A-L Financial
on 4880 Stevens Creek Blvd in San Jose, CA

Ness B posted a comment

I've been with A-L for a year and I have not had any significant issues. I believe that most people having problems with A-L because they sent their payments in late. You MUST pay your bill on time.

Pros:
1. They will let you change your payment date ONCE

The reason I rated then 1/5 is because their "business practices" are either unethical, inconvenient, and/ or unfair.
CONS:
1. you can't pay a large lump sum on your loan principal (in order to pay your loan off early). They want to collect interest on every month.
ex: I asked if I could pay $1000 on my loan. A-L rep said, "We don't do that. If you pay $1000 dollars, your monthly payment will be taken out of it every month. We still collect monthly interest."

2. The interest. My interest rate is around 18% (super high)
ex: I pay $330/ month A-L takes about $150 just for their interest fee

3. Rude customer service/ account reps. Not all are terrible, but I have dealt with a few that had nasty attitudes. And they will hang up on you.

4. they don't take credit/ debit card payments. This would make it a lot easier for people to make their payments on time.

5. They don't offer incentives like REAL, RESPECTABLE banks or credit unions.
ex: lower interest rates after paying on time for a long period of time.

Try to find someone elso to finance you. When the dealer says AL Financial, run away. I say go with them if you are desperate and absolutely need a car. Just stay long enough to raise your credit score (which does happen pretty quickly 6months to 1 year). After about 6 months to 1 year GO REFINANCE with a real bank. refinancing is crucial. If you don't you will most likely end up paying 2X (or more) what your car is worth.

*All of my payments are on time and they still treat me like crap.

They are uneducated in their field, rude, and the company is a joke. I plan on shopping around for different lenders pretty soon. Good luck to everyone with AL. I can't wait to ditch them...
***update***
9-30-14
Yesterday I'd received a letter from them in the mail dated 9-26-14. This letter was VAGUE and only stated, "please contact me about your account... i want to help you... if you don't call i can't help you." I was confused as to why they had sent me this letter. So, I called them today and they say it was regarding my September payment, WHICH IS DUE ON SEPTEMBER 28TH (I actually paid it on the 26th via western union and AL Financial confirmed my payment that day).
Why am I being harrassed for a "late payment" that wasn't even late??? They apologized but I am unhappy with the sheer incompetence of the staff for this company.
*like I said before, they still treat me like crap and that is after a year and 8 months of on time payments.