What a Nasty Letter for a $16.96 Debt!
Date: Mon, 02/04/2008 - 08:19
"I've never seen anything quite so brazen," said attorney Kenneth Hiller.
He said his client plans to sue Nationwide Collections Inc. of Fort Pierce, Fla., next week.
Under U.S. law, debt collectors are not allowed to use profanity to collect a debt, Hiller said, nor are they supposed to threaten legal action over such a small amount.
Nationwide President Phillip McGarvey said the October 2007 letter was automatically generated after his company bought about 350,000 Columbia House accounts. "S--- Face" is the name under which the account was opened and the way the coupon to start the club was filled out, he said.
Hiller's client has signed an affidavit saying he never signed up for the music club membership under that name.
"It looks bad to the observer who is not familiar with the industry," acknowledged McGarvey, "but anybody who understands the volume would understand how this could happen. ...You've also got people filling in famous people's names."
apnews.myway.com/article/20080202/D8UHVJ300.html
Up until now I thought I had heard it all. Amazing!
Up until now I thought I had heard it all. Amazing!
Oh for crap sakes! (no pun intended) How could they (The Origina
Oh for crap sakes! (no pun intended) How could they (The Original Creditor) NOT have figured out it was a bogus name, IF, what they say is true about the customer signing up under that name. lol
What?
While I'm amazed a letter went out like that, regardless whether from the CA or the OC, part of me finds it slightly amusing. I'd probably get a chuckle if a letter came to my home addressed to "S--- Face."
I could write on it "not at this address", returning it to the sender secure in the knowledge it really wasn't meant for me. Probably the previous occupant.
The funny thing is, the part about the coupon used to start the membership came filled out that way sure doesn't fly with me. Someone would have had to manually enter the information into their system and most software would/should screen out profanities, not letting them enter that as a name. Not to mention the person entering the information should have exercised "common sense", realizing it was a bogus name.
Geeez!
What a poor excuse by Mr. McGarvey! Does anyone in his company r
What a poor excuse by Mr. McGarvey! Does anyone in his company read english...especially profanity??? Come on you deserved to be sued....for stupidity alone!
Yikes!
OK, if it was the same record company I belong to? I hate to say it but probably no one there can read english. I heard they outsource a lot of its customer service type functions overseas.
And no, I'm not trying to be politically incorrect. I'm talking from personal experience. I did call their CS line once and got a "Fred" on the line that couldn't understand me, and I couldn't understand him. I am usually really good at understanding heavy accents, but had zero success that time.
That was a fun conversation, let me tell you.