Deceptive Advertising
Complaint
cstrife32
Country: United States
Hi
I received a Proactiv solution I did not order sometime in the beginning of January last year. I used PayPal to pay for the solution and I cancelled it on there under my recurring payments on Nov 5, 2010 and called them when I received the shipment and told them that I had cancelled my order. The woman told me that I would have to pay to ship back the products and I told her I would not pay shipping for a product I did not order and hung up. Today, I received a letter from the the North Shore Agency that reads the following:
Dear cstrife32,
The records of our client, PROACTIV SOLUTION, indicate that your account remains seriously delinquent. Unless this matter is resolved, we will recommend to out client to continue collection efforts.
If necessary, you may call PROACTIV SOLUTION directly at 1-866-832-1907.
Mail full payment for $45.89, made payable to PROACTIV SOLUTION, on the return envelope provided. Be sure to include the bottom portion of our letter for proper credit.
Send correspondence, other than payments, to:
North Shore Agency, PO Box 4945, Trenton, NJ 08650.
This is an attempt to collect a debt and any
and any information obtained will be used for that purpose
NOTICE-SEE REVERSE SIDE FOR IMPORTANT INFORMATION
It then had an attached check type thing that where you have the option to send in a check or bill a credit card.
On the back it had a bunch of stuff about how certain states allow certain information for their residents but didn't state what information was pertinent to people in my state. (New Jersey) Can anyone please help me resolve this? It is my parents credit card and I don't think they use it anymore but I'm not sure and it would really suck if they had to close it if it was their main one. I am young and I haven't started building my credit but I don't want to start out on a bad first foot forward so I would greatly appreciate it if someone could help me with this. I don't know if I should pay them I have never been contacted by a debt collection agency.
Thanks Again,
Cstrife32
I received a Proactiv solution I did not order sometime in the beginning of January last year. I used PayPal to pay for the solution and I cancelled it on there under my recurring payments on Nov 5, 2010 and called them when I received the shipment and told them that I had cancelled my order. The woman told me that I would have to pay to ship back the products and I told her I would not pay shipping for a product I did not order and hung up. Today, I received a letter from the the North Shore Agency that reads the following:
Dear cstrife32,
The records of our client, PROACTIV SOLUTION, indicate that your account remains seriously delinquent. Unless this matter is resolved, we will recommend to out client to continue collection efforts.
If necessary, you may call PROACTIV SOLUTION directly at 1-866-832-1907.
Mail full payment for $45.89, made payable to PROACTIV SOLUTION, on the return envelope provided. Be sure to include the bottom portion of our letter for proper credit.
Send correspondence, other than payments, to:
North Shore Agency, PO Box 4945, Trenton, NJ 08650.
This is an attempt to collect a debt and any
and any information obtained will be used for that purpose
NOTICE-SEE REVERSE SIDE FOR IMPORTANT INFORMATION
It then had an attached check type thing that where you have the option to send in a check or bill a credit card.
On the back it had a bunch of stuff about how certain states allow certain information for their residents but didn't state what information was pertinent to people in my state. (New Jersey) Can anyone please help me resolve this? It is my parents credit card and I don't think they use it anymore but I'm not sure and it would really suck if they had to close it if it was their main one. I am young and I haven't started building my credit but I don't want to start out on a bad first foot forward so I would greatly appreciate it if someone could help me with this. I don't know if I should pay them I have never been contacted by a debt collection agency.
Thanks Again,
Cstrife32
Comments
Dispute unauthorized charges through your bank, and block the card number or close the account due to fraud to prevent additional fraudulent charges. Follow up with a written dispute or fraud affidavit sent to your bank's dispute address.
Do NOT waste your time trying to get your money back from any scam through the scammer. Always immediately file a bank dispute, as that is usually the only way you will ever get your money back. If you leave your account or card number active, you can expect additional monthly charges, probably around $58 to $150, until you get wise and shut it down. The couple buck charge was just a teaser to get your account number, and a test that it was valid.
The game they will play is to try to delay your bank dispute past the 60 day FRB Reg. E or FCBA dispute period, after which your bank will be unlikely to be able to get your money back. To do this they will use various excuses, like "mailing an information packet" that never comes, "cancelling your membership" but they lose the "cancellation" so monthly charges continue, requiring you to get, and send in, a "refund request" that never has any effect, having to call a "refund number" that is ignored, or the cancellation "lost", etc...
File fraud complaints with FTC, your state AG, and at www.ic3.gov
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2013/07/nco.shtm
"For Release: 07/09/2013
World's Largest Debt Collection Operation Settles FTC Charges, Will Pay $3.2 Million Penalty
Largest Civil Penalty Ever Obtained by the FTC Against a Third-party Debt Collector
The world’s largest debt collection operation, Expert Global Solutions and its subsidiaries, has agreed to stop harassing consumers with allegedly illegal debt collection calls and to pay a $3.2 million civil penalty – the largest ever obtained by the Federal Trade Commission against a third-party debt collector.
In its complaint, the FTC charged that the companies violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the FTC Act by using tactics such as calling consumers multiple times per day, calling even after being asked to stop, calling early in the morning or late at night, calling consumers’ workplaces despite knowing that the employers prohibited such calls, and leaving phone messages that disclosed the debtor’s name, and the existence of the debt, to third parties. According to the FTC’s complaint, the companies also continued collection efforts without verifying the debt, even after consumers said they did not owe it.
Under the proposed order, whenever a consumer disputes the validity or the amount of the debt, the defendants must either close the account and end collection efforts, or suspend collection until they have conducted a reasonable investigation and verified that their information about the debt is accurate and complete. The proposed order also restricts situations in which the defendants can leave voicemails that disclose the alleged debtor’s name and the fact that he or she may owe a debt.
Also under the proposed order, the defendants must: stop falsely representing that they will not call a number to collect a debt; not harass, oppress, or abuse a consumer while attempting to collect a debt; not communicate with third parties about a consumer’s debt; not communicate with a consumer at his or her workplace if it is clearly inconvenient or prohibited by the consumer’s employer; except in limited circumstances, cease communications if a consumer has requested no further contact or if a consumer refuses to pay a debt; and not violate any provision of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The defendants also are required to record at least 75 percent of all their debt collection calls beginning one year after the date of the order, and retain the recordings for 90 days after they are made.
With more than 32,000 employees and revenues in 2011 of more than $1.2 billion, the Texas-based Expert Global Solutions and its subsidiaries – ALW Sourcing, LLC; NCO Financial Systems, Inc.; and Transworld Systems, Inc., which also does business as North Shore Agency, Inc. – collectively are the largest debt collector in the world. In addition to their U.S. offices, the companies operate in Canada, Barbados, India, the Philippines, and Panama.
..."