attempted theft - extortion

Complaint

0
Kim Dizon
Country: United States
My son got caught 'attempting" to take two shirts from Urban outfitter's - He never left the store and put the shirts back. he is 20. they pulled him in the office, asked him to sign a form stating he would not return to the store for three years or he would be charged with tresspassing. However, a collection agency has contacted him and told him to pay $625.00 or they would pursue a "Civil" case against him. He paid $140 before we even knew about this situation. Now reading blogs, appartantly this Palmerpay.com collection agency bullies by threatening them with suits to pay. They have no proof & he did not do anything wrong. What can we do to get back his $$

Comments

  • 0
    Sqrlgrl
    | 1 reply
    Wow, I just happened to get online to check out the info at PALMERPAY.COM,   as my 18 yr old son was seen putting a small electronic device in his pants but was confronted, sited by the police, we have gone to court twice, and the final final is close to 300 $ in court fee's, and two 8 hour days picking up trash in the work release program.
    My son has not ever been in trouble before this, and I do feel that it was a little over and above, not that I am minimizing his act or any others. My son was at fault.
    But where does this company get off charging us for something we do not have, nor did it ever leave the store.
    If Walmart  feels they have suffered from this, then Walmart can send us a letter of intent.    I could careless about this palmerpay company, but I do care  about our courts in our town and do not want to be in more trouble.

    Google has court papers on a class action against palmer, reifler, & Assc, online
    • 0
      same situation replies to Sqrlgrl
      My daughter had a theft also in a department store and settlement was 309 and 25 dollar payment already made.  So a balance of 284 went to palmer reifer asso.  Agreed by phone to pay 25.00 every month by the 6th of the month.   Made 4 payments on time and fifth payment was 1-2 days late so they did not cash the check and sent a letter stating she owed 459.oo so actually they would not cash the last payment in order to extort a higher fine.  Called them and they hung up on me.  I am writing the attorney general as this is simple extortion to get more money.
  • 0
    employee.
    | 1 reply
    tell your son not to steal from the store then. his selfish decision is just supported with your my child is an angel complex. "They have no proof & he did not do anything wrong" are you serious? urban outfitters doesn't take action unless an incident HAS occured, its the policy. I can't even count all the times where i've seen kids try to walk out the store with merchandise and then tell their parents some [***] story and then have their parents eat it up because there is no way their child would ever do something wrong. GET REAL, HE TRIED TO STEAL FROM THE STORE AND IF HE TOLD YOU OTHERWISE HE'S LYING TO YOU.  honestly, even if we know someone took something but didn't see it happen or know what they took, we wouldn't even stop them at the door. the only way he would be taken to the back office is because he legitly got caught. GET OVER IT.
    • 0
      educatedperson replies to employee.
      "legitly" okay this is why you work at urban outfitters [***].
  • 0
    lolwut
    I think "employee" missed the whole point of the OP's complaint. Please try reading the whole message before replying, kay? ;)
    As for this Palmer company, I know what boat you're in. My fiancee recently received a letter from them demanding $350 for a charge that was settled in court with community service and attendance in a "theft class". We have documents stating that after these were completed the charge would be EXPUNGED FROM HER RECORD and no payment to the company would be required for the alleged shoplifting. All I can suggest is getting in touch with a lawyer and finding out what can be done.
    Best of luck to you!
  • 0
    Intheboat
    I was caught stealing. and they knew I did it before. It's fine that I got caught it was wrong. I paid the store what I owed in merchandise, but now almost a year later I get a letter from Palmer, Reifler Law offices demanding I pay what I owed, AND $500 more. OBVIOUSLY there is a communication breakdown between stores, corporate, and the law offices. It really pisses me off that I PAID FOR MY MISTAKES. NOW THEY'RE TELLING ME THAT I HAVE TO PAY FOR THEM AGAIN PLUS MORE? Extortion.
  • 0
    mad colorado
    someone stold my idenity i went to court they have pictures of the person that was stealing from home depot they clearly seen it was'nt me they were suppost to clear my name i filed police reports and still have to go to court to clear my name now palmer pay and associates are theatening me to pay them money where is justice!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • 0
    k8tsgramie
    My granddaughter was not out of the store still had something in her hand and they are making me pay 300.00. So now I have to hire an attorney? This guy was rude when I called and gave me a date to have it cleared up or else..
  • 0
    Raptor22
    Does anyone have any experience not paying Palmer???? Do they follow thru or is it just extortion?
  • 0
    Raptor22
    Everyone.... take a look at the RICO Federal Complaint date Aug 2008.  I haven't been able to find out the outcome of the complaint but it is very interesting.
    http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202423589910&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1
  • 0
    ITS A SCAM DO NOT PAY THEM!
  • 0
    PALMER REIFLER SCAM SCAM SCAM
  • 0
    Raptor22
    Follow-UP
    We got 3-4 Letter from Palmer with threats.  Now the phone calls have started.  Sometimes 3-4 per day.  We have just ignored them.  They can't confirm that they even have the correct phone number or that we got any letters at all.  No way are they going to spend time/money with process servers and court for a potential judgement of $250.00. Just ignore,Ignore, Ingnore
  • 0
    mc dazey
    intially they requested 200  then 475  just recieved a letter with 30 days to pay aone last time offer for the orginal 200  i wrote out the check and decided to read over this complaint wire  before mailing    been to court paid fines  school   court costs  year ago  now the threats of civil suit from palmer  i will tear the check up  girl friend has been bugging me to take her to disney  if they have time and the money to bring me to orlando for the 200  i will be nice and do the same for her
  • 0
    Urban_Employee
    I work for UO. Although he did not leave the store as long as he walked past the registers towards the doors with no attempt to pay for the concealed items they have every right to charge him. Your son is lucky that he did not leave in handcuffs so count your lucky stars the manager on duty felt like being nice. This is how most retailers work and there's nothing wrong with it. There are consequences for your actions and your son is not exempt from accountability. His signature is his confession of guilt and all UO have video surveillance so I'm sure they do have proof. You're def not going to be getting that money back.
  • 0
    Urban_Thief
    you guys will never catch me. been stealin from urban for years. and its easy. stopped me once at the door and i ran. suckers. i started stealing the week after. take that "Urban_Employee".
  • 0
    wow i'm confused
    This palmer pay is really hard core.
    here is the deal on this one.

