Consumer complaint received 2016-12-08
Company: Southern Management Systems Inc.
State: NM
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.)
Issue: Communication tactics
Sub-issue: Used obscene/profane/abusive language

Complaint:
On XXXX XXXX 2016 I attempted to rent an apartment locally in XXXX New Mexico, I was told by the apartment that I had a balance owed to a previous landlord and I must contact said XXXX XXXX XXXX to see if I could get balance paid off, on Monday XXXX XXXX I contacted the property management company and they told me that I must contact Southern Management Systems Inc to get a payment made to them. I contacted this company and spoke with a person by the name of XXXX XXXX, even though XXXX XXXX was very rude and condescending I chose to continue the call to see if I could resolve those debt so I can continue with my life. I offer him a settlement which he declined and mention that he would only accept XXXX as a settle for this XXXX dollar account. I promptly replied that I was sorry but I could not afford said amount at this time and XXXX XXXX rudely told " well there is nothing I can do for you, goodbye '' I tried to get a word in however he hung up the phone on me. Approximately 2 hours later I called again to see if I could offer to pay more to his company to resolve the issue, I made a total of XXXX phone calls before I was finally able to speak to someone, I was once again transferred to this rude person, I explained to him that I was advised by a lawyer to pay off this debt, he immediately cut me off and said " you have lawyer? '' Without letting me explain or respond he said " this call is over, I do not want to talk to you '' you have a lawyer and I do not want to deal with you '' he immediately hung up the phone in my face for the second time.which to me seems very suspicious to me, for someone to act like this with someone who is attempting to pay a debt. I was so appalled and distraught at how I was treated I felt like my whole world was spinning out of control and I was being mistreated and felt lower than a human being. Right after that conversation, I went online and looked up this company and there are countless complaints against these people for the way they treated debtors. I called this company 8 more times and in attempt to reach someone, on the 9th try I reach this receptionist who told me that upon looking at my file that it does n't seem like they would want to talk to me, I said I need to speak with someone to resolve this issue and make a payment, I was transferred to XXXX once more who seemed to be laughing at me trying to explain that I do not have a lawyer and all I wanted to do was pay my debt, he sarcastically replied, " I 've told you to not call here again, I do not want to talk to you, do not call us, I repeat do n't call us again, good bye XXXX. '' This company have treated me so unfairly when all I wanted to do was make a payment to them, this company has no right to treat me in this manner. They have lowered my self esteem and made me feel like I was nothing. They did all this, and still have not allowed me to pay off my balance on, they 're holding my life hostage and they 're holding me hostage, it seems like this is a joke to them. Please help me!!! All I want to do is pay these people so I can move on with my life and rent an apartment.

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