CBS Collections, Inc.

I listened to the phone call between the consumer and our representative and originally the consumer offered $to settle these accounts because, as the consumer stated, everything she read and was told indicated this was the way things were done I'm not sure why or who would have told her
this If someone receives services they should be expected to pay for those services not 75% of what is owed Our representative tried to explain that the $would not even cover the principal owed, however the consumer seemed to think we had the ability to reduce this amount, which we don't When our clients list an account with us they expect us to try to collect the full amount not a partial amount The consumer then offered to pay $and our representative countered with $which meant she would be reducing our interest by 1/ The consumer was unwilling to pay this and asked to speak with a supervisor I was on a call, so I was not immediately available Our representative asked the consumer if she would like to be placed on hold and she said "yes" She hung up by the time I was able to take her call She refers to our representative stating she wouldn't be able to eat if the consumer didn't pay the interest What our representative actually said is that the interest is her "bread & butter" which is an expression I feel our representative was generous in being willing to reduce the interest by 1/when she didn't have to reduce it at all When settlements are offered like the $that was offered by our representative, it's a one time, one day offer unless stated otherwise Please let me know if you have any questions.Thank youMarilyn M***

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because: I was not informed the offer was a one day one time offer only I have 800$ to pay this off I heard been making monthly payments ever since my finances made it possible I take my debt seriouslythese are medical bills I have had another surgery this year and have been paying on that as well I am doing the very best I can I would very much appreciate $being accepted I am trying to not file bankruptcy
Sincerely,
*** ***

Re: Complaint ID 10839747
Dear Cathy Robinson,
This is in response to the complaint your office received from Jeanne M. B[redacted] against CBS Collections, Inc. First let me say that we do not “purchase” our debt. Our clients list past due accounts with us to collect for them.
R[redacted]...

C[redacted] listed the following accounts with us for Ms. B[redacted] son:
01-02-2014 Account #[redacted]
02-06-2014 Account #[redacted]
12-15-2014 Account #[redacted]
02-23-2015 Account #[redacted]
On each of these accounts a Validation Notice was sent to her home address and we did not have any mail return. There were in excess of 11 calls made and 3 letters sent in regards to the first 2 accounts. The address we had at that time was [redacted] Spokane Valley WA 9[redacted] and the phone # we called was [redacted].
Then when account #[redacted] was listed with us letters were originally sent to [redacted]. Spokane WA 9[redacted] and then to [redacted]. Spokane WA 9[redacted].
On 04-07-2015 the collector handling this account called Ms. B[redacted] at [redacted] and spoke with her giving her all of the information on the accounts we had our office. At that time she said her son was covered by Medicaid and she was going to contact R[redacted] and ask them to re-bill. So she was fully aware of the R[redacted] Cl[redacted] accounts and had she contacted R[redacted] Cl[redacted] or provided proof that her son was covered this all could have been resolved.
On one of the visits to R[redacted], after the receptionist told Jeanne her son was not covered by Medicaid, she told the receptionist this was due to “a government shutdown”. This very well could have been true but it would still be up to Ms. B[redacted] to contact R[redacted] Cl[redacted] and have them recheck for eligibility. I spoke with R[redacted] Cl[redacted] Monday, 10-05-15, and she did not follow through in doing this at that time. However, R[redacted] Cl[redacted] has now verified that the patient was covered by M[redacted] for the dates of service in question. R[redacted] Cl[redacted] is writing off accounts #[redacted] and billing M[redacted] for account #[redacted].
So I do not expect her to have a remaining balance for the R[redacted] Cl[redacted] accounts.
As to the Vet bill Ms. B[redacted] is referring to. This account has the same name as her accounts with no middle initial. We investigated further and found it is not her bill. We try very hard not to make mistakes but they do happen. I apologize for this error and it has been corrected.
Ms. B[redacted] allegations about our representative Shelley A[redacted] (not Terry) are not true. We record our calls, which Ms. B[redacted] was advised, and I listened to the recording. Shelley was not rude, did not yell and was professional at all times. Ms. B[redacted] was frustrated with the situation and got upset.
The bottom line to all of this is that she only has the 1 R[redacted] Cl[redacted] account here with us which is on a hold status until M[redacted] has paid. At that time R[redacted] Cl[redacted] will report the payment to us and the account will be closed. I apologize for the length of this letter but there were a lot of facts to include.
If you have any further questions please feel free to contact me.
Marilyn M[redacted]
Collections Supervisor
CBS Collections, Inc.
509-324-1218
[redacted]

