Consumer complaint received 2022-06-30
Company: Herbert P. Sears Co., Inc.
State: CA
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Difficulty submitting a dispute or getting information about a dispute over the phone

Complaint:
I had originally had an account go into collections in XXXX from XXXX XXXX located at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX. The account was placed in collections with HP SEARS in XXXX after I had some financial hardships from being XXXX and the loss of a job. After threatening phone calls and letters for me to pay the debt, I had made an agreement to pay to delete the debt with the collection agency HP SEARS located at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, CA XXXX. The debt was in the amount of {$1500.00}, that was paid in full on XX/XX/XXXX. HP SEARS never deleted the debt from my consumer report as it was agreed upon. 

This whole process originally violated my consumer rights, but I didn't completely know the process and how to handle it properly in XXXX. I know how to handle it in XXXX as XXXX XXXX, HP SEARS, The XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX have all violated my rights in various ways. 

Services were still rendered with XXXX XXXX after XX/XX/XXXX. My child 's braces were debanded on XX/XX/XXXX, leaving her balance at {$0.00}. A retainer was given ( both top and bottom ). The top was a tad bit too tight on her teeth but was told by the orthodontist, XXXX XXXX # XXXX, that it was normal and would loosen up over time. Well it never loosened up, it actually broke while my child was sleeping. I went back to XXXX XXXX in XXXX, XXXX to get her top retainer fixed. They took a molding of the top teeth and stated it would be 2-3 weeks to get the retainer back. 

XX/XX/XXXX the world shut down due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. XXXX XXXX didn't reopen their local XXXX XXXX office til early XX/XX/XXXX. I called twice a week from XX/XX/XXXX til XX/XX/XXXX to check the status of my daughter 's retainers, which they still hadn't come in. During this time, my child 's top teeth had started to spread apart, resurfacing her gap ( which was partially the reason for the braces to begin with ). They had XXXX come in for another set of moldings, as they still didnt have the previous 2 impressions that were somehow lost at the lab and still werent in. They said that they were going to do a rush order and we should have them back within two ( 2 ) weeks. They set the appointment for XX/XX/XXXX to come into the office to pick up the retainer. 

I had left messages with the office manager, XXXX, that went unanswered for months. Finally on XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX had me bring my child in to have another set of moldings done, as the original lab lost hers. On that same date, the Orthodontist, XXXX XXXX # XXXX, agreed to put the top braces back on my child 's teeth to close the gap again, FREE OF CHARGE. It wasn't until a full year later, in XX/XX/XXXX, that I was complaining about still not having my daughter 's retainer that XXXX XXXX fraudulently tried to recharge me the same bill that was already sent to collections and paid in full. I had no balance prior to getting the top braces back on. I paid for the bottom retainer replacement, {$150.00} and was still given a receipt of XXXX balance after paying for the bottom retainer, as the top was free of charge. 

