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Legal Mediation, Mr.Richard Steele verbal abuse, yelling, threatened Jacksonville Internet
Like many people in the world, I fell on bad times and took out a payday loan. My child suddenly took very ill and i had to take off work on Family Medical Leave for a couple of months. I called the loan people and told them my situation and they advised me that they could not hold my check for an extended amount of time. I advised them that it would indeed bounce.
After the check bounced they called one time and i told them that i could not pay it right now. The woman on the other end said that she would mark it as a "refused to pay." Which wasn't the case. Exactly 4 mins. later I got a phone call from their corporate office. A man named Kevin said that he had recieved an email saying that i refused to pay my debt. I told him that i had just hung up with the woman from the store and that wasn't what was said. i told him the situation and of course he didn't want to hear it; he just wanted the $ right now. After that he called non stop everyday and it was really upsetting, and even when i spoke to him, he would still call the homes of the my referrals.
I finally went back to work but only for 3 days a week (i can't work FT because of my child's illness). Before I got my 1st check; my phone got shut off for a week. It had been on for a month when i got a phone call from Legal Mediaton. The gentleman who called asked about the debt and i told him I could pay it in 2 payments, this was the best I could do and i thought it was sufficient. Then another man gets on the phone identifies himself as Attorney Richard Steele also Senior Partner. I again told him what I was able to do and that I wanted to get this paid it had been long enough.
Mr. Steele then told me that I had to pay it in full and it had to be paid by 5p.m. (I got this phone call @ 4:10p.m). I asked him if this was his policy or the policy of the company i owed, he told me that it was the policy of the company I owed. So I told him I would call him back.
I called the corporate office of the payday loan company and told them what was going on. They said that they would have definitely accepted 2 payments, but since the attorney had the case it would be up to him now.
I called Mr. Steele back and asked again about who's policy it was and he again said the payday loan company. Then I told him that I had called the company and that was not there policy and they said it was all on him, how ever he wanted to collect the $. Because I had caught him in a lie; he instintly started yelling that I didn't know how serious this situation was but that i would real soon! I again asked him if he was sure that he would not accept 2 seperate payments from me.
Then all of sudden without warning a woman picks up the phone and asks what she could help me with and I replied I guess I was rudely transferred; she tells me to hold and transferred back to Mr.Steele who answered the phone and yelled what, what do you want!? I told him I wasn't sure why i was transferred to the woman and he yells I didn't transfer you! I disconnected with you! Don't call back here! I told him for an Attorney you are very rude and totally unprofessional. And hung up on him.
Is it just me or did it seem like this man would rather try to prosecute me instead of actually collecting the debt. And the bad thing was that this was the first phone call from Legal Mediation and then they tried to give me 50 mins. to pay them. It was just insane!