Joseph
New Orleans,#2Consumer Comment
Mon, August 22, 2011
This is a scam. There are certain red flags here.
1. They will not show any paperwork to substantiate the debt. Any reputable company would provide proof of the debt. You should tell them that no payment will ever be made without documentation of the debt.
2. You may well have once owed a debt to Columbia DVD, but if it is 15-20 years old, it is well past any statute of limitation. The original company has long since written off the debt, and these scam companies buy that debt for pennies on the dollar. They hope to scare people into paying the debt by either making threats or tacking on huge penalties that they are willing to waiver.
3. Any penalty claimed without a signed consent or agreement on your part is not enforceable in a court of law.