Please help!!!

NCO has been calling me non stop for 5 days now.
It all started on tuesday, when, at work, I get a call from NCO regarding a Star Choice bill from seven months ago.
The balance- she stated- was about $190 and change. Ok( I thought I had cancelled with Star Choice before we moved and paid the remaning balance... apparently not)
So I told the woman on the phone as far as I knew the account was closed, and that I would contact Star Choice to verify that and I would have to get back to her. I also asked her not to call me at work again.
After talking to star choice ( which was almost as useless as talking to a wall) I found out the account was never closed and they "sold my account" to NCO.
Wonderfull...
So i phone NCO back and (try) to explain the situation. I have never seen a bill from star choice (( and yes we did move, but i also never recieved a phone call or email or anything else from them warning me of any of this)) but I do want to settle this little issue. Before I even finish "explaining" myself, she tells me that I should pay half now and the rest later, and that she will call me wednesday morning to arrange payment.

I asked her if I could get an account number, so I could go to my bank to make the payment- she said no, "I will phone you tomorrow and we will do it over the phone" And hung up.
Well at this point I am freaking out- what the hell do I do?
This couldnt have come at a worse time. Thanks to our useless banking officer that did a supposed debt consolidation for us (14 grand at 18.5%.. sounds like a deal to me) and missed about $600 off my visa and about $150 of my hubbys mastercard, we have to pay those off before the end of the month as well.
But thats another long and sad story... back to the topic at hand.
So I go home that night and the first place I go is to my computer and go old pal the internet, and look up NCO.
Their website is useless unless you are looking to hire them, so back to Google I went.
A few entries down from the 'offical website" I started finding complains... and lots of them! I spent the entire night on websites like ripoffreport, cfw group and others.. and what I read truely scared me. But it also informed me. I knew I couldnt trust these guys.
Next morning, 8am, the phone rings. I take a deep breath and answer. After she says her part, I tell her that if she can send me paperwork, stating what I owe, then i will take it to my bank and take care of it. I was not paying over the phone, I was not giving her credit card info, as I never give that info out over the phone.. If I cant pay it through my bank.. thats a shady deal to me.
Well I guess that was mistake number one, she flipped on me, saying " you know you owe this debt so you better just pay it or well will phone you everyday untill you do"

Somewhere in my head bells started ringing and big red flags went up, but I tried my best to stay calm and make my self clear- once I had written documentation I would address the issue.
Again she yelled at me telling me to stop "making excuses" and pay up. I said, I am not making any excuses, I have a right to see this bill before I pay.
More arguing from her, and now I was getting mad. This was not going anywhere, so I asked for her name which she blurted out so fast and in such bad english that I still dont think I got it right when I asked her to spell it for me. Then I asked to speak to her supervisor and she said " there are none around" ( odd, 8:15 on a wednesday and the supervisor is not in .. any of them?.. gee must be nice)

Thats when those ringing bells became sirens in my ears and the red flags became flood lights... this was almost exactly what I was reading the night before in all those rip off reports.

It was at that point she ended the call, not before telling me that they would continue to call.... big surprise.
The call had woken my husband (who I might add is working 2 jobs just so we can make things work) who was madder than hell. I am on anti depressents at the moment because of a suicide scare last february, and i do not deal well with stress. Since he was also on the star choice account, he decided to phone them (star choice)and work something out.. he was afraid for my mental health.. and at this point so am I.

Star choice was better with him than they were with me. They agreed to send out a statement and that we could pay them after we recieved it. We would pay them directly and they would inform NCO that the account is paid. Great.
I breathed a sigh of relief, and finally, after 2 nights of NO SLEEP , I got maybe 4 hours.
Thursday... another phone call at work. Same girl too, so I know she knows i have asked they not phone me at work. I tell her we have contacted the original creditor and have made arangements to pay them directly- after they send me a bill. This was the agreement my husband had made with them, so as far as I was concerned, the matter was being dealt with.
Nope! She wanted a conformation number- I told her we haven recieved the bill yet, so we havent payed yet- thus no conformation code. "well we will phone you everyday untill you pay, so you better stop trying to hide from your bills and pay now"
At this point I had had enough, again I asked to speak with a supervisor. This time I got "Amanda". When I wasted my breath explaining the issue with her(she actually said that I dont have to have anything written, a "verbal bill" was all that was required and all I was entitled to at this point) then she just regurgitated exactly what the first chicky poo had said but added "if you dont pay within 24 hours we will be forced to take further action" Then she hung up on me.
That when I had a panic attack...(lucky I know what to do, as this is not my first) What can I do now? Do I pay them or do I pay my gas bill and eat? Are they screwing my credit, what are they doing and why such hostility over a pissy little $190 bill that I WOULD pay if they would just send me the paperwork.?/ Why me??
After another night of no sleep Friday rolls around and again, they phone me at work. This time i didnt answer the phone, my boss did. Before I even answered the phone she had hung up. ( I knew it was her because my boss told me he could hardly understand the woman, she speaks horrible english and always pronounces my last name wrong- so i knew it was her.
And again today, Saturday at 9am- at work. My boss told her I wasnt in, and when I got home from work I see she called my house twice and my cell once.

Thats a phone call every day now. I am lost at this point. What can I do??
Am I totally in the wrong and thats why they can be so rude and harass me like this. I know I have read that they can only call you 3 times in 7 consecutive days. But what about my right to see the paperwork before i pay? And can they make 24 hour deadlines like that?
I would hate to find out that my credit has been spoiled all over a measley Star choice bill- especially since I do intend to pay it.

My eyes are sore from being on the computer for hours on end looking for answers.
I have begun making notes of all the calls I get, what time they come in, and if I end up getting caught on the phone with them, what they say.
I have read the Alberta Fair Trade act, but it all seems so confusing and overwhelming.
What can i do to save my sanity? And my credit report?

Hi Montyloree,

Thanks for the reply. I spoke to Royal Bank today and they said it was a canadian student loan, issued through themselves. On my credit file there is nothing about it being in collections. The loan shows as "Written Off" (Paid). I spoke to someone in collections at Royal Bank and they said NCO can still affect my credit. I'm not sure if he was being biast due to the fact I had the loan through their bank. He said NCO can hound me for 20 years if they wanted to. I thought there was a point to when the loan would b uninforceable and stats barred. Its hard to get a clear answer that doesn't contradict someone elses opinion. The original loan was from November 1998. It was written off in 2005. NCO has had it since then. I spoke to a supervisor today from NCO and asked him to send me everything in writing to what would happen if I didn't pay it and to what would happen if I did pay it. By the end of the call he didn't seem to happy to persue the $1500. There is nothing on my credit report showing I am in collections for anything. If I pay it, will it show up all of a sudden and destroy my credit? Or should I just do what I have been doing for the last 9 years and hope it goes away? Thanks in advance.

Hey JohnnyB,

Is the item still listed on your credit report? If not, I would just leave it. The only question you would have is... does NCO have any contractual powers on this matter. You should ask them to give you in writing their contractual relationship to you.

If they don't have any, then you don't have to pay... also mention to them that you're disputing the item with Consumer Protection for which you may have to write a letter to Consumer Protection.

You don't want to open up the case if the Royal Bank isn't listing it on your credit report any longer.

Hi. I have a student loan from 1998 and have never made a payment to it and have been watching my credit over the years. The Royal Bank listed it as "written off" and"paid" a couple of years ago. Now for the last couple of weeks NCO financial has been calling me asking how I would like to pay this loan of $1500! They say they have had it since 2005. I have decent credit and get approved for credit. There is nothing on my credit file with owing any money to NCO or the Royal Bank. They keep saying they will ruin my credit if I don't pay. Can they do anything to affect my credit? Am I stats barred? Has it been removed from active recovery and unenforceable? Thank you very much for any responses...!!

I am very surprised to see that there are no posts whatsoever, at the page that lists all the collection agencies, for the Accounts Recovery Corporation.

Internet information indicates that with some 400 employees based in Victoria, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Burlington, Montreal, Moncton and even Seattle, the company seems to have escaped the scrutiny of this site.

Perhaps I can fix this error.

Their antics, typical to those you can read any day at this site, have been known to me for over two years.

I am aware of a collection notice issued very recently by them that contains no less than what I consider 9 violations of the BPCPA provisions of law in BC. Yet we must consider that use of every collection form they use, must be approved by the authority that polices this Act. Know also that it is an offense under this Act for use of those not approved.

If approved, one must wonder WHY.

The bold title across the page, designed of course to turn the recipient into quivering jelly, had me falling off my chair in laughter. It says?.. ?Default and Recovery Division. ? Had me terrified I?ll tell you.

