Scholastic
Scholastic rips you off and sends you to collections but I know how to not pay the BS fee they charge

Scholastic has a tendency to hold checks for months before cashing them. And by months I mean I have seen checks that they took 13 months to finally cash (the legal time frame to cash a check is 6 months but that is a load of crap, who holds a check that long?). Since they wait so long a lot of the checks bounce or the account is closed. Rather than send you a notice, they send you straight to Shaffer and associates collection agency.
First off when you talk to the agency on the phone YOU ARE BEING RECORDED and they don't tell you. They send a letter prior to calling that states you are being recorded and then they "just assume you got it" even though 99% of people have no idea they are being recorded.
This collection agency then tacks on anywhere from a $20-$40 fee that they like try to make you think is state mandated. It is not. That fee is only the maximum the state allows them to charge you in collections. If you agree to pay the priciple the check was written for but not pay the rip off fee they add on they will call you constantly, sometimes multiple times a day for 10 years or more trying to get the fee. They will call your home, your cell phone, work, and relatives. They have a company that provides them with numbers who are often for your relatives which they will often harass as well, but will refuse to say why they are calling other than tell the person they are a collection agency and they are looking for you. They even have a computer that calls over and over and when somebody picks up it links you to a collector. Then if they do get ahold of you and you agree to pay at the end of the call they tack on another made up $5 fee which isn't even legal in multiple states. BUT they will waive this fee if you argue at all. They just put you on hold and act like they are talking to a supervisor to get the fee waived, but they are really not. They just leave you on hold a minute then come back and say yeah I can waive tat fee. This is how we were trained.
Now I will tell you how to get out of paying the crap fee's with no penalty because THEY DO NOT CREDIT REPORT. I'm not telling you this so you can get out of paying for your check because you should pay the principle, but dont pay the fees.
Now how to avoid all of this. (I know because I worked for the collection agency and they ripped me off of a paycheck so this is payback) When they call your cell phone all you have to do is tell them they are calling your cell and waisting your minutes and that they need to stop. Legally they have to stop or you can sue them. If they are calling your work tell them to stop calling you at work, and again they have to or you can sue. Next if they are calling your home over and over all you have to do is talk to the collector and find out your account number in collections and get the collection agency's address which is (PO box 1545 columbia MO 65201) and send them something in writing stating that they can contact you by mail only and not to call again. Then legally they can't call anymore or you can sue. Then they give up on you because they don't want to waste a stamp for a bill that most likely wont get paid. So now your little BS fee ordeal is over. AGAIN THEY DO NOT CREDIT REPORT so you are in the clear.

Company: Scholastic
Country: USA
Site: scholastic.com

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