Credit Card company rant

[penguindance]

 

[Aquila]

I live in florida


I think we can work out a trade

 

[Monazwx]

Wow, this calls for a stiff drink.

TGIF!!!

 

[penguindance]

 

[Aquila]

Hmmm. Perhaps a picture?

Boca Raton is where they are...

I work in boca

 

[RawHumor]

Hmmm. Perhaps a picture?

Boca Raton is where they are...

See? That's why they didn't want to give you an address.

 

[penguindance]

 

[penguindance]

 

[Aquila]

Quite possibly. And in order to send overnight mail they had to give me their actual physical address, not a p.o. box, lol.

so what is this address?

 

[penguindance]

 

[chicagoguy]

Nuke Florida

 

[penguindance]

 

[Aquila]

4700 Exchange Court. I am off to take your picture now...


By the way, could you hear us yelling at each other about an hour ago?

uhm thats a residential address

 

[penguindance]

 

[Aquila]

What? That's not funny.

its off of s. 3rd ave (not far from where I work) and I think its a neighborhood.

 

[chicagoguy]

Truck Bomb

 

[Aquila]

yeah its just south of glades rd if I remember... let me check it tonight, Ill drive down there if you'd like.

 

[penguindance]

 

[miles]

I don't live in FL, but we could work something out.

 

[penguindance]

 

[Barely__There]

Can you put a hit out on a credit card company? God, I'm about to fly to Florida and off the whole lot myself!

Everything was fine, each month the company sent me a statement, I sent my payment by return mail, everyone was happy.

Then in June, that quit happening. They quit sending me a statement, so there was no bill to pay, and I forgot about it.

The phone calls started coming about two months ago, apparently they had been sending my statements to an address in California, which they said I changed my address to. Clearly I must have moved to California and back to Montana in this span, because there was no way THEY screwed up!

Here's when things got real fun. They wouldn't give me an address to send my payments to. They wanted me to send my payment via Western Union, which we DO NOT HAVE HERE. The nearest one is an hour away.

Then they wanted me to do a check by phone. We don't have a checking account. (It's a long story, but my husband decided that it was easier just to work with cash, and it hasn't been so bad.)

They would NOT give me the address to mail payment to.

Just now, one of them called me, and I told her that I would be more than happy to send them a payment if they would SEND ME A STATEMENT. She said that they send statements as a courtesy, and that I am required to pay them whether I am sent a statement or not.

I argued with her, getting madder and madder, and then her supervisor breaks onto the line. Basically he is accusing me of trying to get out of making a payment. I explain to him that if he would just send me a statement, I would be more than happy to pay them. Again with the courtesy bullshit. So I said FINE, just give me an ADDRESS where we can send the payment to, and I will get right on it.

Nope, he won't do it either. He wants me to give him the phone number of someone (my mother, brother or something) with a checking account that he can call to get a payment over the phone, and then I can pay them back.

Bullshit.

And I tell him I am not going to do that. So what does he say? "Oh, so now you're refusing to pay this bill?" For Christ sake! I am my office the entire time this conversation is going on, and now I am yelling. I was pissed.

We get into it about that, and I say there is no way I'm doing it. He starts looking back in the computer to see if he can figure out why I quit getting statements. He says that in May I faxed them and changed my address. I said obviously it wasn't me, SINCE I DIDN'T move!!! He looks to see if there are any other people by the same name in their system. There are two, one in Michigan and one in Missouri. Neither one is in California, he says, so obviously it wasn't them.

For Christ sake! Of course they aren't in California, because you changed MY ADDRESS instead of THEIRS!

I am about to kill this guy at this point. He starts in on wanting to call my mother again, and getting her to do a check over the phone. I tell him I'm not comfortable with that, and he starts threatening to look up her number and do it anyway. I hang up on him.

