On July 30, a Chase Bank representative called and ran through my outstanding balance on my credit card and informed me that the $50 I was making towards this debt was not sufficient, however if I could at least bring the payment to $140/month, it would be acceptable. I acknowledged the $50 payment and told her that I would do something. She insisted that she needed to process the payment that same day as failure to doing so would result in Chase Bank turning over my debt to attorneys. I told her that her call came in at a time I was in a meeting and was not able to excuse myself but I would submit the payment later in the day since I had access to my credit card account online. After much insistence, I ended the conversation. However, she continued to make several attempts that morning to reach me on my office phone. I did not answer any of these calls.
That afternoon I submitted the $90 payment which brought the August payment to $140. Record of some of the calls from National Enterprise Systems between August 1 and 28. Calls from NES came in almost everyday (several times a day) but these are calls that I actually spoke with an agent.
August 5 — The caller identified himself as someone calling from a company Chase Bank had retained to process a court document against me since I was delinquent on the credit card payments. He told me that if I did not comply, I was being sued and the Maryland Courts were going to contact me. He also told me that I needed to comply and take this matter very seriously because if I didn’t, my license would be suspended. He also told me that a summons was going to be served on me at my place of work. How you want that, he said.
I explained to him the July 30 conversation with the Chase Bank representative but this didn’t help matters. After a few back and forth, phone conversation ended. A few minutes later he called again but I didn’t answer the call.
August 6 — The caller informed me that this call was in reference to the 8/5 conversation and I was in restitution and that a lawsuit may be filed against me if I didn’t continue to comply with them.
August 8 — The caller explained to me how consolidating all credit card debt with the Chase Bank would be to my advantage – he listed the debts. I refused to accept that offer and basically the conversation changed and during that conversation I was also informed that if I didn’t comply, NES would call my employers (HR) and report the debt I owe and threatened me saying his company would take legal action against me.
Much later into their calls, I finally received the letter from National Enterprise Systems (NES) dated August 5 informing me that their office was listed for this collection – service provider is listed as Chase Bank, account number is given and the total due with a payment coupon attached for the full amount to be paid to NES.
August 14 — The caller on the phone began by saying that she was calling in connection with a fraud case filed and gave me a reference number — 198414-925-MD. She told me that I had committed a fraud against the Chase Bank debt. She told me that I was not a responsible customer and during the conversation she began yelling; “you are in debt, you are in debt, you are in debt, you are not responsible enough, you should be ashamed of yourself, and if you are sensible you should be paying this debt like you are doing other debts. We will file a complaint against you with your credit union and have your wage garnished. You have committed credit card fraud. She yelled out your credit will be ruined”.
I called NES to discuss the debt and payment options. I was told that NES needed the full payment and nothing less because of my behavior towards previous NES callers – NES was not willing to entertain me with any payment options.
This time around, I know the caller’s name, Ms. Heather Collin. I told Heather I didn’t have the funds to clear the amount in full but had already begun to look into different options to repay this debt. She explained to me that we could use my other credit cards since she was seeing that it had enough funds to cover the Chase Bank debt. She asked for my credit card numbers which I provided over the phone. Unfortunately, these two cards were being consolidated and the only available credit wasn’t sufficient to pay the Chase Bank debt. Nevertheless, Heather was able to process a payment to NES of $1,042. She told me that if I could pay off over 50% of the debt NES/Chase Bank was willing to forego whatever would be balance. She asked me about my line of credit and if I could not tap into this money. Unfortunately I could not draw any funds from it. I mentioned to her that I was still awaiting a response on my application for an increase on my credit card. I also told her that I could look into refinancing my mortgage to pay off this debt but she told me that normally that took a month and it wasn’t good for them as they couldn’t afford to wait that long.
Within a few minutes, after we reconnected via phone, I told her that I had just managed to schedule a 10:30am meeting with the mortgage specialist for Monday, August 25 and would get back to her after that meeting to update her.
On Monday, August 25, my manager returned from vacation and it was not possible for me to go to my 10:30am meeting due to a busy morning. I called Heather to let her know and told her that I had rescheduled the meeting to 2:30pm the following day and we agreed that I would call later that afternoon.
On Tuesday, August 26, around 3:30pm, Heather called my house phone. My son answered the phone and she asked to speak with me but she was told I was at work; she asked how I could be reached because she had an appointment with me. When my son tried to hesitate, she demanded for a number and my son gave her my cell phone.
On Wednesday, August 27, Heather called my cell phone. I asked her how she got my number and she told me, “Well you have to understand that you are under investigation and we are obtaining all information about you including contact numbers because you are basically not complying with us”. I was really surprised at what she told me because I had already accommodated her despite the fact these calls were being made during my work hours. She knew the effort I was making to clear this debt. Moreover, in the last few days, she had just processed a payment of $1,042. How could she turn around and say what she had just said? Well I told her that I was on the train and could not speak with her but would call her later.
When I got to work, I didn’t call her but I decided to call Federal Trade Commission and register my complaints against the actions of NES.
Later in the day, Heather called back on my office phone but I didn’t pick up the phone. She however, spoke with a co-worker and left a message with her; “Message from Ms. Heather Collin, the call is in reference to a complaint filed”. Within seconds of leaving that message, she called my cell phone but I didn’t answer.
My co-worker stopped by my office to give me the message which I found as a way of embarrassing me, degrading me and basically saying that we will get you and let your co-workers know about your private life and what is going on.
On Thursday, August 28, around 12:17pm Heather called my office phone and asked if there was any update on my meeting with the mortgage specialist. I told her about my call to FTC and the letter I had mailed to NES earlier in the day.
She became upset with me and called me a coward for taking that action to file a complaint with FTC and said that it was wrong. She also called me a liar. I told her that I didn’t have to discuss this matter anymore with her over the phone or anyone at NES and mentioned the letter I mailed to NES.
This has been a terrible experience. They tried to instill fear, intimidate me, harass me, bully me and shame me by speaking with my co-worker about my debt or anything to that effect. They tried to use any means within their reach to have me succumb to their deceptive methods of debt collection. Oftentimes even becoming aggressive and making threats which included lawsuits, arrest, and seizure of my license, reporting to my credit union to garnish my wage, calling my employers and reporting this debt; saying that I had committed credit card fraud and leaving a message with my co-worker.
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