All I asked for was a letter with a break down of the charges, and that they are collecting a debt, for my records. He stated "well your gym told you to call us, what more proof do you need?". I told him "please just respect my request, and send this. I am not refusing to pay, I just want this for my records". He told me the break down was in my contract. Well, I dont have my contract, this is like a 6 year old contract. So I asked him to send that to me. He doesn't have the contract. Yet they are charging me fees based on this contract that he does not have. He basically said this was stupid. Then he told me "you've already provided me with your routing number, all I have to do is look up your name and we can deduct from your accoutn without your approval". EXCUSE ME? My only response to that was "I will be looking for the letter in the mail, thank you" and I hung up. I was in shock.
I called the gym back, told them I was threatened and I refused to pay the collection agency. All I got from the gym was an "I'm sorry, we can't help you".
Can anyone help me understand what is going on? I get it, I messed up, I want to pay. But all I asked for was clarification on where the $1202 is coming from, and I was threatened. And the gym wont accept a payment, so how do I fulfill this debt? I imagine a gym on my credit report wont be a hard hit if everything else is good. I would like to know if anyone else has had an experience with this company, and I can PM you the name of the company, that is not listed on BBB and there is no website for them, and he would not provide me with a tax id number either when I asked. SO FRUSTRATING.
Going forward, conduct ALL business with this creditor in writing. I would recommend writing them a letter requesting them to validate your debt. This will force them to produce documentation validating their ownership of your debt. You can hit up Google for samples. Mail the letter to them certified so that you have a receipt. Debt collectors are RUDE so I'm not sure how they'll respond. Good luck!
Collections people are rude and way out of line.
I had to go to the attoney general to get help with a collections place that were harrassing me over a credit card that was not mine for the amount of 10000.00. I had to write a letter with proof that it was not mine to attoney general and they went after them to clear my name. Please listen to MissesJai.
"You never know how strong you are until being strong is all you have left"
[This message edited by feelsgaslighted at 1:41 PM, April 12th (Friday)]
Me- BW, 30 Him- fWh, 36 Mostly R'd, minus a few scars...bought a house and got a puppy...And baby makes 3! She arrived August 2013
Heres my question, I am recovering from a bankruptcy, and trying to build my credit. Will a "gym" have a hard hit on my credit. I have a few friends who work in real estate and they don't seem to think this will affect me that much. I just don't knwo what to do. I will not be paying this collections agency. I will pay my gym directly, but they refuse....
[This message edited by ntgvngup218 at 2:20 PM, April 12th (Friday)]
said that legally, since they sent to collections, they cannot collect payment from me.
This is completely wrong and is the biggest brightest red flag.
Pay NOTHING to the collection agency.
1. Call the bank and let them know what is going on. The downside to this is that most banks will put your account on alert, so if you try to make large purchases it will be more difficult. And you will have to go in to pay for gas as it will not allow you to pay at the pump (as least that is what Chase did). This way if they try to take money right out of your accout it will be denied.
2. You need to write to Gold's Gym (send it registered mail) and tell them to send you a written copy of itemized charges (like an itemized hospital bill). if they dont send anything for 7-10 business days.....
3. Then you need to call the BBB and the Attorney General and let them know you think you are being scammed and what you can do next.
Again PAY THEM NO MONEY This is not legit, and its shady and if they call you all the time after you tell them to stop, then you can sue them for harrasment.
Also, dont admit to this being your debt anymore at this time. Even though you think its yours, admitting it could be held against you if it was recorded.
I appreciate all of the responses. AS someone who is trying desperately to build up her credit to buy a house, this is just another headache that I don't need, that I cannot take care of.
I've received awesome advice from them and they have sample DV & C&D letters you can use for your own situation. Good luck & keep us posted!
My SO has impeccable credit. He has never paid a dime in interest on a credit card much less had a collection. When he moved to the state we live in he had his own apartment. When I moved we got a totally different apartment. The electric company tacked on the last payment of his bill from the previous apartment to the new apartment.
I paid the bill. A month later my SO gets a call from a collection agency saying he owes like $60 and they were asking for his credit card number to get it taken care of now before it shows on his credit report. He was smart enough to decline, and said "send me a bill and I will pay it". The guy took down SO's information. We never received a bill, never heard a peep. I called the electric company, everything was paid in full. Two years later nothing has been reported to his credit report about owing anything.
But he came this close to compromising his security. He said his first inclination was to give them his credit card and have it taken care of. But... I handle the finances, and he thought about me (probably heard my nagging voice) and what I would do or want done. I swear, one has to be very careful of scammers these days.
[This message edited by Dark Inertia at 3:01 PM, April 12th (Friday)]
You are well within your rights to ask for a breakdown of the charges and if the gym forwarded them then there should be a number to their legal department or billing department that can still give you that information. That's all I know, hope it gets better.
Unagie, I was thinking the same thing. He was basically saying he can contact my back since he knows who my bank is now, and get my information by using my name only. Thats why I didnt even acknowledge that threat, because it sounded like plain stupidity on his part to me.
