Consumer complaint received 2022-04-27
Company: I.C. System, Inc.
State: IL
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt is not yours

Complaint:
In XXXX, I received a solicitation for XXXX XXXX XXXX from XXXX. The solicitation offered a " discounted '' rate for a set number of treatments. 

I purchased a set number of lawn fertilization services from XXXX # XXXX. I submitted payment in full for the specific services requested. 

I did not request or authorize any ongoing service beyond the package that I had purchased. Nothing on the solicitation form indicated that I was signing up for ongoing service or automatic billing. I explicitly did not want ongoing service. 

Without my knowledge or authorization, XXXX saved my credit card information and in XXXX they started charging my card repeatedly for service that I did not request or authorize. The unauthorized charge was roughly double the rate from the XXXX solicitation. 

When I discovered that XXXX had been charging my credit card, I contacted their customer service immediately. The agent agreed that I had not authorized the service, and assured me they would reverse the charges. The credit did not come. 

After giving them time to rectify the issue, I eventually contacted my credit card company to dispute the charges. My credit card company investigated and reversed the charges. 

I thought that the matter was settled, until XX/XX/XXXX when I received a collection notice from " IC System, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX MN XXXX, XXXX '' The collection notice on behalf of XXXX # XXXX was in the amount of {$110.00}. 

I immediately wrote to IC System using their included form, and I mailed it back informing them that the debt was not valid and that I had not authorized these charges or services from XXXX. According to my understanding of the law, they should have stopped trying to collect the debt without sending me proof of the validity of the debt. 

I also called XXXX customer service to inform them that I had been sent to collections over a debt that I don't owe. I spoke to a customer service representative who informed me that she could see the notes on the account, but she needed to have a manager call me back to reverse the charge. She advised that someone would call back in 24-48 hours. Nobody ever called. It is not possible to reach a local representative, and it is also not possible to be transferred directly to a supervisor. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a second collection notice from IC System for the same debt. This notice had a bold notice " VALID COLLECTION '' across the top. It offered no proof of the validity of the debt. I believe this notice was in violation of the law, as I had already disputed the validity of the debt with IC Systems, and they should have stopped collections until they could issue proof that I had authorized these charges. 

Also, on XX/XX/XXXX, I again contacted XXXX customer service at XXXX. Despite the number being a local number, it routes to a call center somewhere unknown. Again, I was told that a manager needs to call me back, but it is more than 24 hours later and no manager has called.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation