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On Tuesday, January 20, 2009 I received a letter from American Express dated 1/14/2009 that stated my account is being reviewed for collections. Twenty-four hours later I received a phone call on my work phone from Zwicker and Associates. They identify themselves as an Attorney that has been retained by American Express to file a law suit against me. Of course I told them I would not speak with them while I was at work and hung up. I was confused and shocked and had no idea who these people were! I called American Express and the recording told me to call the 800 number who turned out to be Zwicker and Associates.
I called American Express back and was able to speak with a Human by not entering my account number. Once the person had my information, they refused to speak with me about my account.
I then returned the telephone call to Zwicker and Associates on my first break. I was transferred to a man by the name of Steven Marshall. Mr. Marshall stated that I had to pay him the full amount of 16, 249 plus dollars to settle the account. I explained that I have been making payments, and would like to make good and catch up my account, which was only about a month and a half behind. Mr. Marshall said he would take 10, 000 dollars over the phone and I had to give him a post dated check. I refused due to not having the money and he said if I didn’t give it to him “now” or he would forward my file to begin litigation. I was scared and did not know what to do so I gave him the check for 10, 000 dated 1/29/2009, but I explained I may not be able to come up with the money. I explained that I would probably have to call and cancel the check.
Shortly after ending the phone call I did place a stop payment on the check and contacted my bank’s security office.
I have a rare heart condition and the condition is stress induced and I had to take the rest of the day off from work. I could not function thanks to Mr. Marshall’s threats.
The person I spoke with is Steven Marshall at [protected], ext. 3225.
His E-mail is [protected]@zwickerpc.com
On 1/23/2009 I sent an E-mail to Zwicker and Associates informing them that I had learned of a law in the State of Massachusetts, 940 C.M.R. 7.00, which prevents any Debt Collector from soliciting a post dated check from anyone. When I notified them of this law via E-mail they made a statement I had “re-nigged” on my agreement and they would be pushing a law suit forward quickly against me. Proof of this can be heard on a telephone recording where Mr. Marshall of Zwicker and Associates knowingly spoke on a recorded line. The conversation takes place between Mr. Marshall and Vickie Piontek, who is a nice lady I met on an Internet forum. She is an attorney, but has not been hired to represent me. A copy of the conversation is available on CD.
Also, in the recording Mr. Marshall states that I contacted him by phone to “pull the settlement.” I have not spoken with Mr. Marshall after he coerced me into giving him the post dated check. I sent him an E-mail only; he never had the chance to tell me he would now want the full amount by January 31st. He is lying. Proof of the E-mail is attached.
On 1/25/2009 I sent a Cease and Desist letter to Zwicker and Associates via Fax and Certified Mail with Return Receipt. I requested strict proof of the alleged debt, a copy of the initial contract and payment history as well as a copy of the assignment of the alleged debt. I received the return receipt, but have never received a response to my request. As of 5/11/2009 Zwicker and Associates still has not answered my request.
On 1/26/2009 date I received my first letter dated 1/22/2009 from American Express notifying me that Zwicker and Associates was taking over my case. But, Zwicker and Associates contacted me via the telephone on 1/20/2009.
Staring sometime in March of this year I started receiving calls from an unknown person by the name of “Bonnie” from United Recovery Systems who wanted to speak with me about my “delinquent account, ” as she put it. During the next few days this person called both my parents and in-laws at their residence. The lady calling herself Bonnie told my family I needed to call her in reference to an account that I owed money on and gave a reference number. On 4/1/2009 I received a letter dated 3/13/2009 from a company by the name of United Recovery Systems (from a Mrs. W. White) stating they are a collection agency and needed to pay them $16, 964.53 to settle my American Express Account.
With the knowledge that American Express had hired Zwicker and Associates, I ignored this letter thinking it was a scam. Then on 4/25/2009 I received a letter from American Express which was titled “A Helpful Offer From American Express.” The letter, dated 4/21/2009 stated I could make payment arrangements with United Recovery Systems with a 0.00% interest rate and no fees. However, American Express has not notified me of any information about my status with Zwicker and Associates.?. So, am I now being pursued by two agencies for one debt, who do I pay? American Express, Zwicker and Associates, or United Recovery Systems?
Now, to make this even more interesting I receive another letter from American Express on 5/1/2009, dated 4/24/2009. This letter was titled, “Opportunity to Regain Cardmembership.” This letter actually offered me a new American Express Credit card with an annual fee of $49.00 and a interest rate of 14.99%. All I had to do is contact United Recovery Systems and make payment arrangements and the new card was mine.
Finally, on Thursday, May 7th at 11:29 AM my father, Robert Priest, received a telephone on his personal business line. The caller identified himself as a representative of The Law Offices of Mann Braken [protected]). The caller told my father that they had been retained against me and I needed to pay the entire 16, 000 (plus) balance at once. The caller attempted to solicit a credit card from my father to make a payment. My father told the caller to send their request in writing to me and hung up on them. At 11:56 AM another call came in from a different representative of Mann Braken. My father immediately hung up. A third call came in at 5:25 PM. All three calls were received on an Alltel Cell phone and proof of the incoming calls can be retrieved from Alltel. I can also attempt to obtain a copy of my father’s Alltel statement is needed.
