SKO Brenner American send me a collection letter. What should I do?

Its not a matter of what you could have done better. If you don't have any record of owing Swiss COlony anything, then I wouldn't ahve agreed to pay SKO anything. You need to get validation from Swiss Colony. Then you need to ask them if your debt was sold to SKO. I believe they are required to provide you with debt validation. Why would anyone pay someone if they don't have proof it is owed to them?

Good Luck.

I guess I should clarify. I did have an account with Swiss Colony. I thought I had paid them in full but evidently I owed them $260.00. It was during the time I was undergoing open heart surgery and I really wasn't thinking about anything at that time except my surgery. I contacted Swiss Colony today and they confirmed that there was a balance owed on the account. They are sending me a debt validation letter. I have also contacted the Attorney General's office of my State as SKO is licensed here. I explained what the gentlemen from SKO had advised, i.e. he would be filing a summons, if my check bounced then I would be prosecuted through our District Attorneys office, etc. They advised me that the company was in not only violation of the Fair Debt Collection Act but also of my state laws. I have filed a complaint against this company and Swiss Colony has accepted payment arrangements for me to pay this debt through them.

well, congratulations!! You did everything fine!

pepper, Congradulations. I have told people many times the Attorney Generals office can and will help. I am so glad you got this situation worked out. KYSIDE38

Yesterday I received a letter from Sko Brenner American saying they have been retained by Sheer Cover (never heard of them either) to pay a debit of 205.00. I called SKO Brenner and all they wanted was more info on me, my phone number, etc. This really smells fishy - what do I do next? I never ordered anything from this Sheer Cover Company!

I got the same deal going on. They say I owe $129 for a "Sonic Blade" they say I didn't pay for like 3 years ago. Lol, who are these people? OMG, I am so glad I decided to search SKO to find others shared stories. I'm gonna mess with them now for sure. I can tell you one thing, they wont be getting a penny out of me unless I'm standing before a Judge and hear him order me to do so. These guys gotta go DOWN!!!

congrats pepper....

I too, received a letter from SKO Brenner claiming I owe $224.56 to Sheer Cover. I have never even heard of Sheer Cover. What is it? I pay for what I want when I go to the store, not thru the mail. I am calling the Attorney General in Michigan & have SKO checked out. Has anyone else had this happen to them? What was the outcome?

I received 2 voicemails from SKO Brenner saying that I have some sort of debt. I know I have absolutely none, so I called them back, knowing readily in my mind that this must be a scam. First, when the prompt told me to enter my account number and then press #, I just pressed # and it let me right through. Then I got a hold of Karen, who when I gave her my cell phone # she gave me my name, and then said I would need to give her my address to verify. I said I didn't want to do that, and what was I in debt for, I have paid all of my college loans, and I don't have a credit card. She told me that sometimes we have debt we don't know about (horse shit). So she says, "ma'am I have your cell phone in the computer, and your names comes up." and I said, "Well, scammers are pretty good these days". So then, as both of our voices got louder (mine MUCH louder) I said "why don't you tell me my address and I'll tell you if that's right" and she yells out something in ARKANSAS.

I've lived in Burlington, VT my whole entire life. When I told her that, she immediately hung up the phone.

People, "company" is a scam. Call your local government to report it. This is how they get naive people or the elderly to give their money away.

Call them back and harass them! If they call me back one more time, I'm going to tell them I'll sue for harassment. Let's see if that shuts them up.

Good luck! Stand up for yourself!

My girlfriend passed along a letter she received in the mail this weekend. It is from SKO brenner asking for her credit card number, security code, and signature to pay a $33 debt to "Vita Power". She says she has never heard of Vita power. I informed her it must be a scam and I'd look it up. The left me a phone number 1-800-669-4520. I was thinking of calling them to BS with them a little bit. Anyone else heard anything on this?

Sounds like a scam to me. If you call do it from a pay phone or an outbound line only just to keep them from caller IDing your phone.

asking for all that info leaves you wide open to have that card stolen.

