Southeast Toyota Finance
reviews and complaints

I purchased my vehicle in November 2015. I set up auto payments. It did not withdraw the December payment, and SETF called me to let me know my December payment was late, on January 9 2016. I explained that the withdraw was submitted. They said they have no record of it. So, I paid the payment, again and realized the original payment didn't clear my bank. No problem, it was paid.
This event recurred monthly. Every month I was told, your auto pay should come out this month. Every month it did not. This continued until finally, in April 2016, I set my payments up to auto pay through my bank account. Today, May 24, 2016 I get a call that my payment is 23 days past due. Upon reviewing my bank account I see that I had in fact made my payment 4 days ago. The woman was argumentative with me, and I explained that I make my monthly payment every month, the problem has been on their end. Not mine. I had to ask her to stop talking, that I didn't need her to tell me when I made payments because I am looking at my bank account line by line back to December and I need her to be quiet.

Here is what happened: SETF They applied my December payment to January, and therefore I have been behind by a month since I purchased my vehicle. I asked the woman why every month they have called me, why has no one mention it was the December payment that was the issue. I was getting calls from SETF monthly, even though I pay my bill every month and this is the first time they told me i was behind from December. As a result, I had accumulated 2 late fees that have never been mentioned at all. I don't read my statements because I pay the bill monthly online without fail. Of course people always say "well, it wasn't my fault", but in this case, it was either an error or miscommunication on SETF's end, not mine. It would have been so easy to resolve had they mentioned the fact that it was the very first payment that was missed. Never did they mention that and why would I ask, "so you are crediting for December?" I would have not made any other assumption because they were calling me on January 10th about December 29th's payment. THIS IS NOT MY FAULT. I was told today, that if my payment was not credited to my account before the end of the month, they credited it to the next month. The woman in customer service told me that is what they did. I said "why? it was December payment" Her response "you made the payment in January" I said, "yes because SETF didn't withdraw my December payment, you guys called me January 10th. Why would I think you were calling me in January for January's payment that wasn't due until January 29th?" In this case it was the fault of SETF that I was behind because they applied my December payment to January. When all is said and done, the least the customer service woman could have done is said, "I apologize, let me get these late fees removed" but no, I had to call back to do that and request a manager.

SETF is not customer friendly, when a payment is missed they assume it is the customer's fault, and the treat you like a jerk. I am sure they deal with non paying customers all day long, in my case I was the exception and would have appreciated a little respect.

My family has been using Southeast Toyota finance for a couple of years now. We were late on one payment for my daughters car and without any notice or anything they close our account. We call and they say they have been trying to get up with us to come get the car. We have had no phone calls, emails, or anything. They say they have not been able to get a hold of us. This is plain bull crap. All they do is sit on their butts just taking peoples money. Now my daughter is without a car and communtes to college 50+ miles and our credit has been hit hard all because they would try hard enough to get a hold of us. This company is a complete sham and does not care about customers. Their people are rude and do not answer any questions and when you question why they haven't tried to get up with you they call you liars and tell you that you are bull$##+. Never doing business with this company again.

i leased a 2015 Toyota Corolla in April, 2015 and, at that time, set up automatic withdrawal from my bank account. First payment debited from account in May, 2015. In June, no automatic debit made. I was traveling and out of cell phone range - one of the reasons I always set up auto debit (ACH) for all bills. When I discovered no debit made and 30 day late notification sent to credit reporting companies, was told by CS rep that bank did not honor debit bc I must have given SETF the wrong acct number to w/d from. This is the same acct and bank that they used successfully the month before. CS rep said maybe bank suddenly changed their routing number. Seriously! All my bills are automatically debited so that I haven't had a late payment on ANY account in over 8 years. Bank has not changed routing # and all other auto withdrawals were honored. Have bought or leased Toyotas for the last 10 years. NEVER AGAIN. My perfect credit has been ruined. I have already received notice from American Express that on both my business and personal cards, I will not have the pay-over-time option bc of this error on SETF's part showing a 30 day late payment. Am asking SETF for their records concerning the debit not made from my account. Will dispute this with credit reporting companies. I'm heartbroken that the perfect credit report I worked so hard for was trashed by SETF's error. Their attitude on the phone is "too bad for you". I should have googled before I used SETF. Thousands of complaints.

