Complaint Review:
CBE Group
I am filing this Ripoff Report to warn other consumers when dealing with the CBE Group,which is Verizon Wireless internal collection dept. I purchased a Verizon Blackberry back in 2009 with year contract.I made regular timely payments on this account.
In 2011 my cell was stolen,for which I have a police report Case number.Unfortunately I did not buy insurance.I immediatley reported this to Verizon Wireless.I waited for my final bill and was suprised to know that it totaled $500+ ,as they had added penalty and late fees,this was after I had reported my cell stolen. I tried to dispute the amount with Verizon to no avail.
Fast forward to 2013. I contacted Verizon Wireless as they were still reporting this old closed account on all three of my Credit Reports.I was transferred to CBE Group. They offered to settle this account for a low amount.To which agreed,as I am about to purchase a home.I requested this in writing but was told that they could not.
I made 2 separate payments via check and an online Credit Card to settle this account.Needless to say this was a huge mistake.With regard to the check payment,for which I did receive a confirmation number,I called 2 weeks later to confirm the processing of this payment and was informed that they could not locate it,and that the confirmation number was bogus and it did not exist in their system,this happened twice.
In regards to the credit card payment which I made on their website.I received a text alert from my bank that CBE Group charged my account twice,which I did not authorize!
The following day I called Verizon and CBE Group to dispute all of this.I spoke with a CBE supervisor,who was rude and aggressive,talked over me and very unprofessional!
I demanded from Verizon that CBE Group remove my banking information from their system and refund all the payments made.They agreed to this. If they want to settle it must be in writing via Certified Mail. Consumers please beware of CBE Group! They are not to be trusted with your payments and banking information! Pay with Money Order only! Ang get it in writing.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
bobcat
BLASDELL,New York,
CBE
#3REBUTTAL Individual responds
Sun, July 20, 2014
How can verizon Send your account To collections CBE!! when you are making payment to this account?? Mabe not the payment they want but you are paying the account!!
Greg
hndghdhj,California,
Use your rights to dismiss this company
#3Consumer Suggestion
Wed, October 23, 2013
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Fair Debt Reporting Act have a clause to protect the consumer from third-party collection agencies, which have a tendency to deal with poor information, have financial incentive to violate your rights, and allow a creditor to use them to extort payment even for disputed and erroneous accounts. That clause states you have the right to dismiss them and compel them to refer the "case" back to the original creditor. You have no obligation to deal with a third-party agency, ever. Write them a letter, send it certified mail, stating you dispute their debt claims, you choose to envoke your rights under those two laws, that you instruct them (don't "ask") to refer the "case" back to the original creditor, and since they no longer have any "standing" in the matter you instruct them to remove any and all reports they may have made to any credit reporting entity regarding you or your accounts. CBE is a separate company from Verizon or any other, so for Verizon they are a third-party collector. These people are dirt-bags. If you are at all cooperating with them, you are only unnecesarilly hurting yourself. I sure as heck wouldn't pay them a dime.