Consumer complaint received 2019-06-04
Company: American Recovery Service Incorporated
State: CO
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt was paid

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I requested to open a merchant bank account from : XXXX XXXX XXXX/XXXX XXXX Agent XXXX office XXXX fax XXXX customer support XXXX XXXX I completed the required XXXX XXXX application for : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, PA XXXX  ( XXXX  ) XXXX I was subsequently issued a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX portal for processing credit card transactions. The merchant bank account was subsequently attached to my business checking account for automatic deposits and withdrawals.

For unknown reasons XXXX/XXXX XXXX was unable to withdraw their monthly fee from my business account for statement month XX/XX/XXXX which I was not aware of until I received a letter of collection from them stating such in mid XX/XX/XXXX ( no pro-rating fees even though my account was only active since the XX/XX/XXXX ). I immediately contacted customer service at the phone number provided and was able to pay this billing cycle fee over the phone. I requested the account be checked into and verified with XXXX/XXXX XXXX and I was informed everything checked out on their end. I then had things looked at through my bank in order to make certain it was not anything on my end that wasn't allowing the withdrawals to take place and also to make certain I could receive credit card deposits. My bank stated everything looked good for my business checking account with no blocks or holds of any sort. I did not contact XXXX XXXX at this time.

I received another letter of collection for the subsequent statement month of XX/XX/XXXX and immediately called the number again. This time I was able to have this billing cycle fee waived. I then put an online support ticket into XXXX   asking how I was able to pay my service online instead of having to wait for a letter of collection to come in the mail. I wanted to be proactive and pay when I received my monthly statement. I was informed everything was automatic withdrawal from my business checking account. I then called XXXX XXXX and explained the situation to him and asked him to check into things. XXXX  asked me to be patient while he checked and that he would call me back. While I waited I phoned my bank again to see if everything with my business checking account was fine and it was. XXXX  called me back and stated that everything looked good on their end and provided no explanation of why XXXX/XXXX XXXX was unable to collect their monthly fee from my bank account. He also informed me he would do some more searching with the company to check on things and hopefully not have the problem reoccur for XX/XX/XXXX.

I told XXXX  I could not have this happen again that I have good credit and this was completely unacceptable, that I was not the one at fault and was doing everything I could to keep things in good standing with XXXX/XXXX XXXX. I told him I should not have to be calling every month in answer to collection letters and trying to get fees waived or to give XXXX/XXXX XXXX my money. If it happened again I would have to close the account he told me he understood, that if it came to that he would help me to get my early cancellation fee waived. I said that was fine and I would wait through one more statement cycle.

The same thing happened again for the statement month of XX/XX/XXXX. I immediately called the collections phone number and was able to have this fee waived again and this time I put an online support ticket into XXXX directly to close my account. I then immediately called XXXX  and left a voicemail which thereafter I sent him an email stating I was closing the account. XXXX sent me an email back requesting I contact him so we could discuss the early termination fees. I called him and gave him an earful upon which he said he would do what he could to cancel anything I owed, but I would have to contact the online customer support immediately and request the account not be closed on their end. XXXX  stated he would not be able to have the early cancellation fee waived if they did it on their end and that he had to do it. So I did as XXXX told me and submitted another online support ticket requesting my account NOT be closed on their end right there while XXXX  was on the phone with me. XXXX assured me he would take care of things and would contact me once it was handled so we ended our conversation at that time. I never heard back from XXXX again.

Even though XXXX stated to me he would contact me once things were resolved on his end and the merchant account was closed with the early cancellation fees being waived I never heard from him again. I did however receive an email XX/XX/XXXX showing my XX/XX/XXXX statement as having the account cancelled and showing the early cancellation fees waived.

Out of the blue on Tuesday XX/XX/XXXX I receive a phone call from : American recovery Services Incorporated XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX I spoke with an XXXX XXXX who asked me for my personal information and stating she needed to verify who I was. I told her that I wanted her information and was not going to give her my personal information. She informed me she was from a collection agency ARSI and calling for their client XXXX XXXX XXXX   whom I have never heard of before and that my business entity owed them {$590.00} and they had turned my account over to her company for collection. I was in shock and yelled at her stating I did not owe anyone anything for any reason and then asked for her contact information so I could get back in touch with her. I received her email address - XXXX - and phone number XXXX ext. XXXX  - to contact her directly after I did some searching through my records, knowing that the only account my business had ever opened up was the merchant account with XXXX/XXXX XXXX I knew I had never done business with a XXXX XXXX XXXX.

I dug through my emails and correspondence and verified my merchant account through XXXX/XXXX XXXX had in fact been cancelled, closed and the early cancellation fee waived according to my records. After thinking about things I thought this collection activity might be a fraud attempt so my wife and I researched fraudulent collections that night upon which we determined this was probably a scam. Since I gave no personal information over the phone I didn't think much about it any further until I receive a collection notice in the mail yesterday dated XX/XX/XXXX, 5 days before the phone call. All of the information XXXX said to me is contained within the letter pertaining to XXXX XXXX XXXX and the amount of {$590.00} owed along with a reference number and their account number for me.

In looking through my records I am able to determine the reference number ARSI has for the XXXX XXXX XXXX account is the exact last 5 digits of my previous merchant number for XXXX/XXXX XXXX and the name they have for me/my business is identical to my account name I had with XXXX/XXXX XXXX.

UPDATE : XX/XX/XXXX : I have contacted XXXX/XXXX XXXX multiple times as of now and every representative tells me that they can not help me and that I need to speak with collections. Upon being transferred over to XXXX/XXXX XXXX collections I am informed that I need to speak with ARSI collections company as everything is out of their hands. XXXX/XXXX XXXX XXXX is rude and not helpful at all.

After speaking with XXXX/XXXX XXXX XXXX I was finally able to reach XXXX XXXX today by marathon calling his phone number where he then informed me not to worry that this would just go away by itself, but also that he had no recollection of asking for the fees to be waived at all or in fact of who I was or any of our previous conversations. XXXX obviously does not care at all what happens or about any of this. I should have never corresponded with XXXX  over the phone and should have only corresponded with him via email so that there was a written record. Shame on me.

When I contacted ARSI today they were actually the nicest company to speak with and were surprisingly pleasant to me. I was not able to reach XXXX  whom called me originally and spoke with another lady whom I did not catch her name. After speaking with them they said they had submitted a complaint to XXXX/XXXX XXXX on my behalf after the initial phone conversation I had with XXXX. I attached my XXXX/XXXX XXXX statements to an email I sent to XXXX at the email address she provided to me to show them the account had been paid. The other lady I spoke with said she would follow up with her and that it might take just a little bit to hear back from them so please be patient, but I would hear back as soon as they were able to provide me with any updates.

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