Archive for Credit
Northern Leasing Systems Do not do business with this company
Posted by: | CommentsIn 2001 I leased a credit card terminal from Northern Leasing Systems. They never sent anyone out to program it even after I contacted them. Frustrated with waiting, I just gave up and told them I wanted to cancel the contract and give back the equipment. I was told I couldn’t – I was obligated to a four-year contract. They continued billing me every month (even though I was not using their services). After they threatened to sue me, I ended up paying a total of $1,200 for a credit card terminal that never got taken out of the box.! To add insult to injury, I recently discovered they put a blemish on my credit report claiming I still owe them over $200.
I recently started another business and decided to use my terminal (with another credit card processing company) and was told by this other company that I couldn’t use the terminal because it was still under lease with Northern Leasing Systems.
It’s been almost SEVEN years since I signed that contract and this company still continues to give me grief. They are even holding my terminal hostage so I can’t use it anywhere else. I don’t understand why they are still in business? They should be shut down and prosecuted for fraud. I am urging other consumers – DON’T DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY!!!
States Want Coordinated Crackdown On Debt Relief Firms
Posted by: | CommentsThe attorneys general of 40 states have asked the Federal Trade Commission to tighten regulation of companies offering debt relief services to consumers. The FTC is currently reviewing a new rule proposal to amend the current Telemarketing Sales Rule.
The move follows a number of individual actions by various states. Earlier this month, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan sued Credit Solutions of America (CSA) and its CEO Douglas Van Arsdale. The Attorney General’s complaint alleges that the company falsely claims that its services can help to reduce consumers’ credit card debt by 50 percent.
Madigan’s lawsuit contends the company continually fails to negotiate with consumers’ creditors even though consumers cease to pay their creditors directly and, instead, make months of upfront payments to CSA. As a result of CSA’s failure to take any effective debt settlement action on behalf of consumers, according to Madigan’s lawsuit, creditors frequently sue consumers to collect on the outstanding balances.
Madigan said her office has seen a sharp rise in debt- and credit-related consumer complaints. Over the last few years, her office has received more than 12,000 complaints regarding debt and credit issues.
Professor Elizabeth Warren speaks about the Consumer Financial Protection Agency
Posted by: | CommentsConsumers can enter the market to buy physical products confident that they won’t be tricked into buying exploding toasters and other unreasonably dangerous products.
They can concentrate their shopping efforts in other directions, helping to drive a competitive market that keeps costs low and encourages innovation in convenience, durability, and style. Consumers entering the market to buy financial products should enjoy the same protection. Just as the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) protects buyers of goods and supports a competitive market, we need the same for consumers of financial products — a new regulatory regime, and even a new regulatory body, to protect consumers who use credit cards, home mortgages, car loans, and a host of other products. The time has come to put scaremongering to rest and to recognize that regulation can often support and advance efficient and more dynamic markets. She describes what her ideal consumer financial product safety commission (F.P.S.C.) would do:
Like its counterpart for ordinary consumer products, this agency would be charged with responsibility to establish guidelines for consumer disclosure, collect and report data about the uses of different financial products, review new financial products for safety, and require modification of dangerous products before they can be marketed to the public. The agency could review mortgages, credit cards, car loans, and a number of other financial products, such as life insurance and annuity contracts. In effect, the F.P.S.C. would evaluate these products to eliminate the hidden tricks and traps that make some of them far more dangerous than others.
An F.P.S.C. would promote the benefits of free markets by assuring that consumers can enter credit markets with confidence that the products they purchase meet minimum safety standards.
Indeed, there can be no doubt that some portion of the credit crisis in America is the result of foolishness and profligacy. Some people are in trouble with credit because they simply use too much of it. Others are in trouble because they use credit in dangerous ways. But that is not the whole story. Lenders have deliberately built tricks and traps into some credit products so they can ensnare families in a cycle of high-cost debt.
Firstplus Complaints Talk To BBC
Posted by: | CommentsRecently I fell prey to the sweet sound of a 7500.00 credit line. I understood that I could only shop online however, it was not made clear that I would have to pay a deposit on anything I bought that cost over 5.00!!! Not to mention… there was nothing to buy!! No clothes, or electronics, nothing!! I looked under womens clothing and it was several pictures of two hats, a few dresses, and a few coats. No sizes, no colors, just DEPOSIT REQUIRED.
The deposits were half of the price of the item… Whrer’s the credit?? I have definitely been ripped off! I could get better items at a yard sale, which is exactly what this site reminded me of, a yard sale! Most of the maybe 10 computers/laptops had been refurbished. If I am going to pay 1, 000.00 for a laptop… I will buy a new one!
The top 10 Complaints
Posted by: | Comments1.Health care: Most of the complaints were over medical billing practices or trouble with medical records.
2.Telemarketing: More than 2,400 consumers filed complaints over unwanted telemarketing calls, many of them illegal robocalls
3.Lending: More than 2,300 people had problems with a variety of lending issues, including high-interest rates, adjustable rate mortgages and loan fees.
4.Others complained of foreclosure assistance or loan modification scams.
5.Credit: Nearly 1,700 people complained about credit repair scams, debt collectors and identity theft. Scams promising to fix credit or settle debts for an upfront fee – both illegal – are increasingly common.
6.Vehicles: More than 1,293 people complained of problems with car repairs, towing, and new and used car purchases
7.Telecommunications: Problems with cell phones and home telephones accounted for more than 900 complaints. Common problems included attempts to sneak unauthorized charges onto a bill or charging the telephone carrier without consent.
8.Internet: More than 840 consumers complained about Internet service and computers last year. Also, counterfeit check scams involving online sales continue to rise. In such cases, scammers send certified checks for more than the purchase price and ask the seller to wire back the extra money. Consumers who fall for this scam cash the check and wire the funds from their bank account, only to find out later that the check was a fake.
9.Home: Home repairs and construction problems led to more than 700 complaints. Most focused on work never performed, contractors abandoning the job, shoddy work, missed deadlines and cost overruns.
10.Telemarketing fraud: More than 500 people complained of telemarketing fraud last year. Some of the most prevalent schemes involve bogus international lottery tickets, advance fee loans and credit cards, government grants, credit card or identity theft protection, and phony prizes or sweepstakes.
Best Buy Employee Arrested For Stealing Credit Card Information
Posted by: | CommentsAnyone who bought something using a credit card at the Best Buy electronics store at 1880 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd. in recent months might want to check their credit card statements closely after an employee was caught stealing credit card information, according to a press release from the company.
The employee, who was not identified by the company, was arrested by the U.S. Secret Service on Jan. 7, two days after the company caught her using a special device to steal the credit card information, according to the release from the Minnesota-based national electronics store chain. The store estimated that as many as 4,000 people could have had their information stolen.
The woman was using the device to steal the credit card information in November and December. It was unclear what the woman was charged with by the U.S. Secret Service or if the credit card information was used to commit any other crimes
FTC recruiting identity theft victims
Posted by: | CommentsFor the ninth year in a row identity theft – particularly in Arizona and California — was the number one consumer complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission in 2008. Of 1,223,370 complaints received in 2008, 313,982 – or 26%- were related to identity theft.
The FTC ‘s list in the “Consumer Sentinel Network (CSN) Data Book for January-December 2008,” states that credit card fraud was the most common form of reported identity theft at 20%, followed by government documents/benefits fraud at 15%, employment fraud at 15%, phone or utilities fraud at 13%, bank fraud at 11 %and loan fraud at 4%. The CSN received over 1.2 million complaints during calendar year 2008.
With regards to identity theft, the report found that credit card fraud (20%) was the most common form followed by government documents/benefits fraud (15%), employment fraud (15%), and phone or utilities fraud (13%). Other significant categories of identity theft reported by victims were bank fraud (11%) and loan fraud (4%).
Government documents/benefits fraud is now the second most common reported type of identity theft after credit card fraud. Fraudulent tax return-related identity theft, a subtype of government documents/benefits fraud, has increased nearly six percentage points since calendar year 2006. And electronic fund transfer-related identity theft continues to be the most frequently reported type of identity theft bank fraud during calendar year 2008, despite declining since calendar year 2006.
The top 20 complaint categories were:
1 Identity Theft
2 Third Party and Creditor Debt Collection
3 Shop-at-Home and Catalog Sales
4 Internet Services
5 Foreign Money Offers and Counterfeit Check Scams
6 Credit Bureaus, Information Furnishers and Report Users
7 Prizes, Sweepstakes and Lotteries
8 Television and Electronic Media
9 Banks and Lenders
10 Telecom Equipment and Mobile Services
11 Computer Equipment and Software
12 Business Opportunities, Employment Agencies and Work-at-Home
13 Internet Auction
14 Advance-Fee Loans and Credit Protection//Repair
15 Health Care
16 Auto Related Complaints
17 Travel, Vacations and Timeshare Plans
18 Credit Cards 13,196 1
19 Magazines and Buyers Clubs
20 Telephone Services
The report also found that Arizona, California, Florida, Texas, Nevada, New York, Georgia, Illinois , New Mexico and Colorado were the top 10 worst states for identity theft.
Colorado in fact lead the nation in fraud and other complaints followed by Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Virginia, Arizona, Florida, New Hampshire and Delaware.
The 10 largest metropolitan areas with the most complaints were:
1 Napa, CA
2 Greeley, CO
3 Albany-Lebanon, OR
4 Dunn, NC
5 Punta Gorda, FL
6 Roseburg, OR
7 Madera, CA
8 Prescott, AZ
9 Yuba City, CA
10 Gettysburg, PA
Disputing Negative Records With Credit Reporting Agencies Part2
Posted by: | Comments
Disputing Negative Records With Credit Reporting Agencies Part2
OK, you’ve disputed with a Consumer Credit Reporting Agency – and got a reply ‘verified’. This means that the record stays. What has happened?
The CRA (Credit Reportin Agency – Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion) does verification by simply asking the original creditor (lender, collector) to verify information. They don’t spend more than several minutes on your case.
Now after CRA (Credit Reporting Agency) has verified that it correctly reflects information provided by the creditor, the burden of responsibility for errors in this information lies on the creditor itself. And you can use all options including suing the creditor for providing erroneous information. See more about your rights in the FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act – http://www.101creditrepair.com/resources
So next logical step for you is to write to the creditor to ask for an investigation. Important note: ask for an investigation, not verification. Original creditors are not required by law to verify information, but they ARE required to investigate a complaint about an error. You may need to call them and escalate to a manger or legal department to find out where to write.
If they still don’t correct the record – you can call them and ask what documentation they have to support their decision. If they don’t have any – write to their legal department demanding removal of the disputed item.
Note: when writing letters – always make copies for your file. Also always use certified mail with delivery confirmation – and keep receipts on your file.
Author: levselector
Keywords: Credit Report Credit History Credit Reporting Agency Equifax Experian Transunion
Added: February 24, 2009
Sears tries her patience
Posted by: | CommentsSears tries her patience
The refund would arrive too late.
After weeks of frustration, Janice Langford has closed her Sears account.
It was bad enough that she had paid to send some clothing items to her sister in British Columbia, only to learn that shipping problems meant all the items never arrived.
Her attempts to rectify the problem had been unsuccessful.
Indeed, a Sears representative had advised she stop making further inquiries.
“Thanks for contacting us,” Will of Sears customer service wrote.
“Your request has been put in the queue. Every time you call and someone checks your request, it gets put back. Please give it time for the process.”
But how much time?
“Now it is Jan. 9 and I’m still waiting,” Langford advised Sears. “I feel I have been very patient. How much longer before it is corrected? I have been calling 1-800-664-1888 repeatedly since mid-November to obtain a credit of $75.02.”
The Hamilton woman placed a six-item order online. Five of the items were to be shipped together and the sixth sent separately. When the first package arrived, two of the items were missing.
“But my sister didn’t know they were missing until she opened the order at home. I had to re-order and was charged again for the two items, which were re-sent. One of these items arrived, but the other was not what was ordered.
“My sister opened the order at the pickup point this time and the item was returned immediately. Again, I had to re-order the missing item. And again, I was charged. Finally, all of the items were sent and my account was credited for the second order. I am still waiting for the credit for the two original missing items in the first order.”
But Langford said another Sears representative said the refund could take another two weeks, “depending on how busy the credit department is.”
So, Action Line wrote Vince Power at Sears Canada’s corporate head office and on Jan. 19 Langford reported her sister had received a phone call saying the Mission, B.C., Sears pickup location had found the missing two items.
“I then called the Mission location and was told they’d received a call from head office requesting they look for these items. This was the first such request in two months and these items have been sitting there in the bottom of a bin.”
This time, the account credit materialized.
“I believe we have resolved this matter to the customer’s satisfaction,” Power confirmed to Action Line.
Unfortunately, that would seem to be the ‘former’ customer.