Banktastic!

I am good with my bills. Very, very, very good. I naturally had to take out a car loan for my vehicle when I bought it in July. I went through the dealer, who dealt with Old Kent Bank. I went through my first five payments just fine... and then I moved.

Last Saturday, I found four envelopes from Old Kent in my mail, each with my new, typoed address. The first one was a delightful message claiming that I owed them $1000ish, including late fees, for the loan. It was due on October 21st, and the letter was dated November 30th.

The second letter claimed that I owed them $1300ish, including late fees, for the loan. It too was due on October 21st. The third letter claimed that I owed them $800ish, including late fees, for the loan. It was due on.. October 21st. And the fourth letter - guess! - claimed that I owed them $600ish, including late fees, for the loan. It was due on August 21st. Note that every single letter was dated November 30th.

I called their 800 number, but it was a Saturday at 12:30pm and they weren't around. I called my local branch and informed the mostly helpful woman about the situation. The very first thing she asked afterwards was, "What is the account number?" I told her, and was informed that these past due notices were not for my loan account. So it was a mixup. "Drop them off here and I'll take care of them." I did, and figured that would be it.

Nope. Monday I got a fifth letter, dated November 30th, claiming I owed my usual monthly amount as of August 21. And, best yet, it welcomed me to Old Kent and said that I'd be getting a payment book shortly! I was concerned about my credit more than anything... so I called again.

Totally different person this time. "It shows your next payment is due on December 21st." And that's right, it is, but what about these past due statements? "You're not past due." I know, I know, I'm a good billpayer. "Oh! I know what happened!

"When you moved, they closed your old loan account. They then opened up a whole new loan account under your name with the new address on November 30th. Then they credited your account with the amount from your old account on November 30th. So don't use your current payment book, because that account is closed."

Impressive, eh? So I'm getting a new payment book in addition to those 5 junk letters... all to just have a new address that is still spelled wrong anyway. I'm looking to move that loan account elsewhere this week. -pm