Trend Financial Review
In September of 2015 I made the mistake of getting involved with a company called Trend Financial in Toronto Ontario. I had set to purchase what I expected was a reasonably priced, good quality vehicle that was in pretty good mechanical condition. Unfortunately this is not how companies like Trend financial operate. Far from it.
Due to a previous insurance claim, Trend Financial had $6,500 of my money which they were using to put as a deposit on my new vehicle. The vehicle was $11,000 so I had over 50% down payment. When I arrived in Toronto to pick the vehicle up it was in a terrible state of disrepair. The following things were broken on the vehicle:
– Missing parts of the vehcile (hand grips in the cab, buttons in the cab, etc.)
– Leaking diesel fuel
– non-stop beeping in cab
– Airbags malfunctioning
– back-up sensors malfunction
– steering wheel missing buttons
– cruise control not working
– marker lights malfunctioning
But worry not, I was told! All of these problems would be repaired if I would just take the vehicle to a garage. No charge to me, they promised.
After having to sign no less than 7 different lease agreements because of never-ending mess-ups by the sales person, the vehicle was mine. Or so I thought. All I had to do was take it home, and then get the vehicle repaired.
Of course this never happened.
First off, the company lied about the kilometres of the vehicle. They advised me it was 178,000km and it ended up being over 300,000km and they had no explanation as to why. The only thing the sales person could come up with was “It’s an American truck, maybe it was miles”. Then of course was advised that I didn’t have to buy the vehicle, they would be happy to keep my $6,500 leftover from the insurance company. If I didn’t take the vehicle, I risked loosing a considerable amount of money.
Then I was advised I had to drive over 240km from my home to get the vehicle repaired. 240km! I lived next door to a certified garage, but they expected me to drive 240km to get the “free” repairs done on the vehicle. I sucked it up and drove the vehicle to the garage, and only a couple of the minor problems were repaired. At least it no longer was an environmental hazard and did not leak diesel after the first set of repairs. I was expected to bring the vehicle back 3 more times and risk getting a bunch of tickets to get the repairs for “free”.
I asked Trend Financial multiple times to get the vehicle repaired at a garage in my city, and was constantly denied. Trend expected me to drive an unfit vehicle 240km in unsafe condition. This would risk the life and my family so they could save a couple of dollars.
Eventually I was pulled over at a commercial truck weigh scale and given a verbal warning. Apparently the truck had a loose exhaust system, missing marker light, AND an improper safety certificate.
In Ontario, Canada any vehicle over 4,500kg is required by law to have a commercial yellow-tag safety certificate and inspection. It’s a different and more strict safety certificate than normal cars and pick-up trucks get.
Trend Financial of course did not believe the vehicle needed this safety certificate and outright refused to get the vehicle the proper safety certificate the vehicle needed to be legal on the road. They flat out refused to follow the letter of the law due to their sheer ignorance about the products they sell. The uneducated people at Trend confused something called a “CVOR” or Commercial Vehicle Operators Record with Commercial yellow-tag safety certificate. A CVOR is something that commercial tractor-trailer drivers have that keeps a record of any infractions they get when they drive. A yellow-tag safety certificate is not remotely related.
Places like the Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council (OMVIC) are never any help. They normally side with the vendor and work hard to prove the customer is wrong. Either way, OMVIC has no actual power, they are just a bureaucratic agency.
Trend Financial had the nerve to tell me that the copies of the Ontario Highway Traffic Act information was incorrect. Without the truck being impounded by the Ministry of Transportation, they would not believe the officers at the weigh scale station that the truck was unsafe. I would be out my vehicle, and my money, just to satisfy the needs of the finance company. The weigh scale officers stated if the finance company gets the truck impounded at the weigh scale, they are under no legal obligation to give it back to me. I would be out my money, and my vehicle, and still be expected to pay the finance company back for it.
But wait! There’s more!
Along with selling an unsafe, unfit vehicle and expecting the person who bought it to drive it hundreds of kilometres in that condition, Trend didn’t stop there.
As with all purchases, Trend Financial asked me for a voided cheque to take bi-weekly payments out of the bank. This was more than reasonable.
However, the company then decided to enter the banking information wrong in their computer, and the first payment was marked as “returned” – even though I had nothing to do with this mistake. Of course Trend Financial charged me late fees, and threatened me with repossession on the phone because of their mistake.
