I was so glad to find this site! I have been subject to the same type of childish tactics as others for the past year. It began when I went thru a divorce in which my husband left me less than nothing, as I was stuck with all of our credit card debt! He was savvy enough to never have me put him on my cards, and it was those cards that kept our children clothed, etc. for the last year of our so-called marriage.
Citibank was the only creditor that refused to work with me when I had almost no income and was paying the divorce attorney her hefty fees. I called them as soon as I knew I was in trouble. I did the responsible thing with all of my creditors. Citibank made me feel like a deadbeat who is just sitting on a stack of money and unwilling to pay, and they still do that. Citibank was the only creditor that immediately called in the entire debt. Then sold my account to a bunch of hacks.
I am preparing letters to Attorneys General of my state and the states in which I have knowledge they operate out of, as well as several members of Congress sympathetic to "the poor", and Citibank for the following reasons:
1)Their harassment has included shamelessly contacting third parties.
My first husband, who I divorced 15 years ago and have never lived with since then, causing psychological harm to my children as this stirs up old animosities with him, myself, our children, and his wife of 15 years!
My 70-year-old father who is retired, diabetic, and on a fixed income--he does not need to be worrying about me!
When I confronted one of the callers she tried to say they can do that because they did not know how to locate me. I said,
"What do you mean?? You have been calling me for a year now at home and on my cell! You know exactly where to locate me!" She then turned tail and accused me of being a lawbreaker and told me it was "in (my) file" that I had "obtained my card under fraudulent circumstances." And can I pay my balance in full today? Yeah, let me just dig in the couch for some change.
2)Repeated unnecessary and harassing calls. On a typical day I get at least one call every hour almost on the hour. On some days which I guess are critical to them (hmm..they run a contest at the office? First of the month?) I can get 25 calls between 8 am and 9 pm. I get these calls on my home phone and cell phone while I am taking my child to school, driving, working, talking to clients, seeing my counselor, in church, putting my children to bed, etc.. When I answer (not that often I assure you) they demand payment that day, in full, and accuse me of "never (having) intended to pay that debt, (I) just took their card under fraud and was never going to pay on it anyway." I have told them repeatedly what my situation is, and am no longer going to tolerate their stupid schoolyard bully tactics. Whoever trains this bunch must want to see the company go belly up. If I won the lottery and could pay this debt tomorrow, I would make damn sure every penny went to Citibank and ZERO to Academy Asscrack Services!! I would hate to think I helped any one of these idiots keep their job. Excuse the bad language. I pray for them, I really do.
3)Loud and abusive language from the callers, anonymous sounding voice mails, hang up calls.
4)Implying that I have a lawsuit against me that is "on the desk" of an attorney's office, also "notification" of a lawsuit "pending" in a county that I do not even reside in. Threats that the sheriff will be at my door.
5)Using false names. One woman has identified herself both as Lisa Bell, and the next day, what I suppose was her "evil twin" Laura Murphy.
6)Repeated threats to attach their debt to my home that was foreclosed since they said that "Citibank bought out Countrywide Home Loans." This is news to everyone I have spoken to.
6)Threats of garnishment of wages. Good luck. I made less than poverty level this year.
Do we still live in America?? I am interested in hearing from everyone who has had these experiences with Academy. If we get enough of us together, we can file a class action lawsuit and put these scumbags out of business!! They have done everything but tell me Guido is on his way over to break my kneecaps. Just because a person has financial troubles does not meant that they lose their Constitutional rights and protections under Federal and state law.
We could win up to a half million dollars under FTC regs. If Citibank could be found culpable, who knows?
I live near the Law Offices of Jeffrey Feiger. I have not been in contact with him, but would love to present this to him if I can get enough support for a class action suit. He is a fighter, he does not shy away from controversy or cases of nationwide interest, and is always fighting for the underdog. He intends to run for the office of State Attorney General in Michigan. I believe that this case is an ace in the hole that will benefit his campaign as much as it would benefit all of us.
Michigan's Governor is Jennifer Granholm. She had both Democrats and Republicans to vote her into office because of the superior work she did as Michigan's State Attorney General. I believe that we have a very good chance here of having our case heard and decided on fairly in my state.
If you agree, please reply to the post. I will keep checking back here.
No one should be allowed to conduct business the way Academy Services does. Let's wipe them out and make room for a legitimate company to employ honest people who abide by the laws of our states and our country!
Email address removed as per TOS - Vikas
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