Peerless Credit Services, Inc.

The FDCPA does not allow us to reveal the nature of a call until we confirm we have the correct person on the phone.

Our representative spoke to the debtor for the first time on 4-27-17.  We received the first of several accounts on 1-29-16.  We attempted to call at home numerous times with no success.  During the call on 4-27 the debtor would not cooperate and discuss a resolution to the accounts....

 We released the account to the client and the account is now with their attorney's office.   The accounts are now closed with our office.  Thank You,Jim S[redacted]

I sent Peerless a letter in October of 2015 explaining that the debt they are attempting to collect is not valid and the reasons why the related contract was unenforceable. They did not contact me for several months after this and I took this to mean the matter was resolved. Now, without making any defense to my statements about the invalid nature of the debt, the calls have started again and they are threatening a lawsuit. Such a suit would be frivolous as they have not done their due diligence addressing the validity issues. In addition, they have been instructed repeatedly not to call my house and have continued to do so, including two separate occasions where they called back within a minute of me telling them not to call again.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:I received calls from multiple numbers not associated with the business, in order to bypass the numbers they called from which I blocked. I am sure they record some conversations, which paint them in a favorable light, but not others from unregistered numbers that are used for harassment. In any case, there is nothing they can do to remedy the situation, I don't want compensation or anything except for them to cease these practices, discontinue contact with me, and for this complaint to stand so that others who are harassed by them will recognize their underhanded, immoral, and legally dubious tactics.
Regards,
[redacted]

We of course have no control over any discounts applied to accounts.  This patient would need to contact the practice to see if they have charity care discounts and provide the necessary proof of income. Their phone number is ###-###-####.  As for the proposed payment arrangment,...

according to our follow up notes a payment plan we not setup by this patient.  I will note the file to reflect the $30 per month promise to pay.Thank You,
Jim S[redacted], Manager
Peerless Credit Services

I was contacted today by this company at my place of employment. I have never spoken to them before, and though in a subsequent call with a supervisor I was informed they have called my home, no such messaged could be verified.
When their representative "June" called my place of business, she informed our receptionist I was being sued. Our receptionist connected her to me for this reason, though personal calls are NOT permitted at my workplace. When I informed the caller they could not call me at work, they asked why, and I said that I could not receive calls at work, and they continued on their tirade. I said I needed the contact information for a supervisor and they said if I wanted to talk to one, they would connect me. I tried to reply, NO, that I was at work and would call later, but they already connected me to a recording of myself speaking, and then HUNG UP on me. I could HEAR the click.
This is NOT legal or ethical business practice. I have no dispute with the bill (I called the medical practice directly and received a copy to submit for payment by my HRA); I do have a problem with the guerilla tactics of this cut-rate firm.
If you are in the market for a company to seek out payment, I suggest you steer clear.

I was contacted today by this company at my place of employment. I have never spoken to them before, and though in a subsequent call with a supervisor I was informed they have called my home, no such messaged could be verified.
When their representative "June" called my place of business, she informed our receptionist I was being sued. Our receptionist connected her to me for this reason, though personal calls are NOT permitted at my workplace. When I informed the caller they could not call me at work, they asked why, and I said that I could not receive calls at work, and they continued on their tirade. I said I needed the contact information for a supervisor and they said if I wanted to talk to one, they would connect me. I tried to reply, NO, that I was at work and would call later, but they already connected me to a recording of myself speaking, and then HUNG UP on me. I could HEAR the click.
This is NOT legal or ethical business practice. I have no dispute with the bill (I called the medical practice directly and received a copy to submit for payment by my HRA); I do have a problem with the guerilla tactics of this cut-rate firm.
If you are in the market for a company to seek out payment, I suggest you steer clear.

Review: Had open-heart surgery, living on social security only, arranged to pay $30 per month, keep getting letters and phone calls, saying we have to pay the total we owe. We just can't pay anymore, and we feel we are being harrassed by them. [redacted] gives us 75% discount, why cant [redacted] do the same?Desired Settlement: Either give us, being low income, a discount or let us pay the $30 per month without harrassment.

