I had a Providian Credit Card and was contacted by Lillian Tate from the J.A. Cambece Law Office, P.C. She requested my mailing address so that she could send me a letter regarding my debt to Providian. She then requested my bank account number.
I told her that I did want to start paying my debt but that I would not give her my account number because I had no proof (via letter through the U.S. Postal Department, for example) that Providian sold my debt to her office. I explained that I also preferred to pay by money order. She got very irate and transferred me to a man named Corey Jordan.
Corey Jordan also insisted I provide my bank account information. I told him I did not have a checking account. He said that he had proof that I did. He insisted that I needed to provide this information to him that same day. He told me that if I didn't have a checking account number, I should open a checking account that day or ask a friend to provide their checking account number to his office.
I told him that I preferred to pay by money order. He became very irate. He said that I wasn't in the driver's seat, that he was. He asked how old I was because, he said, I was acting very immature. When I refused to tell him, he proceeded to tell me that I'm over 30 years old but that I was acting immature. He asked why I had run away from my then state of residence to a new state without forwarding my new address to Providian.
That was a lie because I had made payments to Providian from my new address. He asked what I was doing, whether I was a student or worked. I responded by telling him that I wasn't answering any of his questions and that I was only interested in paying my debt.
He told me to get back to him with either my account information or someone else's. I told him I would get back to him. He insisted that I give him an exact time as to when I would call him, so I did.
After some thought, I called Ms. Tate back to ask verify that she would be sending me a letter showing that Providian sold my debt to her office. She said she would do so. She then asked whether I would provide my bank account information at that time. I told I wouldn't be able to.
I asked her to imagine receiving a telephone call out of the blue by Joe Schmo and having him tell her she owed him money for credit card debt and that she needed to give him her bank account number over the phone that instant. She became irate then told me this was the second time her office contacted me, not the first. I was puzzled until I asked her whether she was referring to her first conversation with me earlier that day.
She said that she was then she abruptly transferred me to Mr. Corey Jordan, without informing me of such and without my request for her to do so. I told Mr. Jordan I had only called to verify that Ms. Tate was going to send me the letter explaining that Providian sold my debt to his office, that I would make arrangements to pay my debt to them after receiving proof of it, and that I did not need to speak to him.
Mr. Jordan asked why I was playing games. During the conversation I mistakenly called him by Lillian Tate's last name and he became furious. He told me that if I did not agree to provide my checking account information over the phone, it constituted a refusal to pay and he would advise the credit card company to prosecute me to the fullest extent of the law.
He said that although my debt was $1,130.00, he would advise the credit card company to apply the 31% interest that the credit card company did not apply for the time period I had not made payments. He also said that he would report me to my professional organization. He ended his tirade by yelling Don't ever contact this office again! Then he hung up.
The truth of all of the above-described conversations can be verified by Ms. Tate and Mr. Jordan's office, as they advised me several times that their conversations with me were being recorded.
Over the course of two days I spoke with several Providian representatives in an attempt to (1) verify that my debt had been sold to Mr. Jordan's office; (2) to request my last few account statements to see whether payments I made from my new state of residence had been applied to my outstanding balance; (3) to advise Providian that Ms. Tate and Mr. Jordan insisted I give them my bank account information over the phone without having sent me any proof in the mail as to the truth of their statement that Providian sold my debt to their office; (4) to explain that Mr. Jordan told me to never contact his office again and, as a consequence, I would be making my payments directly to Providian.
One Providian representative was very dismissive of me and transferred me to Collect America despite the fact that I told her their representative told me never to contact his office again. Another representative informed me that Providian is no longer doing business with Collect America. Yet another representative told me they'd send my account statements within ten (10) business days for my review.
I wrote a letter to Providian advising the company to be more selective in who they choose to do business with. When I received a call from Ms. Tate, I responded promptly and expressed an interest in reaching an agreement as to installment payments so that I could pay my debt once and for all. I only asked that her office send me proof via letter showing that Providian sold my debt to her office and that I not provide my bank account number but pay by money order.
Instead of cooperating with me, Mr. Tate and Ms. Jordan harassed me, threatened me, insulted me and verbally abused me. It was unprofessional, unnecessary and illegal.
This complaint is as much about Providian as it is about Collect America, because, had Providian done any research on Collect America, it would know about it's illegal collection practices. I won't do anymore business with Providian, that's for sure.
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