WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND - TALK THE TALK BUT...
Written: Apr 05 '07 (Updated Apr 11 '07)
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Pros: Costco Partner
Cons: NOT HONOR A GOOD FAITH ESTIMATE / VERY SLOW CUSTOMER SERVICE RESPONSE TO SOLVE ISSUE
The Bottom Line: AVOID IT - IF SOMEBODY CANNOT KEEP A WRITTEN OFFER, WHY TRUST YOUR BUSINESS WITH THEM.
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| aleco2's Full Review: LendingTree |
04/05/07
I have just bought a house, and was in the process to shop for a mortgage and LendingTree was one of the companies I have sent my information to get a quote, since they have a partnership with Costco, and I am a BIG Costco fan, and of course, member.
Long story short, when I finally spoke to all 4 competitors, LendingTree was on the top 2, based on their initial Good Faith Estimate. I called LendingTree's loan officer to negotiate the final rate and conditions.
The loan officer informed that he could do better than the other competitor, that he had an excellent deal with one of the "investors", and offered a better rate, and sent me an email with the rate. Although I have requested an Good Faith Estimate, he sent just a simple email with rates and conditions. I called back, asked what was the next step and he asked for my credit card number to lock the rates, and that somebody from the processing center would be calling me in a couple of hours.
Instead of getting a call from the processing center, I received a call from the loan officer, asking me for the Good Faith Estimate from the competitor, otherwise he could not honor the rates he offered, because he had do give to the "investor" a reason to give me a good rate... I said I would not do so, because that was not requested during the negotiation.
Then I asked if he could honor his initial Good Faith Estimate, and he said no again.
I felt very insecure about dealing with a firm that cannot honor what you offer, and decided not to go with LendingTree.
But since I am a Costco member, as I said before, I called LendingTree/Costco line to complain about what just happened. The customer service was great. The representative told me that this was not acceptable and that she would live a message to the loan's officer manager.
So in that afternoon, the loan's officer manager calls me, and he assured me that this has been a miscommunication, that he had a very good offer, and made me feel that I could trust them. So I gave it a shot. By the end of the day, he said that the processing center would be calling me on Monday, and that if there was anything wrong or if I still did not feel comfortable, I could cancel the whole process.
Monday came and I did not get any calls. Red light! Second time they say they will do something and end up not doing. Also, I noticed that they had charged my credit card on the previous Friday, on the amount of $600. I was never told to me that they would charge my credit card this amount!!!!!!!
For me that was it. Later that night I called the customer service line and explained what happened and requested to cancel/stop the whole process. Made it clear that did not want to go with LendingTree. I asked for a confirmation of my request, to be sent to my email, so everything would be registered.
On the following morning, both the loan officer and his manager called me. I just spoke to the loan’s officer manager, and explained that I was not secure to close with LendingTree. I confirmed that the they would reverse the $600 back to my credit card, the manager confirmed, he said that it would take a couple of days. Them he asked if the loan officer had insulted me or if he had being rude, I clearly explained that the issue was that he promised something and was not capable of keeping his WRITTEN promise. He apologized and that was end of conversation.
A week later, I noticed that my credit card did not receive the $600 back, and to my surprise, I received an email from LendingTree saying “thank you for trusting us with your loan application…”. I immediately called the customer service line, and asked for a status on my original request to receive the credit back.
The customer service representative was extremely sympathetic and said that it should never had taken more then a couple of days, and that since it was the second time I was calling about it, it was going to be escalated, and that I should be contacted in 24 hours.
24hours goes by and once again nobody calls me. I call to follow up. Now they say it is 48 hours.
48hours goes by and once again… yes, nobody calls me. I call to follow up. Now they say it is 72 hours…
I has been almost 2 weeks now, and I still do not have any resolution…
UPDATED 04/10/07 After 2 weeks of inummerous calls, LendingTree finally considered my request. They have called me to advise that my request had been reviewed, approved and the full refund for $600 would be reversed back to my credit card.
As I did in all other calls, I requested for an email confirming the conversation. For the first time, they sent it to me. Case closed.
BOTTOM LINE: IF YOU DECIDE TO GO ON-LINE, DO NOT PROVIDE YOUR CREDIT CARD NUMBER UNTIL YOU RECEIVE A GOOD FAITH ESTIMATE ON THE RATE PROMISED TO YOU. AFTER RECEIVING THE GOOD FAITH ESTIMATE, SEND AN EMAIL BACK ASKING TO CONFIRM THAT THE OFFER IS A FIRM OFFER, NOT PENDING ON PROVIDING GOOD FAITH ESTIMATES FROM COMPETITORS, THAT THERE ARE NO DISCOUNT/ORIGINATION POINTS AND ASK FOR CLEAR IDENTIFICATION OF THE LENDER'S (AKA INVESTOR) COMPANY NAME.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
aleco2
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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