Review: CBS Collections has attempted to take me to court over a collection mater involving a medical debt. The problem is their papers served were handed to a room mate and not myself. This has led to me missing the court date and in turn a fair opportunity to defend myself. Additionally the papers serving me of the court date (given to me very late by a roommate who isn't responsible for my debt) contained information sensitive to HIPAA laws and were handed to somebody other then myself. Attempts to contact CBS Collections via email listed on their website have resulted in a invalid email address. I prefer to deal by email for the paper trail.Desired Settlement: Stop collection attempts. Withdraw your attempts to collect attorney fees as proper notification was not given. I will deal only with the original debt holder.

Business

Response:

On 05-05-2013 a Complaint was served to [redacted] who is [redacted]’s roommate. Revised Code of Washington 4.28.080 (15) states the defendant can be served “by leaving a copy of the summons at the house of his or her usual abode with some person of suitable age and desecration”. We cannot control when Mr. [redacted] was made aware of the Complaint. The Complaint does not contain any personal health information. It does contain the name of the original creditor, date of service and the amount of the charge. Our website is designed for use by our clients. There is no link set up in which CBS Collections, Inc. can be contacted by the consumer. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you. [redacted] Masterson Collection Supervisor

Review: I received a call from this business and they being a collection agency did not make sure I was who I said I was, did not ask my last name, or any kind if identification. They laughed at me when I tried to resolve my issue, and then hung up on me before resolving my issue. I felt violated that anyone could know my information, know that I was in collections. They were incredibly rude to me and laughed at my concern. This company caused me great anxiety and I am completely devastated.

The Worst Part Is That I called The Company Who Sent Me To Collections, And I Was Told they never sent that bill to them.

This company is trying to scam me!Desired Settlement: I would like this [redacted] and her supervisor to personally write me an apology, as they made me feel violated and abused.

Business

Response:

We initially spoke with Ms. [redacted] in April 2014 and set up a payment arrangement. We sent a letter to the address we have on file 09-04-14 and the letter did not come back mail return so we considered the address we have good. When she called our office 10-30-14 asking for a bill her name and phone number were displayed on our caller ID. We sent the letter she asked for. She called back and asked to speak to a supervisor. I took the call as I am the Collection Supervisor. She stated that [redacted] did not get the proper information to verify if it was actually her on the phone.I tried to explain to Ms. [redacted] that only the actual people call in on their bills, but that I would note her file and make sure the next time she called we would get her date of birth as we did not have her social security number. She wanted to argue I told her to have a nice day and ended the call.

Review: CBS Collections used my credit card number to pay my ex-husband's (of 3 years) debt. They took $375 out of my account without my approval or my knowledge. When I caught the charge, I called them. They acknowledged they had made a mistake and promised me that I would have the money back in my account that day. I have still not seen any of my money. When I called back, CBS Collections blamed my bank. They say they've released the money, but who knows if I'll ever see it! They have stole from me and lied to me.Desired Settlement: I want my $375 back!

Business

Response:

We were contacted by [redacted] 07-18-2013 about payments being taken from her debit card account to pay a bill that was for her x-husband which was incurred when they were still married. A $75.00 payment was taken out of [redacted]’s account on the 15th of March, April, May, June and July for a total of $375.00. As soon as [redacted] notified us of our mistake a credit was issued to her debit card for $375.00 along with our sincere apology. Although she was upset she did seem to understand that this was a human error and was not done intentionally by the collector handling this account. We were then contacted by again by [redacted] on 7-19-2013 at 4:30 pm. She told us the $375.00 had not been put back in her account and if we did not have this done by5:00 pm that day she was contacting the Revdex.com. I told her I would contact the company we use to process our debit/credit transactions and call her back. I spoke with the representative at the processing company and she assured me that the $375.00 credit had been issued back to [redacted]’s account and that it was at the discretion of [redacted]’s bank as to how soon it would show in her account. I was also told that every bank has its own time frame for processing transactions so she couldn’t tell me exactly when it would be. I called [redacted] back, before 5:00 pm, and told her what the processing representative explained to me. Again I apologized but she didn’t want to hear it and said she would be contacting her attorney. We have since taken steps to make sure this doesn’t happen again. If you have any questions please let me know.

