Consumer complaint received 2016-06-27
Company: Populus Financial Group, Inc. (F/K/A Ace Cash Express)
State: CO
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Payday loan
Issue: Communication tactics
Sub-issue: Used obscene/profane/abusive language

Complaint:
I took out a pay day loan around XX/XX/XXXX from Ace Check cashing loan. I did not pay it back in the time I was supposed to. Sometime later I kept asking Ace about the debt I owed and they gave me a number to call. I called the number and they said they did n't have anything for me. Around XX/XX/XXXX I opened a bank account with my bank at the time of the payday loan. They said I owed them the money for the payday loan so I paid them back. A couple months ago I tried to get a loan from my bank and they said my credit score was too low so they offered to heal my credit. He looked up one of my credit reports and said I had a delinquent account. I was surprised as I thought I was paying off everything. He said the debt was with a company called XXXX XXXX XXXX. I tried to find a way to contact this name. I found nothing. I let the banker know about this and he emailed me back saying he found a number. I called the number and the man was very rude and unprofessional. I felt like it was a scam and I told him so and I was very wary of giving him my social security number. Unfortunately I did n't record the conversation. Sometime later I got a call from XXXX XXXX, it was pretty early and I do n't remember exactly what he said. I remember telling him that I could n't pay the amount right that second because I have rent coming up. He wanted me to pay the whole amount immediately. I asked for a settlement and he gave me one but still wanted some of the money right away. I told him I would talk to my dad and get it to him in the next week or something like that. He got my email address and sent me an email with a settlement attatched. I put the amount I thought I owed in my budget. The email gave me about tow months to pay the amount off and a specific date by which to pay part of what I thought I owed. He called me a couple weeks later and was pretty vague about why he was calling. I said I do n't owe the partial payment until later in the month, like the XXXX or something and the rest of the settlement is due by XXXX XXXX. I said I 'm driving through a canyon so I 'm about to lose service and then the call was lost and my phone said call failed. He called me again, a week before the payment was due and this time was very rude saying the payment should have been paid already and something about calling me on XXXX XXXX. I did n't have any paperwork with the dates he had given me so I just said you told me the payment was n't due till later. He continued to speak to me loudly and rudely, so I asked to speak with his supervisor. Another guy got on the phone and also said nothing about this being an attempt to collect a debt. I put him on speaker and my dad was there listening for only part of it. I told him I did n't think this was a legit company and that they spelled my name wrong on the email. He also insisted on saying I owed the money now and that the settlement was basically just a favor and was something they were n't required to offer me. He was very rude and I hung up the phone. He sent me an email saying he did n't think I was being harassed. He said he listened to the conversation that was recorded. I hope all my conversations were recorded. He said maybe I was confused because the settlement I had previously received was written wrong. he attatched a new settlement with my first name spelled correctly and my last name added this time. They still have an incorrect address for me and I have not been asked for my address at all at any point. I have not received any thing by mail. I want to pay off all my debt. I want to find out if I owe this debt. I called Ace check cashing today and their collection office has nothing for me.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation