So my wife calls me on my way home last night and says that a collection agency called looking for me about money I owed to my former bank (Commerce Bank). The collection agency knew both my wife's name and mine, and then asked if my social security number ended in #### (my wife doesn't remember the number they gave). She told the woman that she didn't know my social security number and they hung up on her.
So I'm pissed while she's telling me this, because I have no idea why a collection agency would be calling me. I closed my accounts back in June, and even though there was a $3 online banking charge the day the account was closed, the bank promised to erase that fee and zero out my account.
As soon as I get home I call the collection agency back (866 number on the Caller ID). The woman on the other end of the phone didn't speak English entirely well, but she said she represented Alliance One Collection Agency on behalf of Commerce Bank, and that I owed them $93.
I asked her who I should call and dispute this, upon which she claimed she would be taping our conversation and then verified I was disputing the claim. I told her I wouldn't dispute the claim if they could provide documentation that I owed them money, but she said they couldn't provide any documentation. Of course, I'm not going to pay anyone almost $100 unless they can tell me why, so I told her I would definitely be disputing this.
She then gave me a fax number (215-396-7255) to send my written dispute to and said goodbye.
Flash forward to today...
I call my former bank and ask them "What do I owe you money for, and why haven't I heard anything about this until now (6 months after I closed my account)?" The woman on the other end was very nice, and said she'd look into it for me.
A couple hours later I get a phone call back from the nice woman at Commerce telling me that I don't owe them any money, and even the head of the Collections Department couldn't find anything outstanding on my account.
Searching Google yielded no significant results to suggest that this company is legit.
I'm going to be sending the "collection agency" a fax shortly that says I am disputing this claim because Commerce themselves say I don't owe them money, and that I will be calling later to verify that the matter is closed.
Am I being ripped off? I'm pretty skeptical at this point and am starting to believe it's a scam.
Update 1:
Talked with someone else at Commerce, who verified that they do indeed use Alliance One Collections on occasion. Probably not a scam then, unless it's a really clever one.
Update 2:
After not hearing from anyone for three weeks, I finally called the collection agency back to see what was going on. The lady on the other end of the phone (the same rude woman that harrassed my wife originally) pulled up my account and said the case had been closed.
I had her repeat that just so I made sure I was understanding her correctly (there was lots of static on the other end of the line). She told me that they had closed the case after my (former) bank faxed them my last statement showing that I didn't owe any money. My name was cleared after only 3 days but I didn't know until I finally called them....how nice.
No one seems to know why my name was reported to the collection agency in the first place or where this $93 amount came from, but I will nervously be checking my credit report every six months for some time.
This summer my wife and I plan on buying a new car, and maybe even a house. Stupid mistakes like this could really mess everything up.
Cliff Notes:
1. Collection agency calls, says I owe $93 to my former bank.
2. Called the bank, who says I don't owe them any money.
3. Search google for collection agency's name + bank's name, nothing found.
4. Sending fax to collection agency disputing claim because bank says I don't owe money.
5. Waiting for response.
6. Collection agency closed the case after only 3 days. I never heard anything about it until I called in.
So I'm pissed while she's telling me this, because I have no idea why a collection agency would be calling me. I closed my accounts back in June, and even though there was a $3 online banking charge the day the account was closed, the bank promised to erase that fee and zero out my account.
As soon as I get home I call the collection agency back (866 number on the Caller ID). The woman on the other end of the phone didn't speak English entirely well, but she said she represented Alliance One Collection Agency on behalf of Commerce Bank, and that I owed them $93.
I asked her who I should call and dispute this, upon which she claimed she would be taping our conversation and then verified I was disputing the claim. I told her I wouldn't dispute the claim if they could provide documentation that I owed them money, but she said they couldn't provide any documentation. Of course, I'm not going to pay anyone almost $100 unless they can tell me why, so I told her I would definitely be disputing this.
She then gave me a fax number (215-396-7255) to send my written dispute to and said goodbye.
Flash forward to today...
I call my former bank and ask them "What do I owe you money for, and why haven't I heard anything about this until now (6 months after I closed my account)?" The woman on the other end was very nice, and said she'd look into it for me.
A couple hours later I get a phone call back from the nice woman at Commerce telling me that I don't owe them any money, and even the head of the Collections Department couldn't find anything outstanding on my account.
Searching Google yielded no significant results to suggest that this company is legit.
I'm going to be sending the "collection agency" a fax shortly that says I am disputing this claim because Commerce themselves say I don't owe them money, and that I will be calling later to verify that the matter is closed.
Am I being ripped off? I'm pretty skeptical at this point and am starting to believe it's a scam.
Update 1:
Talked with someone else at Commerce, who verified that they do indeed use Alliance One Collections on occasion. Probably not a scam then, unless it's a really clever one.
Update 2:
After not hearing from anyone for three weeks, I finally called the collection agency back to see what was going on. The lady on the other end of the phone (the same rude woman that harrassed my wife originally) pulled up my account and said the case had been closed.
I had her repeat that just so I made sure I was understanding her correctly (there was lots of static on the other end of the line). She told me that they had closed the case after my (former) bank faxed them my last statement showing that I didn't owe any money. My name was cleared after only 3 days but I didn't know until I finally called them....how nice.
No one seems to know why my name was reported to the collection agency in the first place or where this $93 amount came from, but I will nervously be checking my credit report every six months for some time.
This summer my wife and I plan on buying a new car, and maybe even a house. Stupid mistakes like this could really mess everything up.
Cliff Notes:
1. Collection agency calls, says I owe $93 to my former bank.
2. Called the bank, who says I don't owe them any money.
3. Search google for collection agency's name + bank's name, nothing found.
4. Sending fax to collection agency disputing claim because bank says I don't owe money.
5. Waiting for response.
6. Collection agency closed the case after only 3 days. I never heard anything about it until I called in.