Stopping Asset Acceptance before they hit hard
Date: Sat, 10/18/2008 - 12:28
Hi,
I have been having problems paying off a debt from Bally Total Fitness because they would never call me, they would call my parents. They would never accept small payments, only huge amounts such as $300. Therefore, the debt never got paid. It was just reported on 9/15/08 as a Charge-Off, which I'm not entirely sure I understand quite yet. On 10/15/08, I was contacted by Asset Acceptance offering me to pay off my Bally with a $100 payment now and $130 on 11/10/08. I saw red flags such as that they did not state "this is an attempt to collect a debt..." and that the girl on the phone didn't seem to know anything about credit reports and how charge off's work. I asked to talk to a supervisor who explained to me that it would be taken off my credit report after fully paid. I looked on my TrueCredit alerts and saw nothing about inquiries from Asset Acceptance or Bally selling my account to them. Somehow, though, I was stupid enough to give them my checking account information to authorize the $100 payment.
It is now 10/18/08 and I have not seen anything in my bank account for pending transactions and decided to call the number I was given for Asset Acceptance when I spoke to the supervisor. I called and it rang twice...the first time a regular ring and the second time a long, drawn out ring that doesn't break at all. I figured there was something wrong with the line, so I went online to find the number and that is where I found all kinds of scam information about them. I immediately contacted my bank and asked them to not allow Asset Acceptance to take any funds from my account and to place a fraud alert, but they said they can't do that until they actually take money from my account and if it is more than I authorized they will have to do an investigation that can take up to 90 days. He said I entered into an agreement with them to withdrawal the $100, which is true. I am wondering if I will be able to get that money back. I am wondering if my account will ever REALLY be paid off and removed from my credit report. I'm wondering if they are going to charge me $300 which I do not have in my account. The bank rep told me to immediately close my account, but of course the banks were closing at that time andI have to wait until Monday. Then I went and placed fraud alerts on all of my credit reports.
Will closing my bank account and placing those fraud alerts prevent them from damaging me more than that $100 that I may possibly not get back? Am I going to have to take legal action against them? How will I be able to REALLY get my account in good standing with Bally (they will not talk to me without my account number which I lost)? I do not know what to do and I'm very scared because I was already a victim of identity theft once and it took me from being 18 years old to 21 years old to fix my credit, and now I'm 23 and its going to happen all over again.
Please help me if you can!
I have been having problems paying off a debt from Bally Total Fitness because they would never call me, they would call my parents. They would never accept small payments, only huge amounts such as $300. Therefore, the debt never got paid. It was just reported on 9/15/08 as a Charge-Off, which I'm not entirely sure I understand quite yet. On 10/15/08, I was contacted by Asset Acceptance offering me to pay off my Bally with a $100 payment now and $130 on 11/10/08. I saw red flags such as that they did not state "this is an attempt to collect a debt..." and that the girl on the phone didn't seem to know anything about credit reports and how charge off's work. I asked to talk to a supervisor who explained to me that it would be taken off my credit report after fully paid. I looked on my TrueCredit alerts and saw nothing about inquiries from Asset Acceptance or Bally selling my account to them. Somehow, though, I was stupid enough to give them my checking account information to authorize the $100 payment.
It is now 10/18/08 and I have not seen anything in my bank account for pending transactions and decided to call the number I was given for Asset Acceptance when I spoke to the supervisor. I called and it rang twice...the first time a regular ring and the second time a long, drawn out ring that doesn't break at all. I figured there was something wrong with the line, so I went online to find the number and that is where I found all kinds of scam information about them. I immediately contacted my bank and asked them to not allow Asset Acceptance to take any funds from my account and to place a fraud alert, but they said they can't do that until they actually take money from my account and if it is more than I authorized they will have to do an investigation that can take up to 90 days. He said I entered into an agreement with them to withdrawal the $100, which is true. I am wondering if I will be able to get that money back. I am wondering if my account will ever REALLY be paid off and removed from my credit report. I'm wondering if they are going to charge me $300 which I do not have in my account. The bank rep told me to immediately close my account, but of course the banks were closing at that time andI have to wait until Monday. Then I went and placed fraud alerts on all of my credit reports.
Will closing my bank account and placing those fraud alerts prevent them from damaging me more than that $100 that I may possibly not get back? Am I going to have to take legal action against them? How will I be able to REALLY get my account in good standing with Bally (they will not talk to me without my account number which I lost)? I do not know what to do and I'm very scared because I was already a victim of identity theft once and it took me from being 18 years old to 21 years old to fix my credit, and now I'm 23 and its going to happen all over again.
Please help me if you can!
Denise, Denise, DON'T EVER GIVE ANYONE YOUR BANK ACCOUNT INFORMA
Denise, Denise, DON'T EVER GIVE ANYONE YOUR BANK ACCOUNT INFORMATION!! Especially a collection agency! Get to the bank early Monday as soon as it opens and speak with the manager. Close the account and open a new one. Since they contacted you by phone, they now have to send you a dunning letter. After they do, send them a DV letter along with a C&D letter, this will stop the calls.
