Complaint Review: Risk Management Alternatives & American Express

RMA has been reported at this site before, and I hope it will be many times again, until it goes bankrupt or becomes enlightened.

My woes began when I missed payments to American Express, who then started referring me to RMA for account information and to make payments. Although AMEX refers people to this 'third party' collection agency, I suspect the company may actually be a division of Amex, designed to 'get nasty' without tarnishing Amex's good-business brand-name.

Unlike most collection agency relationships, where the agency owns your debt, something different and confusing (intentionally confusing?) seems to be going on between AMEX and RMA. Namely, I still get bills from AMEX and AMEX still receives and processes payments from me to the address indicated on the bills. However, when I call the customer service number on the bills from AMEX, they say they have 'no access' to my account and give me the number for RMA.

Once, I called RMA and they referred me to AMEX. AMEX then referred me back to RMA, who then took my call.

Recently, I called RMA to discuss terms for paying off my full balance and putting an end to all the nasty letters they were sending me (and to the risk of damage to my credit). At one point, the agent I was speaking to said she was transferring me to someone who specializes in receiving such payments. After a brief hold, someone came on the line as if she had called me cold, to collect money. I assume that I had been disingenously placed into the call-cue at RMA's ground-level outgoing collections call center. I call them to settle my overdue account, and they put me on hold, then come on as if they are the ones taking a step to resolve the debt!

After I explained my displeasure, I was transferred to Angela Jones, who was helpful, but eventually tranferred me in turn to a woman identifying herself bruskly as 'floor manager' Melanie Rubio. Her telephone address is (800) 579-1549 x7173. She came straight out in an attack on my missed payments, saying it looked like I had conspired to defraud her client (AMEX), and that my account was to be referred to 'legal' if I didn't pay by phone check that minute. Apparently, no one had informed her at this point that I was in fact calling her to arrange to make payment. I told her that I was not a fraud, that I had been unemployed for over a year, and that I wanted to pay off the account in full using an anticipated loan from a friend, but couldn't access that money that day. She continued to bluster, noting that someone was doing business in Pennsylvania (my new state of residence) under the name of Robert Monk Associates and my social security number, and that she thought it was me. I stated that I had only just arrived in Philly weeks prior, and asked for information on this Robert Monk Associates, so that I could fight any possibility of identity theft. She said she couldn't do that, due to the legal situation. I believe she had invented Robert Monk Associates as a way to generate fear. Either way, her refusal to divulge further information on the entity is dispicable.

I was finally able to call back and arrange a pay-off of my account balance with Miss Jones, who during long negotiations repeatedly confirmed that the balance she was giving for payment was the full amount needed to close the account.

Several weeks after payment was processed, I have received a new bill on the same account from AMEX, tallying a late fee and finance charges on an average daily balance. After many calls to AMEX and many refusals by them to discuss receiving my payment, RMA quoted the wrong balance for payment and I still have an open account with AMEX, a late fee, and finance charges that RMA failed to advise me of. RMA refuses to waive any of the charges -- they come from AMEX, they say. They didn't know about the charges, they say. As if average daily balance finance charges do not accrue to EVERY SINGLE ACCOUNT they receive payment on. As if this doesn't happen all the time.

AMEX's standard customer service agent says she can't help me, and says she "can't tell me if RMA owns my account" and "can't tell me if AMEX owns my account". Again, I think the two companies are one and the same: bad business!

Robert
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.

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