They basically kept trying to assess if I was actually seriously going to sue them or not. I'm sure a lot of people threaten to sue them but in my case it is pretty clear that I have legal training. If they googled my name they would have gotten a few hits for some sizable donations I made to my law school. I explained that I was still planning to sue them and that I was going to file on Friday. She flipped out but between rants there were questions that were clearly asked with the intent to determine how serious I was. There was clearly concern on her part as well as a horrible attempt at bluffing about their options.

They have since removed the negative information from my credit report but that doesn't make any difference. Statement of claim is mostly ready and I just need to edit it a little. I was suppose to file last week but got busy -- plan to do the editing tomorrow and I will file Monday. The negative info is gone so not as much of a rush but still proceeding just for my own entertainment and to screw with them.

Haha so what did they say actually?

Just got a call from IQOR. They were fishing for information on if I was going to sue them or not. Unfortunately I plugged the recorder into the headphones rather than line in but it was quite entertaining. They ended up losing it and hanging up. It was funny because they were trying to scare me in what was the most obvious bluff ever. I really wish I had a recording of it.

The senior managers tend to take complaints more serious then the minimum wage workers.

Well, just got a very nice phone call from a senior person at IQOR. :) Many apologies, she is fixing all, will remove anything untoward, will deal with the parking company, and assured me everything will go away correctly, including ensuring nothing will appear on my credit report. Even got her direct contact info!! :)

Very simple resolution to a 4 month old problem, using the threat of suing for libel for besmirching my credit rating in Small Claims Court.

Of course I didn't owe any money nor did I default on payments. Big difference when threatening and fighting these people.

Thanks all! Have a great New Year's Eve! Cheers! M :)

Check out: http://www.golishlaw.com/statutes/os01sg_a.htm

Morning all! Consumer Complaints does nothing. Typical government agency, like all others on all levels.

Everyone, please note Millie is in Ontario. I'm in BC. HUGE difference in how we approach things on court levels. We have a lot of lattitude in BC and even more so when self-represented. All you need is a breach on a point of law. If 3-4 plaintiffs have the same complaint and file against IQOR in Small Claims Court, a justice may decide to hear another 3-4 plaintiffs with a different complaint against IQOR at the same time. Just makes sense to free up the court's time. It's up to the justice who is sitting. And again, self-represented people are given a LOT of leeway in the courts here.

And Millie, you mentioned you're a lawyer. It's great that you can self-represent with a vast amount of legal knowledge at your fingertips. Out here in BC we find lawyers tend to make things more complicated than necessary in matters such as these, plus they bill ridiculous rates per hour to provide more confusion. Hence my taking the simplistic approach of Small Claims for a parking infraction that is not due and owing worth a grand total of $68. There are many folks out here with the same problem as myself who would be more than happy to sue in Small Claims for a nominal amount to simply give the bad guys a public spanking.

Happy New Year all! :)

Consumer Protection administers the Collection Agencies Act. They do not enforce it. That is a very meaningful distinction. The Registrar of Collection Agencies is the only person who has the ability to enforce the Collection Agencies Act. Both the Registrar and Consumer Protection are housed in the same building and have the same address but they are different and distinct.

If you contact Consumer Protection and ask them specifically -- can you order a collection agency to act they will say no. They have no power. They can tell a collection agency that their behavior is in contradiction to the Act but they can't force the collection agency to do anything. The collection agency might still choose to act if Consumer Protection gets involved but that action is completely voluntary and likely motivated by fear that the file might get kicked down the hall to the person who actually has power.

Once the complaint is before the Registrar the collection agency has a concern since now it can both be compelled to act and also fined fairly substantially. My point in saying that Consumer Protection is a waste of time was only to say why spend three months dealing with a toothless government dispute resolution agent when you can just go directly to the individual who actually has a stick?

I also believe that dealing directly with the Registrar is better if like myself you are somewhat vindictive and wish to be punitive. Consumer Protection if they solve the problem are done. They can't fine or punish the collection agency and are just happy that they fulfilled their mandate of mediating a solution. A solution isn't sufficient as far as I'm concerned. I want fines and that requires getting the Registrar involved.

As to Consumer Protection not getting many complaints about collection agencies that is just plain wrong. Collection Agencies are by far the largest category of complaints coming in at 4132 in 2008. In a very distant second place was Home Repairs at 2327 complaints.

Monty,

You just said that CP is a waste of time, yet advised this Blogger to contact CP and file a complaint with them?.?.?

Must be an error, care to qualify.

O.C.

Hey Millie P,

Consumer Protection is kind of a waste of time... They indicated to me that they don't get many complaints in writing about collections, credit bureaus etc... As such it's not a priority to them.. That's why I tell people to write their complaints to Consumer Protection

Consumer Protection has the power that is allowed to them in the Collection Agencies Act. Again, It is my experience that it's not their highest priority, because of the lack of complaints.