What Kind of Customer Service Is This?

We are still getting calls about money we owe for some magazines that we don't remember ordering and have no invoice for. This time I was home so had the privilege of speaking with this guy myself. I basically lost my cool and told him off, mentioning that they won't send us an invoice but paid it anyway and they it wasn't put through because it's a bunch of baloney. I told him go ahead and take legal action!

Afterwards, I regretted not getting a name or phone number. It's just so upsetting, it's hard to think clearly. Then the verse popped into my head about "A soft answer turns away wrath" and "be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath." I so wish I had his phone number so I could apologize and try to get this issue resolved! (I think this is a bill collector--I wasn't on at the beginning of the call.)

A few days later, I think the magazine company called--I'm not sure. My husband took the call and I listened on the extension. The caller said they didn't put through the payment made by my husband using our bank card because they don't accept Master Card credit cards. Gerard asked for a name and number and got it-finally! It was Kevin from customer service at e-solutions. When Gerard asked what magazines this was charge was for, the guy said USA package. My husband says, "What magazine is that?" and the guy hung up on him!

I tried calling back immediately on the number he gave us and hit the customer service extension only to hear this recorded message: "The voice mail box is full, please try again later." I tried later that evening and all through the next day at different times, getting this message every single time I tried. This is a nightmare! I would really like to talk this through with a live person and get it resolved. I don't understand what actually happened.

After talking this over with a co-worker who had a similar experience and had her credit ruined because of it, I am eager to get this settled, but it looks like I'll just have to hope they call again.

I pray that this will all work out soon and that I get an opportunity to talk to that bill collector again, being nice this time. This is all very upsetting to me.

For my previous posts about this: Goofy Phone Calls and Yea For Dollar Bank

Thankful Thursday--Yea For Dollar Bank!

When I first signed up for on-line banking and got debit cards, I wondered why the numbers on them were different from our account number, but boy am I glad they are! Today I called our bank about the threatening phone call Gerard got about us owing for some supposed magazine package. I was transferred to the Banking Machine Service and Security Department and told them may story of what I think was a fraudulent call. They agreed and said since it hasn't been put through to our account as yet, they will just cancel my husband's debit card and issue a new one. If they do try to put it through now, it will simply be denied.

I initially thought we'd have to close our checking account and open a new one which would have been a bit of a hassle since we have our paychecks directly deposited. By the amount not being put through yet, it just seems to confirm that this really isn't a legitimate call.

Just to let everyone know, the bank told me never to give our credit card number or bank card number to anyone unless we initiate the call ourselves. She also mentioned that there are communication laws in place that prohibit callers to coerce payment without documentation or by threatening legal action. Oh, she also said that if we get any more calls like this, we should just tell them we'll be calling the police to report it.

Another live and learn experience!

Goofy Phone Calls

From time to time we get some annoying goofy phone calls. I noticed it more when our answering machine broke. We went without one for about 2 weeks and then I bought a new one.

One call is for David Roman. We've lived here for ten years now and we still get a recorded message asking for David Roman. I called back and told them he doesn't live here and they say they'll mark their records and I won't get anymore calls. Then about a month or so later, we get another call looking for David Roman.

Another goofy one we get is for Karen Weekly. I think she lived here before us, but I don't have her number and again I tell them she doesn't live here. I don't get these calls very often, but still, after living here ten years, you'd think they'd get the message.

The third goofiest call of all came from some place saying my husband owes $499 and if he doesn't pay, they'll take him to court. This is very upsetting to us because we always pay our bills promptly. They wouldn't talk to me because they close before I get home. Supposedly, they say we owe for some magazine subscription package he purchased in 2005! We did subscribe to magazines then, but there's no way would we ever spend that much on a magazine package! They wouldn't take a credit card and refused to send us an invoice. They said they've already sent them. Well, we didn't get any. This whole call is very upsetting. I told my husband to just forget it, but then they called again about a month later. After they threatened my husband with legal action and said it would be in our best interest to pay it or we'd end up having to pay even more, my husband gave in and paid with our bank debit card after I told him not to. At first I was very angry coming home on the bus after he told my on my cell phone that he paid it. He didn't get a name of the company or the phone number. They gave him some verification number that will show on our bank statement they said. So far, it hasn't shown up--another puzzle to me. I can't really be mad at my husband because if I had gotten the call, I might have done the same thing, but I am very disturbed by the call. When we bought a car just last July and they checked our credit, it was great.

Just wondering if anyone has any advice. I really am at a loss as what to do about this. (See my Thankful Thursday Posted 7/3/08)