Sko has harassed me everyday for the past 3 weeks on my cell phone 2x a day. It has come to the point where they become very rude over the phone, I have been called many names by them and told that I am a lier. I have used the product pro active for my daughter and they claimed I had a debt with them, I contacted proactive and they said they would get ahold of the company to let them know there is no outstanding debt but I still have been getting the calls. Now I contacted proactive today because the lady from SKO yelled at me pretty bad telling me proactive would have never sent me to collection if there was no debt. I again called pro active and they are filing a paper to have it removed. Pro Active told me they have no right to treat me that way and to call the police if they continue. The thing is , I already have called the police. The police warned them they stayed away for a week and now they are back. Again proactive told me to contact the Better Business Bureau and let them know. It is a crime what they are doing. And SKO still tells me I am a lyer the debt is not paid and continue the harassment.

What state do you live in? Do you have a recorder? If you are in a 1 party state, you do not have to inform them you are recoring. Get some of that on tape and send a copy to your AG, their AG, the FTC, the BBB and you local TV station, I'm sure they have a lwer echelonf reporter that will bring your story to the air.

SKO has contacted my former address (my parents' actually) saying I owe $342 to a company called "Premier Mentoring: Live out Loud."

It's a complete scam. I've never heard of this company, and apparently it sells get-rich-quick pamphlets, something I only have complete disgust for and would never buy. The charge was apparently attempted on 01/01/08. Very suspect. When I called Premier, I got rerouted several times before landing on several voice mail boxes. Useless.

I sent SKO a signed letter disputing the charge and asked them not to contact me in the future. We'll see what happens. If this complete BS affects my credit score, heads will roll.

On 1/8/09 my ex wife in Louisiana received a call from SKO American stating that I owed them money for a debt and they wanted her to give them my phone number. I am located in Arizona and am not late on any of my bills. It sounded fishy to my ex wife when the caller stated that it was ok to give information about me since she was my ex wife. She knew better since even a spouse can not talk about her husband's account information and she did not give the caller any of my information. She then called me and informed me caller attempting to get my personal information.
j
Do not believe this company or its reps,

John M.
of Phoenix Area

Live in Colorado and ran into the same thing. I didn't give out any information just asked who they were. The first time I called I spoke to a Toni and when asked who they were and where they are located I was hung up on. b. I immediately called back but this time I was given to Jane (but she pronounced it Gene or Jean and when asked to spell it came out as Jane?). I asked her who I was calling and she was able to spell it out for me. I also asked where they were located and was told ???Farmingdale NY???. She asked for the phone number and I told her that I prefer not to do that and assume it was a wrong number. FI they call back I'll try to get some more information and post it.
Remember to keep a record of these calls for future reference.

Live in Colorado and ran into the same thing. I didn't give out any information just asked who they were. The first time I called I spoke to a Toni and when asked who they were and where they are located I was hung up on. b. I immediately called back but this time I was given to Jane (but she pronounced it Gene or Jean and when asked to spell it came out as Jane?). I asked her who I was calling and she was able to spell it out for me. I also asked where they were located and was told ???Farmingdale NY???. She asked for the phone number and I told her that I prefer not to do that and assume it was a wrong number. FI they call back I'll try to get some more information and post it.
Remember to keep a record of these calls for future reference.

Hey these people have called me for the last three weeks on my cell phone and when I called back they kept asking me the same information and then proceeded yelling at me and then hung up. I did them just like they did me and kept calling them back. They kept asking me for an account number and I told them that I did not have an account.

They called my cell and then when I called back it was busy for about a week. They kept asking me for an account number and then my cell number but would not tell me who they were callin on behalf of and why what they wanted. They kept telling me that they had the wrong number and would take it off of the list. They continued to call and said they had taken the number off of their system but while I was talking to the 5th nasty person that day they were calling on the other line. They are rude, nasty and when the girl started screaming at me and I mean literally screaming at me I had a few choice words for her. So since they kept ringing my phone off the hook I kept calling their number over and over. They will not let you talk to a supervisor and they hung up on me every time I called. Thye should be put out of business. Please note I will contact the attorney generals office on them.

