| Author | Message | ||
     B00stzx3 |
Kinda in a bind. I joined a gym a while back when I lived in a different city. I tried canceling twice and they said that was fine account canceled since I wasn't within 15 miles of another of their gyms when I moved. Next thing I know I'm getting muiltiple, muiltiple harassing calls from a collection agency in New Jersey (I'm a Marylander). I finally got through to them as they put you on hold for 20+ minutes when you try to return a call. Anyways, lady says I owe 60 bucks and the account will be closed out. I said ok, heres my credit card number. She said it didn't go through, I will need your banking routing info. Being 23 and dumb, I gave it to her. Next thing I know they did an ACH debit on my account for $500, when they said all I owed was $60. Keep in mind the gym said thats fine, your paid up and said my membership was canceled. At this point I'll say it was Gold's gym who I've heard of other sketchy and scammy practices. I signed an affadavit stating that they lied to me about the charge and everything else. I wouldn't have authorized a $500 charge to an account with only $94.00 . What do I do? They stopped calling after the fraud but after the bank gave me money back they are now calling me off the hook. I don't want it to ruin my credit score but they lied, isn't that cross-state line fraud and wire fraud? I didn't record the convo so I have no proof but this is what happened. | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
Make a call to your state Attorney General, Doug Gansler. His office might not be fast but they usually do make an attempt to get to the bottom of a complaint. | ||
| B00stzx3 |
Sweet. I thought Gansler was that guy on the local news to haha. I will give him a call as soon as I'm home, thanks Ferris! | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I had an ass hat collection company do the same thing. The guy acted like I personally owed HIM money. I didn't owe anything. I started getting calls in 1998. I moved away from the gym in 1993. Somehow there was a 5 year gap and the switch got flipped. I would have ignored it, but the turd reported it on my credit and I needed to close a home mortgage. I tried to reason with the guy, but he wasn't interested. The gym sold him the bad debt and he planned to collect. I sicked the credit reporting agency on him. If you have a collection company who is reporting a bad debt, they have to prove that the bad debt is still outstanding. If not, they have to stop the collection process. Check to see if this place has reported. If they have, get the credit rating agency to pursue for you. I would also call the gym to get someone to send you a letter that states you do not owe them anything. | ||
| Teeps |
When collector calls, politely tell them the conversation will be recorded. Ask for their first name and employee id. Then ask for a direct number to reach them. I doubt the conversation will go beyond the first sentence... And, never give any personal information over the phone to any one that cold calls. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I had some tools try to get money from me at one time too. I cancelled AOL (this was a while back  ) and they kept charging my credit card each month. I then told the credit card to shut them out. A couple of months passed and the monkey calls me demanding some $75 or something. I told him the situation and he told me that he wasn't even working for AOL but was a collection agency. He didn't care. He just wanted the money. After trying to reason with him for a good long time, I finally just told him "Why don't you come to my house and try to get the money from me then?" He did not. Do they ever? Do collection agencies have any power under the law? | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
They can petition the court to garner your wages but they cant threaten you. | ||
| Just_ziptab |
Screw the credit ratings..... I picked up $160.00 worth of soffit material at a lumber yard tonight..... at a lumber yard I have never done business with .....ever! I did not know who I talked to on the phone,other than that his name was Andy. I told him my name,but not where I was from. He said he had the stuff and was going out on a delivery and would be gone when I got there. He said he would put the material on a flat bed in the alleyway of the yard and said just stop in and take it. "Do you want me to leave a check?" ...."No,I'll just send you a bill." WTF? Evidently he new who I was,even tho I hardly never socialize with people in that little town,7 miles down the road. How would he know weather or not I was a deadbeat? I simply do not show up on the financial gossip radar screens. He did repeat my first name tho. Anyways,the stuff was there on the flat bed and nobody was around......I could have loaded up. Gotta love small town "Mom and Pop" businesses. Try that at Menards or Home Depot. Oh yeah,this was the good Rollex brand for a buck a panel more that the cheap picked thru Menards crap.Too bad the trust in this country has gone to hell in a burning hay basket. | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
I once cancelled a cell phone service back in the day (circa 1996). I settled with them and went on my merry way - or so I had thought. A few months later I started getting letters that I owed $.01. That's a penny, my friends. I let them send me enough letters to equal about $20 worth of postage, and a few years later I finally wrote them a check for $.01. Boy they sure got me. | ||
| Doubled |
Buddy at work got a certified letter in the mail stating that he had been overpaid by $3.25 the previous pay period and he needed to write them a check to cover the amount. The letter cost just over $5 to send!! Gotta love the government!!! | ||
| B00stzx3 |
Thanks all for the help. Teeps, I should've done that in the first place!! I doubt they would lie again over the phone like they did the first time. Unfortunetly Maryland I have to tell them their being recorded, changes the game a bit. Thanks all (Message edited by b00stzx3 on May 22, 2009) | ||
| Fast1075 |
I had a situation once where I closed a major credit card account...I got tired of the bumbling idiots messing up all the time...it was a regular three ring circus.. Anyway...I closed the account and paid the account in full +25 cents....for the next two years the bubble heads sent me a check every month for 25 cents...which I promptly shredded every month...they would call and ask if I received the refund...because the checks never returned...noooooo...eventually they gave up on the checks...bet they are still wondering where to apply the quarter...I have a good idea where that quarter needed to be put  | ||
| Teeps |
B00stzx3 Posted on Friday, May 22, 2009 \ Unfortunetly Maryland I have to tell them their being recorded, changes the game a bit. You can record phone conversations all you want. They can't be used against the recorded party, if they are not forewarned. Point is; the collection hosebags will likely never agree to be recorded. Thus ending the phone call in mid sentence. |
