- Report: #138731
Complaint Review: Certegy - St. Petersburg Florida
-
Author Confirmed
Why?
Certegy
11601 Roosevelt Blvd. North St. Petersburg, 33716 Florida, U.S.A.
Web:
N/A
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good?
Certegy harassing phone calls St. Petersburg Florida
Thanks to another rip-off reporter, I was able to piece together what seems to be a growing problem; collection calls on your cell phone for debts that that are not yours.
The original poster was a "C" from Maryland, USA. The link to his post is below:
badbusinessbureau.com/reports/ripoff136368.htm
In searching the Rip-Off report, I found 13 other people with problems with Certegy Payment Recovery.
"C". from Germantown, Maryland has been getting collection calls from Certegy Payment Recovery on his cell phone.
For the past five months, I have also been getting these calls on my cell phone. The callers are looking for somebody with a name that is not anything like mine. I have had the cell phone number they are calling for over four years and of course, it is unlisted.
At first, I thought someone had dialed my number by mistake. But when the calls continued, I started talking to the callers. They refused to give the company name they were calling for, but my caller id has a 727 area code for the calling number which is for St. Petersburg FL. The rest of the number is very close to some of Certegy's other phone numbers.
Three times I have explained to the callers that I am not the person they are looking for. They always say they are sorry and will remove the number.
The calls stop for a week or so and then continue. The last person I talked to said he was in India. Apparently Certegy is outsourcing some of its collection work.
Besides being annoying, these people are eating up my cell phone minutes and I want it to stop.
In one conversation, I was able to the the name of the merchant they were trying to collect for which was a large department store. I have never shopped at this merchant or had an account there.
The strategy I used was to get the name of the merchant so I can send them the "drop dead letter" via Certified Mail, telling them to cease all contact with me for this matter.
My understanding is that after you send the "drop dead" letter and the collection attempts contunue, you can sue the merchant.
We'll see.
Don
Acworth, Georgia
U.S.A.
The original poster was a "C" from Maryland, USA. The link to his post is below:
badbusinessbureau.com/reports/ripoff136368.htm
In searching the Rip-Off report, I found 13 other people with problems with Certegy Payment Recovery.
"C". from Germantown, Maryland has been getting collection calls from Certegy Payment Recovery on his cell phone.
For the past five months, I have also been getting these calls on my cell phone. The callers are looking for somebody with a name that is not anything like mine. I have had the cell phone number they are calling for over four years and of course, it is unlisted.
At first, I thought someone had dialed my number by mistake. But when the calls continued, I started talking to the callers. They refused to give the company name they were calling for, but my caller id has a 727 area code for the calling number which is for St. Petersburg FL. The rest of the number is very close to some of Certegy's other phone numbers.
Three times I have explained to the callers that I am not the person they are looking for. They always say they are sorry and will remove the number.
The calls stop for a week or so and then continue. The last person I talked to said he was in India. Apparently Certegy is outsourcing some of its collection work.
Besides being annoying, these people are eating up my cell phone minutes and I want it to stop.
In one conversation, I was able to the the name of the merchant they were trying to collect for which was a large department store. I have never shopped at this merchant or had an account there.
The strategy I used was to get the name of the merchant so I can send them the "drop dead letter" via Certified Mail, telling them to cease all contact with me for this matter.
My understanding is that after you send the "drop dead" letter and the collection attempts contunue, you can sue the merchant.
We'll see.
Don
Acworth, Georgia
U.S.A.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Gregory
Wilmington,Ohio,
U.S.A.
State Laws to protect.
#2Consumer Suggestion
Mon, June 13, 2005
It has been a few years, but I worked in collection for several years. While the original company has very little if any laws that they must follow in collections, this company is considered a third party so they have to follow certain rules. This is not a 'State' law, but a federal. Though I would suggest that you check with your state laws to be sure there are no alterations/changes. I have included this cut and paste to help you: "TITLE 2.97. CONSUMER COLLECTION NOTICE 1812.700. (a) In addition to the requirements imposed by Article 2 (commencing with Section 1788.10) of Title 1.6C, third-party debt collectors subject to the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 1692 et seq.) shall provide a notice to debtors that shall include the following description of debtor rights: "The state Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act require that, except under unusual circumstances, collectors may not contact you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. They may not harass you by using threats of violence or arrest or by using obscene language. Collectors may not use false or misleading statements or call you at work if they know or have reason to know that you may not receive personal calls at work. For the most part, collectors may not tell another person, other than your attorney or spouse, about your debt. Collectors may contact another person to confirm your location or enforce a judgment. For more information about debt collection activities, you may contact the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-FTC-HELP or www.ftc.gov." " I know that in Ohio (and I believe federally) if you tell a third party collection agency "It is inconvenient for you to contact me (at work/at home/through the mail/on my cellular phone/etc)" then they are no longer allowed to contact you at whichever one you have notified them of. After that it is considered harrassment if they do it again. Then you have your lawsuit. PLEASE keep in mind that this is only for third party ones though. If you have a collection account through a provider and they are collecting on their own account all bets are off. They may say/do whatever they please. Not sure why that is, but that is how it is.
Scott
Akron,Oklahoma,
U.S.A.
wrong answer. The above employee collections poster is lying and he knows it..
#3Consumer Suggestion
Tue, May 10, 2005
I was called on my cell phone continuously by a collection agency looking for someone I have never heard of. I wrote, emailed, and faxed to their compliance manager, supervisors, and legal counsel to get this to spot but nothing was done and I got more calls. I sued for violations of the fdcpa(fair debt collection practices act) and they hired a lawfirm who contacted me, told me I had a legitimate case against them, and offered a settlement. It was over in an hour after that. If they told you about the person's debt that is 3rd party disclosure and illegal. Causing your phone to ring constantly is a violation. Checking up on the location of a debtor after being told they have the wrong number is a violation. Causing charges to be made to a cell phone is a violation. I highly suggest you get a cerified letter out to them stating their error along with the phone address and even fax a letter to them. Find out the name and number of their compliance manager and legal counsel and talk to them. State in no uncertain terms if you receive one more call you will see them in court. you can also go to creditboards.com and post on this and people will help in cluding me I I see the post. As for the collector above, you a a liar and a total disgrace.
First Name
Florida,Florida,
U.S.A.
There's really nothing you can do
#4Consumer Suggestion
Fri, April 22, 2005
I work for collections, not for Certegy however. It's obvious some person is using YOUR phone number on bad checks they're passing around. Certegy doesn't want to call you because they're wasting their time and money calling you. They're only looking for the person who wrote the checks. Unfortunately, there's no way of knowing what's a good number or not. They're not breaking any law- you're number was provided as a good phone number. Although they probably tie the accounts together as we do, there's no way to know if new checks are written. I suggest you tell them you're phone number is being used fraudulently each time they call to keep your minutes wasted to a minimum. Good luck!