     13 year old daughter walking through the store on the suggestion of her friend she tries on a 3 dollar braclet.  she likes it but doesnt have any money , friend suggests keeping it and she stupidly aggrees for fear she will be called chicken.

     so the store employee sees the whole thing, calls her on it in the store and then holds the girls there till we go pick them up. a Cop is there and releases teh girls to us, no ticket, not filed papers, nothing like that. No Charges, they didnt even make them sign anything saying they would not come back in. there is no paperwork but they did give thier name and address.
    so palmer pay contacts us 3 weeks later and says pay up almost 300.00

     i did pay a paymment of 50.00 but I don't have the cash to be paying all this money only t o find out it is going to keep going on.

     from what i understand this company runs off commission and they get a % of whatever they can collect. they send part of the money back to the store ( how would I know though) and keep the rest.

    i'm thinking about not paying another cent.
  • 0
    concerned parent
    we received a similar letter from Palmer, Reifler, & Associates demanding $325 to be paid within 20 days. After reading several complaints on many different sites, we contacted the Attorney General's office in our state. They said this does not sound right, and I have filed a complaint. I will let you know how it works out. I have no qualms with having my child pay any fees or consequences for what she did, it was wrong. But this seems like extortion to me...
  • 0
    another victim
    so what's the real deal with this company? Does anyone who posted on this blog had any luck with not paying these idiots?
  • 0
    employee
    was it a mall security guard or cop? if it was an actual cop that means a police report was going to get filed. if they do decide to press charges they use that in the civil court.

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