Consumer complaint received 2019-08-14
Company: TD BANK US HOLDING COMPANY
State: IL
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Written notification about debt
Sub-issue: Didn't receive notice of right to dispute

Complaint:
I entered into a payment agreement for a mobile phone with TD Retail Card Services. Because TD Retail Card Services doesn't accept direct electronic payment from my bank, XXXX XXXX instead mails check payments via USPS in the amount of {$32.00} from my checking account to TD Retail Card Services as part of a scheduled payment. This monthly service was performed on the date of XX/XX/XXXX. This payment was due on XX/XX/XXXX. I was not made aware until several billing cycles after that period that the XX/XX/XXXX payment was claimed to have arrived late. 

Normally this late payment communication from TD would have occurred via USPS mail. I received no such mailed notice - the reason will be made clear below. When I finally became aware, I was already accruing fees resulting from the claimed late payment. In the subsequent months I made numerous phone calls to resolve this issue that were unhelpfully dismissed by TD representatives. 

It wasn't until XX/XX/XXXX that I was finally made aware by a TD support representative that TD had no longer been sending me communications via USPS mail - thus I did not have a chance to get a claimed late notice. According to the representative a prior mailed item had been returned to them as it had been delivered to an incorrect address. As a result, and without alerting me, they decided to no longer send communications via USPS mail. This representative also made me aware of a billing dispute form which I faxed to TD the very next day, XX/XX/XXXX. Attached to the fax was a copy of my XXXX XXXX account statement for the period in question with a line item circled to indicate the payment as having been deducted as scheduled and on time : XX/XX/XXXX. I also confirmed my mailing address with that representative, so I am now receiving monthly notices of claimed fees owed, at this point in the amount of {$180.00}. 

According to their dispute policies, TD Retail Card Services states that they would mail their decision regarding the billing dispute within 15 days. They claim under the Fair Credit Billing Act that my dispute submission would need to take place within 60 days after the incident. Which as described above was not possible due to TD no longer mailing me late payment notices - or mailed notices of any sort. 

As I had not received any mailed notice regarding the billing dispute I followed up via phone on XX/XX/XXXX. Over 3 months had elapsed after faxing in the dispute form. The representative told me at that time that they had received the form and I should wait about another week for that USPS mailed response. 

As of today 's date, XX/XX/XXXX, I have still not received a response. I made another call around XXXX to once again inquire about the dispute form resolution. I was told this time that the representative could not find record of receipt of the faxed dispute form. I have attached a fax receipt confirmation to prove that my fax was sent and received. The representative was unable ( and not allowed ) to connect me directly to the dispute department. 

At this point I'm convinced continued attempts to communicate through standard methods will be equally fruitless. In the meantime they not only continue to mail me owed fee notices, but they also make claims of late and/or unpaid payments to the credit bureau unfairly damaging my credit. As a result, my credit score has dropped significantly from its prior level.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief