In 2002 had dispute with Sprint over my final bill. I say I owe them nothing. They said I owed them around $180. There resolution was to stop talking and hand me off to collectors.
Asset Acceptance, who seems to specialize in zombie debt collection must have picked it up. I never heard from them but saw them on my credit report. They listed amount as over $200. I disputed the amount while cleaning up my credit report. I got a call from AA. At first the guy was polite, but then starting making up stuff *telling* me that I "must have" run up my bill. He was just pulling ideas out of thin air. His tone and his accusations infuriated me, so I hung up. He called right back and in an angry tone started with "Let me ask you something..." - at this point I hung up - again.
In June I sent a certified letter. I included a note about the call, told them I consider this harrassment and to only write. I demanded documentation. I never heard back.
My only response was another collection agency (FBCS) trying to collect on their behalf in November. The letter said "We have contacted our client and they have agreed to accept $156.80 at this time." Notice the last three words. It doesn't say it would be the final bill. Just "at this time."
I complained to Equifax that they never provided me with documentation. Equifax sent me back a letter saying they investigated it and were satisfied. I called Equifax to demand that they tell me what documentation they had. They told me they have no documentation. Since AA is "member" - they just take their word for it! So this is how AA gets away with it. They take advantage of the fact that Equifax does nothing to police their data. To me this is a major hole that needs to be plugged and probably the source of most peoples frustration. Maybe we should all sue Equifax.
I pointed out to Equifax that AA keeps pushing up the amount and pushing up the dates. This is despite the fact that the only contact has been the harrassing phone calls and my certified letter and some letter from FBCS. I'm not stupid enough to give them even a partial payment since they refuse to verify the debt.
I tried to complain some more, but Equifax sent me a letter saying that all further disputes on this issue will go unanswered. How is this fair? What recourse does a consumer have if Equifax protects and refuses to police the rogue credit agencies that they are dealing with.
I shouldn't find this surprising. When I took the initiative to police my credit report a few years ago, I found *several* mistakes that I made them fix. The one they refuse to resolve is AA. Which I just don't understand.
Yes, I tried the usual bit of filing with the FTC. That of course did nothing. I'm sure AA just laughs at that. They are abusing the system and know all the holes. If they know Equifax won't police them, what's to stop them from continuing with their tactics?
0 comments