Bad Experience with Good Sam Financing through Essex Credit

[jjriker]

I thought I would post our experience just as an FYI to anyone out there who is considering using the financing through Essex Credit. We were hoping to refinance our rv loan, which is currently through Alliant Credit Union, as we wanted to take advantage of the lower rates being offered. On Wednesday, June 22, we applied online at around 9 am. The website stated that the approval would be given within the next 24 to 48 hours. Just about 48 hours exactly later, on Friday, we received an email asking for more information/paperwork and providing a number which the information should be faxed to. We had a couple questions about the information being asked for, and also about the fact that we don't have a fax machine, so we called the loan officer number and extension listed in the email hoping we would be able to email any required information to him. This person was supposedly available for any questions that we might have. I called the number FIVE times on that Friday, over the next four hours, leaving messages requesting a call back on three of the calls. After that we decided the person must have left for the day, so we stopped calling, expecting a call back on the next business day. On Monday the 27th, we waited for the call back. And waited. And waited. No call back. So a little before 5 our time (which is Eastern - from the address in the email, I think the loan officer is in CA), I called again. Left another message saying that we had called three times on Friday and were still waiting for our call back. Nothing.

Later that week, with still no contact from the loan officer, I went to the Good Sam Financing page and filled out the email "contact us" form and choosing the "question about your loan app" from the drop down. I stated that we had applied, had called etc - basically all the information I stated in the paragraph above, and that we had questions and were still waiting for a call back. Nothing.

So...that sums up our experience. We have had no contact from our loan officer, no response to my email contact through the Good Sam page. We've basically given up and decided to stick with our current lender. It's been very frustrating to say the least. If you have other options, I would recommend you look at them before you try the financing through Good Sam.

[jjriker]

Robyn Barnes wrote:
Hello Jessica & Harry,
I apologize for the trouble you've experienced with your refi. Please send me a private message with your contact information and I will escalate this issue at Essex. Good Sam does not have access to your application or personal financial information so, unfortunately, I will not be able to get an update for you until after the holiday weekend when Essex is open again.

Sincerely,
Robyn Barnes

Thanks, I just sent you an email.

[Robyn_Barnes]

Hello Jessica & Harry,
I apologize for the trouble you've experienced with your refi. Please send me a private message with your contact information and I will escalate this issue at Essex. Good Sam does not have access to your application or personal financial information so, unfortunately, I will not be able to get an update for you until after the holiday weekend when Essex is open again.

Sincerely,
Robyn Barnes

[winnietrey]

In my humble opinion, one of the worst things a business can do is not get back to a person in a timely manor. Maybe they are super busy. But how hard is it to shoot a one line e-mail, that says hey, got your info will get back to you in a couple of days. (and then do it!!)

As a customer, not getting back to us makes us wonder about the whole company, and will they take care of us in the long run. Be it this case or any other company. ( for all I know Essex, could be the greatest loan company on the planet) But when a company does not respond it sure makes one nervous.

In the long run I suspect that the case here is more like this. You have an employee, who believes they are over worked and under paid, your deal is pretty small and they really just don't care very much. They will get back to you when they feel like it. Jeez stay 2 minutes longer after 5, Mr loan officer, and shoot the e-mail. How hard is that?

I agree with you, I will not do business with a company, that does not respond to me in a few days. Just tells me they don't really care, and it makes me worry, if I do, go with them, and a problem arises in the future, they will ignore me and be of no help.

DW and I have been in business a long time, we have been pretty successful, and I believe one big reason for that has been a prompt response to any e-mail or phone call.

[jjriker]

Yes it does. It's not a factor in ours, though, based on the appraisal questionnaire we had to fill out. We should have plenty of value to support the amount we need to be approved for. We also have excellent credit and my husband has a pension for income. As far as I know, there aren't any issues other than we can't seem to make contact with anyone.

[coolbreeze01]

Does current value vs balance have anything to do with refinancing?

[jjriker]

The reason we went through the Good Sam website was that we thought we would be going through people who are familiar with working with fulltime rv'ers. So many times when we are dealing with businesses, it's such a hassle to have to go through all the explanations and we thought we would avoid that if we went through Good Sam. And as far as going in, we are in NY and the closest branch is quite far away.

[Thom02099]

blangen wrote:
By the way... I think you'll find that Bank of the West is actually the lender and Essex is the "front". In your case, Good Sam is, apparently, the "front" for Essex. I believe you can go directly to Essex and have a smooth, responsive deal.

^^^^^ This. But you could try bypassing Good Sam and Essex completely, and go directly to Bank of the West, since that's where the loan will likely end up ultimately.

I did the refi on my trailer with Good Sam/Essex, and had no problem at all. Got a coupon book to make payments (at the time, they didn't have an on line payment option - mail or hand deliver to a branch). In the course of hand delivering a payment, got to talking with a staff member at this local branch, they told me that I could have saved a lot of time and perhaps money by coming in to their branch and applying directly with them. Whether this is true or not, I don't know, since I've not tried this. However, I've had good service in the years that I've been hand delivering the the payments. Now they allow on line payments, so don't have to go in any more.

[blangen]

By the way... I think you'll find that Bank of the West is actually the lender and Essex is the "front". In your case, Good Sam is, apparently, the "front" for Essex. I believe you can go directly to Essex and have a smooth, responsive deal.

[jarata1]

im sure they will chime in with please give me your e-mail and we will see what happened like they always do.Plus they have all your personal information

[guidry]

We had a similar experience when buying our 5th wheel out of state in 2013. Many calls to, very few back to us. I ended up calling and talking to a supervisor because we were staying in the RV on the dealer's lot while waiting for financing. It took many calls but they finally came through. For us, it was worth the hassle for the finance rate. But, your point about poor customer service is right on.

[Ranger_Smith]

We had the same issue. It seems everything Good Sam is into is poor for customer service. We stuck with Alliant also.