I am not a dead beat and have always made a very good effort to pay my bills on time. This past year or two has become difficult and I even sent American Express two E-mails using their communication system. Of course, now that system cannot be accessed by me.
Also, since this began I have not made any additional payments. I don’t know who to pay. Now more than ever I am confused and scared to talk to anyone. Who do I pay American Express, Zwicker and Associates, United Recovery Systems, Mann Braken, or who?
I will be at home recovering from Heart Surgery for the next four to six weeks if I can clarify any of the above information. Please, contact me if I can.
Note: I have also filed a complaint/case with the following:
The Federal Trade Commission
Consumer Response Center
600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20580
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Office of Investor Education and Advocacy
100 F Street, N.E.
Washington, DC [protected]
U.S. Dept. of Treasury
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Customer Assistance Group
1301 McKinney Street, Suite 3450
Houston, TX [protected]
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection
Consumer Response Center
2345 Grand Boulevard, Suite 100
Kansas City, MO 64108
U.S. Senate
Committee on Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs
534 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Florida Attorney General’s Office
State of Florida
PL-01, The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399
Florida Division of Financial Services
Office of Financial Regulation
Division of Finance
Consumer Complaint Section
200 E. Gaines Street
Tallahassee, FL [protected]
The Better Business Bureau
4200 Wilson Blvd, Suite 800
Arlington, VA [protected]
(Against Zwicker and Associates, specifically)
Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General
Consumer Complaints and Information
One Ashburton Place
Boston, MA 02108
State of Massachusetts
Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation
Ten Park Plaza, Suite 5170
Boston, MA 02116
(Against Mann Braken, LLP, specifically)
Georgia Office of the Attorney General
40 Capitol Square, SW
Atlanta, GA 30334
Georgia Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs
2 Martin Luther King, JR. Drive SE, Suite 356
Atlanta, Georgia [protected]
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
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This complaint was posted on 2/17... Easter Sunday?
American Express did the same tactics to me I just finally figured out they have been breaking the rules. I to recieved a letter letting me know I was going to recieve a special zero percent interest rate and the the nice lady at United Recovery would help me get things back on track so that I could get my card back again. I arranged numerous post dated checks with United. Then one month I was running short in my bank account and contacted the nice lady "Shyla" she got real nasty with me and also called my previous husband and then called my office phone number. Next thing I know I am getting a call from another "nice lady" from a law firm that is handling the Collection...this is the first I hear of a collection and in fact I have a letter that has all the agreed post dated checks on it. Of course they profess to be working for American Express and they are ever so kind to send me a false statement from American Express and also charge me interest.
I have now sent a letter of demand requesting they comply and tell me about my debt and what they purchased it for from American Express.
Sadly when I got the letter that I was getting help I called American Express they had assigned me to United Recovery and there was no way back to them.
Now American Express shows I am paying the money is not going to them but they have some funky ledger. What is this all about and I am considering just paying American Express because that is who I owe money too.
This company seems to have all the people at the bottom of the barrel collecting with bad tactics. They refused to settle with me and talked to my fiance and caused a break up saddened by this i am in no position to pay.
I too had American Express approach my business and cause 2 employees to quit. One kept saying am i going to lose my paycheck if you close? no amount of consoling helped and they quit. Same law office Brian zswickley something like that they filed a law suit and I answered it, now they filed for a motion for summary judgment i am filing bankruptcy as their actions cost me business by jacking their jaws to people who answer the phone at my work just like they did to the person above. Attorneys must answer to complaints to the bar, if the representative they use to call broke the law they are also responsible for their actions
Congradulations on your new blog. I will mark it in my favs. You are doing the right thing getting the word out. We must do it while we are still allowed.
You can also talk about your experiences with AE here, in my new "Greedy B@$T@rD$ Hall of Shame" blog
http://greedybastardsclub.blogspot.com/2009/05/worst-is-yet-to-come-if-youre-not.html
Power to the People
Power to the People Right On
-John & Yoko Lennon
I had the same thing happen to me except I have never missed or was late with a payment always paid it off in full each month great credit history. They told me because my debt ratio was high. Oh well all credit cards are paid off now and they sent me a letter to apply for a new card. Don't want to do business with them and thinking of seriously canceling my Costco membership...
I don't know what state you live in but all states have a statute of limitations on collecting a debt. Each state is different but most vary between 4-10 years, also depending on what type of debt it is. If a company has not contacted you within that time frame, they are not supposed to be able to legally collect that debt. You might check into that for your situation. Please note that if they have contacted you in any way or if you have contacted them, then the clock starts all over for the statute...
