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Thread: Collections Issue

  1. #1
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    Default Collections Issue

    I am having an issue.

    A few months ago I ordered two bathing suits from a site, they were pretty unprofessional so I told them to cancel my shit. They told me that one of the suits had already shipped but that they canceled the other one. When the other one arrived in my mail I sent it back to them. The total of the two items was $130ish.

    They never refunded me, not even for the suit that didn't ship. I looked up the company and found TONS of consumer complaints, all sounding like mine. There were also tons of complaints from customers who canceled their order and NEVER got refunds. So I filed a dispute with Visa, they sided with me, took the $$$ back from the merchant and gave it to me.

    Within a few weeks I get a letter from the National Bureau Collection Corp. saying that I still owe the merchant the $$$ for the two items(since Visa took it back). Wtf. I call Visa and they can't help. There is no way to contact the merchant so it's not like that is an option. The notice says that unless I contact the NBCC office to dispute the debt within thirty days that it would be considered valid. The letter also tells me who to contact at the office. So I call the office multiple times, no one ever picks up and no matter which number I use(there were two on the paper) they took me to the same chick's voicemail(who was not the chick the paper said to contact). It said to leave a detailed message, I did thrice and no one ever contacted me back. My friend told me that this sounded suspicious because collection agencies always pick up the phone lol, let alone never contact me back.

    So I mailed a dispute to the office and had it insured, so I'd get a notice when they received it. I got that, and now they sent me a new collections paper saying that I just owe the cost of the one suit that I returned. (or it might be them trying to collect an additional $70 on top of the previous $130, I have no way to know).

    I have zero credit history, I don't want this to start it. I don't want this to be the bad mark that haunts me for years!! I certainly ain't paying this shit, I returned the suit.

    I didn't even know a merchant could demand from money back from you from a dispute.

    Btw this merchant was Bodybody.com, DON'T EVER ORDER FROM THERE.

    Boy did I learn my lesson!!

  2. #2
    Banned ArmySGT.'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Collections Issue

    You need your documentation in order.

    Purchase, cancellation, dispute notices with VISA, and Refunds through VISA.

    Then take your documants and visit first the Better Business Bureau, and then the Postal Inspector and the U.S. Postal Service.

    Nothing like a Federal Agent from the USPS on their asses to close up a dispute quickly.

  3. #3
    Veteran Member Krill_'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Collections Issue

    You may want to visit annualcreditreport.com (the actual free report you're entitled to by law) to see if the collector has already reported a missed payment or delinquency. If they have already reported something you have an opportunity to dispute it or at least make a statement for your credit report.

    I had a similar thing with a bogus book club in 2004 that passed a debt under $50 to a debt collector I could not get information about. So I blew it off, it went on my credit report and doesn't go off until December of this year. If they screw you like that it hurts but is not the end of the world with actual debts in good standing (revolving and loans) in good standing; you can still have a score over 720.

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  5. #4
    Banned Melonie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Collections Issue

    didn't even know a merchant could demand from money back from you from a dispute.
    In a nutshell, your refusal to 'pay' an online merchant via having the credit card processor stop payment of a credit card charge is the functional equivalent of a refusal to 'pay' a main street merchant via having the local bank stop payment on a check. In both cases, the financial institution has no direct involvement in determining the legal validity of the supposed 'debt' between the customer and the merchant ... they merely see to it that the merchant does not receive payment from the customer.

    As such, in both cases, the merchant is still able to argue that the 'debt' between the customer and the merchant is still legally valid but unpaid, the merchant is still able to report the customer non-payment to the credit reporting agencies, the merchant is still able to 'sell' the supposedly valid customer 'debt' to a collection agency etc. Ultimately, to resolve the issue of the legal validity of the 'debt', either the merchant and customer must come to some mutual agreement voluntarily, the issue must be decided by a local ( small claims ) court, or the issue must be decided by a regulatory body ( i.e. customer makes official dispute of supposed 'debt' to credit reporting agencies and merchant is unable to subsequently prove the validity of that debt ).


    If they screw you like that it hurts but is not the end of the world with actual debts in good standing (revolving and loans) in good standing; you can still have a score over 720.
    Again, this is the function of an 'overall average' of credit reporting agency entries. Indeed if the customer has a mortgage loan, an auto loan, a couple of credit cards, a few utility bills etc. that are all in good standing, a single negative report from a single merchant isn't going to budge the 'overall average' down very far. On the other hand, if the customer does NOT have a mortgage loan or an auto loan or a couple of credit cards, a negative report from a merchant could potentially carry significantly more negative 'weight' towards a lower credit score since there aren't many other 'data points' available.

    ~
    Last edited by Melonie; 07-16-2011 at 04:52 PM.

  6. #5
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    Default Re: Collections Issue

    ^ yes and krill, r u aware that zinaida HAS nothing else on her credit report? So it's not a matter of 1 bad mark alongside 20 good items lowering her score from say a 750 to a still-good 720. Instead, it's a matter of that item giving her a score of 0, which means nothing good only bad in her credit profile. This will raise rates on car and/or motorcycle ins for her.

    I agree the bbb is a good place to start

  7. #6
    Featured Member Vamp's Avatar
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    Default Re: Collections Issue

    Quote Originally Posted by ArmySGT. View Post
    You need your documentation in order.

    Purchase, cancellation, dispute notices with VISA, and Refunds through VISA.

    Then take your documants and visit first the Better Business Bureau, and then the Postal Inspector and the U.S. Postal Service.

    Nothing like a Federal Agent from the USPS on their asses to close up a dispute quickly.
    Sorry I got to this post late.

    If you have the above documentation and HAVE filed a dispute with Visa about this issue; call one of the credit reporting agencies. If the collections has been placed on your credit report you can then file a dispute with credit reporting agency. There is a good chance they will just remove it.

    If you have anything on your credit report that you don't like just dispute it. It doesn't guarantee it will be removed, but there is a good chance if you have documentation and the issue is old. Within a credit report dispute the other party has to provide proof that the item is owed. The cost of digging up such poof is usually more then it is worth to the other party. If the dispute doesn't remove the item you haven't lost anything. So it never hurts to try. If it is removed it is a much faster process then any other.

    I have used this countless times to help clients clean up their credit reports. Tax liens and larger dollar amount collections I don't advise this method for. But something like this issue definitely!
    Nature knows no indecencies; man invents them. ~ Mark Twain


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