Consumer complaint received 2023-04-14
Product: Debt collection — Other debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed — Debt was paid
Company: Admin Recovery, LLC (NJ)

MY BALANCE WAS LISTED AS A CHARGE OFF BUT WAS PAID IN FULL I had traded-in a XXXX XXXX  XXXX phone in XXXX  for a XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX. I sent in the phone, which worked but had a big crack on the top left corner of the screen. When I did the trade-in, XXXX initially gave me a {$250.00} credit toward the purchase of the new XXXX phone, which was {$1000.00}. That amount was paid immediately and in FULL. Then they reversed the {$250.00} credit and said the phone didn't work. I spoke to a supervisor and requested that they have someone else re-evaluate the phone, and they did. After the last evaluation, they stated that the phone worked but had a cracked screen, so they had to adjust the credit from {$250.00} to {$100.00}, with me owing {$150.00} based on the adjusted balance. 
In the interim, I was billed {$250.00} by XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX. In XX/XX/2021, I was told by XXXX XXXX XXXX, NOT XXXX XXXX  doing business as XXXX XXXX, NOT to pay the {$250.00} balance because it was incorrect and that they would send XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX an adjustment with the new balance of {$150.00}. They also said the new {$150.00} would show up on my statement in 2-3 billing cycles. I did as they said until I received a bill from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX for $ XXXX AND a collection agency called XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX for {$150.00} in the same week in late XX/XX/2021. I filed a dispute with BOTH companies and contacted XXXX XXXX and informed them of the situation. I was again instructed by XXXX XXXX NOT to pay the balance from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX because the amount was wrong, and the actual amount owed was from the XXXX collection agency. When I asked why it went to collections, I was told by a supervisor at XXXX XXXX that they had a problem processing my credit card payment of {$160.00}, which was the {$150.00} owed plus {$10.00} tax. I was also told by XXXX XXXX that they would notify XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX that the balance they had been billing me was incorrect. 

So I paid the {$150.00} from XXXX that same day as instructed by XXXX XXXX. In the interim, XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX rejected my dispute and said that I still owed them the original balance plus interest and late fees, which was almost {$500.00}. When I filed my dispute with XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX I told them that they were supposed to receive an adjustment from XXXX XXXX for {$150.00} I was told by someone at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( part of their collections division ) that they had NOT received an adjustment. They then sent me " proof '' that I still owed the almost {$500.00} balance. What they actually sent was the adjustment statement I was initially told they had never received. 
When I tried to file another dispute with this new information, I was denied and told that I could not and that no one would talk to me. I was told that I could email them, snail mail them, or fax them any information I had. I did all three, and every email I sent bounced back, and they never replied to my snail mail or faxes. Instead, in XXXX of 2021, I received a call from another collections agency called Admin Recovery LLC. After speaking to the manager there and sending him the same information I'd sent to XXXX XXXX  and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, he agreed that the balance was indeed PAID IN FULL and that the debt was NOT OWED. But XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX NEVER took the debt off of my credit report ; instead, they listed it as a charge-off.