A few minutes later he calls me back and says, "I thought you didn't have a checking account!" And I again said that I didn't. He says, well I'm looking at your credit file right now, and it says that you do, at the credit union. No, we have a savings account at the credit union, but we closed our checking account almost two years ago. Basically he tells me I'm lying, because this is a recent credit report. (RIGHT, because NOTHING in those things is EVER wrong...like someone's ADDRESS!)

He ends up calling the credit union. They tell him I have a savings account. He wants to know if he can do a payment by phone with a check from the savings account. She tells him no.

So then he comes back to me and says well, I'll have to give you an address to send it overnight. For Christ sake! Why couldn't he just do that in the first place?!?!!

GRRRRRR....

The same guy who just finished telling me half an hour ago that it had to be in his office TODAY, now says that a payment next Friday will be fine because it fits in the ten day window they have.

ASSHOLE.

This sounds very suspicious. There is NO WAY a legitimate credit card office would not give out a mailing address.

Credit card fraud usually starts with someone getting a copy of your bill, and sending in a change of address. Then, they can run up your bill etc, and you don't know about it. They make a few payments for awhile, and then stop and move on.

If they are associated with a bank of some sort, tell them you will take your last statement to that bank, and make the payment through the bank. I would be very careful about sending anything to such a suspicious mailing situation.

 

[Weird Harold]

Can you put a hit out on a credit card company? God, I'm about to fly to Florida and off the whole lot myself!

Everything was fine, each month the company sent me a statement, I sent my payment by return mail, everyone was happy.

Then in June, that quit happening. They quit sending me a statement, so there was no bill to pay, and I forgot about it.

The phone calls started coming about two months ago, apparently they had been sending my statements to an address in California, which they said I changed my address to. Clearly I must have moved to California and back to Montana in this span, because there was no way THEY screwed up!

...

The same guy who just finished telling me half an hour ago that it had to be in his office TODAY, now says that a payment next Friday will be fine because it fits in the ten day window they have.

ASSHOLE.

It sounds like you're dealing with a collection agency rather than the credit card company. On the last statement you did get, there should be an 800 number to call if you have problems and a customer service address.

Call them before you send the payment to the collection agency and ask them for a detailed statement for the entire period you've been without a statement so you can challenge any bogus charges.

I'd definitely consider cancelling that credit card and getting on from a local bank or credit union.

I'd also put some serious consideration into contacting a lawyer to see what can be done about the harrassment and unethical tactics by the collection agency.

 

[ExLimey]

Harold is right, you're more than likely dealing with a collection agency. NEVER give them your account number or anyone else's account number. Depending on the safeguards where you bank, doing this usually gives the bank the idea it's okay to let any and all transactions from that company go through.

Things you should do now:

1. As Harold said, contact the credit card company and get copies of past statements sent to you. If at all possible you want to deal with the original creditor. See if they have a "Loss Prevention Dept" or some sort of department that would work out some sort of repayment plan with you directly and cut the collection agency out of the loop.

2. Get a copy of your credit report to check to see if any activity not authorized by you has been done in your name. The fact that your address was changed to CA could be a mistake by the card company or a signal that someone has stolen your identity.

3. Whenever you talk to the collections people before you get into a conversation get their FULL name, call back number and tell them you are recording the conversation (even if you don't have an answering machine that can do this, tell them anyway). There are rules and regulations about harassment from creditors (Fair Collections Practices Act) but it is very difficult to prove what someone said to you. Taping a conversation is illegal in most of the US unless you inform them ahead of time.

4. Find out the name of the collection agency and write them a Certified Return Receipt letter informing them they are no longer allowed to contact you via phone regarding this account and all future contact regarding this account should be sent in writing to your address (list it again).


You may also want to contact a Credit Counseling Agency to discuss things with them. Make sure they are Non-Profit and find out ahead of time what if any fees are involved. You may want to check with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) or ask the credit card company for a referral, most will do this.

Also, if you talk to anyone, keep records of times, dates and the persons full name. This can be difficult because you're bound to get bounced around from person to person.