NOT.

The second line of the page contains their name, and is, not surprisingly, their first offense in my books. It announces the agency name as being??Accounts Recovery Corp.?

Trouble is, there is no such licensed listing with the BPCPA. Oh, there is one for an entity called the ARC Accounts Recovery Corporation though.

At law, are they both one in the same. I say not.

And the Act requires them to deal with you and I under the name licensed.. not one they like to play with.

Second, the Act requires them to give you?. ?THE AUTHORITY? under which they are playing in this game. The word ?AUTHORITY? does not refer to the permission from the creditor for the collector to start hounding you to death. The word refers to the authority granted by the provincial government...read A LICENSE, with the number thereon, to play in the game.

The notice contains no such license number.

Third the Act requires the collector him/herself to give you their name also and authority to so act.
ARC?s notices do not give you the name of the employee.. perhaps the janitor or receptionist, who chose to write, nor their license number.

Fifth?. The notice tells the recipient that he/she? ?MUST ACT TODAY? to pay the amount of blah blah blah.

In as much as the recipient made no such payment, it seems fair to say that it appears they MUST NOT HAVE TO FOLLOW THE DIRECTIVE TO MAKE A PAYMENT.

The Act says that the collector cannot mislead you or give you false information.

The directive for immediate action is thus, misleading and or false, and as such, yet another violation of the Act.

Sixth, the notice goes on to say that the agency has been??instructed? to proceed with all sorts of collection activity, including??LEGAL REMEDY.?

Whilst it is encouraging that they have not been instructed to pursue any illegal activity, and perhaps just do that on their own, one must question if in fact a direction has been given to pursue court action as ?legal Remedy? suggests.

The account is several years old and been through several collection agencies so far and no doubt was written off some time ago.

So, do we have yet more false info. Who Knows? We?ll give them the benefit of the doubt, FOR NOW.

The notice also stated that?.. ?You must take action today to pay the amount owing of blah blah blah, to save you inconvenience and embarrassment.?

Curious. The notice was not received till several days after mailing. How, therefore, could the recipient respond on TODAY?s date when not even received till days later. That aside, is the statement not pretty close to extortion?. pay up or we will se that you are inconvenienced and embarrassed.

Regardless, the Act in BC makes it an offence to carry on collection activity in a matter designed to cause embarrassment. Clearly, the statement says pay us now or else we will inconvenience and embarrass you.

Offense seven.

Number eight deals with another false statement. It says that ??Your account may not be written off and therefore you may still have time to protect your credit rating.?

They no doubt did a credit check and know full well the horrible rating and the fact that a settlement of any kind on one account when there are several others in this case, would result in no effective change in the R rating on the report in question.

A reference to it is inappropriate. Credit ratings and collection of bills have nothing to do with each other. A threat, suttle or otherwise to affect one to accomplish payment of the other is abuse, and is nothing more than a threat.. and thus yet another violation of the Act.

And finally, since the first line describes the collection agency in question as being??A PROFESSIONAL COLLECTION AGENCY,? 8 apparent violations of the Act suggest otherwise and thus, yet again another false or at the least, misleading statement, and thus, a ninth violation of the Act.

And I have not even told you about the first phone call from them to the debtor.

That?s for another day.

Cheers BA

Sounds good...

My apologies... as the log in has been buggy today, while I'm learning how the programming code works.

The problem I'm having is that the person that I hired to program this site in the first place has a different programming style than I do.

I'm having the worst time trying to figure out how and why he does what he does.

Once I can translate the programming code into something I can understand, I'll be able to quickly add new features.

The member area is a little more difficult as people have to be logged in.. The log in needs to be verified etc....

Not that this relates to money at all, however, it relates to this money site. :)

How about an Icon or picture that we can use that shows up beside uur screen names? That'd be dope.

Strange you should ask about other features Monty.

Here's one.

A pet peeve of mine mentioned to you in the past is the page listing all the collection agencies.

A regular monitor of that site needs to click on ever agency listed to see if there is anything new to get up to speed on.

Can you add a column somehow that lists the last date of update...and thus the reader does not have to click on ever agency to see which have updates???????

PLEASE.

BA

Thaiboxer74,

Yikes...!! :)

I'm curious to know if, along with provinces, there are any other features people are interested in?

YAH! Quit being so damn lazy!

lol.