Search Smart Spending:

Browse by Tags

  • Debt collectors go after expired Verizon bills

    Posted Apr 21 2008, 10:09 AM by Karen Datko
    Filed under: ,
    Rating:

    This post comes from Joseph S. Enoch at partner bog ConsumerAffairs.com.

    Consumers around the country are complaining that Afni Inc., a debt-collection agency, has been calling and mailing, demanding that consumers pay old Verizon telephone debts, some of them as much as 10 years old.   Read More...

    Discuss ( 8 comments) 2,745 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

  • Collection agency pursues old magazine-subscription debts

    Posted Mar 31 2008, 04:42 PM by Karen Datko
    Filed under: , , ,
    Rating:

    This post comes from Joseph S. Enoch at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com.

    Five years after the Federal Trade Commission barred a magazine-subscription company from fraudulently signing up consumers for pricey magazine bundles, a collection agency is trying to collect on those debts and those from other magazine peddlers.

    In 2003, the FTC essentially closed the door on Consolidated Media Services and the network of companies under the Cross Media Marketing name after they settled for $350,000 and agreed to end the myriad of alleged deceptive sales tactics they were accused of.

    Although CMS appears to have dissolved, consumers write that a collection agency -- Luebke Baker and Associates of Peoria, Ill. -- has been trying to collect on CMS debts, some as old as 11 years. 

    "Back in November 1997 I received a phone call from Consolidated Media Services asking to purchase magazines," wrote Darla of Catasauqua, Pa. "I cannot remember the deal they had offered, but agreed to one year. One to two years later I received a phone call from Consolidated Media stating the balance was past due. I apologized and paid my account in full with a check by phone.

    "Now 11 years later I receive a call from Luebke Baker and Associates stating that I owe $140 and that they would be more than happy to take money over the phone."   Read More...

    Discuss ( 8 comments) 3,510 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

  • Floating due date snags Chase, Citibank customers

    Posted Mar 18 2008, 10:03 AM by Karen Datko
    Filed under: , , ,
    Rating:

    This post comes from Joseph S. Enoch at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com.

    Consumers complain that Chase and Citibank are routinely changing the due dates on their credit card statements from month to month, often making customers with automatic payments late -- saddling them with late fees and higher interest rates.

    "(Citibank) moved my due date to cause me to be late and give them the ability to charge a late fee and move my rate from 3.99% (for the life of the balance) to 24.44%," wrote Jeff of Noblesville, Ind. "I have always paid electronically on the 24th. ... It sent my monthly bill for Citibank from $211 to $495.”

    While exact numbers are difficult to quantify, ConsumerAffairs.com has found numerous complaints, some going back as far as 2001. Consumer advocates say the banks' tactics are greedy, unnecessary and more than coincidence.   Read More...

    Discuss ( 5 comments) 861 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

  • Kevin Trudeau now offering 'debt cures'

    Posted Feb 19 2008, 08:38 AM by Karen Datko
    Filed under: , , ,

    This post comes from Mark Huffman of partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com.

    Master marketer and infomercial maven Kevin Trudeau has a new book out, but he hasn't strayed far from his successful diet and health book formula, which critics say panders to consumer paranoia.

    His new book, coincidentally introduced during the current credit crisis, is "Debt Cures They Don't Want You To Know About."

    Consumers who called an 800 number to order a copy are reporting experiences similar to those relayed to ConsumerAffairs.com by people who called to order "Natural Cures They Don't Want You To Know About." They're finding it very hard to buy just the book.

    "I only wanted to order the book, but the young lady kept telling me about a trial for 30 days, and I kept telling her 'the book only, please,'" Cynthia, of Mexia, Texas, told ConsumerAffairs.com.   Read More...

    Discuss ( 1 comments) 2,905 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

  • First National Card: Too good to be true?

    Posted Jan 10 2008, 10:06 AM by Karen Datko
    Filed under: , , ,
    Rating:

    This post comes from David Wood at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com.

    While junk e-mail keeps us busy hitting the delete button, unsolicited advertisements and offers through old-fashioned snail mail also can sow the seeds of confusion.

    Not many do this better than a Nevada-based credit offer called First National Card.

    First National Card -- offered by both Consumer Credit Services Inc. and Capital Credit Alliance Inc. -- is one of the most confusing and complained-about credit offers anywhere.

    The two companies -- CCS and CCA -- reside in the same Las Vegas office building and offer the same products, but are owned by two different people. They generate numerous consumer complaints annually to consumer protection agencies, Web sites and just about anyone else willing to listen.   Read More...

    Discuss ( 3 comments) 1,823 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this