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Problems with checksmart

Date: Tue, 09/08/2009 - 17:12

Submitted by anonymous
on Tue, 09/08/2009 - 17:12

Posts: 202330 Credits: [Donate]

Total Replies: 17


Hello, I just got off the phone with Checksmart and things didn't go well. Here's a background. I have taken out 35 cash advances in the last year with Checksmart. I had a problem with my bank account going negative with a few overdrafts causing me to not have the 460 dollars to pay them when it was due. I never had any problems before so I went in to see if I could give them 150 dollars and try and make a payment. Of course they wouldn't let me do this and put my check in causing my account to bounce.
After 2 bounced checks and a phone call at work, I told them not to call me there but call my cell phone instead and they complied. That call didn't go well since they told me that I couldn't make payments unless it was in collection. Now it is passed the date they told me that the account was going to collection and the phone call today was just as bad. The operator told me I had to pay the full amount and couldn't make payment arrangements unless it was in full. They said it was against Ohio law for me to make multiple payments and I needed to pay at one time. Here's where it got interesting.
The person from checksmart started yelling at me and told me that she was going to start calling my workplace and I told her that I wasn't allowed to take calls there. She replied that she would call my workplace 10 times a day if she had to in order to have me pay them. Isn't this illegal? They have a number to reach me and when they call, they want all or nothing from me. I told her she couldn't do that and that they had to call me at home. She then told me I knew nothing about the law and started to yell at me. So i started yelling back telling her to shut up and let me speak so she hung up.
She called me 1 minute later and immediately started yelling at me. I hung up. She called less than a minute again yelling at me. I hung up. I had a friend with me listening to this and she is a bill collector for a big company. The phone rang again in a minute and she answered the phone. The collector from checksmart started yelling at her and she told the person that she was a 3rd party and the collector said that she didn't care and kept yelling at my friend on the phone.
My friend said I should file harassment charges against checksmart. especially if they call my workplace tomorrow after i told them not to.
Why won't they let me make payments? Is it illegal for me to pay them the loan back plus the interest and bounced check fees? I want to take care of this but checksmart will not let me make the payments.


i am in ohio to they told me i could go to jail if i did not pay because i wrot a bad check


lrhall41

Submitted by toddmurgatroyd on Wed, 09/09/2009 - 10:55

( Posts: 43 | Credits: )


I am in the same boat with them! They are telling me the same thing! They won't let me make payments and things like that. They call me non stop even though I have asked them not to at work. They also keep calling my references when they have asked them to take their name off as a reference. I have read up on the laws and I know half of what they say is a lie! Hopefully someone can help us all!


lrhall41

Submitted by sommer.moore on Wed, 09/09/2009 - 13:10

( Posts: 11 | Credits: )


Thanks, I'm getting my phone records together so i can send them with my complaint. I was also called today at work even though I told them not to.
Question, aren't they supposed to say the sentence " This is a bill collector and any information .......... etc. We all know the language since I have heard it before and they have never once said that or have even informed me of any call monitoring going on. If they are recording the calls and not informing me, isn't that illegal under Ohio law?? thanks for any help.


lrhall41

Submitted by anonymous on Wed, 09/09/2009 - 16:33

( Posts: 202330 | Credits: )


That is true for most things but If I read the law properly, once we talk to each other over the phone they cannot contact me again for the rest of the day. Its the multiple calls in just a few minutes that I feel is considered harassment. They can yell and put me down all they want to even though it is unprofessional. Don't they have to follow hippa (spelling??) laws about giving personal information to a third party? That is a violation of privacy if I read the law right.
I'm about to just send certified checks to them with certified return receipt mail if I have to to force them to take payments. it might not stop the phone calls but they can't sue me If I'm attempting to make good faith payments that they have to sign for. That way if they don't accept the payment I can get them for not accepting payments and then I won't owe them a dime ever again. I'll have the receipts and they'll have to explain to the judge or arbitrator their actions.


lrhall41

Submitted by anonymous on Wed, 09/09/2009 - 21:08

( Posts: 202330 | Credits: )


I have so much as walked into the store and tried to force them to take my money and they have refused it. I said to the girl I wanted something in writing that they are refusing to take my money and they absolutely refused of course but it was worth a shot. The good thing is I got her name and everything and I also had a money order in hand made out to them to try and start paying on it. Then the corporate office calls me and says I am refusing to pay them. Which of course I am not! I just can't pay the full amount. They harass me, put me down, lie to me, and call a hundred times a day. Don't I have rights!?


lrhall41

Submitted by sommer.moore on Thu, 09/10/2009 - 06:23

( Posts: 11 | Credits: )


Complain to the corporate office. They have always been good with me on extensions and giving me an extra month to pay off the loan. Hang in there and just keep talking to them. Dont give up your ground, stay strong and always be polite. You never know what tricks they could play on a recorded msg.

Now, with the whole 1st party debt collector. I do not understand why they are not held to the same laws as a 3rd party debt collector. At the end of the day what is the difference between the two debt collectors.


lrhall41

Submitted by mobrienjr on Fri, 09/11/2009 - 15:26

( Posts: 7 | Credits: )


Well, the check finally pushed through and they have the 460 dollars from my bank. I just hope that they don't continually pull out money for added interest and returned check fees.
I have been saving up the money for them so It doesn't hurt too much but it will put us in a bind for about a week until my next paycheck. My bills will have to wait until then. I am still filing harassment charges for the 4 phone calls in one day that I answered in a 15 minute time span. I don't think I'll get any money out of it but I should at least get them fined from the attorney general's office and the ftc. My cell phone company is sending me my cell phone records for the last 30 days to prove my case for them harassing me.
Even a 1st party collector isn't allowed more than one call a day after an actual phone conversation. If i don't answer they can call as much as they want. but as soon as i answer the phone, they can't call until the next day. That is how the 1st party collection laws read in ohio.


lrhall41

Submitted by anonymous on Sat, 09/12/2009 - 10:38

( Posts: 202330 | Credits: )


Thanks. I'm just glad that most of this is over and I can pay my bills again. They won't like me when the attorney general gets them for collection law violations. My friend who answered the last call that day is giving me a statement signed by them and a notary as a witness to what happened that day. I want Checksmart taken off the list saying that they follow all laws in collection efforts. I would love to have that collector fired too. but that is up to Checksmart.


lrhall41

Submitted by anonymous on Sat, 09/12/2009 - 11:13

( Posts: 202330 | Credits: )


good for you. they treat people like that because 1 most people dont know the laws, and 2 most people wont do anything about it so they think they can get away with it. i've also dealt with checksmart, the people in the office were ok but the corporate collection office was horrible to deal with. good luck.


lrhall41

Submitted by bastoops on Sat, 09/12/2009 - 23:31

( Posts: 353 | Credits: )


Quote:

Originally Posted by Anonymous
Thanks. I'm just glad that most of this is over and I can pay my bills again. They won't like me when the attorney general gets them for collection law violations. My friend who answered the last call that day is giving me a statement signed by them and a notary as a witness to what happened that day. I want Checksmart taken off the list saying that they follow all laws in collection efforts. I would love to have that collector fired too. but that is up to Checksmart.


Please keep us posted on your progress, I hope you BURN their arses!


lrhall41

Submitted by Shazzers on Sun, 09/13/2009 - 09:16

( Posts: 17344 | Credits: )