain willing to pay them
• However, I require that the credit reporting be corrected and deleted from my credit history as part of a payment agreement

According to Forbes.com: Keep in mind that paying a charged-off bad debt, either in full or through a settlement, won’t remove it from your credit reports automatically. Negative items can’t be removed from your credit reports as long as they’re accurate until the seven-year window passes.

The Shady Dealer

The problems all really began with shady practices by the dealer

• I was a happy customer during the first lease
• My original lease date was December 27th 2016 and as such my return date was December 27th 2019
• I hated Having to return a lease and acquire a new car during Christmas
• I went back to the dealer a couple months early to discuss extending my lease by 3 months
• I wanted to deal with getting a new car after the Christmas season
• On that day 2019 the dealer coerced me into leaving with a new G80 lease
  • The dealer promised me to extend the new lease 2 months to get out of a Christmas return
  • The dealer assured me the condition of my return lease was so good that a pre-lease return inspection was not necessary
  • The dealer assured me that since I was leasing another G80 there would not be additional fees for the return vehicle
  • The dealer assured me they would assist with any issues should any arise

Covid-19 Complications

As we all know the end of 2019 heralded in what would become to be known as the Covid-19 pandemic. The most uncertain times of the pandemic were the first half of 2020 which is exactly when my vehicle was returned, new lease started, and any financial closure to the first lease would have been taking place. I believe that due to the chaos created by the pandemic errors were made by Genesis and Genesis Finance with billing, notifications, and other accounting required to have allowed me to satisfy this debut in a timely manner.

Things to Consider

Genesis failed to communicate the debt (if even valid), did not provide any bills, invoices, or attempt to collect the funds. Genesis falsely and unfairly charged the debt off and reported it to my credit and has since denied me basic customer service to assist with the issue all while being a current customer in good standing. As a result, Genesis has caused me personal and professional harm by way of financially irresponsible accounting practices and a complete lack of accountability to the end consumer.

I would recommend to anyone who asks me to not do business with Genesis USA. The finance department is a completely different operating business from the dealerships. The facade of unity through the life cycle of purchasing a vehicle, customer support, finance, and beyond is a complete lie. The business units are fragmented, disjoint, predatory, and only concerned with you while a new sale is pending. Once you enter the back half of the relationship you will be met with ice cold scripted responses and a complete lack of customer service both at the dealer and the finance level.

Additionally, I would recommend not using dealer provided finance and secure your own financing as it is to easy to assume the two are connected and provide useful value as a connected service. Further, I would generally recommend considering buying your lease out at the end of the lease and not returning it to the dealer as you can likely sell it for cash back and avoid predatory fees.

Have YOU been mistreated by Genesis? Want to share you story? Contact me at donotbuygenesis2022@gmail.com