Business

Response:

We of course have no control over any discounts applied to accounts. This patient would need to contact the practice to see if they have charity care discounts and provide the necessary proof of income. Their phone number is ###-###-####. As for the proposed payment arrangment, according to our follow up notes a payment plan we not setup by this patient. I will note the file to reflect the $30 per month promise to pay.Thank You,Jim S[redacted], ManagerPeerless Credit Services

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

I accept only if the phone calls, harassments letters, stop, and we will send $30 monthly as Peerless said they would make a note of, that is all we can do

This company needs to teach it's employees how to be respectful. I've been getting multiple phone calls weekly but the never leave messages. If you answer they usually hang up. I finally had someone start talking when I asked what the phone call was about. They lady on the other end wouldn't tell me what the call was regarding but she knew information about my 3 year old. Obviously as a parent when an adult knows information about a child you want to know how they got the information, but the lady wouldn't tell me and hung up on me. I called the number back and asked for a manager. I got to speak to Mike S[redacted] who was the rudest person to speak with. He shamed me for being a stay at home mom since I didn't make money to pay my son's medical bills (we are not on government assistance) I can't believe this company is still up and running with the way they are allowed to speak and harass people.

Review: I received a call from ###-###-#### at 6:08 pm on Tuesday 5-13-2014. A man asked for me by my name, but since I didn't want to speak to a collections agent I told him that he had the wrong number. He said "I don't think I do. Your answering machine says your name." (my voicemail on my cell phone does not give my name) He then asked me "Why do you say I have the wrong number?" I replied "I don't recognize this number and you have no reason to call me." He then said "Do you tell everyone you don't want to talk to they have the wrong number? That sounds pretty dishonest to me." I then asked him who he was and what did he want. He did not give me his name or nature of his business but said "I'll just call you tomorrow, [redacted]." and then he hung up on me. A search of this number found that it came from Peerless which has a long history of harassment and unethical collection practices that violate PCI compliance.Desired Settlement: I want this business to follow all PCI compliance protocols if they are to continue to pursue collections. I want them to stop contacting me and my family for whatever reason they are calling for.

Business

Response:

I reviewed the call recording from last evening. This debtor would not identify herself, so by law we were unable to provide any detail regarding the nature of our call. We have reached the debtor at the same phone number on 4-1-14 so we are confident the number is correct. We will notify the doctors who are due the money that the debtor will not cooperate in anyway.We receive very few complaints against our company because we abide by all laws governing collections. The complaints that do exist are unfounded or logged by uncooperative debtors avoiding their obligations. If a debt is disputed, we will always investigate and provide detailed verification to a debtor. We find very few accounts that are not legitimately owed. If the debts owed in this case are being disputed, we will gladly obtain verification and provide that to the debtor. If they are not disputed, then the debtor should honor their obligations.Sincerely,[redacted]

Review: This collection agency is overzealous in their collection efforts and they have contacted my home on as many as 4-5 times in one day and they call at ALL hours of the day and evening, I have spoken with a representative and advised that I was aware of the debt and that I would try to clear it up as soon as possible and even advised w/my tax return if it was at all possible. I also advised that I was experiencing financial difficulties and several things were occuring that I was struggling to satisfy and I AM NOT AVOIDING my debt. The representative initially was kind then on other occasions became rude and extreme and then even went as far as to attempt to contact me at my place of employment and I advised that they are NOT to contact me at work because I am unable to recieve phone calls in regards to personal business such as this because my incoming calls have the tendency to be monitored and I could possibly recieve disciplinary action for such instances. This representative which he did NOT provide a name became rude and beligerant on the call that was recieved at my workplace on 4/28 @ approximately 10:10 a.m. and he then threatened to turn over the account to an attorney and told me that I need to "do what I need to do and satify the debt" in an extremely rude manner and I then advised him that he should proceed forth with whatever means he deems necessaryDesired Settlement: I am requesting that this business OR ANY REPRESENTATIVE OF THE BUSINESS NO LONGER CONTACT ME BY PHONE ANYWHERE (home, cell, work etc.) and rather attempt contact and or collection efforts by mail which they do have the proper and necessary mailing address and I will make every effort possible to satisfy this debt w/the initiating Doctors office.

