Complaint Review: Afni Inc - Bloomington Illinois

i have filed consumer complaint about Afni with state attorney/illinois, state attorney/california FTC
and BBB.  They have never--not once to anything i wrote to ask or to tell them what i am doing by
sending copies of my complaints, the replies i get from those organizations i have filed....  

have you seen a paragraph from their reply to BBB who got in touch with them about my complaint?

oooo  i love this....  i forwarded to everybody i mentioned above and asked them to let me know
if it makes any sense.....  so far.... zip!   Here it is for everyone to see......

This is in response to your letter to Afni, Inc., regarding the above referenced matter. We appreciate your assistance in bringing our consumer's concerns to our attention. In that regard, on or about March 2001, AT&T notified Afni the above referenced account remained due and owing from Mr. (my name). This account was established on March 1, 2008 and was considered delinquent by the creditor on October 24, 2008. The service address for the account was his still-current address. 


How could  ATT notify Afni  in 2001 about an account being due and owing...... which was not
even established until March 1, 2008?  How is that possible?       I specifically pointed this out
to BBB thinking perhaps they would ask Afni and tell me what was the answer.... nothing. maybe
that kinds of stuff helps Afni.....who knows.??

Were you referring to me?   I'm not the one who spelled "advice" wrong.   LOL

Anyway....I'm always glad to read your comments.  Have you checked out the report that Dateline did on debt colllectors?  It's interesting.  

Plain and simple, you stated that something was illegal and you are just wrong.



Freedom of speech applies to OPINIONS, not facts.

You simply did not know what you are talking about.



End of story.



Your "advice" was bad.

You were wrong.

I guess I only have a simple response which is:   freedom of speech,sir.

This person must be a debt collector, or has been one in the past. AFNI is one or the worst violators of the FDCPA in the industry. Fact.

FYI...There is NO SUCH thing as a "cease and desist" letter under the provisions of federal law. The EXACT wording is "CEASE COMMUNICATIONS" REQUEST. Therefore, it is YOUR "advice" that is "bad". [Not "advise"] You give someone "advice" or you "advise" someone.

More bad advice is where you state that it is "illegal" to make a fake fraud complaint with a debt collector. No, it is NOT 'illegal". Why don't you post that "law" here?? I will be waiting. Any private person can give any debt collector any false information they want. Not illegal.

It is only illegal to provide false statements to law enforcement, or in court filings or other official government procedings, or for government services, etc..Try to educate yourself before giving "advice".


tigersy2k3 - (United States of America)


SUBMITTED: Wednesday, March 30, 2011 POSTED: Wednesday, March 30, 2011 I understand you are frustrated with your company, and you quit, when in reality you would have probably been fired if anyone got on here and saw you were bad mouthing your employer, but in any case, giving people bad advise on how to "cheat the system" isnt that great. 

Lets say you claim fraud or the account is paid, keep in mind Afni is a collection agency that is used to collect delinquent debt on behalf of another company for a fee.  So they mark it as fraud or paid and basically let the company know this, and then they can either investigate or go from there.  Just because a customer claims they paid or it was fraud doesnt mean it was and just because your company didnt research it doesnt mean the other company didnt.  Not to mention this stuff reflects on the consumers credit.

If a consumer doesnt want to hear from a collection agency all they have to do is submit a cease and desist letter, then if you can prove the company violated this they are in violation of federal law, but by claiming fraud on an item when it isnt fraud, is actually you commiting fraud which is illegal.

Thanks for the awsum advice!!!! Keep it coming!

Of course one of the easiest ways to deal with these scumbags is just tell them to phuk off! and get a new phone #.  Pretty easy now with google voice being offered for Free!

But I actually enjoy playing games with them from time to time.  Ive been known to call up collection agencies toll-free #s that I dont even have an acct with just to play games for as long as I can keep them on the line.  Just give them a common name and a fake ss# and make them try desparately to find you because you just now decided to payoff that several thousand dollar debt!  

When I think of all the wasted time and postage these suckers have gone thru, I almost feel sorry for them.  Almost!

Bite it Tigersky, you d**n Commie!