Quite a few months later, one payment was returned (life happens, sometimes). Due to Trends initial incompetence, they felt this made me two payments behind for a grand total of $300.00
The unscrupulous company decided, without any attempt to contact me by phone, e-mail, or registered letter to attempt to repossess the vehicle. I found out because the tow truck company called me and advised me they would be coming in 24 hours if I did not get the situation resolved.
Again, the tow truck company called me. Why did the finance company not attempt to resolve the issue beforehand? The reason: they do not legally have to.
A quick call to my lawyer revealed the company can repossess the vehicle, sell it the same day, and force me to pay the balance. I may have no opportunity to get the vehicle back, even though the issue was partially the fault of Trend Financial.
The vehicle was not repossessed, repaired, or any resolve of this issue. However Trend charged me for the repossession, even though it did not happen. You read that correct, they charged me for work not completed.
Over $1,000 later I was able to keep the pile of garbage they sold me, and am able to drive to work and make money to keep my house, buy groceries, etc. Without the vehicle I would be unable to make money to live. Trend knows this, and will do everything that is legal (which is a lot) to take your money and their vehicle back at every opportunity. They constantly demonstrate they want to sell scrap, take your money, and leave you with nothing.
The kicker to all of this is: Not having a clue as to what MTO paperwork means while selling cars is legal. Selling broken down junk with improper safety certificates is completely legal. Being disrespectful to customers is legal. Making customers drive thousands of kilometres without compensation to get repairs is legal. Repossessing a vehicle that’s almost paid off over a couple hundred dollars is completely legal. Not giving notice before taking action against your customers is legal. Stealing someones ability to make a living is completely legal. In Canada, the company broke no laws. They did, however make a customer despise the company to the point where they cannot wait to get out of the financing and deal with a company which has respect for the people that pay them.
Keep away from Trend Financial at all costs, unless you enjoy wasting thousands of dollars in administration fees and want to take your life in your hands by driving an unsafe, unfit vehicle simply to suit their fancy. Trend Financial is on the lowest rung of the financing world. Slightly above loan sharks that break your legs if you can’t pay. They are unscrupulous, unfair, uneducated, and will do everything in their power to take your money and provide you with nothing but headaches and an empty wallet.
APRIL 3, 2016 UPDATE: Since publishing this article the truck has had a significant amount of breakdowns and cost thousands upon thousands of dollars to repair. This includes (But not limited to):
– Transmission temperature sensor (and associated costs including transmission oil, pan seal, filter, etc.)
– Front drive shaft
– Front tyres
– Cruise control motor assembly
– Manifold seals on both sides
– Valve cover seals on both sides,
– Front wheel bearing
– Two new batteries
2018 Repairs UPDATE: The vehicle had required new brakes, callipers,starter, starter wiring, and several thousand dollars of other random repairs.
June 5, 2018 – The vehicle has been paid off and sold. I am finally free from worst customer experience I have had in over 30 years. I have never had a company work so hard to make their paying customers miserable.
32 thoughts on “Trend Financial Review”
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Do not trust them they are the most crooked company anyone can deal with they take your payments the day before their supposed to and drive your account it to an over draft they target seniors with low income and others like them least with a bank you no what their like don’t deal with trend I’m sending this through every media to warn people about them they set people up with cars that truly should not be on the road safety wise the car broke down not even a block from where they did the safety the tire rod on the drivers side literally fell off if my father was lucky he was not in an accident cause of it!
Just reading through the comments, agreed that the company has the ability to be a decent option if you are having issues getting financing however they have some employees that completely make it not worth your while to deal with them,
I had the exact same situation that someone else mentioned with them being so rude to my insurance company that my insurance refused to deal with them. They then went on to tell me that they will be taking back my car after over 80% of the payments were made for not having insurance (Which I HAVE) because my company is just so annoyed with them that they refused to drop everything and fax them a letter.
When I tried calling a manager to complain about the situation they just got more belligerent about the issue, The “manager” refused to give a full name, just a first name. When she had the opportunity to de-escalate the issue she decided instead to be as condescending as humanly possible, Telling me things like I must not know how insurance works and that they are never rude to the companies which is ironic that even right here in the other comments there is someone else with the exact same issue. The ministry of commercial and consumer affairs directed me to get the names of the employees that I was dealing with, and again the “manager” refused anything but a first name.
The whole point of calling to a manager to work out an issue is negated when they are not interested in finding a solution but instead makes comments about how what you are saying is irrelevant when they are completely able to instead just MANAGE and resolve the issue.
