Complaint / Review
CBCS Verizon
Fraudulent billing by collection agency ripoff

I received a letter on 8/9/04 from CBCS stating a balance of 34.77 was due from a past due account. When I called, I was told that the account was from a land phone line, in total $1202.96. I asked about the discrepancy and was told by "Eva" that "many accounts were being reported, and the total sum is $1202".

When I asked for more information, she asked for my work telephone number, social security number and additional phone numbers such as pagers, cell phones or the numbers of friends and relatives. I of course refused, told her the usage of the account was fraudulent.

I was transferred to a man named "Justin" who asked the same personal questions, but in a ruder manner. My husband got on the phone with us and Justin told him that he would not speak to both of us, that it was illegal (it is not illegal). We asked him what law it violated, and he stated that he did not have permission to discuss the matter with third parties. I then gave him permission to discuss the matter with me and my husband. Justin then demanded payment and stated that we were being unprofessional. My husband asked to speak to a supervisor, and Justin stated he couldnt transfer a conference call. So I hang up my phone, Justin then hangs up on my husband.

I called back immediately, and spoke to Angela. Angela was a bit more helpful, and told us the address and phone number of the disputed account, which we then used to make a police report as soon as we got off the phone. The help ended abruptly. After she gave us the information, we were able to say that the account was definately not used by an authorized person and she stated that "it was a civil matter, and this will not stop the attempt to collect the debt". She then hung up the phone.

I have filed a police report, tommorrow I am going to call verizen to get records of the debt. My next communication with CBCS will be through an attorney and I am going to cc the police reports and correspondance from verizen. I went on the internet to find out more about this collection company and found this site. Im posting my experience so that it may help someone else