Consumer complaint received 2024-04-23 00:00:00
Product: Debt collection — Other debt
Issue: Written notification about debt — Didn't receive notice of right to dispute
Company: Continental Services Group, Inc. d/b/a ConServe
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
The Fair Debt Collections Practice Act prohibits collectors from making false statements, including lying and providing wrong information. ConServe is dishonest about my escalated calls and conversations with their supervisor regarding my collections account. They are dishonestly and unfairly denying that these calls occurred. I confirmed removing my collections account with the Conserve supervisor, who stated ConServe must receive a written request for removal from the original creditor. This verification occurred before payment. Now that ConServe has received the payment, they've denied the original creditors ' request to remove the account. Consumers should not be lied to to obtain payments. 

Furthermore, Conserve should have contacted me before sending information about the debt to credit reporting agencies. 

Conserve did not speak with me by telephone. 
Conserve did not speak with me in person. 
Conserve did not send electronic communication. 

ConServe verified that the company mailed a validation letter to an incorrect address. 

I did not receive a validation of the debt notice, and ConServe did not inform me of my right to dispute the collections account. However, I became aware of the Conserve account after the XXXX credit reporting service notified me of a new collection. For clarity, I contacted ConServe for more information ; their automatic system failed to locate an account for me based on my social security number and phone number. 

I initiated a dispute with Conserve due to the lack of precollection notice and a validation request, and I contacted the original creditor, the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. To remedy the failed precollection process, the original creditor promised that the collection would be removed after payment and has provided a written request for ConServe to do so. Per the ConServe supervisor, a written request from the original creditor to ConServe was the process necessary for deletion due to ConServe not legally owning the debt. 

I, the consumer, was misled into dropping my dispute with Conserve. I was promised that the collections account would be removed from the original creditor before payment. Again, I received confirmation and instructions on correctly completing the process from a ConServe supervisor. 

In detail, I spoke with the same ConServe supervisor on two separate calls. She informed me that ConServe does not own the account and that to have the account removed legally, the original creditor would have to send the request for removal to Conserve in writing. Before payment, I called to ensure that ConServe had received the request from the original creditor. Most importantly, the original creditor has sent several requests to ConServe to suppress credit reporting and remove the collections account. I have copies of the original creditor 's written requests. Despite the original creditor 's requests and lack of a fair precollection process, ConServe will not remove the account from my credit report. I have reached out several times to speak with management to escalate my case. My follow-up requests, calls, and voicemails need to be acknowledged. 

ConServe collections agency uses unfair, destructive, and dishonest tactics. ConServe dishonestly states that the recorded call between their supervisor and me when she provided removal instructions never happened. Conserve dishonestly denied that I called the collections agency, verifying that an agent had received and noted the removal request from the original creditor to my account pre-payment. 

ConServe will state that an agent told me Conserve would not remove the account. But ConServe will also fail to mention that I disputed the account and said that if Conserve did not remove it, I would not pay due to the lack of a fair debt validation/ precollection process. However, this does not negate the fact that I escalated the call to a supervisor, confirmed the steps to removal, and dropped my dispute to pay my debt under the distress of a surprise collection account and false promises.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation