Dr.Destructo
Diamond Member
- Jan 14, 2024
- 3,670
- 5,142
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Just thought I'd share some info about auto billing with you. Just in case you wonder why your bill is fucked up, or you can't get a straight up answer, or you're losing money and they don't know where it's at.
I work in one of Toyotas many, MANY billing departments. And here's some stuff you might find interesting.
*Toyota, a billion dollar a year company, REFUSES to invest in an updated billing system that is comprehensive and can do it all. Instead, their main billing system is LITERALLY from 1980!!! All inclusive with the black screen and square, green fonts and numbers. And the ongoing problems are so numerous, it would take days to list them all.
*Toyota billing is split up into different sectors, different regions, and different locations. And they all work differently and don't give a shit what they fuck up, because it will just be sent to another location/department/sector for someone else to have to correct. And even with that, they don't do it right.
*Because Toyota has such an antiquated, ass backwards billing system, all the other programs that have to be used in conjunction with their mainstay system thats constantly breaking down, are never updated. All the other programs and systems are just as outdated, as they cannot keep them current........or in reality, REFUSE to keep them current. Which means THOSE programs are always breaking down as well.
*The amount of customer information and payments that is screwed to hell is un-fucking-believable! The American healthcare insurance structure is 100% more reliable than Toyotas billing system. NOBODY gives a flying fuck either. From the input of bank/payment information, to the updating of customer information, to having the payment go into the corrent account........it's a blind fuckfest of Russian Roulette.
*You've got THOUSANDS of people touching your information on a daily basis. Not one person, not one group, not one department.........but THOUSANDS of people. There is no English descriptive word for this level of incompetent buisness management of ignorance and stupidity.
Now, here's the part you might want to REALLY pay attention to -
*Many customers have automatic payments thru Toyota finance. BIG FUCKING MISTAKE!!!!! Their payment system is as fucked as their billing system. Customers who have signed up for auto payments or deductions CANNOT GET IT DISCONNECTED unless they change bank accounts.
*Many, many, many, many, MANY customers who have paid off their vehicles STILL are getting auto payments made and deducted from their accounts. Some customers realize this and have to fight tooth and nail with Toyota and their banks to get "disconnected". And MOST people don't even realize they are still making payments on a vehicle thats long been paid off!!!! One customer had $1200.00 monthly payments being deducted from his account for THREE YEARS before he noticed!!!! DO NOT GET AUTO PAYMENT OR AUTO DEDUCTION!!!!
*Now SOME problems are CUSTOMER problems. Such as not updating their info when they move, change phone numbers, or something that can affect their account. Most often, we cannot get in touch with customers because they never update their phone numbers, and never respond to mailed requests to contact customer service.
*Due to these factors, and others..........MANY, MANY customers have a shit ton of money they owe, or ARE owed. But we cannot get ahold of them and/or they refuse to respond to the letters sent to them. A lot of the time, we get the letters returned as "bad address" or "undeliverable" because they changed addresses or gave us the wrong information, or the person taking the information is a fuktard and fucked it ALL up in the system.
*We also have customers who are getting FREE MONEY. This involves customers or the banking people, putting the WRONG account numbers on the payments and these payments get sent to a closed (paid off) account, and the money gets refunded to the person on the closed account.
I run across a LOT of these. And in fact, just last week ran across one where NOBODY did their research on this obviously misapplied account.
A customer who had paid off their account years ago, was getting "refunds" sent to her from incoming payments that did not have her name on them, but nobody bothered to check this out. So she ended up getting around $6500.00 in FREE MONEY sent to her before I put a stop to it.
So Toyota had to pull funds out of the SUS fund to pay this money to the CORRECT customer, who had his account marked as "late payments", when in fact, he was NOT late in his payments..........the fuktards that can't be bothered to do their jobs MADE him late by NOT doing their jobs and catching this SIMPLE AND EASY fix.
*Customers who use third parties to make their payments for them, do not bother to tell these third parties when their vehicle has been paid off.....and these third parties keep on sending in monthly payments. They get refunded to the sender of the payments, but THE CUSTOMER has to put it in writing to these third party entities paying their auto bill for them to STOP, other wise, they don't. And this costs a LOT of money to process.
*I have recently also noticed........there are a LOT of customers who have paid off their vehicles years ago, and for some WEIRD FUCKING REASON, started sending in monthly payments again. And we attempt to contact them, but their listed phone doesn't work, their listed address is "bad", and nothing we try works, when trying to contact these people. So these funds go into a special account. The company cannot keep this money, so it goes into a state treasury fund under the customers name after a certain amount of time.
So, there's some tidbits for you, from the world of automotive billing.
Not all auto makers that have their own lending/insurance systems are THIS bad, but most are. Toyota is THE worst by far.
I'm not saying don't buy a Toyota. I'm saying GET YOUR LOAN FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!!
ANYWHERE ELSE!!!!! A bank loan is your best bet. Or a title service, depending on where you live.
NEVER USE TOYOTAS FINANCING SERVICES OR INSURANCE SERVICES!!!! NEVER!!!!!
Now, if you've recently started paying on a vehicle or paid it off in the last 5 years.........I would call your financier and do a check up on your account. Are ALL of your payments posted on YOUR account? Is ALL of your contact information VIABLE and USABLE? Are there any payments owed or expected on your end, that haven't been processed yet?
If your vehicle has been paid off, you can still call and make sure that no cash backs or refunds from insurance programs have come in and maybe sitting around waiting to be paid to you. Sometimes these things can take a year to come around and get paid out to you. The company is in NO HURRY to send you money you might need.
