OK, I am having way too much fun with this — using Linda in my headline with catchy adjectives — and she’s gonna smack me alongside the choppers before long.
She may be dumb but so am I. I too have a Countrywide mortgage. I too have been beset with problem that are not of my making.
They pay my taxes and insurance via escrow. The escrow has been screwed up almost every year. One year my payments dropped almost $100 due to escrow. The next they went up over $150. One tax payment was then made twice and I got that refunded by the county but that took about 6-months.
Last fall, I had storm damage. I put on the new roof, had the tree that fell on the house removed and all. I payed for all that and, after a while, got a check to pay for it from the insurance company. But, it was made out to Countrywide and me. So, I mailed it off to them with a deposit slip and a postage prepaid mailer. They said they forwarded it the next day. Never hit the bank.
Along the way, the bank (Netbank) got taken over by the FDIC. So, when I called to see if the check made it, the phone lines were swamped. I set it aside and finally contacted the insurance company, it never cleared so they were willing to issue a new check. Got the check. Looked in the phone book and there is a Countrywide office a few blocks away. Go there. They can’t sign but the one two cities over can. I call that number with the name of the two people who can release the check. I get another idiot who says he’ll transfer me to someone who can help. I am now talking to California and this person has no idea what to do.
I get in the car and head for Shererville. I finally find the place. I go in. I explain. I finally got a person who was interested in the problem. Takes about a half hour and the manager/signer who’d avoided me — actually jumped up from an outer desk after being told I was there; gave me the evil eye; went in a side office out of view — signed the check for her and I’m out of there. I went to the bank earlier this week to put the 6-G’s back in my account. The damage took place last August. You figure the interest lost.
I’d made payments similar to Linda but made them for the full amount plus a bit. I’d sometimes make them only a week apart. That works. They do have a website but trying to communicate with them is a bear. You leave a message and are told to call on the phone. The only thing you can get via email is double talk. Their phones are the press 2 for Spanish at the beginning and go downhill from there. When you finally navigate the maze and get a human being, they often want to really help. Problem is they can’t. The policy setup is such that they have little or no power. And, you can’t escalate to their supervisor. Supervisor, like the branch manager at that office, go hide when a problem is around.
Is there a solution to this kind of crap? No. If anything, it just keeps getting worse. I am at war with Walmart and Toshiba over a new laptop that went belly up. Toshiba support is worse than Countrywide and speaks with a worse accent and they won’t let you get to the next level up either. I’m going through the credit card company to try to get satisfaction. NEVER EVER BUY A HIGH TICKET ITEM AT WALMART. Their return policy is 15 days and that is disclosed on the cash register receipt that you only get after paying. And on day 16 you are screwed