I just submitted this to the BBB:

SKO Brenner American, Inc Collection Service sent me a letter claiming on behalf of their client "North American Hunting Club"
claiming that I had not paid them ($12.00) for a magazine subscription in which I had never ordered or received. They falsely
claimed that they have made multiple attempts to contact me. I contacted them to discuss this mistake and they claimed that
their client turned my account over to them for collection. I then contacted customer service at North American Hunting Club and
they have no record of my membership. I found on the internet several references to SKO Brenner attempting similar practices to
other individuals. This is an obvious fraudulent attempt to extort $12.00 from me.

SKO Brenner American is such a rip off. They have been calling me and then sending me mail that I owe $45.90. I called them to ask them questions and they acted like they couldn't tell me anything. Now they are calling saying I owe another bill and they will not stop calling me. I have never been late and I have good credit. I asked the rep if the bill was not paid would it go on my report since it has been so long why hasn't it gone on my report she got rude and was ready to hang up! Un real.. they need to leave people alone!!! They actuallyhave a episode on dateline nbc about how prison inmates are starting these credit businesses to take peoples money and make themselves money... unreal!

I'm amazed that this company still exists. I just got off the phone with a woman from there stating that I best give her my credit card or check by phone immediately for a Chaz Dean Product. I did at one point get Chaz's product, cancelled it and thought nothing more of it until I started to get bills in the mail. I phoned the company and spoke with someone from there and thought it was once again resolved. SKO then got involved and I am telling you, the woman on the other end was horrific rude and extremely inappropriate. The call ended in a screaming match with my husband looking at me wondering what the hell was going on. I told the woman that I was glad she was recording this call so the company could hear just how inappropriate she was. I also requested her to fax all info on this case so I could refer to it from the beginning. she did not want to do that stating that it went back too far and that was not necessaryand continued to be very rude after I was still insisting on the info. I told her that I most likely was going to obtain my own lawyer to look into this and I wanted all info. she kept insisting on getting my address and I told her that if they were sending me bills then why did they need it they must have it ..right?? She has me so hot under the collar right now, that I called Chaz Dean studio in California and asked for someone to call me. I am also going to report them and do some further investigating on my own. I cant believe they can get away with treating people this way. I work in community relations and would never dream of treating people like that! I asked her if she worked for the Mafia due to the nature of the call! lol No kidding What a way to end a long Monday of work.

Sko and brenner have been calling my sons cell for over two months about a person he doesnt even know and they ahve been calling him a lier about not knowing a person I cant believe the way they are allowed to talk to people. at first I thought my son was exaggerating about the extent of the conversation, so I had him hit record on his cell so I could hear the conversation and I was so shocked that I went to the federal trade commissioners website and filed a complaint after calling them myself I do hope that take action and I also hope they stop calling my sons phone he realy does want to have to change his # but that is my next step just to stop the harrassment. I watch him now and he gives it some thought before he will answer a call that he doesnt know at 14 that is crazy.

it sure is and thank you for reporting that type of abuse. frankly not enough people do this and they should. thats why they get away from it. i myself have gotten these kind of calls on my cell ( i have a tracphone so it really makes me mad loosing my minutes over that) so im with you. usually all it takes is to tell them you dont know them or whatever and they stop calling but in your sons case that is definiately abusive

This company has been harassing me by mail for a year now. My doctor sent my blood work to the wrong lab for testing. My insurance company does not deal with this lab so I was billed. I complained to my doctor and he said it would be taken care of. SKO Brenner is sending me letters daily for a year! I have made countless complaints to my doctor, and get no response from SKO, they just want my money. NO WAY!

Problems with SKO Brenner----harrassing calls (extensive).....I have decided to repay in kind...I have called 3 times today, asking for th employee name and number, the name they will give, their number ----not a one as yet...I have asked to speak to the supervisor and been refused 3 for 3 times..."policy" but unable to give me a number for the policy.....I spoke with "GRACE", "ROSE", and "JAMES" (I doubt this is their real names anyway).... I advised that I was going to use this information for a complaint to the FTC ....still no employee number or supervisor ...this is based on a "scalp med" supposed debt.. more like scalped....at this point, enough to cause your hair to fall out!!! Scalp Med and SKOB (how funny!)...are a bunch of jerks!!!!

