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Citizen's Auto Finance

August 11th, 2007 at 09:37 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.

293 Responses to “Citizen's Auto Finance”

  1. Cary Says:
    1189103900

    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?

  2. jdedit2001 Says:
    1189105492

    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.

  3. wtym123 Says:
    1189128015

    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.

  4. jdedit2001 Says:
    1189130604

    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.

  5. Clavigne Says:
    1189618281

    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!

  6. weenie Says:
    1189688871

    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?

  7. jdedit2001 Says:
    1189689568

    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.

  8. Tracy Says:
    1191796365

    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.

  9. hmII Says:
    1192646172

    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.

  10. eric Says:
    1194272578

    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!

  11. Susan Says:
    1195563391

    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!

  12. john Says:
    1196021807

    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.

  13. misty Says:
    1196184616

    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

  14. cd Says:
    1197683375

    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!

  15. JP Says:
    1198122201

    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.

  16. Melissa Says:
    1198778457

    did anyone find a website to pay the car payments online?

  17. Cynthia Murphy Says:
    1199113827

    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?

  18. Amanda Says:
    1201286329

    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.

  19. JW Says:
    1201620593

    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.

  20. G Lynch Says:
    1202164901

    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

  21. Jim Says:
    1203520735

    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.

  22. Samantha Says:
    1203529001

    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.....

  23. Steve Says:
    1204984614

    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.

  24. Ray Says:
    1205035164

    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.

  25. Cynthia Murphy Says:
    1205091966

    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.

  26. Penny Says:
    1205272522

    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.

  27. James Says:
    1205499540

    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.

  28. Lacey Barnes Says:
    1205735733

    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.

  29. susan Says:
    1206577358

    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.

  30. Suzie Says:
    1207269316

    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...

  31. tom coman Says:
    1207579118

    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.

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