Consumer complaint received 2024-06-12 00:00:00
Product: Debt collection — Other debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed — Debt is not yours
Company: Davis & Jones, LLC
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
My Company hired DRR or Debt Recovery Resources to collect on some outstanding accounts that our clients have not paid us on. Invoices were extremely old and they told us that there was a very low chance of collecting on them due to the age of the contract but theyd try. XXXX XXXX from DRR started collections for us on two separate overdue accounts. After several months, had gone by, debt recovery resources was not having any luck collecting on any of the outstanding debts owed to my company. XXXX XXXX, the person that we had been communicating with from debt recovery resources told my CFO that there really was nothing else they could do anymore. He did state that we could proceed to legal options if that was desired. My CFO confirmed both on phone calls and in writing that we would not be proceeding further because we did not want to pursue legal action and incur any other fees for a lawsuit. Our assumption was that this was the end of our business relationship with them since they said they could no longer do anything else. 

After the period of time passed, we met a new debt collection company and gave them the two accounts to try to collect on. As the new company made better progress and kept us up-to-date. DRR somehow found out that someone else was trying to collect on the debt and aggressively confronted us about this. XXXX XXXX lied to me both verbally and in writing stating that that was illegal to have his company and another to collect on the same debt, and that it would open up them and me up to a personal lawsuit - I know for a fact that multiple companies can try to collect a debt at the same time, and told him as much, and that theyd said they couldnt do anything else besides litigation. Since then, he has stated that we owe him the full fee that he would have kept, would he had collected on any of those debts. 

Even after telling them that we will not be paying them for something they did not do - he has sent several aggressive emails, stating that he will not cease collection efforts on our behalf, even though its been communicated several times ( both verbally and in writing ) that DRR no longer represents us in collection of these debts. 

There are no cancellation terms defined for either party and their one page document, as well as no statement of who can authorize a cancellation of accounts or pursuance of debt. Legally, our obligation to partner with him ended when we told him we would not be proceeding further and would not be pursuing legal action against our clients for these outstanding invoices. 

Email Documentation : XXXX XX/XX/XXXX There was an email exchange between XXXX XXXX and my Director of Finance/Admin ( `` Employee XXXX '' ), on XX/XX/XXXX, where she stated to him that : Good morning XXXX, XXXX Owner '' received a letter of intent from your company to send to her legal team. She is not signing that. Last month you stated these accounts were dead ends and that we should write them off. I also told you that we would not engage with legal and incur additional fees. At that point, XXXX hired another company to try to retain the debt. I discussed the tiny settlement offer with her yesterday. That was your settlement offer to them, not them to us. At this point in time, please cease and desist any collection attempts on this account and/or XXXX XXXX XXXX If your services are needed on future AR issues, I will reach out to you at that time. Thank you for your efforts. Thanks, XXXX XXXX XXXX response to this was : " Employee XXXX '', I must clarify some critical points regarding our collection efforts and the recent misunderstandings. Firstly, our policy is to persist with collections as long as there is dialogue about payment, a stance that both XXXX, and now XXXX have been made well aware of. We will not cease and desist. Contrary to the assertions in your previous email, I need to correct the record. Consequently, I am compelled to bill XXXX for 25 % of the placement amount ( {$37000.00} ) for the XXXX account due to client interference, as outlined herein. Its important to note that the claim about my collector offering a settlement to the debtor is unfounded. The attached screenshot clearly shows that this offer originated directly from their attorney, not our agency. Recalling our last phone conversation on XX/XX/XXXX, I mentioned that these accounts seemed uncollectible and suggested writing them off. However, I also assured you that our team hadnt given up and would continue our diligent collection efforts. After our discussion, you indicated you would consult with Owner about legal action against XXXX and XXXX XXXX. This was surprising, given your previously stated authority over collection decisions, including the choice to litigate. Despite this, I received no further communication from you, prompting me to reach out on XX/XX/XXXX, only to discover you were out of the office until the XXXX. Our subsequent conversation on the phone yesterday did not touch on XXXX, whose involvement we only learned of through the debtors attorney during a counter-offer negotiation. Moreover, it is unlawful for two agencies to pursue the same debt simultaneously, creating not just a conflict of interest but also exposing XXXX and DRR to potential legal action from the debtor. Not to mention that whatever leverage and credibility we have built over hundreds of hours devoted this past four months to the debtor has been squandered. It is for those reasons that we must charge XXXX for the cancellation of account. Please inform me whether XXXX intends to settle the attached invoice via Wire/ACH or check. Upon receipt, we will cease all collection activities and inform all parties involved, aiming to prevent any legal disputes or complaints. Your immediate attention to this matter is appreciated. Regards, XXXX XXXX I responded to XXXX, asking for the contract mentioned by emailing : Hi XXXX I dont see the contract attached that you said XXXX signed can you please send that to me? Im heading to another meeting - but once you send that, I will try to review all this by the end of the day and get back to you. 

XXXX XXXX : It was a recorded call. About XXXX into the attached call, XXXX and I are going through the voice verification process, and she confirms that she understands XXXX would be subject to a fee of 25 % of the placement amount upon cancellation without authorization. 

