I had a Direct Merchants MasterCard account in the late 1990's.in 1998, I lost my job and began having financial difficulty. I contact DMB to notify them of my situation and see if there was any sort of relief available. While they said they were sorry for my problem, there was nothing they could do for me.
Well, it wasn't long before I was late with my monthly payments and they raised my interest rate to nearly 30%. Add to that the late and over-limit fees and the harrassing phone calls, and in in no time at all, my account balance had nearly doubled.
For months, I basically ignored the collection calls, until one day, I received one from a person who said "don't hang up... I can help you!" Intrigued, I listened as she told me that she would like to enter my account into a "re-aging program, " in which the balance would be frozen, with no additional interest or fees added. A structured monthly payment plan would then be put into effect.
I told the rep, named Shelby Washington (probably a false identity) to send me the paperwork. She told me there was no paperwork, but she could get it started if I sent a check for $175. Although I was skeptical, I wrote and sent the check. But I "earmarked" the front of check "To deposit this check indicates acceptance of this account to the "re-age" program introduced to me by Ms. Shelby Washington."
Well, the next month's statement came, complete with interest, late & over-limit fees. I called Ms. Washington, who told me, "sometimes it takes accounting a while to get caught up" and that the next month's statement would reflect the changes. Next month, same thing. This time, however, when I called, I was told that a) there was no such thing as a "re-age" program and b) there was no Shelby Washington working there.
At that point, I told them they would never see another penny from me and to take me to court. After accruing interest and penalties for another year or so, they finally sent the account to a third party for collection.
Fast forward to 2005 and the thrird party collection agency is suing me for payment for an amount that is nearly triple the original balance. After meeting with a court liason for mediation, I told them I was only willing to pay 50% of the amount being sought. When asked why, I told the liason the whole story and showed him the cancelled check. He then told me to get an attorney because he felt that I had a strong case. He told me to have the lawyer do a discovery on Direct Merchants to see if in 1999, they a) offered a "re-age" program and b) had a Shelby Washington in their employ.
Unfortunaltely, an attorney I spoke to told me that his retainer would cost me more than the case is worth. And I really can't afford to hire a lawyer at this time anyway. So, I'm going to court on April 5 with nothing more than my story and the cancelled check as my proof. If anyone out there has a similar story, I would appreciate hearing about it. And if you're an attorney and can offer me some advice on the best way to deal with this situation, I would be grateful.
Thanks for taking the time to read this sad tale.
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