Consumer complaint received 2018-06-22
Company: Johnson Mark LLC
State: OR
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Attempted to collect wrong amount

Complaint:
I became aware of my husband 's garnishment through the collection agency XXXX XXXX. In XX/XX/XXXX, I made contact with them regarding a debt. The debt was XXXX. At the time, I talked to a woman named XXXX who agreed to settle the account for XXXX. So I paid XXXX and agreed to pay the rest in XX/XX/XXXX after I had XXXX. Apparently my payment was a chargeback, which I was never informed of. My didn't even inform me, and they showed it as being debited from my account. 

Apparently the collection agency tried to call us in XX/XX/XXXX. I had given " XXXX '' my phone number at ( XXXX ) XXXX as a contact in case there was a problem. It was not documented in the notes I came to find out, and they listed dates where they supposedly called my husband in May. I told them that I had asked specifically for my number as my husband doesn't answer phone calls with numbers he doesn't know, and they said they left voicemails, but we actually looked at his voicemails that went back to XX/XX/XXXX, and there was nothing there at all. 

After being passed around from representative to representative and being told my paralegal was " unavailable '' and supervisors were " unavailable '', I finally demanded one and stayed on the phone until I got one. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke to a supervisor named XXXX who said he couldn't make payment arrangements with me as the agreement was broken ( it wasn't, everything on my end was done ), and then said he woild settle for XXXX, refusing to go back to the original settlement because it wasn't documented by. " XXXX '', and conveniently she no longer worked there supppsedly. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I paid the amount in full. I was told by XXXX that he would fax the garnishment department a release of garnishment that day so my husband wouldn't get garnished again, and we could get the refund on what was garnished. 

That was in the morning of XX/XX/XXXX. I called at one and the representative told me it would take 30 days for the paperwork to process, I'd still be garnished until it went through, and if have to wait for a refund until the garnishee sent them money, then they would send it back, and then I'd get it. This was after I had paid yhe account it FULL.. 

They refused to close it that day, and said XXXX told me it would be five days until he sent the paperwork over. He never said that. I argued and kept calling until I was told they faxed it over at XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. 

I called the garnisher today, XX/XX/XXXX and said they could not find the fax, it wasn't uploaded, and could take up to three business days. I got them to give me the emergency phone number of that office so they could get the release of garnishment immediately. 

I called XXXX XXXX again and gave them the new fax number. XXXX put me on hold and supposedly sent it. After he said he sent it, I immediately called the garnisher to see if it had been sent. They checked faxes for the entire hour prior to when XXXX claimed he sent the fax, until the time I called. Nothing was there. 

I called XXXX XXXX again, and spoke to a XXXX who repeated that XXXX had said five days.. And the fax number I had given was not documented. They had the old fax number. She tried to say I didn't call. After threatening to report he company to the XXXX XXXX XXXX, Consumer Affairs, the Attorney General, and you, she finally put me on hold, and she and XXXX sent the fax again. 

I called the garnisher and they did receive the fax and put it in for immediate processing, which is only 48 hours. 

XXXX XXXX was deceptive from the moment of the garnishment until they sent the release of garnishment. There was no documentation by " XXXX '' about our arrangements, no messages were left on my husband 's cell phone or mine. They also did not stay with the original settlement agreement saying it was never documented, so charged me more. They received the money, then didn't close it at a XXXX  balance until I insisted upon it. They left it at XXXX owed attempting to get at least some of the garnishment that was not theirs. Everything was paid. It was not until I threatened legal reporting that they closed the account at XXXX, and honestly sent the release of garnishment to the garnisher. They also were going to try to hold it off for a month, giving them a month of wages garnished, making it hard for me if they did it that way to get any money back. 

I don't want other people to be financially hurt by their practices. Most people aren't as persistent as I am. I spent almost two days on the phone fighting them. They still tried to hurt me financially even after I paid the debt in full, threatening more garnishment due to " processing '' time. 

Now that my nightmare is over with them, I can work with the garnisher to ensure my refund. They worked quick with me to get things settled. They were not the problem, XXXX XXXX was. People need to be aware of them so they don't get fooled by being told a process or law is a certain way, when it isn't. Please let people know, and let XXXX XXXX know they have been reported. They may do something to change their practices, they may not. But at least they know they were reported. Someone stood up for their rights.

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 non-monetary relief