August 2008 Yeah, it's worse than I suspected here. Doug pulled the rug on the Burgess and McKelvey operations and is shutting down Cignarilli and Shear as well. Don't guess it's my place to say anything, but ever since Stephanie arrived, it's been downhill. What's this, the third or fourth agency she's killed single-handedly?
August 2008 Up until early last year I worked at one of the national agencies. I have a background in analysis and was tasked to figure the impact of this and similar consumer type websites on our bottom line. For about six months, I tracked and was tasked to figure the impact of this and similar consumer type websites on our bottom line. I tracked monies lost as a result of a debtor refusing to pay because he read about us on the internet. I calculated the number of cease communication letters, attorney responses, debt validation demands and outright refusals and compared them against a equal period from a year earlier. Our center had a volume (with 200 outbound collectors) of 32,000 calls a day nationwide. (That's nothing now - with robot calls, 200 could exceed 50,000 if properly managed.)
I suggested to management that losses due to consumer education were 11% greater than a comparable period a year previous. Mind you this agency was booking nearly 35K an hour. What that means in real dollars is that this site probably cost that one agency 27,000 daily that would never be collected or would only escalate in cost per dollar return ratio. Doing the math, I started looking for another agency - thinking statistically, a smaller agency would fair better for someone on commission. My former agency laid off nearly 600 nationwide after I left.
My smaller agency theory isn't holding up. This agency - (although I haven't done the numbers, and I ain't volunteering) appears to lose much, much more daily. Course it doesn't help they are in the America's worst list and have their own exposed website. I underestimated the management skill set. Time to find someone with a decent reputation before I starve to death.
July 2008 Saw your request on the Americas Worst site asking about Stephanie Iannuzzi from Aurora. Bet you find her and her buddy Sheryl Meyers hacking old payday loans with the Mackinnons and Account Management in Buffalo.
2007 After finding Bud Hibbs & this wonderful website, I discovered I'd been completely scammed, first by Lenahan Law Offices, & then by Account Management Services. After letting them take thousands of dollars of my hard earned money directly from my account, I sent them certified, return receipt letters telling them they no longer had the permission. Although the letter was signed for by someone there prior to the next scheduled withdrawal, they tried to take the money anyway. Luckily, I'd already put a stop payment on it. We ended up closing that bank account & opening another to protect ourselves. I also filed a complaint w/ the Attorney General's office here in KY. Danielle Lenahan did respond, saying that since the bankruptcy, she no longer has access to any records. AMS still had not, as of 2/12/07, when I got a copy of the letter the AG sent them citing their "complete failure to respond to our consumer-business mediation service indicates an unwillingness to cooperate with the Division of Consumer Protection's efforts to assist consumers with ethical businesses. If you refuse to respond to our mediation efforts within two (2) weeks, we will presume that the complaint is legitimate and will recommend that this matter be reviewed for appropriate action." I'm sure nothing will come of it, but at least it validates my claims they're scum.
While I'm very glad to have found
your site, I'm sick that I didn't find it earlier. Like many
of the people here, I had a Providian account that went to
Lenahan. I, too, was harassed & threatened with jail or
garnishment of wages. Even though I was paying them, Ms.
Williams, the 1st of many crooks I dealt with, called my
parents out of the blue one day to find me. Again, I was
making payments, & she had my contact info. When I asked her
why, she didn't really have an answer for me. I've been
making payments, which have increased, via ACH since 6/03.
Although I was originally told they had to obtain my
permission every 6 months to continue the arrangement, I've
not spoken to anyone since 6/05. While dealing with them, I
worked with Ms. Williams, Mr. Trask (ext. 5164), Ms.
Jackson, Mr. Martin, Ms. Harris (ext. 3644), & Kelly Flynn.
Kelly actually did provide me with a statement for what I'd
paid so far.
This all came to a head today because I was meeting with my
financial advisor. I pulled my credit report & found that
Lenahan has NEVER reported that I've been making payments. I
tried to call them at the 866-645-9009 only to find it was
disconnected. I googled them (not realizing I'd misspelled
the name), & found 2 offices, one in Buffalo & one in White
Plains. I called the one in Buffalo, & it too has been
disconnected. I called the one in White Plains & talked to
Jim Lenihan, who told me they don't do collections. Then, I
googled again with the correct spelling & found this site. I
wish I had years ago -- I've sent them thousands of dollars.
I'm hoping I can pursue some legal action at this point.
Giove law firm has been harassing me more than a year on an old credit card account. A lady called my home a few days ago saying they were fixing up papers for the courts and my lawyer has till 5 o'clock the next day to contact them about this debt. well the only thing they got from me was a debt validation letter. this debt is more than five years old, which is past the statutes for collecting. I went on my credit report a few months ago and 1st American investment company had the account, now when i go back on it today, account management services is reporting it with (cannot locate individual). funny thing is though, Giove law firm has been calling me about it. could it be that all three companies are trying to collect the same debt? seems kinda fishy to me. Bud Hibbs Staff Response: Check out the Organizational Chart at http://giovelawofficeexposed.com/doug.htm
I would like to clarify something about ASG. I agree some collectors are shady and have no regards for the debtor, but we (asg) do not report to Experian, Transunion, and Equifax The Original Client, whomever that may be, finalize the credit report and submit.. ASG has nothing to do with reporting. all we can do is send you a letter stating we are in receipt of payment. These problems with ASG seam more about the original creditors...not OUR AGENCY. I feel that you, Bud HIbbs, are the true S.C.U.M B.A.G by telling these people that you can get their interest rate lowered and blah blah blah, when credit counseling agencies, IN FACT, put more people in collections then get them out. I know this because I see it daily on the CBR's. My last point is that I have never once in my 4 years with this company ever treated the debtor with less respect than they treat me.
Bud Hibbs Staff Response: A true Prince among thieves. And for the record, we're not a credit counseling agency.