They do have some great employees but when they have people who just do not care at all about the reputation of the company that they work for there is just no point in dealing with them. So after all this I would warn anyone who is thinking about dealing them to avoid them like the plague.
In all my life I have never dealt with people as unprofessional as the people that I dealt with today, just a nightmare. You see a lot of good reviews on here but I would really question the reality of the comments. If you care nothing about the actual truth of the situation and are completely okay with either repossessing or threatening to repossess a car based on insurance when there is in fact exactly the insurance on it that needs to be there I would question anything put out there by their
employees!!!
These guys are total scum bags.
I was about to buy a car from these people until I read your article. Thank you SO much from saving me from a lot of heartache.
I too was contemplating buying a car from them, but saw all the AWFUL problems other have experienced with them and decided no way!
This kind of behaviour is unbelievable. Companies like this should be run out of town. I have shared this article far and wide. Repossessing over a couple hundred dollars? Retards.
I was unfortunate enough to deal with Trend Financial before. They will screw you every which way they can. To everyone who reads this – RUN! Run Away! Unless you want never-ending fees and harassment by these people. Your $5,000 car will cost $15,000 after their fees.
Trend Financial is a business that doesn’t work with customers. When I got my vehicle from them it was late and in for repairs because it wouldn’t turn over. I waited at their offices all day and had to make TWO trips from Kingston to Toronto for it. Once that headache was over I then had to deal with the headache of their customer service which is horrible. When I went to trade in the vehicle they gave the new dealership THREE different buyout amounts and didn’t listen to the dealership or myself. This resulted in messed up numbers and Trend saying “oh well”. There are other companies then Trend, read the BBB reviews on them and make an informed decision.
So I got a call from Trend today and I have to say that call went much better. The rep was open, honest, and together we worked through what the issues were and what happened. They owned that they made some mistakes and are working towards fixing them. My specific issues have been resolved to a level that I am comfortable. I still stand by people doing their research and making informed decisions about what companies they interact with but Trend at least gave me a call and has made an effort and that counts for something. I hope that they do this with all their clients and not just me.
ust reading through the comments, agreed that the company has the ability to be a decent option if you are having issues getting financing however they have some employees that completely make it not worth your while to deal with them,
I had the exact same situation that someone else mentioned with them being so rude to my insurance company that my insurance refused to deal with them. They then went on to tell me that they will be taking back my car after over 80% of the payments were made for not having insurance (Which I HAVE) because my company is just so annoyed with them that they refused to drop everything and fax them a letter.
When I tried calling a manager to complain about the situation they just got more belligerent about the issue, The “manager” refused to give a full name, just a first name. When she had the opportunity to de-escalate the issue she decided instead to be as condescending as humanly possible, Telling me things like I must not know how insurance works and that they are never rude to the companies which is ironic that even right here in the other comments there is someone else with the exact same issue. The ministry of commercial and consumer affairs directed me to get the names of the employees that I was dealing with, and again the “manager” refused anything but a first name.
The whole point of calling to a manager to work out an issue is negated when they are not interested in finding a solution but instead makes comments about how what you are saying is irrelevant when they are completely able to instead just MANAGE and resolve the issue.
They do have some great employees but when they have people who just do not care at all about the reputation of the company that they work for there is just no point in dealing with them. So after all this I would warn anyone who is thinking about dealing them to avoid them like the plague.
In all my life I have never dealt with people as unprofessional as the people that I dealt with today, just a nightmare. You see a lot of good reviews on here but I would really question the reality of the comments. If you care nothing about the actual truth of the situation and are completely okay with either repossessing or threatening to repossess a car based on insurance when there is in fact exactly the insurance on it that needs to be there I would question anything put out there by their
employees!!!
do not trust them they are the most crooked company anyone can deal with they take your payments the day before their supposed to and drive your account it to an over draft they target seniors with low income and others like them least with a bank you no what their like don’t deal with trend I’m sending this through every media to warn people about them
they set people up with cars that truly should not be on the road safety wise the car broke down not even a block from where they did the safety the tire rod on the drivers side literally fell off if my father was lucky he was not in an accident cause of it
Thumbs Down!! 🙁 It took Trend two weeks to finally have all the info they needed (believe me, they asked for the world), they asked for a tonne of info. just for us to buy our car that we desperately needed.
Our car that we had purchased had been ready for a day, but because Trend still felt they didn’t have enough info. from us, the dealership that we bought our car from couldn’t let us have the car.
I felt like such a criminal, we had to prove everything, I’m surprised they didn’t want a sample of our DNA too.