I just got a call fro sko america amd the lady on there was very condescending to me and very rudely told me that I didn't have a brain. Well let me explain, I ordered an ab coaster paid the first payment and received it. The thing never would fit together it was bent so I never even got it put together. I have a mental disability and my memory is very bad and I also have severe anxiety. She asked me when I sent it back and of course I had no clue cause I hadn't thought about that ab coaster since I dropped it off at the ups store.
I said "um June 30th" she was like "ah ha I caught you!!!" " You received it in February"
she said loudly. I explained to her in so many words that I had a mental disability and "my brain doesn't remember things well" She says "so you don't have a brain"? I said no. I told you I have a mental disability. I called her back after she hung up on my husband.
I asked who was handling my case and I want her number and business number she said I can't give you that I can't give you anything you need to pay you debt she said then hung up again. Next I called and another person answered and I told her that I had been discriminated by one of the employees there and if the call and harass me again I will be filing a lawsuit against them for harassment and I asked her if she understood she said yes and hung up.
?????? this company really thinks that I am going to pay them after they did this to me on top of the fact that I don't even have the product in question.
what now??
Jen

I have been contacted by them twice for the same charge. A clinical lab was late billing my insurance company for a service (the contract says it has to be within 120 days), and when my insurance denied the claim, they sent the entire bill to me. My insurance company says I don't owe anything.
When I asked the rep at SKO Brenner for the name of someone to speak to at the lab they said they didn't have that info. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and the rep refused and said I should contact my doctor. I asked repeatedly for the name of someone at the lab or to speak to the rep's supervisor until the rep hung up on me.
When I received a letter from SKO Brenner the first time, I contacted the lab. They said the account was in collection and they wouldn't have anything to do with it. But eventually they agreed to submit the invoice again to my insurance company as an appeal, and were denied again.
I think I've done everything I can short of paying the entire bill, which I refuse to do. I had no choice in the selection of the lab, and supplied my insurance info when it was requested. They are a contractual in-network provider under my insurance. If the lab's accounting department is in such disarray that they can't get their invoices out on time, it's not my problem. But I'm concerned on how to go about getting this resolved. I suspect they won't consider it resolved short of payment in full.

My mom just got a letter from SKO regarding "a $50 debt" that we "owe" to one of the international phone service that my family uses. Since we know we paid on time, we called the phone service company to see what's going on, and they said they have no record of us owing them $. What should I do now? Just ignore the letter? Or call them? (I don't want to) One thing I know is I am not paying them for sure.

send them a DV letter.send it certified mail return receipt.also if you could get something from this carrier stating you owe nothing.send that as well.that should make them disappear.

I just got a collection notice in the mail stating I owe $105 to Sko Brenner American on behalf of their client, Sheer Cover. I've never heard of Sheer Cover! So I called Sko Brenner's number and left a message (their answering service said it was after hours). THEN I called Sheer Cover after finding them online and asked what the heck was going on. I talked to a girl who asked me my name and an order number (I gave her the "Client Number" that was on the Sko Brenner mailing) and she told me it was from an order back in February that went into collections in September. I asked her how the order was placed and she said (after hesitating for a bit) that it was ordered on a credit card. I then told her that I have never received a bill on either of my credit cards for anything like this and she remained silent. So I asked if I could speak with someone who may know something about this and she said no..."because we don't have any information on this order, except that it was placed in February."
What the hell? Who are these people, who are Sko Brenner American and has anyone else ever had this happen to them?

I got a letter from these people yesterday saying that I owe $45.89 because of a past due bill with Proactive Solution. I've never ordered Proactive because I don't need it. And if I ever did, I'd buy it from the store in my local mall. I wouldn't order it through the mail. Being that I'm underage my mother called them, and the lady who answered was really rude about it and asked questions that they have no business knowing. After reading everything here, I'm going to tell my mother to forget calling Proactive and go straight to the authorities about them.