XXXX XX/XX/XXXX After my daughters appointment where the XXXX, XXXX XXXX # XXXX, was to tighten the top braces. I was informed that the retainers STILL hadnt come in yet, and they would need to take another impression of her top teeth and re-send those moldings to the lab. We are now into the 3rd set of moldings that have yet to come into the XXXX XXXX XXXX located at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX. I was overly ticked off at this point and demanded to speak with the office Manager XXXX XXXX ( they refused to give me her full last name, as she hadnt been in the office since before XX/XX/XXXX ). I had been leaving her voicemail messages on the office phone for months that went UNANSWERED! Once again I was told she wasnt in the office on that particular day and I was given a blank appointment card with XXXX name & email, and the office phone number on it to be able to call her back at a later date and time. I also noticed since I was being extremely vocal about how upset I was with my childs treatment at that office, they handed me a bill for her braces that was for {$1500.00} ( close to the amount I had already paid for the collections in XXXX that allowed my child to get her braces off and the original retainers ). I had a XXXX balance before my complaints, so how is it that now they pull a bill out of the air, in the same dollar amount that my collections balance was!!! I went to my car and before driving out of the parking lot I sent XXXX XXXX an email at the email address : XXXX, I immediately got back an error message stating this wasnt a valid email address. So I continued to call the office number ( XXXX ) XXXX and proceeded to leave another long voicemail in regards to being billed for services that should have been at no charge. Let me state that the bill also reflects a service done on XX/XX/XXXX with a description code of XXXX N/C- Other Orthodontic Services ( N/C= No Charge ). The bill also showed that the payments made by XXXX the insurance that I had for my child during the time of treatment, was refunded every month that they made a payment to the account. How do I owe a balance when XXXX XXXX is refunding payments made to the account by the insurance provider? It was not making any sense to me. XX/XX/XXXX was the date the top braces were put back on my daughters top teeth due to her teeth spacing back out as we still waited for her retainers to be replaced. I did a repeat phone call to XXXX XXXX Corporate in regards to my bill, being over charged in some areas and payments refunded in other areas. I spoke to XXXX who connected me to XXXX who was in the collections department. XXXX explained to me how the process of collections works, once they sell the debt to the debt collector ( HP SEARS ) then the original bill is XXXX out. If the patient pays the debt collector for the debt owed, the patient stays with a XXXX balance. The contract is not restarted to reflect the previous balance that was owed by the patient. Seeing that my daughters bill was paid to the debt collector, HP SEARS in full, that I no longer owed the amount of {$1500.00} to XXXX XXXX. Once HP SEARS sent the report over to XXXX XXXX, I would be able to get my childs braces removed, because I would be at a XXXX balance to do so ( which was in fact what had happened as of XX/XX/XXXX ). No one could answer why the insurance payments were returned every month that XXXX made the payments on my child 's account. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I filed a grievance with XXXX XXXX corporate office at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, Ca XXXX, over the phone at XXXX since I was getting no where with the local office. My call was shuffled back and forth between the collections department, I spoke with XXXX, who claimed I had a XXXX balance and didnt see where the local office had any bill amount due nor that they communicated any outstanding balance owed by the patient to the corporate office in XXXX XXXX California.Then XXXX connected me to the grievance department. I spoke with XXXX and thoroughly explained my issues with the local XXXX XXXX XXXX and how I also spoke to XXXX XXXX at HP SEARS, who also informed me that once the debt is paid in full, they release the information back to XXXX XXXX, who then can not re-charge me for a bill that has already been to collections and paid in full. I also asked for a printed copy of my original contract. 

I got a letter on XX/XX/XXXX that they received my grievance, and will be working on the issue. No copy of the original contract came with this letter as I requested. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter from XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX grievance response stating : All the key facts that I had stated in my original complaint. Also, once I received a copy of my original contract, I was charged late fees at a time my account was not late. Because was charged excessive late fees, I wanted to be reimbursed the fees originally paid to this account. The letter goes on to state dates that certain procedures were done to my daughter throughout her treatment with XXXX XXXX. The line that stated the initial fee of {$3900.00} was charged for the braces. My original contract states that the amount financed was {$3900.00}. Their response also stated that it was a total amount of payments of {$2400.00}, adjustments of {$43.00}, leaving a balance of {$1500.00}. Now if they had sold my balance debt of {$1500.00} to HP SEARS, then once again how do I still owe for a debt they originally sold? According to the grievence letter, the committee was unable to determine the source of miscommunication related to this issue and missed their regrets that their was a misunderstanding of communication, also that My child is responsible for the financial payments due to the account. The letter stated I can reach back out to the corporate office and report any new information in the future and they will " investigate '' during that time. I called on XX/XX/XXXX with more complaints to add to this grievance, which was never addressed by XXXX XXXX at all. I am still waiting on a response. XXXX XXXX has violated consumer laws by trying to double dip out of the same pot and really shows bad business practices. 

I never received my original contract in the mail from the grievance department, so while still waiting, at one of XXXX follow up appointments, I asked the woman working at the front desk for a copy of the original contract. Turns out the woman was actually the office Manager XXXX XXXX She had explained to me that she had been out of the office most of XXXX due to a personal leave. I explained how I had been leaving her a message XXXX near weekly with the issues I had with them in the office. She stated that she would go check with the orthodontist to see if he did in fact put back on the top braces in an act of good faith, No Charge. After about 30 minutes went by when she returned to the lobby and stated that what I had in fact told her about not being charged for the service was in fact true. XXXX XXXX had put the top braces back on in good faith at no charge to the account. XXXX stated she would update the account to reflect that it was a XXXX balance. I asked her for a copy of the updated account in writing so I would have proof and no longer need to stress off of this issue any longer. She said she would update the system, which takes 24 hours to update and that by the next visit, it would reflect a XXXX balance. Well, that was a lie. XXXX XXXX never corrected anything with my daughters account. XXXX XXXX and HP SEARS still had me in collections for an account that had already been paid in full. 

