Cingular Wireless and Financial Asset Management Collection Practices

Cingular Wireless and Financial Asset Management Collection Practices

August 25, 2005

January of 2005 in need of a new phone, I had to go to Cingular Wireless as my former phone was from ATT Wireless. At that time I decided to replace both ATT Wireless phones with 2 new Cingular phones and changed from two separate phone plans to one 850 shared minutes plan with Cingular. A few months later I received a $2400 bill for calls outside of the U.S. I called Cingular to find out what was going on since I do not know anyone outside of the country and neither does my husband, who had the other phone. I was first told a test billing had been placed on my account and that they had forgotten to remove it, when the person I spoke with went to get a supervisor to have the charges removed I thought It would be taken care of,instead I was told the supervisor said I should report the calls to the fraud dept, which I did, and where I was told no fraud was committed and that I was a liar. I kept contacting Cingular letting them know I did not make the calls, I also asked how service for international calls had been placed on my phone, since my contract clearly stated I did not have that service. I was told that my ATT account must of had it and that 3 days AFTER signing my contract with Cingular it was added on for me. I told them I never had international calling with ATT and was told that no one could prove that since they could not access my ATT account.WEll if they couldn't access it how can they tell me they audited the account and that I did have it. Finally, Cingular sent my account to Financial Asset Management. They told me that I had to pay over $500 of the bill in order to dispute it. I said that I was diputing the entire bill, since it is my contention that Cingular voided my contract with them when they added services I did not authorize and calls to my bill I did not make. The person at Financeial Asset threatened me with a charge off if I did not pay. I stated that I had already sent a dispute letter to them documenting my claim with copies of my contract etc. They have told me they will throw out my dispute and continue to harrass me unless I pay a portion of the bill. I won't pay for what I feel I should not owe.

Letters to the CEO of Cingular and Cingular billing have gone unanwered.

All I want is from Cingular and Financial Asset Management is that they close out my account, and remove these charges from my credit. Since Cingular has acknowledge that I did not request International service and that I could not make international calls without the service, and that I had never had bill higher than $100 prior to that bill, that they are the ones who voided my contract with them. I will continue to fight these charges and will not give in to the tactics of Financial Asset Managment, who has told me to just SHUT UP and pay my bill.

Sincerely,

Marie Click this link to e-mail the message author: Email User

Comment On This

I had closed my account with Cingular after months of poor customer service, countless issues with the insurance, and then after I thought I was finally done with them, I was contacted by Financial Asset Management. My bill was $200 and I was behind in payment no doubt. I contacted AT & T and told them I would have payment for them.

I was contacted at my work by a boy named "Dustin.�¢?? As soon as he got on the phone he immediately asked where I receive my mail. I asked who was calling and he quickly and reluctantly (unclearly) stated his name and who he was with. He asked about payment to Cingular and I stated I mailed the check out today. He asked that I cancel the check (as they only take payments over the phone) and then stated I was a liar and that I he didn�¢??t understand why I wouldn�¢??t just give him a payment over the phone; he didn't believe that I mailed out the check. I laughed at first out of shock, and then I realized that Dustin was harassing me. I asked to speak with his supervisor and also wanted to get an address and employee ID number for him and he refused to give me that information. I told him that he shouldn�¢??t treat customers that way, and he said I wasn�¢??t his customer. His lack of control and maturity was incredibly unprofessional. Yet then again, Financial Asset Management doesn't value professionalism. Cingular should be ashamed to contract with them, as they too claim "excellent" customer service. Their customer service ends when you don�¢??t pay the bill on time.

He then stated I should cancel the check. Like most banks, our bank has a fee for that, so I of course told him I wouldn't and that full payment was already in the mail. I wasn�¢??t sure why Dustin was still trying to get payment when it was already paid. Since I figured that the goal for a debt collector is to collect the amount in full, I supposed things were fine. Unfortunately Dustin stated "Have a nice day" of course in the tone of a five year old, and pretended to hang up. I had my fiance on the line listening because he was the one who wrote the check and I wanted Dustin to know there was a check number we could give him to prove it. I vented to my fianc�?�© and stated I can�¢??t believe this guy thinks we didn�¢??t mail the check. Before I could continue, he came back on the line and said "I didn't hang up actually." Thinking he had gotten some information from me, I laughed and said "Good, I'm glad you heard all that was said." I had nothing to hide. I wasn't a liar, I wasn't rude to him, I paid my debt before he even called. Yet his poor self control and pathetic behavior may cause him to lose his job. I will be turning them into the Federal Trade Commission today online. He then hung up on me. I called back and spoke with his "supervisor." His supervisor �¢??Adam�¢?? stated that in this business people lie to them all the time. I asked him because of that you immediately allow your staff to threaten people in debt to your company. I was given little from Adam as well from Dustin�¢??s actions. Again, I believe these poor people need a good education and courses in etiquette.

Ironically, I'm in the business of code enforcement. I work with people that don�¢??t have money to pay for the things they need. They get angry and upset, but I continually try and help them through it; RESPECTFULLY. I had a guy call me once and he was wonderful! He asked how I was and said he was here to help me find a way to pay the amount off. The sad thing is when you have debt collectors that are lacking in not only manners, but are not intelligent enough or trained properly to collect in a respectful way, they lose their funds. Their success rate would go up if they were kind, firm in their requests, and willing to do what they can. Instead you get people like poor Dustin who don't know what it is to have integrity. There should be accountability to their actions as well. Luckily I found there is.

I went online and found out how to report this company for their harassment against me. We as citizens have rights. I have a lawyer too who will assist me in making sure that others are not called names, treated poorly, and that owing debt does not translate to "treat like scum."

Here is an article about what you can do if Financial Asset Management abuses you.

Sincerely,

Andrea

http://www.lawmo.org/law_fdc.htm

What if the debt collector has violated the law?

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act gives you a right to sue in state or federal court within one year from the violation. If you win, you can recover damages for your loss, court costs, and attorney's fees. Remember that the one-year period runs from the date the debt collector violated the law. You should act promptly to contact an attorney if you believe a debt collector has violated the law. If you fail to file your suit within one year of the violation, you lose your right to do so.

You can also notify the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of violations. They cannot file lawsuits on your behalf, but they can investigate your complaints. Their address is: Consumer Response Center, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, D.C. 20580. You can also file a complaint through the Internet.