Consumer complaint received 2020-03-02
Product: Debt collection — Payday loan debt
Issue: Communication tactics — Frequent or repeated calls
Company: 2288984 Ontario Inc. (TX)

On XX/XX/2019 I borrowed {$1000.00} from Money Key ( https : //www.moneykey.com/ ). I was approved via an online application, and they sent me the money via my XXXX XXXX bank account. I've heard horror stories about payday loans before, but I had just gone XXXX  and wasn't insured and then had an unexpected XXXX XXXX XXXX -- I was in a massive amount of pain as I had a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and the doctor told me it had to be XXXX  ASAP but in order for the XXXX   to go through I had to pay {$2500.00} upfront since I didn't have insurance. I needed the extra {$1000.00} to pay for the XXXX. If there was a family member I could've borrowed money from, I would have. I needed the money instantly, and so that's why I applied. I had every intention of paying them back. Then a close friend unexpectedly died. Around the same time I switched banks to an online bank I liked better because of its high yield saving account and other features. I just honestly forgot about repaying them. I was barely able to work during this time, I was so depressed. Fast forward to today, Monday, XX/XX/XXXX. I'm out of the country for work. I get a voicemail from a number in XXXX, Texas ( XXXX ) from XXXX XXXX saying that it was a " documented attempt to make contact, in reference to a complaint filed against my name and my social. '' I immediately call back because, again, I had completely forgotten about this loan. I fully admit that that is on me. She is rude from the beginning, bullying me into giving her money. It takes me a while to remember the loan, but when I do I calmly state that I understand I didn't pay it back, but that I would like a written record that Money Key sold the debt to them and that they are indeed that company. How am I supposed to know that they're the company. As I told them, I heard nothing from Money Key about this ( I later found an email from Money Key in my junk folder saying they sold my debt ( but it was only that one email, this is the first phone call ) but the name and number they say they sold it to isn't the same number I got a call from ). I'm on the bus when this is happening and I tell her I can barely hear her. We get disconnected. When I get to my friend 's place, I call back asking to speak to her but a guy named XXXX picks up and he won't transfer me to XXXX ( even though XXXX left me another voicemail and called three times from the same number ). XXXX starts harassing me. He tells me to just calm down, to call my daddy and ask for money. Like, what? Call my daddy? Who does he think I am. I tell him I'm traveling for work and I'd again like an email first. XXXX wouldn't give me one without me paying an amount because she claimed asking for an email was a " stall tactic. '' He is like well if you are traveling for work you therefore have a company expense account and can pay us back. I don't have a company expense account. I'm a book writer. I'm here to visit my XXXX   XXXX. I'm nowhere close to rich, haha, most XXXX  do not get paid a lot at all. XXXX do get paid an advance but the way it works is say you get {$30000.00} for a book. That {$30000.00} is paid over 2 years in 2-3 payments. So you're really only making about {$15000.00} a year. I'm not rich. I barely have a XXXX in my account. But I did have an expense account at my last job, when I was salaried, and you can't use a company expense account to pay back a loan/personal expenses -- that's illegal. So I'm trying to explain this to him, and I'm finally like listen, I work XXXX  I can't pay it all ( about {$1900.00} ) right now, but I get paid a lump sum on XX/XX/XXXX and I can send most of it over then ( but again, I emphasize that I want something mailed or emailed ). He's like we can't wait that long it's been a year. ( It hasn't been a year yet, I got the loan in XXXX. ) But still I get that, so I'm like okay then can we do a payment plan? He pushes for me to pay the full. I'm getting frustrated because I am offering to pay via a monthly payment plan and he's aggressively trying to get me to instead pay the full amount. Finally, I'm like I'm back on XX/XX/XXXX and it'll be easier for me to talk to you then. I'd prefer to handle this when I'm in the United States so that I'm also not getting charged a ton for making international calls because it's clear this is going to be a long conversation ( even though it didn't have to be, why not just email me the record I'm asking for and setup the payment plan ). He says no. I am exhausted by this point and am like okay fine, let 's just setup a payment plan. He starts talking about how I owe {$900.00} in fees and that I should just pay a lump sum instead. I start getting incredibly suspicious now. Like I am actually willing to make a payment, it's not unusual to ask for a written verification detailing what's owed and the payment plan options, and then when I finally agree to just pay via a payment plan, you push for the full amount instead? He's like, why don't you just pay a lump sum instead. I say, I don't feel comfortable making that large of a payment over the phone nor do I have that money right now. Then he again tells me to be quiet and listen and he says I just need to " ask my daddy. '' He says that I took the loan, I have to repay it. I'm like, can you let me talk for a moment. I am trying to repay it. He's yelling at me and cutting me off. He says they're going to talk to the client if I don't handle it with them and then the client ( Money Key, I assume ) has the right to sue me and then I'll have to pay for court fees. I finally hang up because I'm tired of being yelled at. If I were some rich girl who could call her daddy, I would've never taken out the loan. If he wanted the money, if he was really concerned with me paying the debt, why treat me like this? He ( or XXXX ) could've emailed me while we were on the phone the payment plan, and then I could've made a payment. During this phone call he also had me verify my parents numbers and my job, so now I'm worried they're going to start harassing them. So then I call Money Key ( the client ) because I would prefer to handle directly with them. They say that they sold the account and can't handle it anymore. I tell them that these people told me they would call them/the client if they refused to pay. They're like why would they call us, we sold the account. Money Key gives me a XXXX number for the company that they sold the account to. I call that number and can't get through -- it's also not the same number that called me which I find very suspicious. I'm not trying to evade my payment, I understand I shouldn't let Money Key know when I changed accounts ( again, I had just lost a dear friend and wasn't in the right headspace ). But I am trying to fix the issue now. If I didn't want to fix the issue, why would I have called them in the first place? I could've just ignored their calls. Now I have my phone on silent because they've called multiple times, leaving harassing voicemails each time ( I have everything saved ). I just want to pay the original lender, as given all of this, I do not feel comfortable giving them money over the phone when they have given me zero verification that they are who they claim to be.