Banks and consumer rights

Last week, a friend of mine had his leased car repossessed by a local bank, supposedly due to missed payments on his part. In fact, he had just paid his dues the same day well within the 90-day allowed grace period. It seems the actual issue was quite different.

A few days ago, my friend got a call from a very rude lady from the bank threatening him with action if he didn’t pay up immediately. She also (mis)informed him that he had missed 2 payments which we later found out was only one. The rude woman went on to call his house and harass his family and when my friend refused to talk to this particular rep, he got a call from her superior. Not one of apology, but one accusing him of harassment. Harassment laws aren’t very strong here so there wasn’t much legal action either could take.

What did the bank do? Seemingly sent out people to find the car in such a spread out city and bring it in to their compound. It took many hours of negotiation to settle the dispute and get the car back, but we did see a glimpse of how much power these banks hold. Delving into the lease agreement, it was found that the bank has the right to repo the car at its own will, even if you’ve been a good customer. If you haven’t, then you won’t even get any of your paid amount back. Though my experiences with local banks are much more limited, I myself am having a hard time coping with them.

Now, a lot of us have agreed to do our best to avoid these banks altogether and some are even selling their leased cars, preferring a less costly one bought with hard-earned cash or even willing to brave the abysmal public transport system.