I just received a letter from SKO Brenner saying I owe my previous Doctor.
I never received a bill from my Doctor. I am SKO a letter stating that I will
be contacting my previous Doctor and will settle up with him if I do owe any
funds.

Quote:

This message is for Cajunbulldog, Bossy 445, or anyone with legal insight who can give me advice on my situation.... I live in Ohio, and am currently in a collections situation with a mail-order company called Sheer Cover who I ordered and received 1 initial package from them almost a year ago, but then they put me unknowingly on an auto-ship program for makeup which packages I've never received and I've never signed for. They are now having SKO Brenner collections send me letters to collect $225 for makeup I never ordered or received. I disputed the charges with my Visa, told them I didn't receive the packages, and that I had cancelled the autoship service I never signed up for. So my Visa charged back the charges to Sheer Cover, but Sheer Cover claims they have USPS tracking delivery numbers that prove it was delivered to my mailbox or porch. But as I said, I've only received the first shipment I ordered, and I've never signed for any of the autoship packages they claim they sent afterward. When they turned it over to SKO Brenner collections, I received a letter from SKO about 2 months ago so the 30 days to dispute it from the date of SKO's initial letter to me is up - but can I still dispute it with them or is it too late now? I haven't talked or written to SKO yet, until I know my rights and the best way to proceed at this point, but I'm sure they will be trying to call me soon. I live in Ohio. I have excellent credit and don't want this ruining it. I pay bills I owe, but not for things I didn't order and didn't receive. Thanks for letting me know.

I too received a collection letter from this company. Supposedly I bought a Malibu Pilates chair paid for half of it and still owe half, NEITHER of which is true. I have no purchases through the supposed original creditor -Gughay Renke Corporation - the only information the collector would give me over the phone. I have searched to no avail for this company. This is a complete scam. They ask for credit card informtion on the back of the "bill" and you MUST include your 3 Digit Security Code. Don't give it. I am on their tail. I will be in contact with the Attorney General's office and whatever else is takes.

I received a letter from SKO today addressed to me -- but using a last name I haven't used in ten years! The letter is to collect a $20.81 bill from Spectrum Labs that was incurred in July of 2008. I didn't have any lab work done in 2008, and again -- the bill isn't even the right last name I would have used even IF I DID have lab work done.

I am in the process of composing a letter of dispute about this bill, but I am wondering if I should -- after all, I'd be giving them my current last name and validating the address and then they could possibly use to come up with some other bogus bill!

they were calling my 16 year old daughters cell phone (in my name). I called, and they wanted my address. I said no. I asked what this was about, she said she would tell me if I gave her my address. I told her that she could send whatever information she had registered mail. that ended the call.
Biatch

We continue to get misaddressed mail for the above person. Please correct you contact information...this is NOT her address.

Quote:

I wanted to see if others are still receiving letters from SKO American. I received a letter giving me a one time settlement for a debt for Time Inc. I haven't had a subscription in years, have never received a letter or statement from Time, asking for payment. When I called SKO American today, I said I wished to clarify a debt and settlement letter. I gave her the account number and my name. She then asked for my address which is on the letter! I said I preferred not to give out that information until I understood who SKO was and what debt they thought I owed because I had never heard of them. She just hung up the phone! Very suspicious, unprofessional, and I would say beyond fishy. Any thoughts?

oddly, proactiv and sheer cover are made by the same company...gunthy renker or something like that

this is still going on....

just got a letter from from sko brenner american saying i owe 479.40 to scalp med. I have never had hair plugs:) what should i do?

SKO Brenner american, Inc.

This company is bullshit. i am currently filing a law suit against them because i have proof that they werent deducting my monthly payment from the total balance but sending letters thanking me for my payment. I just feel bad for people who dont pay attention to what there gettin billed for and keeping track of the remaining balance. I was noticing my balance go down awfully slow and got suspicious. i began saving my reciepts and letters , and notice they would thank me for my hundred dollar payment but not apply it to the balance. In the mean time they told me that i had aquired 139.00 in late fees when i was never late on a payment.

