Sears Mastercard Aka Citibank
Collections Calls and Refused Supervisor After Missed Payment

This is how my battle began. Please help if anyone has good advice. It started with the birth of my son. Long story short, he almost died at birth, had surgery at a month old, and I was off work longer than anticipated. There was a month when I could not make a payment, so, being an honest person, I called and spoke with customer service to make some sort of arrangement. Two different reps told me there was nothing they could do, and when I asked to speak to a supervisor, I was not allowed. The advice I received was to let my account go to collections, where they could help me. I had no real choice in the matter and, being too naive and trusting, that is what I did.

In the meantime, I decided that I was responsible for my debt (I have always paid, even though some debts have taken a while) and did not want to destroy my credit. I contacted Christian Debt Services and set up a $125.00 payment with them, although they have since contracted my debt out to Nationwide Consumer Credit. I have kept Sears aka Citibank advised of all this, and the collection calls keep coming, as expected. I also learned through Sears aka Citibank that they have received no proposal or payment as of today, 9-28-05. I started the process on 9-6-05, and the payment cleared my bank. I have tried numerous times by email and phone to reach Nationwide since 9-22, and only today was I able to get through, only to reach a voicemail. I am not sure what the deal is there, but I am not pleased, to say the least.

Back to the issue at hand. I understand that these transactions take time, and for the most part Sears aka Citibank collections has been patient. I have contacted them and have always spoken with them when they called me. Things were mostly civil until this afternoon. I received a call from a female rep regarding my delinquent account. I tried to explain the situation and got a hostile reaction from her. I repeatedly asked for her name, which she would not give me. I also repeatedly asked to speak to a supervisor or manager. Her response was, "Our managers don't take calls. All they do is walk the floor and do paperwork." The last time I asked for her name and for a manager, before she hung up on me, she told me that she was a manager, which totally contradicted her first statement.

Needless to say, I was livid. I called back to the customer service number I had and spoke with a new rep. I explained my account situation once again, told her about the harassing call I had received, and demanded to speak to a supervisor. This time I actually got to speak to one (they really exist!?). I doubt it did much good. I gave him the information, and by his tone you could tell that he couldn't care less and was just pacifying me to get me off the phone.

Please let it be known that I am a hard-working individual who on more than one occasion has held down two, sometimes three, jobs to make ends meet. I do not run from my debts and have tried to find a solution to this one, but have only found more stress and added fees. This situation was not a choice of going on a spending spree. It happened due to life circumstances that were not in my control. If this were the only debt I had, it would be no problem to pay, but I am sitting on a pile of medical bills. My measly budget is stretched to the max, with room only for necessities, and sometimes those aren't taken care of. I have been a loyal Sears customer for years and at one time had another credit card through them that was paid off with no problems. If this is how they treat loyal customers and people who DO make attempts to set things right, they certainly will not be receiving any more business from me or my family.

Company: Sears Mastercard Aka Citibank
Country: USA
State: Nevada
City: The Lakes
Address: P O Box 6564
Phone: 8006698488

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