Below is the text from a letter I sent Household bank concerning my account.
Dear Mr. Bobby Mehta,
I have three issues I need addressed and resolved with my account as quickly as possible. The first goes back to October of 1999.
As your records should indicate, I moved from Arizona to temporary quarters in California. However, the bill for October never made it to my residence until in November, at which time we paid the bill.
Because this was out of my control, I request that GM Card remove this derogatory instance from my credit record and that the late charge assessed be reversed.
The next issue began in February of this year. My bill did not make it to my home; neither did the bill for March.
When I did not see a bill, I called your office to inquire where my bill was. I was told that they were mailed. I mailed out a payment without the bill and to ensure I received future bills,
I changed my billing/mailing address to my PO box. A month or two went by and again no bill arrived. I once again called your office and was told they were mailed out.
However, as with the bills from February and March, I did not receive May or June's either. Your records should collaborate my story.
I finally went on line to check the status of my account and to see whether I could pay on line.
I found the reason that I did not get my bills was because of a typo in your system. You carried an incorrect PO box in your system.
When I called in to your service center in April, I distinctly told your representative (which your recorded phone calls will collaborate) to change it to PO Box 8462.
However, your rep keyed in 5462, an honest mistake. Thus, I was not getting the bills. I was sent a new bill and paid all back owed amounts. I believe that these were all honest mistakes. Based on this I would respectfully request that HCS remove the 4 months of hits to my credit record for February through June, inclusive.
Next, according to your own records, my account balance a year ago was approximately $4200 and it is currently $5500.
I have not used that account for almost 6 years, yet the balance goes up by $1300, even after paying the interest over this time period.
I just can't understand how an account can go up when payments are made, even if they are late and no usage has occurred. I would like to know how it went up and unless there's a logical and acceptable reason, I humbly request that the account be brought back down to its previous amount and then all subsequent payments be applied thereto.
Lastly, and most damaging, is while the last round of faux-pas were happening, because my account was 2 months past due, one of your reps turned our account over to your collection agency requesting we pay $4,847 (the total amount owed).
The weird part of this is that according to your collection agency's notes, Karen Fisher, Sr. claims Adjuster, at the point in time that they were asked to handle it, our account was up to date.
hen there's the issue with requesting the full amount. While I realize that it could be requested under extreme circumstances, it just appears a little punitive to me for my circumstance. Anyway, the collection agency rep was as confused as my wife and I were.
So, I once again contacted the 1-800 phone number, for GM Card, and gave my account and attempted to discuss my account. Well, sir, for whatever reason, your reps became incredibly antagonistic and argumentative (please, listen to the calls that you record).
When I asked for their supervisor, they actually hung up on me. I therefore called the collection agency back and discussed the issue with them and they were very understanding and also wondering why my account was turned over to them.
They told me that only your office can withdraw the collection agency off and suggested that I write you a letter. At this point, as it has been since we were made aware of the issue, up to date.
This all started when we tried to buy a house in November and fell out of escrow because of past and present Household accounts you folks certainly do hold a lot of credit card accounts.
I have enclosed many e-mails and copies off your web page referencing my account. The latest dated tonight for December.
At this point I'm not saying that I'm not a sinner, I am and always will be, but there's sufficient uncertainty surrounding my account that I believe both of us have some level of culpability at this point.
One interesting point in all the below e-mails is that at no time did anyone tell us that our account was going to be turned over to a collection agency.
I could be wrong, but it just seems that before such a drastic step would have been taken that someone, anyone, would have made a reasonable attempt to contacted me, either by e-mail, (snail) mail or by phone, but nobody did (why?)
It wasn't until we received a letter from the collection agency that we were aware you had made such a motion.
Additionally, I have added copies of a number of on-line statements that do not indicate a problem with our account, but in point of fact show that I have an available credit balance of anywhere from $50 to over $300, and again no word that the account is in trouble.
In view of the above, I respectfully request that my account be reinstated and that it be withdrawn from your collection agency. In response, I will make a double-payment each month until it is paid off regardless of whether I receive a bill.
In good faith and if necessary, I will go back on line and approve automatic payments.
I would also like a reconciliation of my account over the past 2 years to make certain that it is correct.
Please contact me as soon as you have reviewed this data and have made a decision.
Very truly yours
Steve Wilson