Consumer complaint received 2017-06-06
Company: Advantage Financial Service LLC (Idaho)
State: ID
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Medical debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt was already discharged in bankruptcy and is no longer owed

Complaint:
On the day of XX/XX/XXXX My husband was called by a woman that identified herself as an employee of XXXX XXXX XXXX and that a bill for our daughter needed to be paid. My husband was not aware of what this debt was for, was not informed of when the debt was incurred and made a faithful payment to who he thought was XXXX XXXX XXXX. The amount of the payment was {$59.00}. My husband was not informed ( to my knowledge, since My husband was at work, working ) that this woman was collecting on XXXX separate accounts, XXXX for our daughter with XXXX XXXX and another for myself with XXXX XXXX. This woman that said her name was XXXX called from a phone number associated with Advantage Financial LLC of XXXX Idaho, a debt collection business. As required by law she was required to inform my husband that she was a debt collector trying to collect a debt and that any information obtained would be used for that purpose. She falsely identified herself as an employee of XXXX XXXX XXXX and used my husbands debit card to complete the payment. Again he made this payment because he thought this was a current debt, not one that should have been discharged in our bankruptcy. This payment was not made voluntarily since it was Advantage Financial calling him to collect on this debt, he did not make any effort to contact this company to make a payment. This payment was taken by a company committing a crime by falsely identifying themselves. My husband and I filed bankruptcy in the State of Idaho. Our BK was filed on XX/XX/XXXX, after the dates of the debt being incurred. On XX/XX/XXXX I called the number that my husband sent to me via text message as a screen shot from his work phone. I called the phone number and reached a company called Advantage Financial. A debt collection agency. This alone proves that this company falsely identified themselves and that they were the ones contacting my husband to collect a debt not that he was voluntarily contacting them to make a payment. Proof with be submitted with this complaint. When I called Advantage Financial I left a voicemail stating they were not to charge our bank account that it was my belief as well that this debt was incurred after our BK. That our daughter should have been covered by my husbands employers insurance and XXXX. I did not find out that it actually should have been covered by my own work insurance as primary and then my husbands as secondary until I was transferred to a manager named XXXX. My voicemail specifically stated that I requested a phone call back to resolve this issue. Once I finally got through the automated message at Advantage Financial I was transferred to XXXX ( a manager ). I was then informed by her that she will not be issuing a refund, that it did not matter that this debt was incurred before we filed for our BK on XX/XX/XXXX. That it was my husbands job to " support '' his family and that his payment was voluntary. As stated above proof shows it was not a voluntary payment. It was a payment made on good faith that the woman XXXX was who she stated. An employee of XXXX XXXX XXXX, not Advantage Financial. on XX/XX/XXXX I tried called the actual billing dept of XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX, both of which are handled by the same company ; XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX, Idaho. I was contacted by XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX ( today ) and informed that they would not be refunding our money either, that it is Advantage Financial that I had to take up my issue with. Now onXX/XX/XXXX I spoke with XXXX at Advantage and was hung up on after I argued with her about this debt and how it was not voluntary and that I expected to be reimbursed. on XX/XX/XXXX I was contacted by XXXX XXXX and was informed that they had called my attorney that did our BK and that she was waiting for a fax from my attorney regarding our BK and actual date of filing. That they would note our accounts with XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX of our BK. My attorneys office also called on XX/XX/XXXX and informed me that my husband should just accept the payment as a loss, that he ( the attorney ) would charge us more than the disputed amount paid to Advantage, that in the future he needs to be more aware of how collection businesses work, what debts were discharge or not with our BK, and that he just made a " bad '' call. According to Fair Debt Collection Practices a " debt collection agency must identify themselves as such, that a debt collector may not use any name other than the true name of the debt collector 's business, company, or organization. '' That " The use of any false representation or deceptive means to collect or attempt to collect any debt or to obtain information concerning a consumer. <P/>812. Furnishing certain deceptive forms ( a ) It is unlawful to design, compile, and furnish any form knowing that such form would be used to create the false belief in a consumer that a person other than the creditor of such consumer is participating in the collection of or in an attempt to collect a debt such consumer allegedly owes such creditor, when in fact such person is not so participating.
( b ) Any person who violates this section shall be liable to the same extent and in the same manner as a debt collector is liable under section 1692k of this title for failure to comply with a provision of this subchapter. '' All above regulations have been violated by Advantage Financial because they called my husband and collected a debt that is not owed and was falsely represented as being paid to the original creditor XXXX XXXX XXXX not Advantage Financial.

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