Complaint Review: Sentry Recovery And Collections

They would not let me finish one sentence and had nothing but attitude to give. Mr. Allen is the "manager" at Sentry and because of his position he bullies people around with insults. His secretary Julia Alvarez is no better, she too has nothing but attitude and knows nothing. You ask her questions and puts you on hold after every question. Comes back with an answer after reminding her what the question was to begin with. I called to make a payment but they assuned I was calling them to give them nothing but excuses. Being one day late and I've defaulted and they refused to let me finish the sentence "i called to make a payment".

They had my bank info, they took two previous payments out with ONE call then they decide they dont do automatic payments. What changed in two weeks? They use entrapment to squeeze out extra money from people are willing to make payments.

If I can be of help please email me at goodgyrl247@yahoo.com

I experienced a similar situation with this company.  I notice this was reported 2 years ago, but I dealt with Mr. Allen this past summer, and still have to call him every 2 weeks to make payments. 

When the company first contacted me regarding a debt from an apartment complex, I was told to come into the office to set up a payment agreement.  I went in and signed some paperwork saying that I was to pay $25 every 2 weeks, and it would be automatically charged to my debit card.  I explained that this would be easier for me since I work full time, go to school, and also have a 2 year old.  They took a photo copy of my card and everything.  Then a few weeks later, when I noticed that the payments were never taken out, I called the company and was told by Mr. Allen that I was in default and they were in the process of garnishing my wages.  Turns out what I signed that day I went in was a judgment against me - I had no idea.  Also I was told that they NEVER take debit cards or automatic payments, so they basically fabricated that whole payment agreement knowing that I would go into default.

So in order to stop my wages from being garnished, i had to go back in the office and set up a NEW agreement, and they said they wouldnt accept anything unless I gave them $250 cash right away.  Which I did, they stopped the garnishment, and we had a new agreement outlined.

Less than 2 weeks later, I'm on my way to California for a weekend and my debit card is declining out of no where.  I call the bank and come to find out Sentry placed a legal hold on all of my accounts.  At this point, my 2nd payment from the new agreement wasn't even due yet.  I called and spoke to Mr Allen once again, and I have never dealt with such an unprofessional, disrespectful business person.  He told me that when they were garnishing my wages, they were also garnishing my bank account at the same time.  When I asked why this wasn't stopped along with the wage garnishment when I paid the $250 cash, he said that it's not his problem and it was my fault because I was the one that let the account go into default.  He called me an incompetent mother among many other things, reducing me to tears.  He also used some other name calling, bullying tactics in trying to get me to come in with $750 cash to unfreeze my accounts.  Mind you that I was stuck in california with absolutely NO access to any of my money for 3 days.

Long story short, I had to wait until I came back to Vegas on monday and talked to a lawyer to get my accounts released.  The lawyer advised me to just make the agreed upon payment ($250 which was due the next day), and she would follow up with the company to have my accounts released.  According to my lawyer, it was a mistake on their part to even allow my bank to be garnished after a new agreement was established.  Unfortunately she said there was nothing that could be done regarding the way that Mr. Allen treated me.  I still have to call and speak to this guy every 2 weeks to make a $25 payment over the phone, and I get a nasty attitude everytime I ask for a simple confirmation number, or the remaining balance.  I'm sure when I'm about to be done paying off the account, I will have some more problems, and if I do I will be sure to repost.  If you think a class action is possible, feel free to contact me.  I already filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau, Attorney General, and the Federal Trade Commission. 

I am appalled that this company is still operating and treating people like this on a daily basis.  If there is anything more that I can do please let me know.

Before you spout off about class actions, know a few facts.
1. Almost always the only people who win class actions are lawyers.
2. I've been members of class actions over the years and the biggest settlement I ever got was $15 from Verizon Wireless.
3. It takes a LOT of attorney time and money just to get your claim certified as a class action by a judge. You'll need at least thousands of names and addresses and finding a lawyer will be very difficult at best.
4. Class Actions are frequently settled for nuisance value and plaintiffs get little or nothing. See number 2.
5. The lawsuit could easily stretch 5 years and frequently much longer. Assuming you have a valid claim (and 99% of posters don't even though they think they do) you're much better off filing on behalf of just yourself.

Before you spout off about class actions, know a few facts.
1. Almost always the only people who win class actions are lawyers.
2. I've been members of class actions over the years and the biggest settlement I ever got was $15 from Verizon Wireless.
3. It takes a LOT of attorney time and money just to get your claim certified as a class action by a judge. You'll need at least thousands of names and addresses and finding a lawyer will be very difficult at best.
4. Class Actions are frequently settled for nuisance value and plaintiffs get little or nothing. See number 2.
5. The lawsuit could easily stretch 5 years and frequently much longer. Assuming you have a valid claim (and 99% of posters don't even though they think they do) you're much better off filing on behalf of just yourself.

Before you spout off about class actions, know a few facts.
1. Almost always the only people who win class actions are lawyers.
2. I've been members of class actions over the years and the biggest settlement I ever got was $15 from Verizon Wireless.
3. It takes a LOT of attorney time and money just to get your claim certified as a class action by a judge. You'll need at least thousands of names and addresses and finding a lawyer will be very difficult at best.
4. Class Actions are frequently settled for nuisance value and plaintiffs get little or nothing. See number 2.
5. The lawsuit could easily stretch 5 years and frequently much longer. Assuming you have a valid claim (and 99% of posters don't even though they think they do) you're much better off filing on behalf of just yourself.

Before you spout off about class actions, know a few facts.
1. Almost always the only people who win class actions are lawyers.
2. I've been members of class actions over the years and the biggest settlement I ever got was $15 from Verizon Wireless.
3. It takes a LOT of attorney time and money just to get your claim certified as a class action by a judge. You'll need at least thousands of names and addresses and finding a lawyer will be very difficult at best.
4. Class Actions are frequently settled for nuisance value and plaintiffs get little or nothing. See number 2.
5. The lawsuit could easily stretch 5 years and frequently much longer. Assuming you have a valid claim (and 99% of posters don't even though they think they do) you're much better off filing on behalf of just yourself.

Before you spout off about class actions, know a few facts.
1. Almost always the only people who win class actions are lawyers.
2. I've been members of class actions over the years and the biggest settlement I ever got was $15 from Verizon Wireless.
3. It takes a LOT of attorney time and money just to get your claim certified as a class action by a judge. You'll need at least thousands of names and addresses and finding a lawyer will be very difficult at best.
4. Class Actions are frequently settled for nuisance value and plaintiffs get little or nothing. See number 2.
5. The lawsuit could easily stretch 5 years and frequently much longer. Assuming you have a valid claim (and 99% of posters don't even though they think they do) you're much better off filing on behalf of just yourself.

I was wondering what the outcome of this was? Did you end up having to pay the extra $575. This company ripped me off as well and I'm planning on suing them for unfair collection practices, if I can get more people in on this we may be able to file a class action suit against them. Let me know if you're interested.