Thank you,

Collection Supervisor

CBS Collections, Inc.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted]. I have just received the $375 deposit in my bank account this morning. What I don't understand is how this company can get away with stealing my money for 5 months without any repercussions at all. I cannot believe that the excuse of "human error" will be accepted as an excuse for fraud. I'm shocked that any company can get away with using someone's credit card without permission. I am even more surprised that the Revdex.com would support this.

Regards,

Review: I have never received anything in the mail from this agency. I got my first phone call from this agency on 9/30/2015 @ 5:10 pm by a lady named Terry. She called to let me know that I owed for some collections, I told her that I knew nothing of what she was talking about and that I wanted to see something in print. I don't just give me info over the phone, She told me that would not be possible then started talking over me again letting me know what collections she was trying to collect for and It was some animal clinic that I don't think I have been too ever and Rockwood clinic I let her know she needs to send rockwood back and have them bill correctly because my son was covered by [redacted] and [redacted] healthcare of wa she told me too bad it wasn't her job and cont. to be rude yelling at me and saying things that where not allowed by the fair collections act. Refused to get me someone in charge so I finally hung up.Desired Settlement: I do not want the business not to call me anymore because of the unprofessional attitude and yelling at me with the abuse of language. I want them to send rock wood back the bills so they can be billed to the state of washing ton like they where advised in the beginning. Also want proof that I had a vet bill.

Business

Response:

Re: Complaint ID 10839747

Dear Cathy Robinson,

This is in response to the complaint your office received from Jeanne M. B[redacted] against CBS Collections, Inc. First let me say that we do not “purchase” our debt. Our clients list past due accounts with us to collect for them.

R[redacted] listed the following accounts with us for Ms. B[redacted] son:

01-02-2014 Account #[redacted]

02-06-2014 Account #[redacted]

12-15-2014 Account #[redacted]

02-23-2015 Account #[redacted]

On each of these accounts a Validation Notice was sent to her home address and we did not have any mail return. There were in excess of 11 calls made and 3 letters sent in regards to the first 2 accounts. The address we had at that time was [redacted] Spokane Valley WA 9[redacted] and the phone # we called was [redacted].

Then when account #[redacted] was listed with us letters were originally sent to [redacted]. Spokane WA 9[redacted] and then to [redacted]. Spokane WA 9[redacted].

On 04-07-2015 the collector handling this account called Ms. B[redacted] at [redacted] and spoke with her giving her all of the information on the accounts we had our office. At that time she said her son was covered by Medicaid and she was going to contact R[redacted] and ask them to re-bill. So she was fully aware of the R[redacted] Cl[redacted] accounts and had she contacted R[redacted] Cl[redacted] or provided proof that her son was covered this all could have been resolved.

On one of the visits to R[redacted], after the receptionist told Jeanne her son was not covered by Medicaid, she told the receptionist this was due to “a government shutdown”. This very well could have been true but it would still be up to Ms. B[redacted] to contact R[redacted] Cl[redacted] and have them recheck for eligibility. I spoke with R[redacted] Cl[redacted] Monday, 10-05-15, and she did not follow through in doing this at that time. However, R[redacted] Cl[redacted] has now verified that the patient was covered by M[redacted] for the dates of service in question. R[redacted] Cl[redacted] is writing off accounts #[redacted] and billing M[redacted] for account #[redacted].

So I do not expect her to have a remaining balance for the R[redacted] Cl[redacted] accounts.

As to the Vet bill Ms. B[redacted] is referring to. This account has the same name as her accounts with no middle initial. We investigated further and found it is not her bill. We try very hard not to make mistakes but they do happen. I apologize for this error and it has been corrected.

Ms. B[redacted] allegations about our representative Shelley A[redacted] (not Terry) are not true. We record our calls, which Ms. B[redacted] was advised, and I listened to the recording. Shelley was not rude, did not yell and was professional at all times. Ms. B[redacted] was frustrated with the situation and got upset.

The bottom line to all of this is that she only has the 1 R[redacted] Cl[redacted] account here with us which is on a hold status until M[redacted] has paid. At that time R[redacted] Cl[redacted] will report the payment to us and the account will be closed. I apologize for the length of this letter but there were a lot of facts to include.

If you have any further questions please feel free to contact me.

Marilyn M[redacted]

Collections Supervisor

CBS Collections, Inc.

509-324-1218