November 2008 client services. i have a credit card debt with bank of America, admit it. it wnt 4 months without payment. i have a chronically ill child and insurance wasn't paying for her treatments and so goes my heavy credit card debts with various companies. lke the person who wrote, i too spoke with a kevin wells. i must say he was very understanding and to set up arrangements. 3 months at $448. and then a re-negotiated payment with b of a at $240 monthly for years which i took. when i had a problem with the 3rd payment being available to draw, i called mr wels. well, how about that. he wasn't im for 3 days that i tried to talk to him! then i got Jim nester like the other writer here. he told me it was impossible to work with me for an additional 2 weeks to allow me to get the money into the account so i was forced to borrow the money from my employer and then incur another debt to him. now bank of America is taking the $240 monthly at a fair interest rate and they too said if i miss one payment it will go back into collection. miserable people to deal with after you agree to pay off
October 2008 Got my first call from Client Services, Inc. today, at work from "Jeff Brown". Since I have no home phone he insisted I provide him with a personal number - either cell, relative or neighbor where he could reach me. Insisted I was obligated to do so. Sorry, NO! I got his information so I could call him. He told me I have 3 days grace period in which to obtain an attorney because he has been given the authority to take legal action against me. He then proceeded to ask to be transferred to my payroll supervisor. I told him that wasn't going to happen. He said he had the right to speak with that person to make arrangements for getting this debt paid. (We seem to have lost 3 days grace period somewhere in our little exchange!) I told him I would be the one getting this debt to Citibank taken care of, not him. He was obviously becoming increasingly agitated during this exchange and barely controlling it. Fortunately, I have consulted this site extensively in the past when an unscrupulous collector had me so terrified I had a heart attack. I do have pending plans to take care of this debt, but it was nice for a change to use what I have learned from this site to hear that little worm squirm on the other end of the line.
August 2008
I
have been reading your horror stories about Client Services
and have a problem with them too. I was trying to do the
right thing and I stupidly gave them my bank account number
for pymt. We set up a payment schedule and we BOTH
agreed on it.
WELLLLLL... “In writing” never happened. There was not time
for that. They started taking out money right away. They
took out the money that I had for other things
outstanding and then they took it out again. Before they
were finished taking, I was finished financially. They
cleaned out my account not once but twice and the overdraft
fees did the rest. I have paid more to them than I ever owed
Capital One.
I could not even close that account because it was so far
over drawn I could not pay it all and they kept taking
more out. Finally I got a payday loan to “catch it up” to
the “in the black” status so that I could close it and
they did it again before I could get it closed.
Jim Nestor finally
called my home and left a message telling me that he does
not accept my offer or arrangements and from now on he would
not be taking any more money from my account and he was
turning it over to the State of Nevada and wished me good
luck with it.
I have since closed that account and learned a very valuable
lesson...But now I am faced with a Constable trying to serve
me with court papers. They are terrible people and they
ought to be victims of their own abuse just once!
After all of this .... My BIGGEST regret is not having read
your column BEFORE I agreed to work with them...most of it
could have been avoided...
June 2008 I defaulted on a credit card with Capital One-no dispute. I wanted to pay and Client Services gave me a payment agreement over the phone. I talked to you, Bud-and I also called an attorney who stated if any payment agreement is arranged, get it in writing, and do not give your bank account information out. I talked to a Mr. Nester today with Client Services and told him I would make that arranged payments but would need a letter stating the arrangement before I would give him my bank information, and he refused. I refused to give the bank information and stated I would make the payments as discussed but with money orders only. He told me that he couldn't give me any documentation because then that would be a contract and they can actually pull the arrangement at any time. I am trying to pay this, but they are not getting access to my account, why is that such a tough concept???
June 2008 This company called and we set up a payment plan that was manageable for me and agreeable to them. They were to start the payments in one month so as to allow me to obtain funds to cover the first payment since I had other things out waiting to be paid. They took two payments out IMMEDIATELY and now my account is overdrawn by $450.00 and they will not answer my calls or fix THEIR problem. They are denying ever making any arrangements with me and they are RUDE and just plain MEAN about it. I owe the money and am trying to do the right thing, but they are making it very difficult. MR Gordon Wood told me I owe him money and he will do what ever he has to do to get it. They do not make deals.
May 2008 Kevin Wells has been calling me about a debt owed by another person. I have explained that I am not the person he's looking for. However, he has been rude, threatening & obscene on these calls. I would appreciate it if he would cease & desist calling. Do I file a complaint with the FTC or with the Missouri Attorney General? (Send the Cease Communication Letter)
May 2008 I have been receiving calls from Client Services for a couple of weeks. The first couple of calls I received, I honestly thought they were a division of Bank of America, and told them I was trying to get this taken care of as I disagreed with the debt. When I found out from BofA that Client Services was a collection agency I decided to pay the measly 211.and further my discussion with BofA. I told the girl "Kelly" I was going to pay, but I had to wait 10 days. That wasn't going to work for her. I HAD to give her a post-dated check. I said no, I was not comfortable with that. She hung-up on me after asking me to enjoy my "future with debt collection". Believe it or not, I called this place back to ask if I could speak to a supervisor. Oh my God, it gets worse, here are some of the things they said: They could care less if I paid the debt, they will get it anyway; BofA doesn't care about me, or their collection practices; they can treat me anyway they want to. I could go on forever. I spoke to a Kelly, a Kenny and a Mr. Butler. All were rude. The amazing thing is, I was going to pay this debt! I can't imagine what they do to people who say they won't!
May 2008 I worked out an agreement with Dennis "Slim ball" scipiro at clients services to pay $9000 dollars and this matter would be settled with Citibank. They demanded a blank check to get this all started. I told them NO WAY. I paid this $9000 dollar debt off in less then the 90 days we had agreed on. 4 months later I got legal notices that I was being sued by a law group in Washington state. I called Citibank and the Washington state law group that was going to sue me and told them the story about this legally binding agreement that I had with client services. told them about this agreement. 3 weeks later Citibank called me and said " client services said they had no agreement with me. I told Citibank to ask client services for a copy of their recorded phone calls with me. 2 weeks later Citibank called back and said "client services couldn't find these recordings. I TOLD THEM THAT, IT OK CAUSE "I RECORDED ALL THE CALLS FROM CLIENT SERVICES' and I would send a transcript of these calls to them and the lawyers that were in Washington state that were going to sue me. The lawyer group called and asked if I wanted a lawyer to sue clients services, cause they had broken SEVERAL state and federal law in the way they had handled this matter. Citibank sent me a PAID IN FULL statement within days. and said Client services was really PISSED that I recorded these calls. The Seattle lawyer group is handling this upcoming lawsuit against client services... If client services calls you then by all means "RECORD ALL CALLS FROM THESE SLIM BALLS. Dennis schipro is a LIAR and not to be trusted.
2007 Client Services, Inc. (800-521-3236) continues to call my cell phone number asking for someone I truly have never heard of. I have told them several times I have no idea who this guy is they keep calling for. They leave messages for this guy, even though the message on my cell phone uses my real name, which is not even close to the one they are looking for. I have had this same number for several years, so it is not likely this other guy ever had it. They call at least 3 or 4 times a week, sometimes 3 times on the same day. I can't make them stop.
2007 Have been getting calls from Client
Services Inc. They wanted to talk to a family member that
does not live at our address and we originally told them so
and gave them their phone number. They would then call back
telling asking us to give the person a message. At first we
did this but as they kept calling I told them that obviously
the person wasn't going to call them back and that they were
to stop calling us. The person who kept calling quickly got
off the phone and hung up as I was telling them not to call
us again.
Later he called again. I went through it again. Telling him
that obviously the person would not call them and we had no
control over them so Client Services was not to call us
again. As this went on he hung up on me again. I called them
back and told the secretary I wanted to speak to someone in
charge of the employees that make the phone calls. A man
answered and then asked me to hold. I started talking to my
niece, mentioning they were called Client Services and were
probably trying to collect a debt. The man (the original
man) suddenly blurt out at me that 'If I knew who they were
then why did I act like I didn't'... How childish.
Well he hung up on me again as I told them they were
breaking the law. I tried again. I told the secretary I
wanted to speak to a manager and not to "Thomas". I got a
man who again treated me rude and eventually hung up.
I have emailed their company to let them know I will file a
complaint with the phone company, FCC and BBB. I now know to
also file a complaint with the FTC and the attorney general
of my state. I have considered calling their local police
department and filing a complaint so they have the police
show up.
2007 We had a credit card with Citicard- when my husband lost his job we tried to work with the company to get the interest rate lowered since we missed one payment and went from a 18% interest to a 32% interest rate (another buyer beware) the company refused to work with us for a hardship program etc. sent us to collections all the sudden a 3k credit card became a 24K collection- we filed a dispute with Citi- then it was given to a collection company- we called them and filed a dispute with them they dropped it immediately then we filed another dispute with CITI and they again sent it to another collection company - CLIENT SERVICES. We sent them our dispute paperwork - they ignored it. Called several times a day at our home- we sent another dispute letter certified = they refused it. Sent another letter delivery confirmed - they ignored it. Faxed it over to the collection agent who continued to call- then she started calling me at work. Told her she couldn't call me at work- she continued told me that if I wanted the "embarrassment to stop pay them" told everyone who picked up the phone at work that we was seeking "legal action against me" could they give me her number and here is my "file number" then she started calling our families, threatening to file legal papers to garnish my wages, freeze my bank account, called my boss and told him she needed to verify my employment because they were pursuing legal action against me. I have filed complaints with the states attorney, BBB and the FTC. TERRIBLE COMPANY! Report them!
2007 In January of this year, came to a verbal agreement with "Scott Allen" of Client Services regarding payment of my Citibank account. We agreed to a monthly payment to be submitted electronically and Client Services deducted one payment from my account. I stupidly did not ask for the agreement in writing, so once the payment was made I called "Scott Allen" repeatedly to confirm future payments and the agreement. He did not return my calls and no one else at Client Services could seem to help me. I have been calling them at least once a week for the past two months, and have been unable to get anyone to talk to me. Shockingly, today I received a civil summons for non-payment although I have been making efforts to pay the account! If you are contacted by Client Services my suggestion is that you ask them to cease calling you and to only communicate with you in writing. Clearly they are only interested in getting a few bucks for the company and not actually clearing any debts. They are clearly the sleaziest of the sleazy. I thought I had a verbal agreement once with a bear that he wasn't to eat me, but it turns out, he was a former debt collector...
This guy at the above agency, John Wallace had left me a few messages within the last week or so, that I need to get back with him asap. Then low and behold, when I returned home from work just yesterday, there was a small 3x5 note that had 'John Wallace , 1-800-521-3236', That was left inside my closed-in-front porch. I asked my neighbors on either side and they had not left me that note. It scared me to death that this John Wallace had contacted someone come to my house to leave this note. Does this sound a bit scary and unlawful ? Thanks. Elizabeth P.S. I still have the note, I kept it for proof