He then emailed me on XX/XX/XXXX asking for a call back. Emailed me again on XX/XX/XXXX asking for a call since he was out of town the previous week. Then emailed me again the afternoon of XX/XX/XXXX stating : Owner, Please either call/email me today and let me know your intentions regarding this contractual and financial obligation to XXXX regarding the attached invoice. If you cant make time for that today, at a minimum,, let me know a time between now & Friday afternoon that you can set aside for us to address this matter and come to some sort of amicable resolution. My initial thought when all of this went down, even though the rug was pulled out from under us and squandered whatever leverage we had, that it was not done maliciously, and we were not intentionally being cut out of the loop. However, as you likely know and " XXXX XXXX '' has probably heard me say previously, in this business, no news is worse than bad news. On the same note, the longer this goes unaddressed or that I dont hear back from you, the more egregious it appears. Please do not leave me hanging, and let me know something in a timely manner, today. You can call me directly at ( XXXX ) XXXX, or you can call me on my cell at ( XXXX ) XXXX if you cant get me there. Regards, XXXX XXXX. 

To which I ( XXXX ) responded : XXXX It is egregious to state that we owe you money when a ) you have no cancellation terms defined for either party, b ) no statement of who can authorize a cancellation of account/pursuance, or how to do that, c ) youre the one that told us you had done all you could do without getting legal involved to present suit to the debtors and d ) XXXX XXXX confirmed we were done and not proceeding further on anything for either account and d ) this is not an industry norm. While we acknowledge the challenges posed by the involvement of multiple parties and the need to navigate legal complexities in debt recovery there is no law against this. However, we can not accept the imposition of fees for cancellation without a clear basis in our prior agreements or industry norms. Please stop harassing me for fees that are not owed You do not represent us anymore, and have been told to close accounts for us due to your teams not being able to proceed without legal steps being taken. All The XXXX, XXXX. 

His response then became very aggressive and he emailed me : Your claims of harassment are laughable, and you are not going to get rid of us that easy. If you choose to just bury your head in the sand and ignore this going forward, youre no better than XXXX or XXXX XXXX. Speaking of which, our collection efforts on XXXX and XXXX XXXX are ongoing and and we will not stop until the accounts are paid in full or our cancellation fees are paid. You and I ( and XXXX XXXX if you so desire ) need to have an actual conversation ; I will not litigate the merits of our claim with you via email. Let me know when you want to have this call, because Im going to be a thorn in XXXX side until we resolve this, amicably or otherwise. Which I took as a threat to both myself and my employees/business. 

After that, it has been multiple calls per day to both myself and XXXX XXXX- both receiving multiple back-to-back calls and hang-ups from their numbers. 

The final straw was on Friday XX/XX/XXXX, when I was on a drive with my XXXX son to a family event. On my phone, a call came in from one of my brothers. I answered it, assuming it was my brother and started chatting with him. However, it was XXXX from DRR he had spoofed my brothers phone number and fraudulently used means to contact me so I would pick up. He started the call very aggressive with me ( which was tied to my Bluetooth/speaker in my car. ) He then proceeded to cuss and use the XXXX as he was yelling at me, which my XXXX XXXX XXXX son heard. I ended up terminating the call by telling them not to call me at that number again because it was a personal cell phone number, and that I would not be speaking with them because of their cursing. My XXXX son was very confused and very upset because he had just witnessed the call over XXXX in the car, and started crying because he mistakenly thought that my brother, his uncle, was cussing me out and yelling/arguing with me. He attempted to call me back to back several times after that, and I refused to answer. He then texted me several times one after the other, still aggressive and menacing in tone. He blatantly texted that he didnt care at all that he had used a very foul word in front of my XXXX son. 

I immediately called my lawyers, and told them that I would like them to prepare a cease and desist letter. I also submitted a complaint to the Texas Attorney General website on XX/XX/XXXX. I received a general response back from them stating that they received my complaint and that they would not receive further communication from the office regarding the complaint, but would look into it. 

Further Contact Interactions : - On XX/XX/XXXX, I received 4 calls in a row from a new person ( XXXX ) said hes calling to collect on his clients debt I told him the same story-we do not owe the debt and to not call me again. He stated that he and I would become good friends because he would not stop calling and that even if we did send a cease and desist, it doesnt matter because its a XXXX debt and I can do whatever I want. - I told him not to call me again, and hung up. I then received hang-up calls from XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX 

He also called my work line again, spoofing/falsifying the number of my brother. I know for a fact that it was XXXX, as 1 ) my brother doesnt have my work phone number, 2 ) they did that before, and 3 ) the calls came in back to back after I told them to stop calling me like they do every time. 

- Today on XX/XX/XXXX, I answered a call at XXXX XXXX from XXXX again. He confirmed that his company Davis Jones is actually just the legal name for Debt Recovery Resources. I know this, as our cease and desist letter lists both Davis Jones & DRR. That Call at XXXX ended by me telling him that we would not be communicating further and to not call me at this line and that he was violating a cease and desist order. He then called me and hung up again at XXXXXXXX XXXX then again, he spoofed my brothers phone number AGAIN and called me at XXXXXXXX XXXX, which I did not answer. Finally he called me again at XXXXXXXX XXXX from my own phone number with my business name and my personal name on it. 

I dont know who else to report this to, as they consistently call me and my employee multiple times in a row after we tell them not to contact us. They lie/falsify phone numbers to trick me into picking up the phone by making me believe its a family member calling ( both done to me on my cell phone and work line! ) Theyve cussed at me in front of an XXXX old child, scared him, and it must stop.

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