I understand you are frustrated with your company, and you quit, when in reality you would have probably been fired if anyone got on here and saw you were bad mouthing your employer, but in any case, giving people bad advise on how to "cheat the system" isnt that great. 

Lets say you claim fraud or the account is paid, keep in mind Afni is a collection agency that is used to collect delinquent debt on behalf of another company for a fee.  So they mark it as fraud or paid and basically let the company know this, and then they can either investigate or go from there.  Just because a customer claims they paid or it was fraud doesnt mean it was and just because your company didnt research it doesnt mean the other company didnt.  Not to mention this stuff reflects on the consumers credit.

If a consumer doesnt want to hear from a collection agency all they have to do is submit a cease and desist letter, then if you can prove the company violated this they are in violation of federal law, but by claiming fraud on an item when it isnt fraud, is actually you commiting fraud which is illegal.

Thank you for the support and honestly.......I feel guilty quitting a job as they are so hard to come by these days and there are so MANY people who would kill for this job to put bread on the table for their family.  However......to feel physically sick everyday hearing my co-worders banter and abuse consumers on the phone was just too much.   I even wrote down some of the comments I heard such as:  "Don't sit there and try and justify why you can't pay your bill -just pay it!"  (sreaming of course).  And......"You need to calm down sir and stop having an attitude with me; remember that YOU called AFNI and this is about YOU -  not me."   And another:  "When you talk to me like a human being, we can do business now get your check book out so we can take care of this bill today like a responsible person does."

Can you believe that???   Anyway......I have to be honest and say that I wish there was more that I could do to lift the covers on this company's moral standards and their "nastiness training" other than just quit and let it be.  I wish I could call BACK a few of those consumers who were abused to tell them how sorry I am that they were treated that way and to give them pointers on how to get OUT OF paying their bill as there are SO many ways to just nip it in the butt that consumers are not aware of.   One way is to just keep stating "This is not me, my information was stolen; please mark this as ID Theft."   Guess what happens?   Nothing.   AFNI just marks it as ID Theft and within 30 minutes, the account is closed by supervisors as fraud - period!   The other way is to just dispute it saying "I already paid so-in-so company and have my cleared check in front of me."   Afni does NOT ASK for anyone to mail or fax proof of payment.  They simply mark it as a dispute, close the account and it'd done.  

When a representative tells you that there is going to be an "investigation into their ID Theft claim where family members at that address could be investigated"........it is a 100% lie.  There IS NO investigation.  As I said, it is simply marked "fraud" and closed by supervisors within  minutes of entering the ID Theft status.     Lastly, I have written DirecTv asking for input on the ANCIENT (10-13 year old accounts) that they have supposedly sold Afni, Inc. but no one will respond to me.  I'm 99% sure there is a DirecTV scam going on as well with Afni, Inc. and could give you HUNDREDS of examples where Directv was set up at a home in the city where consumers lived but not their actual living quarters and Afni is trying collect on them now.  About 80-90% of consumers would not pay and said "I'll get back to you as I've never had Directv in my name ever in my lifetime."

I'm disappointed that Directv won't respond.  

This is one of the worst third party scumbag debt collection agencies ever - they rank right up there with NCO and PRA.  Hope you find a great job because you deserve it!

Well....I turned in my badge and telephone headset today.  *whew*  Sure feels good to be out of that horrible, morally-challenging hornets nest of consumer abusers.  Thanks for your responses. 

My advise is do not get nasty with the customer. If you do they will hang up on you.

If any collection got nasty with me I would hang up the phone and have the # blocked from calling mine again. The customer does not have to talk to the collector.

I would not be afraid of standing up to them . I would also report this company for the way they treat the custiomers. If I worked for an agency I would tell the customer this I know times are hard but try to pay what you can afford. I would also suggest consumer credit counseling .

Just do your job as you feel it should be done in regards to how you treat people.

Keep good notes as to the various wrongdoings. Keep a small digital voice recorder if you can.

Then, when they ultimately fire you for not being nasty to people, you will have an abundance of proof to nail them.

AFNI is one of the nastiest, lowlife collectors out there, and a huge offender of the FDCPA and FCRA.