I have been receiving harassing phone calls, at my business, from American Recovery Service Inc. (ARSI).
I questioned why a collection agency was contacting me. The representative Steven (probably his "stage name"), finally explained that an advertising account with Verizon/Idearc was delinquent. He went on to say, if I didn't pay immediately, they would start proceedings to, basically, ruin my credit associated with my business. Still I had no idea what account he was talking about.
I asked him for an account and phone number to contact Verizon/Idearc so that I could speak to someone about this error. His response was, "They won't talk to you." However, I got the number and called. The Verizon/Idearc representative was very accommodating and spent quite a bit of time looking up information regarding this outstanding account.
The only signed contract they had was from the prior owner of the business, which was signed one year before I purchased it. They repeated many times during our conversation, "You are not responsible for these charges".
I returned a call to Steven at ARSI. Continuing to be as unreasonable as he's been throughout all our conversations, he repeatedly said, "It doesn't matter if you have a contract or not, those people at Verizon don't have a clue, they don't know what they're talking about" He now is discrediting one of his company's clients... Verizon/Idearc.
He said the advertising was considered an asset to me. I told him it was a liability because they wanted money from the wrong person. I never signed a contract.
I was told if I didn't pay immediately, proceedings were going into motion. I certainly didn't want that to occur, so I paid $100 to stop the proceedings until I could gather my thoughts, contact an attorney and get documentation from Verizon/Idearc relating to the prior owner's contract, as I never signed a contract, and a letter/statement telling ARSI that I am not responsible.
If Verizon/Idearc is due payment and THEY are telling me I'm not responsible, why is Steven from ARSI, who is contracted by Verizon/Idearc for collections, trying to crucify me.
Hopefully, Steven is not a true representative of ARSI, as he employs tactics that are not conducive to getting any cooperation or assisting in resolving matters in an amicable fashion. Harassment and being unreasonable is the only description.
As per the ARSI website's FAQ's..."Can you handle collections without alienating our clients?" ARSI's answer was..."ARSI diligently applies its best efforts to effect collection of each account referred by clients, but will not use any approach, method or procedure which would be contrary or detrimental to a client's policies or public image, even if in compliance with all applicable Laws and Regulations."
ARSI and their representative Steven struck out on that one. Verizon/Idearc needs to look at who is representing them.
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