Consumer complaint received 2019-08-15
Company: I.Q. DATA INTERNATIONAL, INC.
State: NC
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
Sub-issue: Threatened or suggested your credit would be damaged

Complaint:
Recently I moved and my old apartment turned my final bill of {$230.00} over to the collection agency IQ Data International , Inc. without my knowledge or any prior communication. On XX/XX/19 I revived a call from IQ Data International attempting to collect on this debt which was not known to me at the time. I repeated asked for some sort of proof of legitimacy via email to support the claim that I owed money fearing that it may or may not be a scam. The initial person I spoke with repeatedly refused to do any such thing. At that time I asked to advance the call to her supervisor so that I might be able to ascertain whether or not it was a scam. Upon speaking to her supervisor, a man by the name of XXXX XXXX who identified himself as an Operations Manager, Took over the call and begin to repeatedly threatened me that unless I paid in full he would not send me any kind of email with a breakdown of what was owed and for what reason. In addition he repeatedly threatened that my credit score would be severely damaged if I did not settle the matter with him on that very phone call and that I would never be able to buy a house, car, or boat. I repeatedly told Mr. XXXX that I was caught off guard by a sudden collections call and that I had no issue paying it provided that he could provide some proof of the legitimacy of the claim. Eventually, after receiving abusive language from by Mr. XXXX, I told him I had my credit card in hand ready to pay if he could honor my original request for an email breakdown of what was owed and stating to him that I had a right to know what debts were being collected for what purpose and for that information to be placed in writing. At that time Mr. XXXX repeatedly demanded my credit card information be given to him and that he would not give me an email because I was a waste of his time and that he did not feel like giving the effort. Following this exchange I asked that the call be forwarded to Mr. XXXX supervisor stating that he was not giving me adequate information and therefore I did not feel comfortable turning over any personal information. He absolutely refused to forward my call and threatened to simply hang up and file the call as a refusal to pay and again that I was a waste of time. During the phone call I heard an excessive amount of noise in the background consisting of people yelling and talking indicating that he was in a very public location. I asked him if he could move to somewhere where I could hear him more clearly to which he say thats just how me do business. Again, Mr. XXXX threatens to hang up on me and file the collections attempt as a refusal to pay. I asked him not to hang up and stated clearly that I was not refusing to pay but simply asking for one iota of proof that this collections attempt was legitimate at that time Mr. XXXX rattled off an excessive amount of my personal information including my Social Security number and my fathers name all while I could hear people in the background yelling and what sounded like cheering. After I stated that he had violated my privacy by reading outloud my personal information in what was a public setting, he agreed to email me a ledger of what was owed and for what reason provided I stay on the phone with him while I checked my email. I did receive an email and it did appear to be legitimate therefore I proceeded paid in full. However, IQ Data international Inc. in an attempt to collect a debt resisted to disclose pertinent information about the debt, subjected me to abusive language, threatened me and my future, and violated my privacy.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief