This has been an absolute nightmare. I signed up for a credit card at a Banana Republic outlet store, to save 20% off my entire purchase.By the time the bill arrived, it was already late. I paid the amount, minus the late fee... Strangely, the late fee was about 20% of the total! Hmmm... What a funny coincidence.
After sending off a check, called Banana Republic, got transferred about a million times, at some point I was being asked about my Sam's Club account?! Ugh! Whatever. 45 mins later, I was speaking to GE Money Bank (who "administers" the Bananacard) and they agreed to waive the fee. All was well until a couple months later. I got a call a few times from an unidentified number early in the morning several days in a row. Finally, I picked it up and some elderly Indian man said, "Allo... Ehder? I speek to ehder?" (I guess he meant Heather.)
When I asked what this was about and he said "Banana Republic..." I said something to the effect of, "NO, we are not discussing this, that matter is SETTLED, that account is CLOSED, I have already dealt with this, I am NOT dealing with it again.": click: That worked for another month or so. Then I started getting the calls again.
I wrote to Banana Republic explaining my dissatisfaction. Their customer service was very sorry but there was nothing they could do to make the calls stop, I would need to speak to GE Money Bank. I made the mistake of calling GE Money Bank, guess who I got on the phone? Not NCO, but another Indian person who wanted me to verify my work number, cell phone number, home number, address, etc... Of course I said NO, I was not verifying anything (at the beginning, the recording tells you that your call is being monitored and any information obtained is for the sole purpose of collecting a debt, DUH) and demanded to speak to someone who could make the calls from NCO stop. They said they could not make the calls stop. I said, "Who is in charge of NCO? Who is over them?" She said, "No one is in charge of NCO."
This has gotten ridiculous... I have all the information ready to send a cease and desist notice. I am sending it to the BBB in PA, the FTC, the Attorney General in PA and in FL (where I live) and I am also getting the addresses for GE Money Bank and Banana Republic. And of course, I am writing NCO, the best I could find for a supervisor was the Compliance Officer, Mr. John Emmons, Esq. These last three (GE Money Bank, BR, and NCO) are getting a letter sent certified mail with return receipt. I don't know what else to do. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Anybody better to contact at NCO than the compliance officer?
This is annoying me terribly, they are calling 6-8 times a day. The calling got much more persistent after I contacted GE Money Bank, of course! They call as early as 8:12 am and as late as 8:48 pm, they must know the earliest and latest that they are legally allowed call. This is obscene. I am at the point where I have a distress whistle by the phone (super loud, it makes my eardrums feel "popped" when I use it inside) and am considering letting it rip the next time they call - except I am afraid it will literally burst the eardrums of the jerk on that headset of theirs. I don't really want to hurt them, as I know they are just scrounging for work and get paid a pittance... But I am ready to try ANYTHING to discourage the calling! Please, if anyone has any ideas, I am all ears.
0 comments