Certegy Payment Recovery Services is harrassing me on a daily basis to pay a check they claim I wrote. As a result of Hurricane Katrina I have no records of what checks I did or did not write in the days immediately before the storm. The bank account in question was closed several months after the storm and their computers were down for a good portion of that time. After the storm all of my financial documents ended up on the curb for any scavenger to pick up and commit fraud with. MANY former New Orleans residents have recently found themselves the victims of identity theft and fraud because of this precise situation.
Operators from Certegy started calling me several weeks ago about a check I supposedly wrote 2 days before Katrina, and I explained the situation and asked them to send me a xerox of the front of the check to verify that I did indeed write the check, at which time I would pay it. (I have no recollection of writing this particular check, nor do I recognize the name of the vendor.) The operator told me to call their Customer Service department about that, that they were an entirely separate department. I have contacted that department and was told that they would send a copy of the front of the check. Several weeks later they have NOT done so.
Every day a different operator calls me and asks the same questions again and again. They claim that there are no notes on their screen about prior conversations, and become rude and offensive when I YET AGAIN explain that no, I don't KNOW that I wrote the check. One of them even tried to tell me that the copy had been sent on February 17th, and this is AFTER she said she had nothing on file regarding the issue. They insist that I must KNOW if I wrote this check 6 months ago, and seem baffled that I did not know about the check prior to a couple weeks ago. They seem incapable of comprehending that I have no records, the bank's computer records are spotty, the mail did not reach me for almost 5 months after Katrina.
I have repeatedly explained the story and have asked them to stop calling me every day and waking me up for no purpose. They claim they have no control over the numbers their computer dials. I have repeatedly explained that I am waiting on the info from THEIR company, and that as soon as I get the verification that I will pay if it IS a check I wrote. I get a different story every time. One of them told me that they had sent the copy, one told me that they "would not" send a copy, several of them just get flustered and hang up.
I have asked to speak to a supervisor and get long arguments from them, saying there are none there, and that they won't help me even if I did reach one. I was transferred to someone's voice mail once, but got no response back.
It is not my fault that these people seem incapable of communication within their own company. It is not my fault that the operators don't know what Customer Service is doing. I WILL NOT pay a check that I cannot verify is valid. All these idiots have to do is show me a copy of the front of the check and I will pay if it is real. I am starting to suspect this is a scam.
Why are they so unwilling to prove that they even have one of my checks?
Why do NONE of the operators enter the info in my file when we have this conversation EVERY DAY?
I think this might be a scam of some sort. No company could operate successfully with employees this useless.
I intend to look into the laws regarding harrassment by collection companies. I am very concerned that this might be a forged check or a scam, especially since their stories change every time they call me.
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