It was a very upsetting and frustrating experience, and very high interest rate too!! Don’t recommend this company to any one…….. 🙁 🙁
Do not get financed from them. They are a scam. Charging random fees just for changing your payment date. They came to lock my car and did not make sure if I had insurance. I still had insurance and now they want to charge me 280 dollars just to take the lock off my car. I showed them that I had insurance and they still arent coming to unlock it. Worst company to finance with. They dont help their customers. They called me one time and emailed me like I check my email. They also spoke to my insurance broker and she said they harrased her with calls when she already spoke and made arrangements with them. DO NOT FINANCE WITH TREND! Very awful customer service. I regret signing on with them. I called them about 20 times and no one got back to me. I was transferred many times and still werent helped.
Just got financed with them for a car I got at Manhattan Motorcars. They told me the rate was 6% and then I found over 3k in fees. My car was 16k and I will repay almost 50k after 5 years. How is that 6%. Scammers!!! Don’t use them.
THESE ARE NOT GOOD PEOPLE,THEY ARE MANIPULATIVE AND DO NOT PAY THEIR BILLS,,,,WE WERE CONTRACTED TO DO THEIR SIGNS AT THE NEW OFFICE AND WHEN FINISHED THEY SCREWED US FOR ALMOST $2000.00…
WARNING,DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THESE PEOPLE!!!
I have been trying to get in touch with this company for the past week to help my brother. I have left many messages stating to phone after 3 because he works, they phoned early during the day while he is at work. I have also sent a couple emails, and no return comments or response. They stated in July that he would be paid out in December, they are still taking payments. You phone them, they state they are open till 7pm but on web site it states 5pm. (false advertisement) Return call in 4 hours, never, again false. You have dealt with the wrong sister on this information, this situation will be brought forth.
Oh boy,reading some of these comments makes me so happy I’ve never financed a car in my life.I simply put the same amount I’d be charged bi weekly aside & buy my vehicles cash.I don’t have anything against financing if that’s what the heart desires,I just hate the fact of knowing that I OWE someone & if I maybe fall on rough times that person that I owe can come take that object from me.
Lots of ppl say the best way to get on your feet is with a car loan…I say the best way to get on your feet is to miss a car loan Payment.
Sadly had to go with trend being charged a very high interest rate in comparison to other places i was quoted by but had no choice because i was in desperate need for a car and this was the fastest. Nice customer service but very high rates.
Fraudulent company going out of business. They won’t tell you their last names because they are afraid of death threats direct quote from employee
If you are in need of a car and have bad credit you should definitely consider other options.
Be care full of the loan sharks !
My husband tried to buy a vehicle using Trend Financial .
had lots of problems with the car dealer in regards to safety issues
We email Trend about not picking up the vehicle form the first day we went to pick up the vehicle . But to our surprise they ignore us and went into our account for payments . how is this possible when we haven’t pick up the vehicle . Be very care full !
Digusting customer service skills i have ever delt with in my life. They are very rude after you get into your car got my car and all now i still cant get a key for my vehicle but theyve already takin my money now to get a proper key which i paied for is a problem. Im currently on the phone with my 4th person today. I donot recommend anyone to use trend
It’s taking more then 2 weeks for this company to send my car dealership the cheque so I can take my car. They keep asking me for the same information I’ve already given them. Getting so sick and tired of these kinds of people. The ones that just don’t care. I would recommend using anyone else. If my issue is dealt with promptly I will change my review. But for now stay away.
The one thing is for sure – the scum-bag leasing company always wins. They give you a car, no support, and don’t care at all about you – but they always get their money. Never, ever use Trend Financial.
Will never use this company again they put me through the mill took almost 2 months to get a $5,000 loan the only thing they did not ask for is my DNA
Someone should seriously take action against these people. To them it’s just a car, but to most of us it’s our livelihood and one of our biggest investments. We should organize a class action suit and destroy these good-for-nothing dirt bags
This place is the worst. They can’t go bankrupt fast enough for me. NEVER LEASE WITH TREND!!
SCREW TREND FINANCIAL! I bought a car through them and it was the worst experience in my life. I should have dumped it in the lake and gotten the insurance money. It would have been a better value.
Everywhere I go I hear more and more bad things about this company. Thank you for your review. I have been shopping around for a new car, and would rather not have one than deal with this.
I never understood what is to be gained by making customers hate you.
I am re-posing this on my blog. This place needs to drown in it’s own vomit like a junkie in an alleyway.
rip off company