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Possibly Bogus: Credit & Collection Solutions Inc. Great Falls, MT
Asked over 3 years ago - Groton, NY
A couple years ago I received a phone call offering a free trial to a magazine service. Then I started to pay for their services. Long story short, I noticed I was getting charged tons of money out of my checking account from 3 or 4 different services. When I called the numbers listed on my statement I was told I could not cancel because they had a tape recorded verbal agreement from me agreeing to renew for several more years. They would not play the tape for me. I told these companies on several occasions to stop sending magazines, calling my home and work, and taking money from my account. They kept doing it saying I was locked into an agreement, so a few months ago I cancelled my account so they could no longer withdrawal money. I then started geting several phone calls demanding that I pay the past due amounts. I told my story several times and they would not listen, saying they had this so called tape recording. Monday I received a notice in the mail from Credit & Collection Solutions Inc. from Great Falls, Mt. They say they have been contracted to collect a debt in the amount of $737.25 from a compnay in Shawnee, KS called Publishers Renewal Service. The letter says they will take all legal action and send it to litigations, it says I have 30 days to respond. Then they called me at my work yesterday demanding payment and they said if I dont call them with payment information in 24 hours they are turning it over to litigations. After searching for hours online, I cant even find information that this company even exists. Infact the notice they sent even has typos. But I did find several situations like mine. When I search for these companies that have been charging me, Magazine Services of America, Readers Source, Publishers Renewal Service, and this Credit & Collection Solutions Inc. the only things I find are other people with the same exact stories on Rip-Off report.com and other complaint boards. Can they really take me to court over a so called phone call? I know I never agreed to anything like they are saying, and one company says I agreed to open 2 different accounts with them, one of them has my name totally spelled wrong, I never agreed to any of this. What do I do? I cant afford to pay them this money, who in thier right mind would pay that much for magazines I never ordered?
Attorney answers (1)
Our system in America provides for free access to the courts. That basically means that anyone can file suit. however, there are special rules for debt collectors, and special laws that regulate and penalize them when they do improper things. Most states also have consumer protection laws that regulate debt collectors.
You need an attorney who is familiar with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and with Montana Consumer Protection law and with the activities of and defenses that can be raised against debt collectors.
There are many issues that can usually be raised, but there is no way you can do this yourself properly. The good news is that there is an organization called the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA) which consists of consumer attorneys who know exactly how to defend these cases. There is a geographical listing of NACA member attorneys on the web site, www.naca.net
Good luck.
You need an attorney who is familiar with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and with Montana Consumer Protection law and with the activities of and defenses that can be raised against debt collectors.
There are many issues that can usually be raised, but there is no way you can do this yourself properly. The good news is that there is an organization called the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA) which consists of consumer attorneys who know exactly how to defend these cases. There is a geographical listing of NACA member attorneys on the web site, www.naca.net
Good luck.
Other answers (7)
The same thing happened to me; however, I did not agree to ANY membership! i was told I was one of the top 12 finalists to a muli million drawing and all I had to do was pay for the FREE magazines shipping which was supposedly just suppose to be $6.00. I made it VERY clear that I don't like magazines, read them nor want them; to the point where I refused to pick the ones they were to send me! Long story short they sent me a bill which I called and complained about told them I never wanted the magazines n the first place and no longer want them being sent to me. To date I am still receiving them! I work for an attorney all I can advise is that they need to file a case with the Court, serve you with papers and a hearing needs to take place. After all is said and done, the judge hears the case and makes his/her decision. THAT IS THE PROCESS OF GETTING A JUDGMENT! Which means, they have NO judgment as of yet!
Send them a Cease and Desist letter to a non-P.O. Box address. If you can prove they continued to try and contact you can sue them for $1,000.00 for each attempt.
I hope this has helped
Mimi
Send them a Cease and Desist letter to a non-P.O. Box address. If you can prove they continued to try and contact you can sue them for $1,000.00 for each attempt.
I hope this has helped
Mimi
You need to file a complaint with the department of consumer affairs in your state as well as the state of Montana..I did this and they took action to resolve the issue with these people and they dropped there collection process
this is exactly the same things that happen to my mother... and I'm been trying to fix this for her, she was force to cancel her debit card because this people were emptying her savings account... did you were able to do something about this, can they be stop in any way? any help or information that help putting a stop to this thieves will be appreciated..
Wow, amazingly that is my husbands exact same issue to the T with the magazines and that same collection agency. My husband has tried over 10 times to contact that 1800 number provided in the letter to him and all he gets is a recording saying to please call back at normal business hours. We believe its a scam as well.
When my husband got that call for the magazines he verbally agreed to only a one year subscription. After missing a payment they demanded 900-something for a 3 year magazine subscription. After he first verbally agreed for the 1 year (which by the way we didn't even receive the magazines he chose) we had bogus charges to our bank account of over $300 for numerous places in a different state. We were able to dispute it all with our bank and get a new card number, but this happened only after my husband gave that company (American Publishers) his card number for the magazines. SO this all led to my husbands identity being stolen, and getting harassed for an amount that he did not agree upon. He also asked to hear the recording of him agreeing to the 3 year contract owing over 900 in total and they would not play it for him. They put him on hold for nearly 30 minutes to retrieve that recording before my husband got frustrated and hung up. We have researched that number provided to us in the letter and this was the ONLY thing that has come up for it, and as for the Credit and Collections Solutions Inc. We can not find its existence online. We have decided to go the better business bureau to try to shut this thing down if it is indeed a scam.
When my husband got that call for the magazines he verbally agreed to only a one year subscription. After missing a payment they demanded 900-something for a 3 year magazine subscription. After he first verbally agreed for the 1 year (which by the way we didn't even receive the magazines he chose) we had bogus charges to our bank account of over $300 for numerous places in a different state. We were able to dispute it all with our bank and get a new card number, but this happened only after my husband gave that company (American Publishers) his card number for the magazines. SO this all led to my husbands identity being stolen, and getting harassed for an amount that he did not agree upon. He also asked to hear the recording of him agreeing to the 3 year contract owing over 900 in total and they would not play it for him. They put him on hold for nearly 30 minutes to retrieve that recording before my husband got frustrated and hung up. We have researched that number provided to us in the letter and this was the ONLY thing that has come up for it, and as for the Credit and Collections Solutions Inc. We can not find its existence online. We have decided to go the better business bureau to try to shut this thing down if it is indeed a scam.
I have exactly the same problem and they just sent me a letter stating that if i did not start paying them they would sue me. Is this company for real and do i need to worry or start paying them i dont need anymore court trouble right now what did everyone else do so far about this?
I am having the same problem! I didn't know what else to do so I said I would pay the over due amount. But I am mostly worried because I am trying to buy a house and am wondering if this is going to ruin my credit. I figured they were a scam a first so I ignored them till I got the letter in the mail.
I am as well being harrassed by this co. and yes it is bogus, World wide publishers who is now gone thru 5 different names,had sent me to a credit collection agency that wasn't bogus I paid them and cancelled everything and even refused the magazines from the postal service. The other co. of collections said I wasn't even out of their system yet so that tells me that Worldwide also known as Southbay publishers is doing this themselves.Hopefully no one will fall pray to this CSI as they call themselves. And their is no pjone number to call on these letters that they send.
I will also not be paying but would like to know if this is happening to other people as well...
I will also not be paying but would like to know if this is happening to other people as well...
