Complaint Review: Receivables Performance Management - Bothell Washington

I had an Old Navy account 7 years ago. I used the card once, paid the bill, and cut up the card. A few years later, I found out there was a fraudulent charge on the card for around $40 in 2002. I disputed it with Old Navy and with the credit bureaus. As of June, 2007 the credit bureaus were conducting their own investigation, but the account was shown as "charged off" on my credit report, and the account was closed according to Old Navy.

Yesterday (07/28/08) I received a letter from RPM saying I owed almost $200 to LVNV Funding LLC. I called yesterday and was left on hold for nearly an hour and no one ever answered my call. Today, I spoke to Marie twice, who gave me the wrong numbers several times for their "Escalation Department".

Finally, I called and asked to be transferred to the "Escalation Department" directly and I spoke to Jeanette who was able to at least tell me that this LVNV Funding LLC is the creditor for SEVERAL department stores, including Gap, Old Navy, LS Aires, Banana Republic, and several others. The reason Old Navy rang a bell was because I had disputed the fraudulent charge with them several years prior. By the way, the number for the Escalation Department (whatever that is) is 1-888-838-5123 and Jeanette was actually very nice. Her extension was ext. 1434. She was rushed and didn't really act like she had TIME to talk to me, but she was not rude and she did not pressure me to make a payment. She just gave me the information that she could and asked that I call them back when I find anything out.

The only thing I didn't like is that they refused to give me any contact information for the creditor so that I could dispute the collection charge. She said she wasn't allowed to give out that information and I would have to "look it up in the phone book". Yeah, because I'm sure these people are listed in my hometown's phonebook, at town with $8,500 people which is over 3 hours away from where the disputed charge was incurred.

Anyway, they didn't hurt me any (yet) but they haven't helped me either. I have emailed Old Navy to see if they re-opened my account or something or why this has not been settled yet, since it has been six years. The last time I contacted anyone on this account was a year ago when I wrote the credit bureau to see when that disputed charge would be removed from my credit report. At that time, they said that Old Navy had closed the account and reported it as "charged off" since they had no proof that it was fraudulent.

My credit score is not horrible. It's good enough to get a decent home loan with a co-signer. I have not had ANY credit cards for over a year and I have not had any department store cards since the Old Navy card. So, I'm assuming that's the only thing it could be, but I don't understand why I'm just now receiving a collection letter when this dispute started almost six years ago.

I have read other things that other people have posted. It seems that this company always contacts individuals about accounts that have been closed for several years or accounts that would be difficult to track, like cell phone accounts for companies that no longer exist and credit card accounts that have been closed for years.

I don't think I should trust them and I made sure that I didn't give them anymore information than they already had, but they had too much if you ask me. They knew my name, my previous & current addresses, previous phone numbers, and my social security number and birthdate.

I don't even know how they got my address, because I just moved 3 months ago and did not contact any of my old creditors when I moved. I only contacted the post office, my bank, my cell phone company, and my insurance company. I don't owe anyone any money and I don't have any credit cards. So, I had no reason to contact anyone else. But they had the correct address printed on the envelope. It was not forwarded mail.

I am not sure where this is going but my next step is to get another copy of my credit report, contact the credit bureau, and possibly contact the Better Business Bureau.

If anyone knows what else I need to do I would appreciate all the help I can get. I don't know what to do if you suspect that your identity has been stolen. I don't know what to do about this fraudulent charge other than what I've already done. I know I'm seriously considering signing up with a credit monitoring agency. I've heard that Lifelock offers basic service for around $10/month.

Crystal

Salem, Illinois

U.S.A.