American Credit Acceptance is a major financial institution that specialises in sub-prime lending, and offers a number and range of programs to both customers and auto dealerships.
From a customer’s point of view, the company has partnerships with approximately 3500 dealers across the USA. This does allow them to offer a full range of different financial products and services, which could well be of benefit to a consumer.
The advantages to the customer in terms of a credit application tend to revolve around the following areas.
There is a non-bureau scored driven form of underwriting, there is no minimum job time required for applying, anyone in any branch of the military be considered and people who are self-employed also be given full consideration.
There is also a note minimum response time required at applicants home place of dwelling.
With regards to the vehicle, there are no age restrictions in terms of the year of the model, and in terms of mileage, to 150,000 miles will be considered in terms of the vehicles usage.
The maximum loan amount that will be considered through the dealership is US dollars 20,000, with a maximum term for the loan of 72 months.
1. Reviews
Any online reviews of any company normally tend to fall into one of two categories, that of being overly praiseworthy the company, or incredibly pissed off with it, and most of the reviews that seem to be around American Credit Acceptance tend to fall into the second category.
There are a number of reputable review sites such as Credit Karma, Better Business Bureau, indeed.com etc where the majority of reviews either relate to specific instances of poor customer service, or gripes about interest rates and repossessions etc.
It should be remembered that this type of industry will inevitably be more cutthroat than mainstream auto dealerships, even though they can be numerous similarities between the two. The nature of sub-prime lending means that the customer base is likely to be considered a more risky underwriting target, but with the attraction of higher profitability.
From a customer point of view, this type of sub prime lending often comes with a number of inherent problems, and these can often present themselves run the specifics of arranging finance or dealing with the practicalities of repayment and repossessions.
Finding independent valid reviews can be a real challenge. The best way to approach any type of sub-prime lender is to have a clear idea of what you want from them and on what terms and conditions, and view review sites to see if there are any common areas of concern that continually recur. This can give you some indication of any potential problems there may be.
2. Careers / Salaries / Interview Questions
American Credit Acceptance do seem to be fairly open in the approach to wanting to employ recent high-calibre staff, although little details given about the reality of terms and conditions and salaries. There is general information about has of work and the reference that they do give you time off in terms of paid holidays etc
There is no real leading in terms of what these jobs will entail. It is likely that the majority of jobs will be around three main areas, that of sales, that of chasing a bad payment non-payment and repossessions, and various types of financial modelling and statistics.
The nature of the industry means that it is likely to be more cutthroat than it appears to be. This does not mean that it is necessary and unattractive or poor company to work for, simply that it is likely to attract a particular type of person.
Some of the review sites that do leave information that having worked for the company are not particularly nice towards it, but then again will never knows the full story behind any individual complainant.
3. American Credit Acceptance Payment Methods
American Credit Acceptance has a number of ways of accepting payment, online, through normal banking roots and via direct mail.
Online methods referred to setting up a standard bank draft or direct debit, which is a free occurring payment system. It is possible to also arrange one-time payment details online.
Bill pay – this can be arranged through my standard finance organisations
Pay by phone through IVR 1-866-544-3430
Standard third-party payments through CheckFreePay, available at most Walmart locations, through Moneygram and Western Union.
By direct mail to address listed above.
Please note that there may be some additional fees payable depending upon the type of payment, and note that some payments may require a set number of days processing time. Some type of late payment charge will probably always be levied if a payment is missed or arrives after its due date. Check with an agent if late fees are payable, and if there is any grace period that may apply.
4. Payoff Details
Customers normally want payoff details for two reasons. Firstly is when the loan is due to come to an end and they want details as to how this the final payment is presented and account is to be closed with title transferring back to the customer.
Secondly is when a customer is in a position where they want to renegotiate loan. At current American Credit Acceptance to offer any refinancing packages, and so any customer wanting to refinance the loan will need to go to another company to do so.
