To call this company a SCAM on a DAILY basis is the least I can say about this company.
This is another complaint from a former employee who watched the HIGHLY QUESTIONABLE - HIGHLY DISHONEST goings on.
This report is goinbg to the ATTORNEY GENERAL OF FLORIDA and to the Florida Bar Association. I hope that they CLOSE DOWN this company and put the owners in jail.
I was hired on a Thursday, and went to work for this company on a Monday morning.
I should have walked away within the first hour of arriving onb the job.
I was pointed to an area and told this was my work station. The computer was never even SET UP for me to evenb try to work.
Savid Phillips the owner and his son... Were there, but did nothing to get me started in the 1st day arrival. I went into the Computer Tech's Office and asked for HELP getting the computer attach, running and asked for HELP.
About and hour and a half went by and the systemn was up.
Nobody came to introduce themselves, so I tried to open the computer system and trried to get started on my own.
After a few hours (2 to 3)... The son of the owner came by. Asked how I was doing. I had already lost interest, because you could see there was no guidance. But. I sat there wondering what the hell I was doing there...
Eventually through no guidance I managed to get through a few screens to get the general idea... What I observed next was the BIGGEST FRAUD going.
I was told by David Phillips that this company was his baby. His office looked like a drunken mans colleague of toys, that made you wonder what the HELL he did "allday". He didn't seem to have any idea aboutr COLLECTIONS other than to say. Get my money. How you do it or arrive at the poiunt of getting mny money i don't care. I looked at him with my mind stating. This guy should be tossed over the desk. What a moron.
Then his son entered the room... My opinion... This was a kid who had to work for Daddy because Daddy "kept him clothed and fed". Between both of them, there wasn't any copable person nor capable person running that office.
Back to David... I got a thirty minute lecture on how his business dealt with the Carribbean people whom they place internet advertising with to his clients.
I was told my position (3rd Party) woulds be the last resort to COLLECT THE DEBTs. And this was his talk off to me.
1) You will tell them you are from Phillips-Thomas-Goldberg.
I said who are they?
They are nobody. But the people will think the call is coming in from a
LAW FIRM...
I told him that was illegal... His response...
Let them "assume" what they want... Just don't say you are a LAWYER
or calling from a LAWFIRM.
I stated that you can not tell people that because what you are doing
is giving them the impression you are a lawyers office... He looked at
his son. Who was oblivious to what I said.
2) I was then told that if I got into any Dialogue and itr wasn't going to a
talk off whereby the people inb the Carribbean were going to pay..
I wqas to tell them the following.
You made an oral contract with this firm, we have proof of the tape.
We will sue you in Tampa, Florida and commence a LAWSUIT to "take"
the money from you. We will hire a PRIVATE DETECTIVE to come to your
Business and take photos of your business. Then, we will come into
your store and "TILL TAKE" the moiney out of your cash draw.
We will also come into your business and take your inventory and SELL
your inventory for pennies on the dollar...
Then... We will follow you to your bank, and take the money out of your
account.
These people are terrified. These people are made to believe these
illegal and questionable tactics would be happening to them.
I was then TOLD... If you run into trouble on the talk off... You can
TELL these "morons" that a PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR will be contacting
them... I asked David Phillips. What Private Investigator?
There is "NONE"... But they don't know that.
This again is placing FEAR into these former clients. To think someone
is coming to theiur place of business to take their money, their property,
their inventory, and their bank account from them was to say the least
outright FRAUD.
I was then TOLD by DAVID PHILLIPS and his son the following...
You tell these people. If you ever come to the United States..
IMMIGRATION will notify Island Media Advertising of their arrival into the
United States... And that they will be sued in the United States, because
what they did was illegal? Illegal? Paying any bill is not illegal. I know of
no debtors prison for not paying a bill. This again puts FEAR into these
people... To think if you come to the United States, you may be in
SERIOUS TROUBLE... I heard the fear in their voiices when I was TOLD
that other collectors were telling them they may be put in jail. I just could
not fathom the deceit going on by DAVID PHILLIPS and his son.
Then, I was asked to sit for a few hours with the 1st party COLLECTION
Group. This was to supposedly give me an idea what took place prior
to me getting the cases... What I heard was questionable.