How is that amex fault? They are giftcards to companys so whosever company that is that you got the giftcard through is at blame for that. Amex just sends out the giftcard. They are giftcards through partner with amex. If you have a problem with a giftcard it would be the company whose name is on the front of the giftcards fault.
Hi all,
I am one more "not contacted but cancelled card" story based on my credit report. When I told them I have the credit report in front of me and they need to tell what has changed from the period they issued me the card they asked me to dispute it.
I read a lot of these complaint on web and want to know if something can be done regarding this. I cant just see them taking our tax money to run their businesses and then tell us to get lost...
... I am really loosing my nerves over this and need some answerability. Any suggestion?
The same thing happened to me. I asked why I had not been notified and per the representative, A letter was mailed to me two weeks after the date it was lowered. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was told that the other rep was new and had given me wrong information. I called again after the letter came to ask once again the date it was lowered, the new representative was correct the letter was mailed two weeks after the date. The supervisor had lied to me to protect the company.
I agree and have just cancelled all my AMEX credit cards. The problem is worst than this..they are involved in systematic fraud thru their South American operations, which has cost me $2000 for a non authorized payment in Brazil. All efforts to have AMEX deal with the issue have failed and I am now reporting the matter to the RCMP commercial crimes division (being here in Canada)...but have no expectation of a result. I will avoid all contact with AMEX in future. They are involved in systematic fraud against their customers.
Might you have the phone number for AMX Customer Relations in Ft. Lauderdale? I got the person's name and complete address, but AMX would not give me a phome number. Thanking you in advance.
I have experienced the same problems with this rebate.
My story is similar to yours. Although I just paid off my amex card to zero. My credit score is 720 (checked all three credit scores this morning) and they still canceled my card because on to other bank cards I have been making only minimum payments, while taking advantage of a great rate...maybe Amex is jealous! I WAS a loyal customer of AMEX, never missed a payment. Paid my balance down more often than not. I even paid the huge yearly fee...Okay, maybe I am dumb.LOL I went to use my card to buy gas, and it was denied. I had no warning, no courtesy phone call. I had to call them. I got the same treatment as you on the phone. The lady did indicate I could reapply. NEVER AGAIN! Amex should have their credit pulled and absolutely no bailout assistance. It sucks that I will have to pay taxes to help a company who treats loyal customers like trash. I say through them out with the trash!
Same thing happened to me . Should be a law !
I've a customer of AMEX for a long time, have immaculate credit, have never been late or in default on anything, and "out of the blue", AMEX reduced my credit line by $32, 500 ! Last month I made a large payment of $ 19, 000, and then this month, without prior notification, AMEX reduced my credit line down to within $ 177 of my low balance, TWO WEEKS before Christmas! What if I had gone out and purchased some Christmas presents...not knowing that they rediced the limit to nothing (because they didn't advise me) then they would have hit me with an over the limit fee. Furthermore, AMEX is negatively impacting my credit because instead of me having a low balance on a high limit card, they reduced the limit down to my balance which makes it appear as if I max'd out the card! It should be illegal for them or any creditor to be able to take action that negatively effects your credit when you have never been late or in default, and have always complied completely with your user agreement. As previous people have written, I called AMEX who had no explanation except I've had credit inquiries lately. I moved, purchased a new home and related expenses...yes, I have had legitimate inquiries, and all of my accounts are in good standing. I also informed AMEX that I will close my account and NEVER do business with them again, if this is how they treat customers in good standing. The Federal Goverment gave these banking institutions 700 Billion dollars to relax credit and/or provide credit to "main street", instead they are reducing and/or denying credit, now more than ever, and to people who have great credit and are low risk. AMEX, I hope you go under!
I've had a business Gold Amex 15 years. Never late on payments. Then I saw online where my limit was $0.00! I called and was told that many accounts had been reviewed and my limit was lowered by 60% (no reason given). They lowered my credit amount without notice and my charges had reached the new limit. The account manager seemed not to care that I used the card for inventory purchases especially here at Christmas time. I told him that it would cause much confusion because of auto bill pay that I used. Again, he did not care. I told him to cancel the insurance for travel etc, I told him that my business would no longer accept the Amex card! He did not care. I then called and got a business Visa card. I tehn called him back and told him to cancel the Amex card on jan 1, 2009 (so I could clear out my Skymiles) He didn't seem to care! What is wrong with these people? I think they must be on their last leg. Why would they risk losing a good customer(s)? This is a recipe for disaster. I am funneling all my business through Visa now. Amex will not get a chance to reduce my limit again. I also let it be known that when the economy is better, don't call begging with offers for the card...I don't care if they go belly up (that's the attitude they exhibited toward my business). I can only imaging what would have happened if I hadn't had credit to get alternative financing...it would have been devastating...Screw You, American Express...That can't last long doing this to people
Hi,
ICICI Bank charging free from customers who paid there credit card bills through amount. I have paid the amount with that extra charge but in the next bill they again charged the bill like
Fee levied for cash payment - 100.
So many times i tried to connect to customer care i am not able to connect to customer care.