As you should make checkups on your Credit Bureau accounts at least once a year.........so should you make at least yearly checkups on your auto and home loans.
Hope this has been informative for you.
I work in one of Toyotas many, MANY billing departments. And here's some stuff you might find interesting.
*Toyota, a billion dollar a year company, REFUSES to invest in an updated billing system that is comprehensive and can do it all. Instead, their main billing system is LITERALLY from 1980!!! All inclusive with the black screen and square, green fonts and numbers. And the ongoing problems are so numerous, it would take days to list them all.
*Toyota billing is split up into different sectors, different regions, and different locations. And they all work differently and don't give a shit what they fuck up, because it will just be sent to another location/department/sector for someone else to have to correct. And even with that, they don't do it right.
*Because Toyota has such an antiquated, ass backwards billing system, all the other programs that have to be used in conjunction with their mainstay system thats constantly breaking down, are never updated. All the other programs and systems are just as outdated, as they cannot keep them current........or in reality, REFUSE to keep them current. Which means THOSE programs are always breaking down as well.
*The amount of customer information and payments that is screwed to hell is un-fucking-believable! The American healthcare insurance structure is 100% more reliable than Toyotas billing system. NOBODY gives a flying fuck either. From the input of bank/payment information, to the updating of customer information, to having the payment go into the corrent account........it's a blind fuckfest of Russian Roulette.
*You've got THOUSANDS of people touching your information on a daily basis. Not one person, not one group, not one department.........but THOUSANDS of people. There is no English descriptive word for this level of incompetent buisness management of ignorance and stupidity.
Now, here's the part you might want to REALLY pay attention to -
*Many customers have automatic payments thru Toyota finance. BIG FUCKING MISTAKE!!!!! Their payment system is as fucked as their billing system. Customers who have signed up for auto payments or deductions CANNOT GET IT DISCONNECTED unless they change bank accounts.
*Many, many, many, many, MANY customers who have paid off their vehicles STILL are getting auto payments made and deducted from their accounts. Some customers realize this and have to fight tooth and nail with Toyota and their banks to get "disconnected". And MOST people don't even realize they are still making payments on a vehicle thats long been paid off!!!! One customer had $1200.00 monthly payments being deducted from his account for THREE YEARS before he noticed!!!! DO NOT GET AUTO PAYMENT OR AUTO DEDUCTION!!!!
*Now SOME problems are CUSTOMER problems. Such as not updating their info when they move, change phone numbers, or something that can affect their account. Most often, we cannot get in touch with customers because they never update their phone numbers, and never respond to mailed requests to contact customer service.
*Due to these factors, and others..........MANY, MANY customers have a shit ton of money they owe, or ARE owed. But we cannot get ahold of them and/or they refuse to respond to the letters sent to them. A lot of the time, we get the letters returned as "bad address" or "undeliverable" because they changed addresses or gave us the wrong information, or the person taking the information is a fuktard and fucked it ALL up in the system.
*We also have customers who are getting FREE MONEY. This involves customers or the banking people, putting the WRONG account numbers on the payments and these payments get sent to a closed (paid off) account, and the money gets refunded to the person on the closed account.
I run across a LOT of these. And in fact, just last week ran across one where NOBODY did their research on this obviously misapplied account.
A customer who had paid off their account years ago, was getting "refunds" sent to her from incoming payments that did not have her name on them, but nobody bothered to check this out. So she ended up getting around $6500.00 in FREE MONEY sent to her before I put a stop to it.
So Toyota had to pull funds out of the SUS fund to pay this money to the CORRECT customer, who had his account marked as "late payments", when in fact, he was NOT late in his payments..........the fuktards that can't be bothered to do their jobs MADE him late by NOT doing their jobs and catching this SIMPLE AND EASY fix.
*Customers who use third parties to make their payments for them, do not bother to tell these third parties when their vehicle has been paid off.....and these third parties keep on sending in monthly payments. They get refunded to the sender of the payments, but THE CUSTOMER has to put it in writing to these third party entities paying their auto bill for them to STOP, other wise, they don't. And this costs a LOT of money to process.
*I have recently also noticed........there are a LOT of customers who have paid off their vehicles years ago, and for some WEIRD FUCKING REASON, started sending in monthly payments again. And we attempt to contact them, but their listed phone doesn't work, their listed address is "bad", and nothing we try works, when trying to contact these people. So these funds go into a special account. The company cannot keep this money, so it goes into a state treasury fund under the customers name after a certain amount of time.
So, there's some tidbits for you, from the world of automotive billing.
Not all auto makers that have their own lending/insurance systems are THIS bad, but most are. Toyota is THE worst by far.
I'm not saying don't buy a Toyota. I'm saying GET YOUR LOAN FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!!
ANYWHERE ELSE!!!!! A bank loan is your best bet. Or a title service, depending on where you live.
NEVER USE TOYOTAS FINANCING SERVICES OR INSURANCE SERVICES!!!! NEVER!!!!!
Now, if you've recently started paying on a vehicle or paid it off in the last 5 years.........I would call your financier and do a check up on your account. Are ALL of your payments posted on YOUR account? Is ALL of your contact information VIABLE and USABLE? Are there any payments owed or expected on your end, that haven't been processed yet?
If your vehicle has been paid off, you can still call and make sure that no cash backs or refunds from insurance programs have come in and maybe sitting around waiting to be paid to you. Sometimes these things can take a year to come around and get paid out to you. The company is in NO HURRY to send you money you might need.
As you should make checkups on your Credit Bureau accounts at least once a year.........so should you make at least yearly checkups on your auto and home loans.
Hope this has been informative for you.
