Consumer complaint received 2018-04-07
Company: AMCOL Systems, Inc.
State: TX
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Medical debt
Issue: Communication tactics
Sub-issue: You told them to stop contacting you, but they keep trying

Complaint:
I visited XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX for an emergency situation. Upon completion of the visit, I never received a bill from them so I assumed my insurance company had paid the bill. 9 months later I started receiving collection calls from XXXX XXXX XXXX telling me I owed a debt and it had subsequently been turned into collections and they were attempting to collect the debt. Since I had never received notice of the debt, I promptly disputd the debt, both in writing and verbally. They refused to cooperate with me, so I called the original creditor XXXX XXXX to seek resolution with them. Upon multiple contacts with them, they admitted that they had the wrong address and contact telephone number for me. They also refused to assist me despite be offering to pay the debt in full to resolve the issue. They claimed they could not " pull back '' the account from Amcol and I would have to work with them. I thereby contacted Amcol, and requested an itemized statement advising me of the changes. After one month I still had not received the information and they promised to provide me with the information within that week. When I finally received the information ( after 2 requests and 3 weeks waiting ) I immediately called then and had an in depth discussion with them and during that conversation they promised to remove the negative reporting if I paid the debt in full that day by using a credit or debit card. In order to remove the negative reporting I immediately paid the debt in full using my credit card. However 30 days later I received notification from the credit bureau that the account had been tuned over to collection despite what was represented to me. I called Amcol to discuss this and they informed me there was NOTHING they were willing/going to do. I filed 2 disputes with the credit bureau and have received no relief. They refuse to update the status as anything other that " paid '' .This has been a clear violation of FDCPA and UDAPP as they failed to notify me of the debt and provide me with proof of the debt in a timely fashion, while continuing to call me daily at home and work even though I asked them not to. I made commitments to cure the issue and make a 100 % full payment based on their promise, however it appears they had no intention of removing the negative information. I fell mislead and lied to. they took advantage of my desperation and knew my huge concern about having negative information of my credit report. They have damaged my credit as well as caused me emotional distress with the worry of how this is going to impact my future credit goals. had I been made aware of the debt I would have paid it. I have established a good credit history and would not ruin that success on a {$640.00} medical debt. I seek the negative to be reporting to be removed as originally promised so that I can move forward and retain my positive credit history again. It is causing me major life obstacles as I am needing to relocate for my job and purchase a home for myself and my XXXX XXXX XXXX children. Their tactics were unscrupulous. They continued to call me daily despite the fact that debt had been disputed which denies me of my dispute rights until I was able to review and verify the debt. I also think it was a egregious that they would use a bait and switch tactic in order to get me to pay the debt in full. ( offering to remove the negative reporting if I promised to pay on the spot ) What is even more disturbing is that they refuse to listen to my complaints and refuse to remove the negative reporting. The negative reporting should be removed and the account should be closed or deleted. As I stated above I would have paid the bill had I known about the debt. I would NEVER ignore and thereby allow something to go to collections when it would damage my credit report. XXXX XXXX had the option to pull back the account to avoid collection and secondly, AMCOL had the option to uphold what was conveyed to me and not blatantly take my money with no intention of correcting the negative reporting as promised. They feel they have upheld all FCRA requirements and that is false. at the time they reported the past due debt we were unsure if I was even the true owner of the debt. I had not even seen the itemized statement from Amcol ( they said " one got lost in the mail '' and the other one took upwards to a week to receive it. This has caused me great harm and I seek to be made whole by them removing the debt that was reported late. the debt did not become late as when I sought out the alleged debt I was not financially responsible for it until I was able to verify the debt.Once I verified the debt as mine I immediately called them to discuss payment options and what could be done about the negative reporting which was grossly premature.it was at that time that I took the offer of them removing the negative reporting in exchange for payment in full. I did my part and implore that they do the same

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation