Consumer complaint received 2017-02-21
Company: STERLING JEWELERS, INC.
State: SC
Product: Credit card
Issue: Customer service / Customer relations

Complaint:
I had a card with Kay Jewelers in XXXX. I got the card to build up my credit while I was young. However, I did not ever get a chance to utilize the trade line. The card went missing so I went to Kay Jewelers in XXXX XXXX ( XXXX, South Carolina ) to report the card stolen. The associate I spoke too said that everything had been taken care of and asked where the new card should be sent. I told her I did not want a new card and to have the account close. She closed the Kay Jeweler 's account, or so I had thought. Weeks later I began to receive phone calls about a balance on a card that I had never used and thought was closed, I explained this every time to the Kay Jewelers collector 's that were calling sometimes 2 times in a day. After about a month I got a call from a Kay Jeweler 's collector explaining that I may be facing being sued for the balance on the card and I told them the same thing but they continued to request payment. In XXXX, I decided to enlist into the military and for the security clearance, one of the things that they require is a clean credit report. Kay Jewelers had reported my account as a charge off that was not paid. So i contacted Kay Jewelers about the issue and they told me that I still owed a balance and they had no record of any type of stolen or lost card report or closing of the account. When I spoke to the officials for the security clearance I was told that since it was a charge off and unpaid at that, the only thing I could do to move forward was at least pay the balance owed and move forward with a report explaining the situation. Or, I could take legal action and get the issue brought up in a proceeding but that what completely stop my enlisting in the military process altogether because you can not enlist while involved in any type of open legal action. So me wanting to get out of my hometown and move on with my life contacted Kay Jewelers to pay the account and explain my situation in hopes to get it resolved. Over the phone before I paid, I asked that could I have the charge off removed after payment due to the situation and misunderstanding. I was told yes, we will contact all XXXX credit bureaus. I paid and completed my enlisting process, fast forward 4 years later I pull my credit report and it says that Kay Jewelers has a PAID CHARGE OFF on my account. I contacted Kay Jewelers and was told they do n't submit anything to the credit bureaus after payment except that I paid, no matter what the situation was. I asked that I have this removed since they were supposed to do it before giving the ramifications of my specific situation. I told them I was n't asking for removing something in order to benefit me. I was asking that they remove something that was altogether wrong and the account was never used. I got hung up on. I have not been able to contact any senior representatives only call center supervisors that openly express that they will not do anything in my situation and that I should have thought about things like this happening before I decided to apply for credit in the first place. I did not do anything wrong and now this is destroying my credit.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation