Consumer complaint received 2018-06-14
Product: Debt collection — Other debt
Issue: Written notification about debt — Didn't receive enough information to verify debt
Company: PINNACLE RECOVERY, INC. (TN)

Complaint:
My complaint is about XXXX XXXX XXXX and their debt collection company, " Pinnacle. ''  On XX/XX/2018, I contacted XXXX because after checking my home phone, which we almost never use, and discovered some automated messages from XXXX ( no reason for the message was stated ). I tried to log into my XXXX account and discovered I was locked out of it making it impossible for me to figure out what the problem was. I the called and was told I was sent to collections. I was shocked and asked the lady on the phone what the problem was. She wouldn't really explain and just said she would have to transfer me to Pinnacle. 

Before I would let her transfer me I explained I was shocked because, I had received no written communication from XXXX about a problem with my account and, in fact, I couldn't remember receiving statements for quite a few months. She then said, " Oh, that's weird, it does say 'error ' next to your statement. I am not sure why, maybe it was returned to us. That is weird. '' So it was confirmed that I have not gotten a statement indicating a problem with payments. We also confirmed that the secondary phone number on my account was a phone number we haven't used in over 2 years! So after not sending me written statements or correspondence, XXXX sent a longstanding customer with no history of failing to make payments to collections. 

I was then transferred to Pinnacle who could find no record of me in their system. The lady I spoke to told me to call XXXX back because she thought it was a mistake. I called XXXX back and was told that I had just been transferred to collections that day. I told the man that I just wanted to know what the problem with my account was and make any necessary payment. He said I would have to talk to Pinnacle and he couldn't help me and he transferred me back to Pinnacle. The man I talked to me at Pinnacle this time told me that actually hadn't completed transferring my file yet and he wouldn't be able to tell me what was going on until the file had finished transferring. I am still shocked that even though my file hadn't actually transferred to collections and I was reaching out to XXXX to resolve whatever issue there was they were refusing to not only tell me what the problem was, but to let me fix it at that point. 

Later that night, the man from Pinnacle called me back and I was shocked to be told that I owe over {$1400.00}! Part of that amount was {$300.00} in " debt collection fees '' that Pinnacle charges. After being told that I have to pay off this shocking debt before the end of the year or I would be charged another debt collection fee, I agreed to make a payment. I was honestly so  shocked by all of this, I wasn't processing information properly. I was also given minimal information about the debt and was told I would have to talk to XXXX, but I had already tried that and was told I had to talk to Pinnacle ( and I am still locked out of my XXXX account ). The man did tell me that he could see that I had been making payments up through XXXX, but my XXXX payment wasn't received so I was transferred to collections. After hanging up, the whole thing didn't sit right. After hanging up, I did minimal research and discovered that it is completely illegal to charge a " debt collection fee ''. I am also shocked that I was sent to collections when it was confirmed that I had been making payments and had only missed one payment ( I am unsure why that payment was missed and I will have to contact my bank, but, again, I was unaware of the issue since I wasn't receiving statements from XXXX ). 

I am entirely appalled at how shady and unethically XXXX has handled this entire issue. I still do not understand what is wrong with my account, I was forced to make a payment to a shady debt collector, and all of this based on incredibly poor communication about the status of my account by XXXX. It is my understanding that is it illegal for a debt collector to 1 ) refuse to provide an accounting of a debt ( XXXX and Pinnacle have both refused to give me any sort of accounting and XXXX still has me frozen out of my account ) and 2 ) for Pinnacle to force me to pay a " debt collection fee '' that is 33 % of the actual debt owe ( it is my understanding that I owe XXXX {$900.00} as the balance of my yearly maintenance fees, which I am permitted to pay over the course of a year so this amount is not even fully due until the end of the year ).

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