During the talk off. Of trying to collect the debt. They recorded the
contract with their client... Everything seemed legal to a point when
many of the former clients stated... You told me I could try the contract
for a month. To see if I could get any business. What they don't tell the
former client is... That they were being recorded in which they gave
the contract talk off..in which they have five (5) days to cancel the
contract... I found out that when they spoke to the former clients and
told them they had thirty days to try the product. That portion was "NOT"
recorded. Naturally the former client is lead to believe they have thirty
days to withdraw. IT IS A SCAM FROM DAY ONE.
In addition, these people can not pay $954. Oo to $1,100.00 US, it is
a VAST AMOUNT to them. But... David Phillips doesn't care about that.
I found out the following.
The contract was recorded in Tampa, Florida. The jurisdicxtion is only in
Florida... Not the Carribbean.
Island Media Advertising is posing as Attorneys. They have no attorney
on Staff.
They are implying they are calling from Phillips-Thomas-Goldberg to give
the impression they are attorneys.
They threatewn to come to the Islands and:
1) take pohotos of your business with a Private Investigator.
2) They will take money out of the cash register - they can't
3) They will followe you to the other parties bank and take the money.
They can't unless they sue themn in the islands jurisdfiction.
4) They claim they will come into the place of Business - take inventoiry
and SELL it for pennies on the dollar... They can't unless they have
a JUDGMENT from that Islands Court, signed by a Judge.
5) They claim they will hire an attornery in the islands to go after these
debtors. They couldn't afford the laswsuit in Florida and in that islands
Court System to Collect the miserable amount of money they claim they
are owed.
6) They claim they contact the neighbor business next door and tell
them the people next door OWE THEM MONEY. ISLAND MEDIA
ADVERTISING states it will ruin their business reputation weith their
neighborhood. That alone is illegal and THIRD PARTY NOTIFICATION
which is illegal.
My thought:
1) Change the business Name.
The original company was contyracted under the OLD name.
If you fail to make a good business and it is failing. Goes out of
business. And. You open a New Business. New Name..
I believe the OLD DEBT died with the OLD BUSINESS it was
associated to.
2) change the business telephone number immediately.
3) If you are sued in the islands... Put the NEW BUSINESS NAME
under someone elses name you can trust. Go to an
attorney in the iuslands. And form a legal TRUST to keep
any CREDITOR who is trying to attach your ASSETS from being
excessable. Go to an attorney and draw up formal
documents.By changing the ownership, the company name..
It is my thought they can get nothing. But. YOU NEED TO SPEAK
to a LOCAL ATTORNEY in your islands jurisdiction.
4) Write to the Attorney General's Office and formn a complaint
against Island Media Advertising.
Attorney General of Florida
William McCollum
The Capital PL-01
Tallahassee, Florida 32399
(850) 414-3300
5) Write to the Florida Bar - Unauthorized Practice of Law
The florida bar
651 e. Jefferson street
tallahassee, florida 32399
(850) 561-5600
Send a letter - type or use a computer (no hand written letters) and state you believe that fraud is taking place whereby island media advertising is representing themselves off as attoirnbeys, prtivate investigators, and using highly questionable tactics inclusive of threats. If you need to use a local attorney in your island, do so. There havce been numerous other people who have reported island media advertising.
Do not hesitate. Protect your legal rights.
In closing I will say that Island Media Adveretising has brought Collection efforts to a new LOW. There are good, honorable agencies out there who do a good job in helping their clients. They are decent, fair and just. The highly questionable tactics used by Island Media Advertising is at best appauling and degrading. To have to use highly question and deceitful tractics is a slap in the face to every decent collection agency. This is not the first reported incident esablished against Island Media Advertising. It probably won't be the last. My suggestion to anyone having to deal with Islanbds Media Advertising in the Carribbean... Fight for your rights. You should not fear this kind of degrading, insultingm, fearful, scare tactics used by Islland Media Advertising. You are decent people, and my "suggesytion" is to bring a CLASSACTION LAWSUIT against them and shut them down. If you believe in your heart thast have have harrassed you, brought FEAR into your lives, duped you into a contract you did not understand, have had threatening telephoner calls made to your place of business. Stop... And do what you can by writing to the Florida State Attorney & Florida Bar and STOP these people from making you live in FEAR.
Talk to your neighbors, your friends, your attorney. PROTECT YOURSELVES from this deceitful, practice and let JUSTICE PREVAIL.
0 comments