Consumer complaint received 2017-01-18
Product: Debt collection — Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.)
Issue: Cont'd attempts collect debt not owed — Debt was paid
Company: Conn's, Inc. (AZ)

On XXXX, I applied for credit from the store, Conn 's and bought XXXX laptops and a printer. The store salesman drew up XXXX contracts for the purchase because he said it was " store policy to do so. XXXX XXXX contract was for a laptop and printer ( {$840.00} ) ; the second contract was for a laptop ( {$1600.00} ). When the salesman ( XXXX, XXXX ) wrote up both contracts, he illegally attached additional forms to the contracts which I later found out was for an additional charge for " insurance '' on the items that I bought. I never asked for insurance, did n't want insurance or was even aware that I was signing up for insurance on these papers, which were attached to the contract. The papers are utterly confusing, and I was not told that there was an insurance fee attached to these contracts. I am an XXXX woman and feel as though I was taken advantage of with the contract and insurance charges, which were prohibitively expensive. I was outraged by this and contacted the corporate headquarters of Conn 's, by phone and complained that I had been duped into paying an insurance fee for XXXX separate contracts. I paid off XXXX contract ( i.e., laptop and printer- {$840.00} ) and requested that the insurance fee be removed from both contracts. The customer service rep said they would remove the fees once they receive copies of the contracts which the rep said to fax them to their corporate office in Texas ( XXXX ). On XX/XX/XXXX, I faxed these papers to XXXX 's and did not hear anything from them -- I can only conclude that I was continued to be charged this insurance fee. I called back again, a month later and was told my case was still under review. My minimum monthly payments were {$76.00}. I also paid more than the minimum payments for several months. These payments were made XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX. I paid an estimated {$2900.00} for this original debt of {$1600.00}, which is twice as much as the original debt. I tried to resolve this issue once again XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX XXXX. I was told XX/XX/XXXX, that someone would look into it, which at that time, I told them I was done paying off this debt. I also explained once again, that a prohibitively expensive insurance fee of $ XXXX/month which had been tacked onto the account for over 2 years, should be corrected and credited back to the account. My last payment of {$76.00} was made on XX/XX/XXXX. Since XX/XX/XXXX, I have received threatening calls from Conn 's collection department on my cell phone, which is illegal for debt collectors to call one 's cell number -- they also left messages on my cell phone as well. Recently, I tried explaining the situation to one debt collector, who was rude and threatening, at which time I asked her to stop calling my cell number. I have refused to answer their calls and want them to stop harassing me. They have already reported me to the credit bureau, which has had a substantial negative impact on my credit rating. I want this reversed, because I do not owe them anything. I am convinced that after this experience, Conn 's business practices are predatory, and the company prey on poor innocent XXXX people such as myself, to manipulate us into deceptive credit contract deals which are designed to hurt the consumer.