A month or so ago, I got a call from a company called, "Travel Agency Network". The lady who spoke to me said that my bank was going to send me a vacation offer in the mail within the next few days and, if I didn' t want the vacation there would be no charge to me. Well, I went to my bank with this information, and on the day I went in my banker told me someone from Travel Agency Network had withdrawn $69.00 from my account that morning! Thankfully, my banker put a Stop Payment on the transaction and the funds were returned. This was about a month ago.
Monday, Dec. 2, I get an overdraft notice from my bank, and I knew immediately that this was wrong because I had not made any transactions to my account over the past week. The withdrawal amount was $229.95!!! I brought the overdraft notice inside the house and called my bank' s headquarters and told them what had happened. I was transferred to someone in the Claims Dept., and this person put a Stop Payment on this charge. It was already too late to keep whoever had done this from getting my money, but it was explained that this would prevent the same company from taking this amount out of my account again.
I told the lady I spoke with that I wanted my money back. She said she was sending out an affidavit for me to sign and return back to the Claims Dept. Upon receiving the affidavit, she assured me the problem would be solved.
I asked her if she could tell who it was that had taken this money from me and she said there was no company name, just an 800 number and a two-letter code, BN. The number was 800-476-4828. I called this number and some sort of operator answered and I asked what sort of company this was. She said she did not know, but she gave me another number to call, 866-333-8422.
I called this number and a man by the name of "Chris Bear" answered the phone. I told the man someone from his company had withdrawn $229.95 out of my checking account and I never authorized the transaction. I wanted it back immediately. He said there was a certain procedure for this. They would have to send me a packet in the mail, and upon receiving the packet I would send it back to them. I told him I didn' t want to wait for the packet, and to put my money back into my account immediately!
He ran me around in circles for a long time, and I said, "Chris, I want to speak to whoever' s in charge!" He said, " In charge? We' re all in charge here." He repeated again that there was only one procedure for getting my money back to me, and I said, " You weren' t following procedure when you took my money!"
I knew I wasn' t getting anywhere with this man so I hung up the phone. An hour later, my mother brings me a post-it note with a number on it for... Get this: Travel Agency Network. The bizarre thing is, the number for Travel Agency Network was almost IDENTICAL to Guardian Information Services!!! One was 866-329-8422, and the other was 866-333-8422.
I had to meet a friend in town, so I took both numbers with me. First, I tried calling the number Guardian had given me several times. Sometimes I would get a busy signal, and if I called right back the phone would be busy. So, I tried calling the number I had been given last month by Travel Agency Network and someone answered.
All they said was, " This is Customer Service ". It was a man' s voice. He said his name was Derek. Out of curiosity, I asked "Derek" if an associate by the name of "Chris Bear" worked there. And he said YES!!! The thing is, the people who had taken the money from my account, who were supposed to be representing Travel Agency Network, were the same people under the name of Guardian Information Services, taking even more money out of my account!!!
I asked for Chris, but Derek said he could handle it. I insisted, and he said Chris was in another department. Finally, I told Derek, " Listen, I know you guys are running a scam. I know Chris doesn' t just represent Guardian Information Services, or Travel Agency Network. They were thieves.
And I told him that I had filed a complaint with my bank and had been put under investigation. He asked for my bank representative' s name. I said I didn' t know. This guy Derek spoke to me in a way like "I know how to handle you". Finally, but when I accused them of this scam, he said, " I'm not going to listen to this crap!!!" and hung up on me.
I went to my bank yesterday, and another withdrawl was taking place that day for a company called "Stay In Touch" I got my banker to put a Stop Payment on the transaction and we closed the account out. My banker promised that I would be getting the affidavit soon, and my money back.
The scariest thing about all of this is, I don' t know how these people got my checking account number! I don' t know how they can just go in and TAKE money out of my account. I promise you this: They will not do this again.
I want to work together to sue the pants off of these people, destroy this telemarketing business, and SEE them put in jail. Please e-mail me, and we will talk.
Beware of any calls that come to your home from these numbers:
Guardian Information Services
866-329-8422
866-333-8422
Stay-In-Touch
888-711-6689
8668737500
Additional Montreal Canada no.
514-908-2722
Again, please e-mail me and we will talk. I want JUSTICE to be done.
Robert
Jacksonville, Texas
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