I pick up the phone this a.m. and there's someone calling from some company (she mumbled the name and my toddler was screaming and I'm getting ready to curse the telemarketer) and she asks for DH. I say "not home" and she starts in about how he signed a contract for magazines back in 1/96 and he owes $600+ ?" She goes on about how she can settle this today for $130 but if a check doesn't get sent then they're going to charge the $600+. THEN she goes on about how she's calling from a collection agency...blah blah blah...and then asks if I'm his wife...and I say "yeah, but save your breath and give me your # so he can call back". Why did she share all that w/me when she didn't know who I was? She said the original creditor was International Magazine Subscriptions. DH denies ever even hearing of them and for the last 7 yrs - we have never been contacted by anyone from a co. like that. It sounded like a scam to me. I thought usually collectors sent out letters and such. We have always been trackable and no one else has had trouble "finding" us. Does this sound weird??

The person calling this morning said that she left the office at 5:00 central time -- that's 4 here on the east coast for us -- but DH gets home around 6 here. He called back and no one answered---doesn't it sound weird that a collection company doesn't have extended hours to compensate for people who actually work a 9-5 schedule? My advice to DH was to not give them any info. but to ask that proof be mailed to us (this "contract" they say he signed) so we can dispute the charge. If this is a legit debt, then we will take care of it after we receive proof - but just to whip off a check and send it out right away w/out any other info. seems stupid to me. BTW - DH got a copy of his credit report a few mos. ago and nothing regarding this co. was on it.

If you have any advice, I'd love to hear it.

Jill

I'll report back on any further developments w/this mess!

Thx
Jill

http://fair-debt-collection.com/Debt_Collection_FAQ/Specific-FAQ.html

Jill

Do you think that you never received any collection information from the original creditor because someone used your DH's name to buy these magazines? The original creditor may have been sending collection notices to the address of this person. Then, when the collection agency bought the debt, they traced your DH to his current address. When you get the info, check the address of where these magazines were sent, and the dates that they were sent, to make sure that your DH actually lived there during those dates. It could be a situation where, after he moved out of an apartment, the new tenant received "offers" with your DH's name on them, and signed up.

This should be interesting -- we have been fighting MCI over what they say are charges we incurred when we switched to their long distance carrier 3 yrs ago (and we switched back to our reg LD carrier after only having MCI 3 wks!) -- every time they've contacted us (I think 2x) I've asked specifically for a detailed bill of the charges and they NEVER end up providing it. This time a collection co. sent the letter and I wrote back and only said that I disputed the validity of the debt because their notice said that if I did that they would have to provide a detailed bill----it's been a month now and they haven't sent anything back to us---which was what happened when MCI was trying to get the same $ from us. DH in fact switched us (the phone was in my name only) after they promised to send a check to cover the cost of switching (we have a co-op phone co.) and a coupon for a bunch of free minutes of long distance -- which they never did. It's only $70 but it's the principal of the thing. I definitely know we didn't make $70 worth of LD calls...as our mothly bill for LD is never over $25.

Fun fun fun :-)

Jill

If you can, try to record the call. If they balk at giving you any info, call the attorney general and the local police.

Ken

Thanks again!
Jill

My DH called the # that they left back the day I posted this. Of course it was 5:55 EST, but the office of these people (central time) had already closed...so he left a voice mail simply stating that he absolutely disputed the validity of these charges and that they were welcome to call back to discuss this with him further. He swears he was polite, but to the point. Guess what? No calls back. No proof sent by snail mail...nothing! too weird! I'm certain that they will surface their heads again, but for now it's quiet.

I did a bad job trying to make my point that at 5:55 p.m. here on the east coast - it was only 4:55 p.m. there so DH was really confused about why this so-called "collection agency" wasn't reachable at a normal business hour.

Much interesting and useful material in those 26 pages!

Thanks to all who contributed ... to add to the store of knowledge of the rest of us.

And not a large amount of erroneous information imparted, I think ... though one does need to be careful, for not all information is accurate, even though the original poster who offers usually understands it to be so.

ole joyful

The date was random and the demand to send immediate payment definitely stinks. It's a scam, for sure. No reputable company especially with "International" as part of it's name would make a first attempt to enforce a contract over 10 years old. Have the buggers fax you a copy of the contract. Then report it to your appropriate local authorities. There are plenty of people (especially seniors) who would fall for this.