So now we fast forward to XX/XX/XXXX, my daughter, had her braces tightened every 6 weeks from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX returns to XXXX XXXX to get her top braces off. XXXX XXXX finally has both top and bottom retainers for my daughter to be able to go home with. I was told there was a fee for the bottom retainers that were lost during the year my daughter was waiting on her top replacement retainer. I paid with a credit card the {$150.00} fee for the bottom retainer. On the receipt, it states that the account is at a XXXX ( {$0.00} ) balance. If there was a balance of {$1500.00}, why was it not reflective on the receipt for payment for the bottom retainer? We left the dental office that day with her set of top and bottom retainers. 

On XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX sent my account back to HP SEARS for collections for an inaccurate amount. HP SEARS reached out to me via phone in regards to this debt. I spoke to XXXX XXXX at ( XXXX ) XXXX, informing her that I needed to see the documents for this account, after explaining to her that I had the services at NO CHARGE, so how can they send me to collections if I never had a balance on the bill? XXXX informed me that a mailed copy could take up to 60 days to receive in the mail. That made absolutely NO SENSE why that could take so long. So I asked if it was possible to get it emailed to me at my email address : XXXX. She stated that it could also take up to 60 days to complete. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I got an email from XXXX XXXX ( HP SEARS ) of a letter that was mailed to me but addressed to the wrong address. The letter originally was mailed to XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, Ca XXXX. So that was HP SEARS 1st mistake, mailing it to the wrong street address. The 2nd mistake was the attachment ( proof ) for the email was password protected. Meaning I couldn't access the email. I reached back out to XXXX and asked for the password. She emailed back stating it was the last 4 of my social security number. That never worked. So I was never able to see the proof sent over from XXXX XXXX. I had to wait for the physical paperwork to come in the mail to the XXXX XXXX address, which could take up to ANOTHER 60 DAYS!! 

While waiting on the documents to arrive via USPS, on XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX ( HP SEARS ) sent me a letter stating they were canceling the debt and will remove it from all 3 credit reports. The deletion was never done. They not only left the account on my reports, they sold it to the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. So now this medical debt has been sold TWICE to both HP SEARS as well as XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in the amount of {$590.00}. The XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX never contacted me in regards to this medical debt to verify if it was my account or not, no contact by mail or by phone. I had seen on XXXX XXXX that this account was added to my consumer report as of XX/XX/XXXX. That also violates my consumer rights. XXXX XXXX never offered me any type of financial assistance either time to be able to pay down the debt before it reached the point of collections. The collection balance is inaccurate, as it was reported to my 3 different consumer reports in different amounts : {$590.00}, {$1100.00}, {$970.00}, {$1500.00}. What was the actual amount, as I never saw an actual bill other than the one for {$1500.00}, which reflected the no charge for the service of putting the top braces back on. Here are the consumer rights that were violated various ways by all companies listed above : According to 15 U.S.C. 1681 Section 602 ( a ) states : I have the right to privacy According to 15 U.S.C 1681 Section 602 ( a ) section 2 states : a consumer reporting agency can not furnish an account without my written permission.

According to 15 U.S.C. 1681 s-2 ( a ) ( i ) states : A person shall not furnish any information relating to a consumer to any consumer reporting agency if the person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that information is inaccurate.

According to 15 U.S.C. 1681 ( a ) ( 2 ) states : A notification that, if the debt is settled or paid by the consumer or an insurance company before the end of the period described under paragraph ( 1 ) ( A ), the debt may not be reported to a consumer reporting agency.

According to 15 U.S.C. 1681 ( a ) states : communicate with an insurance company to determine coverage for the debt; or ( B ) apply for financial assistance.

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 explanation