- Report: #184368
Complaint Review: ARS - Internet
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Author Confirmed
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ARS
Internet, U.S.A.
Phone:
800-837-1912
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ARS - Orchard Bank's Collection Agency Ripoff illegal and unethical collection practices Internet
Let me start by saying that I am not complaining about Orchard Bank or HSBC Card Services. I am complaining about their collection agency.
I have had a credit card from Orchard Bank for a few years now. When I lost my job, I fell behind, and they referred my account to collections with ARS. However, I am still recieving statements from Orchard complete with minimum payment and due date, and in the fine print (which I did not notice until today) it says to contact ARS for payments. ARS does not send me anything.
I used part of my tax return to get caught up. My payment due was $480, due on March 16. I paid $500 on Feb 27 through Orchard's website. This payment credited properly, even though I did not go through ARS. My next statement said my minimum payment was $17, due April 16. I scheduled a $40 payment for April 3.
Today, March 31, ARS calls me at work telling me that since I did not make a March payment and I have not paid in over 30 days, I would be charged a $28 "interest rate" if I did not post a payment today and pay the balance off in 30 days. I don't make much money, and I am paying down several credit cards, so I can't afford to pay it off in 30 days. I explained this to the lady on the phone and she said something about a settlement that she couldn't offer, then changed the subject. She kept going on about how my deadline is today, so I pulled up my statement online and told her it said April 16. She said my account is no longer with Orchard, it is with ARS, and they require a payment every 30 days. I asked her why I am getting statements from Orchard and nothing from ARS, and she had no answer for me.
I finally gave in and canceled the online payment I had scheduled and gave her my account information for a check by phone. When she was reading back my information, she said the charge would be $44.50. I stopped her and told her I was paying $40 even, not $44.50, and she explained that there was a charge for the check by phone service. I told her I refused to pay it, because paying online is free. She told me again that my due date is today, not the 16th, and I had to do a check by phone or Western Union in order to get it there today. I told her the only way I would do a check by phone is if she waived the fee, and she refused. I told her to cancel the payment, because I was not going to pay the fee. She again brought up the $28 "interest rate." I asked her to explain, because interest rates are percentages, not flat fees. I told her I am already at a 23.4% penalty rate. Was it going up to 28% or were they going to charge me a $28 fee? She could not explain, but she insisted I make a payment and pay their ridiculous fees. I told her again to cancel the check by phone, and I hung up.
I called back a few minutes later and spoke to a supervisor (I forgot to write down her name) I explained to her what had happened with the other lady, and I said that I refused to be penalized for paying early, because if I had made that $500 payment two days later, I would not be having this problem. I also told her I am not paying one penny of their fees, because they were the ones who screwed up by not even attempting to tell me that my due date had changed. She insisted that I never made my March payment, that the $500 was my February one, and that I had no choice but to pay their fees. I asked her what incentive I have to pay through them when I could go to Orchard's website and pay for free, and my account still credits properly. She said "You wanna do that? Go ahead." and she hung up on me.
After I calmed down a bit, I called Orchard to tell them to get my account back from collections, because I refuse to deal with the collection agency. I spoke to Ollie, she told me that once the account is referred to collections, they cannot interact with the customer until it is paid off and sent back to Orchard. However, she confirmed that my next due date is the 16th of April, and that the collection company cannot assess any fees against me or change my due date, because that is Orchard's prerogative. I thanked her, and rescheduled my payment that ARS told me to cancel.
If ARS tries to charge me for the check by phone that they were supposed to cancel, or for the $28 fee that they have no right to charge, I will report them to the Better Business Bureau. If they refuse to make it right, I will call a lawyer.
CJA
Rural, Oklahoma
U.S.A.
I have had a credit card from Orchard Bank for a few years now. When I lost my job, I fell behind, and they referred my account to collections with ARS. However, I am still recieving statements from Orchard complete with minimum payment and due date, and in the fine print (which I did not notice until today) it says to contact ARS for payments. ARS does not send me anything.
I used part of my tax return to get caught up. My payment due was $480, due on March 16. I paid $500 on Feb 27 through Orchard's website. This payment credited properly, even though I did not go through ARS. My next statement said my minimum payment was $17, due April 16. I scheduled a $40 payment for April 3.
Today, March 31, ARS calls me at work telling me that since I did not make a March payment and I have not paid in over 30 days, I would be charged a $28 "interest rate" if I did not post a payment today and pay the balance off in 30 days. I don't make much money, and I am paying down several credit cards, so I can't afford to pay it off in 30 days. I explained this to the lady on the phone and she said something about a settlement that she couldn't offer, then changed the subject. She kept going on about how my deadline is today, so I pulled up my statement online and told her it said April 16. She said my account is no longer with Orchard, it is with ARS, and they require a payment every 30 days. I asked her why I am getting statements from Orchard and nothing from ARS, and she had no answer for me.
I finally gave in and canceled the online payment I had scheduled and gave her my account information for a check by phone. When she was reading back my information, she said the charge would be $44.50. I stopped her and told her I was paying $40 even, not $44.50, and she explained that there was a charge for the check by phone service. I told her I refused to pay it, because paying online is free. She told me again that my due date is today, not the 16th, and I had to do a check by phone or Western Union in order to get it there today. I told her the only way I would do a check by phone is if she waived the fee, and she refused. I told her to cancel the payment, because I was not going to pay the fee. She again brought up the $28 "interest rate." I asked her to explain, because interest rates are percentages, not flat fees. I told her I am already at a 23.4% penalty rate. Was it going up to 28% or were they going to charge me a $28 fee? She could not explain, but she insisted I make a payment and pay their ridiculous fees. I told her again to cancel the check by phone, and I hung up.
I called back a few minutes later and spoke to a supervisor (I forgot to write down her name) I explained to her what had happened with the other lady, and I said that I refused to be penalized for paying early, because if I had made that $500 payment two days later, I would not be having this problem. I also told her I am not paying one penny of their fees, because they were the ones who screwed up by not even attempting to tell me that my due date had changed. She insisted that I never made my March payment, that the $500 was my February one, and that I had no choice but to pay their fees. I asked her what incentive I have to pay through them when I could go to Orchard's website and pay for free, and my account still credits properly. She said "You wanna do that? Go ahead." and she hung up on me.
After I calmed down a bit, I called Orchard to tell them to get my account back from collections, because I refuse to deal with the collection agency. I spoke to Ollie, she told me that once the account is referred to collections, they cannot interact with the customer until it is paid off and sent back to Orchard. However, she confirmed that my next due date is the 16th of April, and that the collection company cannot assess any fees against me or change my due date, because that is Orchard's prerogative. I thanked her, and rescheduled my payment that ARS told me to cancel.
If ARS tries to charge me for the check by phone that they were supposed to cancel, or for the $28 fee that they have no right to charge, I will report them to the Better Business Bureau. If they refuse to make it right, I will call a lawyer.
CJA
Rural, Oklahoma
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
shansyed
Connecticut,United States of America
ARS? who are they
#2General Comment
Fri, October 29, 2010
Someone by the name Farah called from ARS today from a blocked ID. Usually I don't pick up block calls, but i did anyway. She just started asking my SSN, I said hold on a sec, who are you and where you calling from.. She still did not explain.. she said she work for citi and that's all she mentioned nothing else. I said first of all you cannot call me from block ID. Second, I am not paying anything to ARS, I have a dispute with citi and i would like to resolve it with them directly. I made several contacts with citi, but they said my account is in collection. I have been out of work for a year yet i still offered to pay in full 5k from my 401 K, but they refused to take the money, instead referred me to ARS. This is insane.
Regards.
Shahzaib
Tom
Duluth,Georgia,
U.S.A.
Free Advice
#3Consumer Comment
Sat, April 01, 2006
I don't know how late you fell behind on payments, but often times, credit card companies have internal collections, which are still considered as an "outside source". The fact that Orchard is still sending you statements and that you are still able to access your account online with them means that your account is still active, which leads me to believe that this would be internal collections. I could be totally wrong, of course.