My grandmother purchased a a car for me through Southeast Toyota Finance Company. I am making the payments on the account. My payment was due on February 28th and my payment was received on March 28th. My grandmother also purchased a car on the same day for my cousin who is seriously delinquent on the payments. Today, STF came to my job and repossessed my car. I found out that all of my payments have been going to my cousin’s account because STF has the vehicle information switched. I have called STF customer service and was told I cannot get my car back without paying the entire loan off. I am 19 years old and do not want to ruin my credit. I also need my car for work. I have received no notifications that there were any issue with this loan. My grandmother has gone to the dealer and they have told her that there is nothing they can do. Help, Please

This company is a disgrace. They scam you! They're trying to charge me $900 in excessive wear. My car was in perfect condition! They are a joke! I've never dealt with such a rude company! They also don't tell you they are not associated or owned by Toyota! I will make sure anyone I know never uses this disgrace of a company ever again!

I called in to make a payment for my wife and Denise Moorhouse at Southeast Toyota Finance took my call house and was extremely rude and not wanting to help me at all. I asked for her name and she would not give it to me. I asked for a manager and she would not transfer me. I threatened to pull my business and refinance with another lender. Finally after yelling enough a manager got on the line and was half willing to assists after threatening to go somewhere else. I asked the manager for the name of the lady that took my call. She was very rude and unprofessional and I highly recommend not using them because they make it difficult to even make a payment let alone a bigger issue if you have one. This really worries me and am really considering refinancing now.

As my lease was coming to an end SEtF contacted us and told us if we get a Toyota before the 15th of may we did not have to make the remaining payment. After much thought we decided to buy a new Toyota highlander. The dealer took our 2011 Toyota Camry did not say anything. The next day I contact SEtF to let then know the car had been turned in and that they had told us if we got a new car before the 15 Th. no other payment would be required. She said do not worry the dealer has the car and we can pick it up DONT WORRY ABOUT THE PAYMENT. I repeatedly asked her i told her i wanted to male sure i don't end up paying for something i no longer have. I should have worried cause 10+ days later SETF sent me a bill for almost 1000. Requesting the last payment and some disposition fee. It is insane if i would have been given the right information by this people i would have made a better decision to wait until the last day of the lease and use the car until the last mile i was allotted. When i contacted SETf today they had no written notes on my record for when i contacted them that day. Just that i called to say my car was turned in and thats it. They acted as that lady never told me anything and after telling them to listed to the recording i was told that listening to the recording it would not change anything because verbal does not void written contract. I told them they need more competent people that can give the right information to people and not try to steal money from customers. Now I'm stuck paying these lying people and my new SUV. For those of you ever thinking of using this company please make sure you are willing to fork out and throw away1000+ dollars. I hope they get what they deserve for deceiving good customers. Any and all survey that i ever get from this company will have nothing but bad comments and this company has been a very challenging one. They can even get my name right since the beginning.

Thank you for allowing me to blow off a liltle steam. My complaint is not with Southeast Toyota Financials directly but with the inspection company they do business with and the inspectors used by DataScan. In order to return a lease to Toyota you must first have it inspected. This is arranged once the last payment and $350.00 restocking charge is received. Approximately 14 days ago I spoke with a representative from Datascan to set up an appointment for my inspection. After checking her calendar for availability with the inspection company (this part of the work is farmed out to independent inspectors) the date of December 4th was selected because according to the representative the entire day was open and it was my choice if I wanted a morning or afternoon appointment. Since I work I choose the afternoon which is from 1 to 5. At 11:48 a.m. on December 3rd I received a confirmation from DataScan that the inspector would be at my home between 1 and 5 the next day and if I could not be there to call them. At 3:30 that same day I received a call from the inspector directly that he wasn't going to make it on Tuesday and in his words "he can only do so much". I can't figure out what happened to my appointment that was made 14 days previously and at that time the entire day was open. How did I end up being pushed out? Also let me mention that you are supposed to have the car spotless for the inspection. Therefore on Sunday I washed the car so it would be all bright and shiny for my Tuesday inspection which has now been moved to Friday December 7. I do not have a garage so the car sits outside collecting leaves, dust and bird poo it should look really good by Friday and who knows if they will show up even then. In the meantime I have leased another car and it was NOT A TOYOTA so now I have 2 cars to maintain with insurance coverage on a car which I don't even drive any longer and can't because the tag was transferred to my new car.
I have worked most of my life and if I ever treated a customer or client like I've been treated I would not be in business.
I appreciate your time.

Worst customer service I have ever received! The representatives respond like they have no class and it is ridiculous! Thank god my lease is almost over because im switching over to any other company that respects their clientele! Im having a drink after all this nonsense! Stay away from toyotas and you will never deal with this!

Purchased a new Toyota Camry. Received a letter stating the payment amount and a copy of an Automatic Payment form. Made out the form and sent it and a voided check to SETF. Then I get a letter stating that "We made a clerical error in processing your contract. They said my payment amount has not been changed. I was then told that they were sending a new invoice with a new account number. I did receive a new invoice with a new account number and ANOTHER Automatic Payment form. I called SETF and was told that the "dealer must have made a mistake". Anyway, the Automatic Payment form says to fill out the form and send ANOTHER voided check "OR visit the website at www.setf.com to sign up on-line." Tried that. The only thing I can do there is to print out another form. Why say that it can be done online when it can't? The automated phone system at SETF says the same thing. I have NO idea why the information provided with my original form with my original request can not be used to generate the Automatic Payment. I have no idea why the original account number was changed besides an error by SETF.

I leased a Toyota Camry for four years. It was in perfect condition and only had 26000 miles on it. There were no defects or extra charges for the condition. I was shocked however to recieve a bill which stated in bold print that 1 have to pay a $350 Lease disposition fee if I don't lease or purchase another Toyota. They call it an incentive. I call it a scam. Beware of this fee in any contract you sign with them. it is mixed in with all the other fees and charges and I missed it. I camplained to the state of Florida about this scam, but Southeast Toyota finance will have none of it. They just harass me on the telephone. I have leased many different brands of cars including Toyota and never paid a fee like this.

I am not condemning SouthEast Toyota Finance. I fully understand that I financed my car and it is my responsibility. However, I have been unemployed for two years due to a seniority based layoff. I made every payment until this month. I phoned today and asked what alternatives I have, such as deferral or refinancing. Nope...nada. I have my car 80% paid for and I'd really hate to turn it in, but I have no income and they said that there is nothing that they could do unless I could show some income.

Like I said, I know it is my responsibility. But, there is a human factor and a history of payments to consider in all of this, which they have foregone. I would recommend that nobody use SETF simply because you never know what may happen in your future. And, if your future should turn undesirable, SETF is not willing to help their consumers.

OK, I am also a Southeast Toyota Finance "customer" (or rather sucker). I am not a big fan of theirs either. Now, I have never had to actually deal with their customer service, although we are going to pay off the car this month (13 months early). So, we'll see if I have title issues with them over the next few weeks.

My main point though, is that folks, WE have to stop financing cars! First, it is ridiculous what you lose (interest + depreciation). Second, you can really wheel and deal better with the dealer, when you're waving fresh cash in their face...amazing how much that green makes them want to truly treat you right. Third, not financing really is the cure to all of these complaints!

When you mention that you will be financing at the dealer, "sucker" is then printed on your forehead. Sure, you may get this $1, 000 off here, but they will make up for it on the financing end (the dealer gets a commission for financing you)...so see, YOU are the loser in the deal.

