Cars are expensive enough.
Now, just imagine being charged twice for the same vehicle.
That's the current case that Honda is trying to resolve desperately after its American Honda Finance Corporation (AHFC) has been flooded with phone calls from customers, who are complaining that they're being charged twice for single payments on their vehicles. Wow.
The automaker acknowledged its computers' payment processing errors in a statement to the media.
"We recognize that payment processing is a serious issue to our customers and we have a team actively working on this issue to resolve it and take care of our customers," AHFC senior vice president David Paul said in a company press release statement Wednesday. "Customers are our top priority and we apologize for the inconvenience and any concerns that have resulted. We will make this right for our customers."
The company followed that with a Facebook post, vowing that customers will begin being refunded as soon as today.
"We have identified the accounts impacted by a payment processing error and have taken corrective action to refund these customers," Honda wrote on its Facebook account. "Customers should start to receive refunds beginning Thursday, April 7, 2016. Any fees caused by this error will be waived or reimbursed, and we will assist customers with credit concerns. We are experiencing high call volumes due to this error. As a result, the average hold time is 20-30 minutes. We regret this inconvenience and are working diligently to resolve this matter as quickly as possible."
Just imagine opening your monthly statement — whether leasing or financing — to find out that you're paying Acura prices for a Honda due to single payments on vehicles being doubled. What a sinking — not to mention, downright enraging — feeling that must have been for customers. You can't blame them for calling Honda in high volume, pointing out the glaring error in its payment processing system.
While the issue will be resolved — and it better be quick — perhaps this news will make other automakers take a look at their payment processing system to avoid this public relations blow and disruption amongst their customers as well.
