Consumer complaint received 2018-05-13
Company: Diversified Consultants, Inc.
State: MD
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Attempted to collect wrong amount

Complaint:
In XX/XX/XXXX I placed an order for a phone at a local XXXX Store. I stipulated it must arrive within 2 days as I was leaving the country for an indefinite period of time. The rep lied directly to my face saying it would arrive in two days, it did not. I was strung along for a full week and a half saying I could not cancel the order. I purchased another phone on the XX/XX/XXXX and was told the phone I ordered would be returned once it arrived in the store. The ordered phone arrived on XX/XX/XXXX, one day after I departed the country. A store employee took the phone and sold it/stole it and assigned the phone to my account and changed my plan without my consent to fit usage I could not use ( XXXX service can not be used in XXXX ). Someone else at XXXX used my credit card to charge and then remove the device from my account in late XXXX which resulted in my credit card being frozen for several days over security concerns ( I could not physically be in 2 countries at one time so they suspected fraud ). For the next 2 months I was billed for the stolen phone and extra services. I finally had the phone removed from my account in XX/XX/XXXX. I returned to XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. My phone was shut off due to non-payment on XX/XX/XXXX as I was not paying the bill until the investigation into the theft and misuse of my credit card by XXXX was finished. I did not return to the US until XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX tried to bill me for the two months my service was shut off as well as plan charges I was not using, making the bill {$2200.00} or so. Over the summer I managed to speak to a rep via email after a complaint to the NY State Attorney General and your organization to have charges removed. This bought the total down to {$1300.00}. I was back in XXXX at the time and the rep requested I get a police report filed about the in-store theft which due to my location I could not complete. Nonetheless this issue was put on hold. When I returned to the United States late in XXXX I noticed a collection agency ( XXXX operated ) contacted me via mail to attempt to collect an amount of {$2200.00}. The charge then showed up on my credit report inspite of my attempts to have the NYAG mediate the debt collection process and my request for slow payment options as I could not afford to pay off all at once and did not want a settlement. I began to correspond again with XXXX and they went back on their word and tried to collect the {$2200.00} amount, half of which are/were erroneous charges. I complained again to the FTC and in response they filled another collection action through another debt collection organization which further impacted my credit. They appear to be doing this with malicious intent as the NYAG recommended I sue them but I was not/am not in the country long enough nor have the means to sue them. I am a new parent raising a child abroad and they are taking advantage of my being in and out of the country to do as they please and thus ruin my credit. I am asking that this item be removed from all credit reports and that I be granted the option to pay off the debt at my own pace, considering the criminal activities by their own employees they sought to sweep under the rug.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief