North Shore Agency NSA Represented SPRINT Cell Service - Attempted to collect $440.00 on an unreturned Blackberry Columbus Ohio
North Shore Agency is a Collection agency that represented SPRINT cellular service. The company called several times and sent a letter attempting to collect $440.00 for an unreturned Blackberry.
My wife was with SPRINT for 3 years. 2 of those years were under contract, the extra year was an extension until we made a decsion on which plan we wanted to go with.
My wife went to Best Buy and purchased two new phones and we selected a plan from Verison. A few weeks after our decsion to move from SPRINT to Verison we started getting harassed. At the time of the purchase, my wife asked the sales associate at Best Buy if the Blackberry needed to be turned in; the sales associate stated it did not because the original 2 year contract had been honored.
A phone call was made to North Shore Agency about the collection letter and Peter (no last name) told my wife that the sales associate at Best Buy was mistaken that the phone did, in fact, have to be returned and because 14 days had past since the purchase of the new plan, she owned $440.00.
A phone call to the manager at Best Buy and a quick internet search revealed that we were essentially being scammed.
Peter at North Shore Agency new a lot of detailed information about my wife's contract and was very conviencing. Be very careful! Ask a lot of questions and make a lot of calls, don't just had over the money.
If there is anyone from SPRINT management reading this; please understand that I will never use SPRINT again and I will always, when asked, refer someone to another cellular service.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Stacey
Dallas,Texas,
Info for you
#3Consumer Comment
Fri, July 12, 2013
For Release: 07/09/2013
World's Largest Debt Collection Operation Settles FTC Charges, Will Pay $3.2 Million Penalty
Largest Civil Penalty Ever Obtained by the FTC Against a Third-party Debt Collector
The world’s largest debt collection operation, Expert Global Solutions and its subsidiaries, has agreed to stop harassing consumers with allegedly illegal debt collection calls and to pay a $3.2 million civil penalty – the largest ever obtained by the Federal Trade Commission against a third-party debt collector.
In its complaint, the FTC charged that the companies violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the FTC Act by using tactics such as calling consumers multiple times per day, calling even after being asked to stop, calling early in the morning or late at night, calling consumers’ workplaces despite knowing that the employers prohibited such calls, and leaving phone messages that disclosed the debtor’s name, and the existence of the debt, to third parties. According to the FTC’s complaint, the companies also continued collection efforts without verifying the debt, even after consumers said they did not owe it.
Under the proposed order, whenever a consumer disputes the validity or the amount of the debt, the defendants must either close the account and end collection efforts, or suspend collection until they have conducted a reasonable investigation and verified that their information about the debt is accurate and complete. The proposed order also restricts situations in which the defendants can leave voicemails that disclose the alleged debtor’s name and the fact that he or she may owe a debt.
Also under the proposed order, the defendants must: stop falsely representing that they will not call a number to collect a debt; not harass, oppress, or abuse a consumer while attempting to collect a debt; not communicate with third parties about a consumer’s debt; not communicate with a consumer at his or her workplace if it is clearly inconvenient or prohibited by the consumer’s employer; except in limited circumstances, cease communications if a consumer has requested no further contact or if a consumer refuses to pay a debt; and not violate any provision of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The defendants also are required to record at least 75 percent of all their debt collection calls beginning one year after the date of the order, and retain the recordings for 90 days after they are made.
With more than 32,000 employees and revenues in 2011 of more than $1.2 billion, the Texas-based Expert Global Solutions and its subsidiaries – ALW Sourcing, LLC; NCO Financial Systems, Inc.; and Transworld Systems, Inc., which also does business as North Shore Agency, Inc. – collectively are the largest debt collector in the world. In addition to their U.S. offices, the companies operate in Canada, Barbados, India, the Philippines, and Panama.
Tyg
Pahrump,Nevada,
Reality check....
#3General Comment
Thu, July 11, 2013
If your wife recieved a NEW phone from Spint after the original 2 year contract had expired then she does owe for the BlackBerry. If she called Sprint because she broke her phone and they sent her a NEW phone for FREE then she auto signed a new contract and you would be liable for the Early Termination FEE plus the remaining amount on your account and anything else that would be owed.
You might want to check this with Sprint. Find out EXACT dates. I know from my own experience in dealing with Sprint how easy it is to forget a single incident. My ex had broken her phone when we were with Sprint. Little did I know, she had requested a new phone and had signed a new contract under MY name. When I went to change services after what I thought was my 2yr trm, I found out that she had done this. Thankfully I waited and finished my remaining time out. But it could have been bad had I done as you did.
If you owe this then you owe it. But Sprint shouldnt be lumped in with a collection agency. Sprint is simply trying to get what they are owed. Reguardless of if YOU FEEL you owe it. A contract was signed somewhere by one of you extending your current contract. If it is found that your wife DID get a new phone, then you might get them to cut or drop the fees because SPRINT doesnt allow wives to sign for their husbands.