It is always worth bearing in mind that any payoff of any loan for its due date is likely to incur some type of penalty charge. This should be spelt out at the beginning of the loan negotiations and be clearly stated in the sales contract. This should always be confirmed for any firm notice to pay off the loan or transfer to another lender is agreed.
5. Customer Service
American Credit Acceptance offer a full range of contact details for their customer service team as listed above. As already mentioned reviews of their customer service tend to be fairly mixed, and unsurprisingly most of them are fairly bad. This does not mean that their customer service is bad, merely that people who feel they have been treated unfairly whatever reason always tend to be the ones who give voice to it.
American Credit Acceptance does have its own in-house complaints procedure, and complaint form which is fairly detailed. Again, this could be a good sign for many a good form of PR.
When buying a car through this company or any other in effect, it is a good idea to get a full range of contact details, both with the company and the dealership, and be fully aware of all local and state laws regarding consumer protection in terms of the initial sale, any cooling off period and consumer rights during the term and pay off the loan.
Repossession
No one likes the idea of repossession, and as such it is quite often avoided in an industry when fact it is a real-time occupational hazard. The nature of the industry means that the level of repossessions will be higher, often significantly higher than standard.
What companies like American Credit Acceptance really don’t like is when a customer misses a payment and then go silent. This leaves them in a sense of limbo is what is happening and inevitably they fear the worst and may invoke fairly drastic measures.
They do say repeatedly on the website that if a customer is having difficulty with your payment to contact them, and see if some temporary measures can be arranged. Realistically this is likely to be something they are able to do.
It is informally preferable from their point of view to give an individual customer a visibly way now and then in order to maintain payments on the loan, rather than have customers missed payments go quiet and having to start repossession.
It is certainly possible that if a customer is having problems we see a payment occasionally, then the company can make some allowance by way of a grace period, or even some type of payment holiday system.
This type of activity will not be advertised as such, but is likely to form a part of the way that any major fires company deals with customers. Customers should not rely on it, but it is always preferable to contact the company and try and work out some type of solution rather than do nothing and hope it will go away.
Phone Number / Address
American Credit Acceptance has a wide range of phone numbers and different addresses with regard contact information.
Corporate Address
American Credit Acceptance
961 E. Main St.
Spartanburg, SC 29302
866-441-0251
Payment Address
American Credit Acceptance LLC
PO Box 204531
Dallas, TX 75320-4531
*Closing Packets sent via FedEx*
American Credit Acceptance
4054 Willow Lake Blvd
Suite 2096
Memphis, TN 38153
*Closing Packets sent via UPS or USPS*
American Credit Acceptance
3268 Progress Way
Suite 2096
Wilmington, OH 45177-7700
Loss Payee Address
PO BOX 4537
Carmel, IN 46082
Customer Service/Collections
866-544-3430
Dealer Enrollment
Fax: 866-740-0567
Funding
866-202-6916
Impound Notifications
877-204-6757
Rebates
Extended Service Contracts & GAP Cancellations
855-292-6429
Sales
866-202-6912
Service Members Relief Act (SCRA)
855-292-6426
Titles
877-811-1620
Total & Partial Loss Insurance Claims
855-292-6430
Underwriting
866-202-6914
Fax: 866-740-0569
Glass Door
Glass door has established itself reasonably quickly as being one of the go to sites online regarding genuine feedback about a company.
Similar to customer reviews, it is often difficult to get genuine feedback for a number of reasons. One is the fear of individuals or websites being sued for defamation, the other is the issue of fake reviews which websites already fairly helpless to do anything about.
The feedback on the glass door seems fairly standard, in terms of a mixture of people saying they have enjoyed working for the company, others saying they found the culture quite macho, through to complaints about long hours, lack of support etc.
As with other types of review site, and its little genuine feedback regarding salaries or financial compensation that is of real benefit to potential employees.. That seems to be a reluctance amongst companies generally to really advertise how much they pay staff, or what other benefits they give them by way of health insurance, vacation etc.
