Consumer complaint received 2021-04-16
Company: CAINE & WEINER COMPANY, INC.
State: IL
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: I do not know
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt is not yours

Complaint:
I would like to file a formal complaint against a business. The business is masquerading as an official United States Government business offering to file the paperwork for consumers EIN numbers for the fee of {$230.00} dollars. Their business information is as follows : Business Name : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Website : XXXX Email : XXXX Phone Number : ( XXXX ) XXXX ( It should be noted that when I called this number, Colorado came up in the caller ID. ) Business Hours listed : XXXX XXXX EST On XX/XX/2020 at XXXX CST, I tried to make a purchase to this business in order to receive an EIN number. This site has you fill out the exact same forms as the official U.S. Government forms to get an EIN number. I received a fraud alert text message from my bank asking if I made the purchase. I accepted the charge thinking that the website was an official government website. The site said I would receive my number within 1-2 business days at the time of purchase. 

XXXX CST Somewhere within this time frame, I resubmitted my payment to the company still under the impression that it was a government website. When I did not receive an email confirming my purchase, I suspected something was dishonest about the company and realized that it is free to apply for an EIN number on the official government website and this website was masquerading as a government website. 

XXXX CST I called my bank and reported the charge and asked to dispute the charge. I also received the phone number of this company. 

XXXX CST I called the company, there was no answer. A voice mail was left leaving my contact information and stating I would like a refund since I did not realize the company was being dishonest about being a government website. Immediately afterwards, I went to the sites email contact form and filed a complaint asking for a refund. 

XXXX XXXX I received a text message from the company saying here is your EIN number, the service has already been rendered. 

XXXX pm CST I receive an email from the company stating that the service has already been rendered and here is a list of all the things your money is going towards. 

XXXX pm CST I replied to the email telling them I will report this to my bank if they do not offer a refund. 

XXXX pm CST I received an email from the company with a threat to be taken to collections because they already rendered the service. 

XXXX pm CST I receive a text message from the company saying I have received a refund of {$230.00}. 

XXXX pm CST I receive an email from the company telling me they refunded my money but they have a legal right to the money and threatened collections again. 

My time stamps can prove that I asked for a refund from the company before the service was rendered. In addition, the companys business hours state they are opened until XXXX EST, which would be XXXX CST. This all happened outside of their business hours. Their service, should not have been rendered immediately after I requested a refund, almost XXXX hours after the close of their business for the day. 

Exactly 1 week after receiving a full refund from XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, I received both a phone call and an email from a representative at XXXX and XXXX stating that I owed Simple Doc Filings, XXXX {$360.00}.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation