Citizen's Auto Finance

August 11th, 2007 at 01:37 pm

Does any one here have any experience with this company? My new car loan is from Citizens. I have yet to receive any information from them regarding my loan, and my first payment is due on the 27th of August. So, Wednesday I finally found their phone number (thanks to a Yahoo Answers question--the phone number is not on any of my documents and I couldn't find a website) and gave them a call. They said they do the billing for the month on the 7th. Well, now it is the 11th, and I still don't have a bill from them. Plus, their website is really terrible and it costs an extra $12 to make an online payment. Really stupid.

My last car loan came from a bank that sent a book of vouchers at the beginning of the loan. Now I guess most companies don't do that anymore. I much prefer the old way, and I'd prefer to pay online. I think it is crazy to charge extra for that feature.

Posted in Uncategorized | 37 Comments »

37 Responses to “Citizen's Auto Finance”

Cary Says:
September 6th, 2007 at 11:38 am

Did you find out anything more about Citizens? I just financed a car and I have been trying to find out more about them. You referenced a website. Do you have the URL?
jdedit2001 Says:
September 6th, 2007 at 12:04 pm

Well, they are a subsidy of Citizen's bank (www.citizensbank.com). I'm not exactly sure how you use that website to pay your bill. Like I said, they don't have much of a web presence. And they charge to pay online. I just set up to pay via my bank's online bill pay, and that first payment worked fine.
wtym123 Says:
September 6th, 2007 at 06:20 pm

I got a car loan from Citizens almost 4 years ago. I have NEVER received a statement from them in the mail. I was in the same boat as you - no phone number, no account number.

When I setup my loan, I automatically debited from my checking. I haven't heard anything from them in 4 years. I threw away the payment coupon book - what a waste.

Wake up Citizens Auto Finance - make a way for us customers to easily access our loan information, and pay online without a big fee.
jdedit2001 Says:
September 6th, 2007 at 07:03 pm

You know, I had to go looking for their phone number. I finally found it through a Yahoo Answers question. Anyway, the person who asked the question also had trouble with statement delivery. I did receive my first statement, but the window between when it was delivered and when the payment was due was very tight. I'm considering refinancing through my bank so I can pay online and monitor my balance.
Clavigne Says:
September 12th, 2007 at 10:31 am

Wow - I am in the same position and I thought it was just something I had overlooked or not done yet. Can I get the phone number from you? I would like to try to do something about my situation and try to setup automatic debits. Thank you!
weenie Says:
September 13th, 2007 at 06:07 am

Does anyone have that telephone number? I too have the same issue. I bought a car on 8/27/07 and still have not received any information regarding my first payment. If they don't send statements or send any information, how does everyone pay their monthly car payments?
jdedit2001 Says:
September 13th, 2007 at 06:19 am

Their number is 877-265-3278. Weenie, they did send me a statement, but it didn't come until about a week before my first payment was due.
Tracy Says:
October 7th, 2007 at 03:32 pm

I feel SO much better having read these entries. I thought I was losing my mind. What a complete mess this Citizens Auto Finance is! Supposedly, my first payment was due October 2, 2007...I'm on the line with them as I type this; thank you so much for listing their number.
hmII Says:
October 17th, 2007 at 11:36 am

I am so glad I came across this page. I bought a car 8/15/07, financed through Citizens and I still haven't received anything in the mail from them. My first payment isn't due til Oct. 30 but I thought for sure I'd receive something by now. I was going to just send in a payment but then again I don't have an account number. Thank you for listing the phone number. Maybe I can get some answers or at least my account number.
eric Says:
November 5th, 2007 at 06:22 am

I'm really glad I found your page. For those of you who were as lost as me these people seemed must be "in an undisclosed location"

Here's what I have:

Citizens Auto Finance
PO BOX 255587
Sacramento, CA 95865-5587
PH:877-265-3278
FX:877-362-6623

no website that I can find - would love to have a customer service email

best of luck paying debt done JD!
Susan Says:
November 20th, 2007 at 04:56 am

I bet that is the way Citizens racks up more money from your loan...making it very hard to pay on time and adding additional money in order to pay over the phone or the internet...figures!
john Says:
November 25th, 2007 at 12:16 pm

I used to pay them via regular mail, till their envelopes ran out, for a year, every month I requested envelopes, none ever came. So I stopped paying them by mail and use my bank freepay now for allmost everything.
I tried phoning them but allways got either busy or voice mail which no one ever returned. I believe them to be a "don't care" company, otherwise they wouldnlt hide their phone numbers or e-mails to customer nosupport.
misty Says:
November 27th, 2007 at 09:30 am

I really hate this company...I was late with a payment and called them and told them the day that I would pay it...the called me the day before and informed me that it was late and wanted to know when I would be paying it...I already told them.. they have a bad communication problem..also I wish I could pay on their online website..but guess what they dont have one.. that would make it easier for me
cd Says:
December 14th, 2007 at 05:49 pm

I'm finally down to 4 more payments with this company and I have had many of the same issues as already listed - I contacted their customer service via phone and was told that I could pay online and given an access code. That code never worked and I never was able to make an online payment. I had one payment where it took them over 3 WEEKS to process. Of course, no give from them on not charging a late fee even though they lost track of the check after stamping it into their office. I will never finance through this company again!
JP Says:
December 19th, 2007 at 07:43 pm

Not sure if this will help anyone but you can pay your bill by going into any Citizens or Charter One location. They are in 16 states across the Mid-West, Mid-Atlantic, and New England.
Melissa Says:
December 27th, 2007 at 10:00 am

did anyone find a website to pay the car payments online?
Cynthia Murphy Says:
December 31st, 2007 at 07:10 am

Just talked to an operator regarding my sister's loan (I cosigned, dumb me). She is the first cooperative operator I've spoken to in all the calls I've had. I'm sick of paying the extra $12 using their one-time payment thing, I figured today using that system it will cost me an extra $720 if I don't figure something else out. Anyway, thanks for the tip about Citizen's bank, hope you're right about being able to pay there in person. The closest Charter One location to me is about 200 miles away. What a crappy sorry outfit. But hey, what a dope I was to cosign on a car loan for my sister in the first place, right?
Amanda Says:
January 25th, 2008 at 10:38 am

I bought a car and have recieved my payments promptly until this month, no bill. So I called the 877-265-3278 number and the guy just told me to send my payment to
PO BOX 42113
Providence RI 02940
I'm just going to put my account number on the check and not even wait for the bill anymore. Also, I found out there is a 15 day grace period. So that was nice to know. But like everybody else, I'm a little dissappointed that I have to deal with these people for the next 7 years of my live. uuuurgh.
JW Says:
January 29th, 2008 at 07:29 am

I've had a car loan with Citizens for almost 4 years now. They were also bad about sending the bill to me, but I ended up figuring it out.

You can take your payment to any Citizen's branch and make a payment there with a check.

Another option for people wanting to pay online is that if you open a Citizen's bank account (www.citizensbank.com) you can link up your car loan to your online banking. Then you can make an instant direct transfer from your bank account to your loan to pay it, or you can set up automatic recurring payments.

I find it very convenient now that I have figured it out.
G Lynch Says:
February 4th, 2008 at 02:41 pm

I thought I was going nuts with Citizens. They're LOGO " not your typical bank" is no joke...Ha Ha.
Try to change your address..... forget online payments...$12.50 ??? How about phone payments..$20 What a bloddy joke. We should start a club......G Lynch
Jim Says:
February 20th, 2008 at 07:18 am

Given the problems other people seem to be having, maybe there are two Citizens out there.

I'm on my second car loan with them and have never had a serious problem. Like another person, mine's linked up with my other regular Citizens Bank accts and I just do transfers when necessary.

Only minor negative is they did take their sweet time closing out my last loan...took about three weeks but that's the closes thing to an issue I've had with them.
Samantha Says:
February 20th, 2008 at 09:36 am

I was put on hold for 20 min only to be told that i had to deal with an automated system (with a charge!!) to pay by phone.... If you also need to pay check by phone here is DIRECT number to do so...

1 800 795 1700 !!

Hope Someone has more luck with this company then we apparently have... wow what a fun 4 1/2 more years this will be.....
Steve Says:
March 8th, 2008 at 05:56 am

If you notice that the people who don't seem to have problems, all have bank accounts with the citzens bank. What a scam to get people to banc with you.
Ray Says:
March 8th, 2008 at 07:59 pm

I have had a loan thru Citizens Auto Finance for 2 1/2 years now, and only once I did not get the statement in the mail. Sadly there is no branch near me so I have to rely on sending a check. A website to pay like pretty much any other bank would be really nice.
Cynthia Murphy Says:
March 9th, 2008 at 12:46 pm

I finally, finally got them to send my sister's monthly statement to my address, which is a hoot anyway, turns out my name is on first, then hers. At least this way I can save the $12.50 extra a month. All I care about is making those payments on time so as not to mess up my own pristine credit. My sister has a decent job now so is handing me the cash regularly. Again, folks, never ever be a cosigner on a loan for anybody or go with an outfit like this one.
Penny Says:
March 11th, 2008 at 02:55 pm

I had a problem getting my first statement. When i called they said don't worry it would get there and that I had 10 day grace period. I now always send my payment in before I get the statement. The statement always comes in about five days before the due date. Don't like the idea of my payment getting in past the due date even though they say it will not effect my credit. I too would like to make my payment over the phone or on line, but i will not pay an additional 12.00 to do that. I have five more years to go with them. If I do buy another car I will not finance with them.
James Says:
March 14th, 2008 at 05:59 am

I just got a loan with them because they beat my credit unions interst rate. Why pay more when you can pay less. I obtained the loan last saturday and I did find it strange that I was not given any information on the company other than a name. When I called my insurance to tell them who I had the loan with, I could not give them any other information about the company so they called the dealer and got the number from them. Thanks to your comments I went ahead and called in advance to avoid any of the problems that you all experienced. The lady on the phone was very nice. She informed me when my first payment is due and they should be mailing me the bill 20 days before the due day. I told the lady that I heard about may people having problems with receiving bills so she was more than willing to give me the address where I can mail my payment in just in case I don't receive a bill. I do not like paying my bills late so I will do just that. Thanks again for all of your comments so I can avoid having any problems.
Lacey Barnes Says:
March 16th, 2008 at 11:35 pm

My husband and I had a vehicle financed through Citizens Automobile Finance until just recently. We had no problem in receiving our monthly statements and our payments were always posted correctly.

Two months ago my husband had an accident on some black ice and the truck was a total loss. My insurance company was prompt in getting the claim and all the necessary information to Citizens. My insurance company sent Citizens the payoff which thankfully the truck blue booked for more than what we owed on it so we got some money back.

We received the check from the insurance company so I thought everything was ok and the account was closed.
A couple weeks after we received the check from the insurance we received a statement from Citizens stating that our loan was past due. I called them and talked to some lady and she told me that the payoff check was there but hadn't hard posted to the loan account. I waited a couple more weeks and called them back and still nothing. My insurance company had to place a stop payment on that cashier's check and issue another one w/ a certified letter. I know they received the check but the account hasn't been closed and they don't seem too interested in helping me. It's been 2 months since they have received payment from the insurance company but apparently these people have no idea how to post a check.

Good Luck on dealing with the incompetent customer service reps.
susan Says:
March 26th, 2008 at 05:22 pm

I am so glad I found this blog. I had entered everything I could think of but I could not find a number for Citizens. We had been getting a statment when all of the sudden it just stopped. I am now sitting on the phone waiting for someone to anser. Wait time???? Over 10 minutes. I have my phone battery does not die.
Suzie Says:
April 3rd, 2008 at 05:35 pm

OMG...what is wrong with these people? I just traded in a car and I had GMAC for my loan. I loved them! They were great and actually had a web-site. I had to hunt down the phone number to call Citizens and ask where the heck my 1st statement was...and of course I was told it's on the way..wonder if I'm late with my payment I can just tell them it's on the way and get away with it..hmmmm...
tom coman Says:
April 7th, 2008 at 07:38 am

I had arranged my financing through a credit union prior to purchasing the last vechile. The dealership brought Citizens to the table with a .25% savings. Not all savings are real. Each month I have called and requested a electronic fund transfere forms (eft)to pay the account, the recording stated the forms would arrive with in 10 days. I will be calling again to request the eft once more.

The .25% savings has cost me time and frustration. I am prepaing to call the credit union to move the financing there.
Shawn Says:
April 8th, 2008 at 09:41 am

I financed my jeep with citizens about 2 years ago and have not had any real trouble with them yet. It is kind of annoying to have to wait until the 15th of every month to get a bill thats due the 29th, but i found out through being late a couple times that apparently they have some kind of grace system (which someone above mentioned as being 15 days).
Now comes the big test though, I'm getting ready to sell my Jeep. I'm still paying it off so they have the title, so after reading all about their wonderful customer service I'm a little concerned about how long it will take for the whole process. Fortunately they just opened a citizens right down the road from me so hopefully i can simply go there, pay it off and have them send me the title right away. we'll see how it goes (crossed fingers)
Dantheman Says:
April 16th, 2008 at 05:39 am

well... all i can say is..

Im GLAD Im done with Citizens Auto Finance. I got shafted on my interest rate from the get-go by the bank and the dealer. never again. I'll use my Credit Union when shopping for a vehicle the next time... better "leverage" to use when doing "figures" buying a vehicle. One payment, with fees of course, to go. Im am so done with ever dealing with them. Hopefully there banking system is better I hear but I wont deal with them that way even though my best friend swears by them. This has been a loan from hell folks. I was always under an impression that IF they want your money sooner rather than later, that they would do online payments for free and that goes for ANY bank. I told them to kiss my butt the one time on the "over the phone" fees of $12 so Ive just been making the PROPER amount payment whether the payment was on-time of even late but Im sure they'll add this to my FINAL payment just to be jerks. we'll see.. I'll keep you posted.

Phone numbers for ya... 1-800-708-6682, one-time payment system with the $12 fee of course, 888-805-0200, title department which I will be calling here in a few days 1-800-708-6680, phone bank system 1-877-265-3278

Regards,
dantheman
helper Says:
April 21st, 2008 at 11:00 am

Citizens Automobile Finance is an indirect lender, that is they provide financing to consumers through automobile dealers. Many issues listed can be addressed by contacting your dealership, preferably the Finance/Business Manager or the Dealer Principal; they have access to personell within this division of the bank to address concerns/issues you may be experiencing.
Ryan Says:
April 22nd, 2008 at 05:23 am

I'm really glad to hear I'm not the only one frustrated with this out of touch and out of date auto finance company. I can't honestly say that I've ever had any other auto loans, as this is my first, but my experience has been less than desirable. As multiple people have indicated, figuring out their phone number for customer service is like searching for Waldo on a ship full of pirates, their customer services representatives were completely unfriendly, unhelpful and uneducated in the way interest is caclulated, there is no online access to your account balance unless you open a checking account with Citizens, and you can't even pay your monthly payment online or elect to receive electronic bills in an effort to save this supposed doomed planet. I'd say they are not only NOT customer friendly, they are NOT environmentally friendly. I know, that is a stretch, but why not pile on all of their faults? I saved money by going with Citizens, but it was ultimately not worth it. This company needs to take some drastic measures to the way they handle customer service and their online presense. I've sought other financing and paid of my loan, never to do business with Citizens again!!!!
Ronnie Says:
May 5th, 2008 at 06:09 pm

I'm so glad i found this site I was looking for the phone # to citizens or an web site for over an hour, I have not received a statement in over 3 months and trying to make a payment this month and can't even get intouch with a rep. Hate this bank and will be trying to refi with someone eles asap
Bri Says:
May 8th, 2008 at 01:26 pm

I had a car loan with Citizens. I received statements every now and then. I made many phone payments and had to pay the extra because I did not want to be charged late fees or default on my loan. It didn't do me any good, because in December 2007, a "computer glitch" on their end caused their system to shoot out a reposession paper. My car was taken away at midnight on December XX, 2007. I had to pay $2200 to get it back, with a guarantee that I would be fully refunded once the situation was straightened out. I have sent them copies of all of my bank statements with my payments for the 17 months that I had paid them, plus extra each month towards the principal. I still have not received any money from them and when I called, they "just can't seem to find [my] account". I immediately acquired a new loan and paid off the car in January, and the account is still open on my credit report as paid satisfactorily. So...shouldn't they be able to find my account since it is still open?

Good luck to those of you who are unfortunate enough to have to deal with this "bank".

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Citizen's Auto Finance

37 Responses to “Citizen's Auto Finance”

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