I just received a collection letter from SKO Brennan saying that I owed $30.46 to a medical laboratory from Feb. 09. The letter said the tests were ordered by a doctor I have never heard of. When I looked up this doctor on-line, he is in Texas. I have never been in Texas except to change flights there one time many years ago. When I called SKO, they gave me my doctor's name in Indiana. However, I have claim records from my insurance company and receipts for my co-pay to this laboratory for the same date but a different amount. It's strange that in the past 2 years I have never received any additional billing from the medical lab and all the person at the collection agency was interested in was getting a credit card number from me. Every time I asked her a question about the bill, she always responded that if I would just give her a credit card number we could get this all cleared up right away. Of course!!! I will be calling the medical lab when they open for business on Monday and am 100% certain I will learn that SKO is trying to scam me. This is the first time I have EVER received a collection letter or collection call. Plus, we just had our bank run a credit report for us and no past due records showed up. Our credit score was over 800 - about as close to perfect as you can get.

I too have been receiving calls from this Company and as all of your letters say, I have never heard of the Dr. I am supposed to owe. Besides that, my Dr. bills are covered by my insurance and what they don't cover, I pay right away. I sent them a letter telling them this and I am still getting calls from them. It is quite embarrassing when a call like that comes in and we have company. I am going to take all of your advice and call the BBB and what ever agency I can for help. I agree, my credit score is excellent and if that changes, I will see an attorney.

[COLOR=black]So far I heard are claims of fraud and scamming in regards to SKO... [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]SKO is a national outsource solution provider that assists organization to resolve outstanding consumer accounts receivables. In addition, they are a licensed collection agency. They are not debt buyers. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]The information that that contact you with comes from their clients. It is fiduciary responsibility to contact the consumer on behalf of their clients and attempt to resolve the bill status of the account.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Payment is only one of the options that a consumer may take to resolve this situation. I can assure you that SKO has no interest in extracting payments on accounts that are not due. However, if you dispute it is best to do so in writing. This leaves no room for interpretation of your position and provides documentation to assist with final account resolution.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Any claims of dispute will be presented to SKO's client and the client will determine if it has merit. If the client provides additional information to overcome the objection it will be presented to the consumer.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]When you call into SKO Brenner American there is a message that your call maybe recorded for training and quality assurance. These calls are reviewed to specifically make sure that the operators are in compliance with the handling of the consumer accounts with our client and the consumer's rights.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]When an operator asks you a series of questions at the beginning of the call it is to protect the consumer and validate that the party that they are speaking with is in fact the debtor or the responsible party for the obligation. It also validate that SKO is a designated agent of the client.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]At SKO the only time credit report is mentioned is when the consumer raises it as a concern. If the request for information is answered is a straight and honest the account can be quickly resolved.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]It you are pulled over in your car by a police officer, one of first things that ask is do you know why you were pulled over... They ask for your identification and then listen to your response. Based on that they will tell you why you were pulled over and the options you have to resolve the situation. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]It is no different if you are contacted in regards to a bill. Just like the police officer, SKO is an agent of the credit grantor or merchant, they are hired to contact the consumer to make them aware of their client's account status and attempts to get it resolved in a professional manner.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]If you feel that your contact was not professional, please provide us with your name, the name of the credit grantor or merchant and date in which you were in contact with SKO. An contact audit will be performed to validate our employees compliance with company and regulatory compliance.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial][EMAIL="usapaid@skobars.com"]usapaid@skobars.com[/EMAIL][/FONT][/COLOR]

I received a letter from them that Department of Education turned my debt over to them I have already payed it but SKO Brenner was not aware of it so they tagged on another $1,000 00 on top of what I owed. They would keep all the money if I sent it to them. They got the information about me from hacking into the website that lists all debts to Dep. of Education and were counting on my stupidity to get my money. I tore it up and threw it in the garbage, you should have done the same!!