AFNI kept me on the phone waiting over an hour in attempt to resolve my disputed Cingular (Verizon) account. They claim that I owe, and have bills for a telephone line in 2004. Only in I was living in England and didn't have a phone.
AFNI put a negative mark on my US credit report and advised they took due notification to contact me. Due notification consists of a letter sent which allowed me 30 days to request information. I never received the letter. They sent it to an address where I lived six years ago.
I called AFNI and asked them to remove the mark from my credit report so that I would be allowed to see my bills. I had to wait for an hour to speak to a representative. The representative wouldn't allow me to speak to a supervior and subsequently hung up on me. Thus, they refused to send me bills as they were not required to do anything other than verify them by law.
Per section 809 (b) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is states "an itemized statement of services rendered must be provided by the vendor if requested...'
I complained to the BBB. The BBB has received 975 complaints since mid 2007 about AFNI and still holds them in satisfactory status. AFNI has been a member of the BBB since 2007 and pays monthly dues. Bonnie Bakin, president of the Peroria BBB advised that the BBB takes into account the company's size and volume of transactions for BBB complaint reporting purposes.
In a response to my complaint from the BBB, AFNI is sending me bills. They refused to do so from the onset. I have yet to receive them, but am certainly eager to see the justification. Upon receipt of those bills, I will certainly re-approach AFNI and the BBB.
AFNI purchases debt for pennies on the dollar and takes any and all possible measures to ruin people's credit. Sometimes, the debts are in error and customers, like me are criminalized. AFNI victims need to report all matters to Bonnie Bakin at the BBB as well as the FTC for questionable practices.
Lisa Anderson, ACP, AFNI's compliance officer assured me that they were not required to do anything other than verify the debt. They advised they were not required to send bills. I believe that is in full violation with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
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