We have been working with this collection agency for over two years now and have had nothing but problems with them from the word go. The first problem is the fact that we've sent them over $44,000 in debts to collect and in the past two years they've only ever managed to collect a little over $3,000 of those debts.
Problem number two: We sent a debtor to this agency in 2008 for collections and this agency collected the debt in full, notified us of the collection and sent us the funds less their collection fee. In 2010 this agency decided that they would like to collect on this debtor a second time, I guess because he was so prompt in paying up the first time, so they submitted him into their computers for collection all over again, two years after he had already paid his debt with us. When we realized, by logging into our account with A&S, that they were attempting to collect from this same debtor a second time despite the fact that he does not owe any additional funds we called them to have this straightened out and fixed. To our surprise they want us to pay a cancellation fee of 18% of this false debt in order to cease collection efforts on this debtor. What?! They already got their fee when they collected from this guy in 2008 so what right do they have to expect a second fee right? Well when I called to talk to them about this they said that they have been working on this debt for six months and have reported it on the debtor's credit. I feel for that poor debtor! He paid his dues and they're damaging his credit for no reason! I told them that it's not our fault they've been working on an account for the past six months that was paid in full two years ago so why should we have to pay for their mistake? Misty, the person I spoke too was unbelievably rude, talked over me, cut me off, had a snotty tone with me. We're her clients right? How can a company treat their own clients that way and expect continued business with them? It's one thing to talk to debtors like that but any successful company knows that you don't talk to you customers like that, ever! She tried to tell me that we submitted the guy for collections in 2010 but I highly doubt that considering that his invoices in our system all show a Paid status and the "Pull Bad Debt Invoice" report only includes invoices with a Bad Debt status. When I told her that she hung up on me! How's that for service?
Second problem: I had a debtor call me and explain that he was more than happy to pay his debt but he wanted nothing to do with A&S because they were so rude to him that he would rather let them damage his credit than deal with them. Well after my own experiences with them as a client of theirs, I don't doubt that claim one bit! So I took the man's credit card information, took the payment, and then called A&S to complain to a supervisor about his rep. Instead of saying that he would talk to the rep and apologizing for the inconvenience he defended her and started talking to me like I was a debtor! He called it a stall tactic and suggested I shouldn't believe the debtor for one second because he's just a lowly debtor. Well that doesn't make sense because he gave me credit card info and paid his debt immediately over the phone so it certainly wasn't a stall tactic and debt or no debt I really don't think anyone deserves to be treated like scum in this country. These are hard times and people are struggling, we've all been in a tight spot now and then and none of us like to be talked down to. These people are essentially representing us as a company and we can't have them treating our former clients like that because our niche is very tight and those former clients will significantly damage our reputation, a reputation that we spent thirteen years building for excellent customer service to be #1 in our industry!
Third Problem: A&S called us and told us that a debtor had filed bankruptcy on her debt and to write off the invoice so we did. Months later they called us wanting proof of the debt on this debtor. When I told them that we had written off the debt because they had told us that the debtor filed bankruptcy they said "Well she told us she filed bankruptcy but we haven't received proof" ... well they shouldn't have called and told us that she filed bankruptcy on the debt if they hadn't received proof. Now they want us to pay a cancellation fee on this debt as well and insist that they never would have called us to inform us that a debtor filed bankruptcy. Well I keep really great notes in our system, every conversation is logged with a date, a time, the name of the person in our company who took the call or handled the support ticket, and details regarding the conversation. Our notes clearly state: "A&S called and said that client filed bankruptcy on this debt, writing off invoice". That's pretty clear, no one here would have left a note like that unless they had taken that very call and I know who in our company took that call and left that note.
This agency is rude, not just to debtors but to their customers. They're incompetent. They don't have any form of legitimate notating capabilities on their accounts. Our login area for their website that allows us to see the status on the debts we've sent them is pathetic. And it seems like they've sent us more bills than checks. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong but we hired them to collect money for us did we not? I have over 300 bad debt invoices that have collected over the past 6 months that I will be finding a new collection agency to send them to because there is just no way that I want to continue dealing with A&S. Their track record of having collected less than 10% of the amount we sent them for collections in over two years most certainly doesn't help either.
I could spend the time calling, emailing, and harassing these debtors myself and exert less effort, headache, and frustration than I've gotten dealing with this collection agency. I mean remember one thing, yes, collection agencies are notorious for being rude to debtors and it's a sad, sorry fact. But no one should think they are above providing customer service to their clients. No one should think that they can talk to their customers the way A&S talks to me, or that they can hang up on them, and continue to expect their patronage. If this were a cell phone provider, a utility company, or any other company to which I am providing my business I sure as heck wouldn't put up with that kind of treatment and there's no way I'm going to put up with it from a collection agency either.