Consumer complaint received 2019-04-07
Company: ERC
State: MO
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt is not yours

Complaint:
In XX/XX/2016 I went to XXXX store with an unlocked XXXX cell that I owned, the phone didn't have a balance on it & wasn't connected to any XXXX account. I requested prepaid cell service for the phone. The XXXX associate told me prepaid service was available. I asked repeatedly if it was a contract, the representative assured me it was a XXXX prepaid cell service. This cell phone service was intended for my teenage daughter. I asked the XXXX associate " If, for example, I were to not pay for an upcoming month of service due to my daughter had got in trouble & her phone was to be taken away as a punishment, will there be a charge for that? '' I was told " No, there would be no charge ''. I then asked " When my daughter is free from her punishment, do I just need to go buy a XXXX prepaid refill card to restart her cell service? '' I was told " Yes, that is correct ''. I was then asked if I wanted insurance on the cell phone, I denied the insurance coverage. Before I left the store I paid for a cell phone charger, 2 months of " prepaid cell phone service '' & the phone was activated. I then went to XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX & bought a {$30.00} XXXX Prepaid Refill card to use when the 2 months of paid service expired. Of course my teenage daughter got in trouble, so when it came time to use the XXXX Prepaid refill card I didn't load the card on the cell phone. Once my daughter finished her punishment I tried  unsuccessfully to load the XXXX Prepaid refill card on the cell phone. I called XXXX & the representative told me she didn't know why the card wouldn't load, but instead I could pay over the phone to reactivate the cell phone service. I payed the amount required over the phone with the representative. Within 2 weeks the cell phone service stopped working so I called XXXX. I was informed I owed {$120.00}!!!???!!! When I asked what the charge was for I was told the amount was for late fees, disconnection fees, re-connection fees, & insurance fees on the phone. I explained it was a prepaid account & I had refused insurance on the phone so these charges weren't valid. The representative told me this is NOT a prepaid account and that insurance was in fact on the phone. I was in disbelief & very angry! I went to a different XXXX location & asked them to pull up my information. The XXXX store associate accessed my information from the XX/XX/2016 transaction at the original XXXX store I activated the cell service at. I personally viewed computer generated " paperwork '' that stated the service was a contract & cell phone insurance was accepted. The form had been revised three times & electronically accepted. There was a time stamp on the revisions, all of which occurred AFTER I had already left the XXXX store. There was only one XXXX associate in the entire store the day I activated the cell service. After I left the store that day, the associate fraudulently created new forms & electronically accepted these fraudulent forms by using my name as the one to agree to the terms he created without my knowledge or permission. I have contacted XXXX on more than one occasion regarding this fraud. I have insisted this charge be removed & the XXXX associate who opened this fraudulent account be reprimanded or fired. I have been cursed, put on extended hold, and eventually hung up on every time I have tried to resolve this matter with XXXX over the phone. XXXX recently placed this fraudulent account in collection on my credit report in the amount of {$220.00}.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation