I have only reaed one other report about this company because the site is so busy, but it rang so true with my experience that I have to sound off.
In October I received my statement from Newport News (FCNB) saying that I hadn't paid my bill the month before.
This is very unlike me. I looked through my old statements and saw none from September for FCNB. I looked through the unshredded papers in the shredder and found a nondescript mailing from Card Processing Center. It looked like a credit card offering, not a bill and it didn't say Newport News anywhere on the envelope.
There was no contact number to reach this company by phone, just an address. So I wrote a letter contesting the late fee. I never heard back.
I was very frustrated because my balance and monthly bill were increasing due to the late fee. So I called Newport News. They said that my account had been closed and sold to a company called Midland Credit Management.
I called the number and spoke with a woman who said she couldn't find my file, but that we should exchange phone numbers and that I shouldn't pay my bill until this dispute was settled.
She didn't call back because she didn't find my file. I called her and continued to not pay my bill through February when Card Processing Center finally started calling me up to 10 times per day.
When I told them I had sent them a letter and that I had contacted the woman at Midland Credit Management, they said that they didn't reply to any account that was overdue or "in delinquency".
I said that my account wouldn't have been delinquent if someone had responded to my letter when the first late fee occurred and if there was an accurate phone number for me to call.
That's when they gave me all kinds of numbers to call. They wanted me to pay a huge amount that included all
of the late charges that had accrued during a time I believed I was disputing one late fee.
Over the last few months I've been paying $70 per month to bring my account out of delinquency. I recently received a bill that doesn't have any late fees, but that still says my minimum payment is $70.
I was told that as soon as my account was out of delinquency I will be able to call and find out the exact amount I can dispute including late fees and interest. Then I'm supposed to send a letter with all the details.
I feel screwed over and don't know what to expect at this point. I'm a graduate student working my way through school with enough to occupy my time without having to deal with this.
Any suggestions would be helpful.
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