Updated by user Aug 28, 2019
Just to give an update on this. I called American Web Loan again after writing this review and sent 2 more additional emails.
The last person I spoke said she would escalate my complaint to their resolution department and have someone contact me back. Well that never happened. No one from AWL ever contacted me back. Instead i received a letter in the mail from AWL and their response was the same response that the representatives i spoke to kept telling me.
The letter never talked about my actual complaint which was about the "prepayment" statement in my loan agreement. All it said was again, that I am not entitled to a refund. And that by me paying the loan off early I dont have to pay an prepayment penalties or the remaining interest/finance charge, which i already knew and understood. My complaint was about the specific statement that says i may be entitled to a REFUND of part of my FINANCE CHARGE if I pay the loan early.
Which again, i paid my loan early and paid 1300 in finance charges... so again why am I not entitled to receive a partial refund of my finance charge??? They even included my loan agreement with this letter they sent me which again has this statement in black and white. When I emailed them I even lowered my refund request down to around $500.
I never recieved any email response from them other than them telling me to contact them and when I did contact them their so called resolution person who I spoke to the first time never called me back like she said she would, and after I called and spoke to another person who said I would receive a phone call back I didn't that time either. Ignoring my complaint about a statement in a loan agreement that is clear as day is not even close to customer service. And responding to me by sending a letter that again doesn't tell me or explain why i cant get a partial refund based on that statement in their loan agreement isn't a resolution either.
In my opinion the only reason why they are ignoring me and choosing not to acknowledge their "prepayment" statement in their loan agreement is because they know I'm right. They know that I could be entitled to a partial refund of my finance charge for paying my loan early and they are so greedy that instead of abiding by their contract and giving me a partial refund they would much rather just ignore it all together.
Original review Jul 29, 2019
I took out a loan with AWL in April and paid it off in July. It was a for $1500 payments of around $400 per month 12 month term and I paid it off 8 months early and after I paid it off I paid AWL a total of around $2800.
There is a statement in my loan agreement that says "prepayment: if you pay the loan early you will not be subject to a penalty and you may be entitled to a refund of part of the finance charge." I paid my loan 8 months early and my finance charge was over $3600. I contacted AWL and spoke to multiple people who said I can't get a refund. When I asked why they said because i only get a refund if I overpay. I explained that the statement in the loan agreement doesnt say that and they all asked me where in my loan agreement am i seeing that statement.
I had to explain to the representatives where to find a statement in their own loan agreement paperwork!? I filed a complaint with the BBB and i spoke to a resolution specialist with AWL who told me the same thing and again asked where I was reading that statement. She told me she would look into it for me and call me back. That was a week ago....
and not only that but AWL responded to my BBB complaint by saying they never got a hold of me. I spoke to them on 7/22 and the next day is when i received their response to my BBB complaint about never speaking to me. I did put in my BBB that i spoke to the representative and the time I spoke to her as well and AWL never responded after that and the representative still hasnt called me back. I emailed AWL customer service and still nothing.
I have been doing a lot of research and based on what I found it says AWL is illegal in PA which is where I live and I have been told that I actually didn't even have to pay as much as I did because they arent legal in PA. My interest rate was over 300% and based on that statement in my loan agreement i am requesting a refund of only $800. The $800 is the difference between what I paid to AWL and my finance charge. I'm not asking for all of the interest that i paid to AWL, just a refund of part of what I paid based on the statement in my loan agreement, and also there is nothing in my loan agreement that disqualifies me from a receiving a refund of part of my finance charge.
I am upset that AWL hasnt called me back, and that they lied by saying they never got a hold of me, and that everytime i talk to them they tell me that what I'm reading doesn't mean what it says.
They all keep telling me its just that I dont have to pay the remaining finance charge or that i dont get a refund because i didn't overpay. That statement specifically states prepayment and uses the words pay early and refund of part of the finance charge which is all I am asking for.