This also plays a role in continuing to drive vehicle prices up. If they can keep us indebted through our desire to drive a decent vehicle, they will continue to overprice cars (used & new)...why, because you are giving them complete access to your financial standings when you request a loan, so they will give you a loan to "fit your budget."

Therefore, they make two sales: the car & the loan. So, why reduce car prices, when all they have to do is give a little creative financing. If the masses would finally start to pay out right with cash again, watch how car prices will fall...and people will be avoiding phone calls, court dates, and repo men.

So, how do you do this? It's quite simple. You're willing to tie up 2, 3, 400 dollars per month for 3, 4, 5, even 6 years through a car payment to one of the finance slime pits. So, if you're willing to do that, where you have no choice to not pay, then you should be willing to do so by paying yourself. For instance, after our car is paid off, we will be taking the old payment of $231, and placing it into a new savings account for another car in 5 years. 231*60 months = nearly 14, 000 CASH; with no spending change on my budget, except that I can decide not to put that "payment" in savings next month, and instead take my wife out to Ruth's Chris.

Plus, the interest from my savings account is adding to the overall total...not to some finance company's pocket. Oh, don't forget you also have your other vehicle to use as a trade or private sale...thus, that much more to bargain with. (Note: Be sure to not drop full coverage insurance, just so you can get the maximum out of your current car if something were to happen before you save to your goal).

Folks, let's use the power that WE really do have in the market place, to make the finance companies drive into the sunset, and the dealers to drop to THEIR knees instead of us dropping to ours. By the way, this is a grandma-proven method...she hasn't financed a car in 20 years, once she realized the error of her ways.

We traded our car in and signed off on the lease and 9 months later they call and ask us when we are turning in the car. We explained we turned it in 9 months ago and where we turned it in. It is still 13 months later and they are still calling us to say we owe them because there is damamge but when we turned it in it was fine. they even signed off on it. They had it for 9 months and it was who knows where and then they say it is in bad shape. there is no way I will pay for it. When we signed off on it was in perfect condition. We had many emails from the finance to find out where it is and the details of the car. It took them a few weeks to find it.

This company made payment arrangements with my son after he lost his job. I helped him to keep the arrangements. They still repossessed his vehicle. We called to ask why after we had kept our part of the arrangements . We had all the information and the name of the person we spoke with. They would not talk to us. I have never been blatantly lied to by a company representative especially after we did everything in our power after he lost his job. We called them innediately and made all the arranged payments on time and for the amount that was agreed upon.

When ipaid my bill, it took the larger amount due of $870.78 instead of $377.89. Of course, I cannot reach anyone by phone or computer. Cathy mchugh [protected]). I am about to hire an attorney due to harassment & terrible customer service after owning toyota's for 30 years.

This is the time, today November 28th, whe I have to have my payment in by today. This is the 3rd month in a row that this business decided to save on paper and have not sent me a bill or statement so I could send my check. The statement is behind in the balance when I requested (been meant) last month, but again ===this month is the same situation. Why in the world they decided that is not important for the customer to receive an statement, so I know where to stand by? ex.: balance, prior and present balance, activity summary? Please, this is not a cheap finance. This is not a good way of conducting business and if they think that this is ok, like the guy qho enswers the phone says, to me it is very deceiving way of doing business. Please, let them know that if they don't correct this situation, I'll keep sending e-mails to the world outthere, until I get to the elect president of this country to have this people practice fraudulents way of conducting business. And more, myu payment is behind, so far. I won't believe that if my credit gets scratched because of a late payment, they are going to pay for it. Thank you.

I would tell anyone especially U.S. military personal to select someone else to finance your car, i'm stationed oversea's and I asked them to give me a letter so I can take my car with me and they agreed well on the day I was asking them about a letter they told me they couldn't do it because it was company policy that your car couldn't leave the continental U.S. My contract back in 06 didn't state that my car couldn't leave and if that was the case why did they lie to me 5 months in advance about giving me the letter, customer service sucks they act like they don't have a clue about what's going on, I would NEVER deal with them again