Business

Response:

We called and spoke to this debtor at home on 1-28-14. During the call she promised to pay her balance in a few weeks with her income tax return. No payment was received. We made several phone attempts but did not reach the debtor, nor did we leave messages. On 3-19-14 she called our office and promised to pay in full on 4-2-14. No payment was received. We made several more phone attempts but did not reach the debtor, nor did we leave messages. Today we reached the debtor at work. She complained about our calling her and hung up on our representative when they tried to speak. She called back to our office to again complain about our calling her. I'm not sure why she would not expect to hear from us after she did not keep her promise. All of our calls are made between the hours of 8am to 8pm. We are permitted to call at a place of employement. This complaint could have been avoided if the debtor had given us an honest answer regarding how she was able to honor her obligation. A partial payment would have been accepted if full payment could not be made. Our client does have us forward uncooperative accounts to their attorney at the [redacted] Law Office. No statements made by our representative were threats. They were statements of fact. This account will be released to the attorney.Thank You,[redacted] Manager

Review: Peerless credit called me multiple times a day. When I would answer PC would hang up immiediately. When I tried calling back no one would answer the phone. Only after calling them and letting the phone ring, and ring, and ring did someone finally answer the phone. The person I talked to refused to give me their name. When I asked the name of the company they hung up on me. I called right back and after letting the phone ring for 2 minutes someone finally answered. His last name was [redacted] I think. I told him who I was and again asked the name of the company. He said he would tell me why they called. I stopped and asked for the company name and his response was Ok well call back later. ..click. I called back and spoke to a lady the next time. She informed me that they are Peerless Credit and that I owed a hospital money. I told her what happened and she said no one would do that and I must be lying. I asked to speak to the boss and he wouldn't give me his name. When I tried telling him my problem he just kept trying to talk over me and tell me that no one there would act that way and I was wrong. I tried to tell him that when I looked his phone number up online, through a reverse lookup service that, the only reviews on there for this number where bad. Every single comment was the same story im telling now. The people were rude. No one would tell them the name of the company. I know I owe this hospital money but I in no way feel comfortable sending any amount of money to this company. When I was hung up on 3 times form me calling them and many more when they would call me and hang up, how can I in good mind send them money. I feel like this company is a scam.Desired Settlement: I want to make sure this company is for real and not just taking advantage of unsuspecting people. When I saw all the bad reviews of Peerless Credit online and how they were treating other people it sent warning signs out right away. Why would they call and hang up when I answer. I feel like they do this so they can say they tried to contact me and werent able to. Again I work VERY hard for my money and want to make sure that Im not going to get scammed by these people. With computer hackers what they are today it would be easy to get any info they would want to use to their advantage.

Business

Response:

This debtor would not identify themselves when we called so we could not provide detail of why we were calling. In these cases we have no choice but to end the call. We explain to individuals the privacy guidelines in these situations before ending the call. When this debtor called our office he would not immediately identify himself, so we were placed in the same situation. When he did identify himself, he would not discuss resolving his debt. We have had numerous accounts from the same hospital for this debtor, and no payment was ever made to our office. If he is sincerely interesed in resolving the accounts and does not trust that our office is legitimate (we've been in business since 1982), he is urged to contact the hospital directly to resolve his debts. As for the comments on the Internet, those are the opinions of a select few. Unfortunately it is rare that someone go to the trouble to make an Internet posting regarding their positive experience with a collection agency. We receive letters from debtors on a regular basis thanking us for working with them to resolve their obligations. If this debtor would like to resolve their accounts, I would be glad to take a call from them and help in any way possible.

Thank You,

[redacted], Director

Peerless Credit Services

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because: the information they gave you was a lie. I identified myself right away every time I called. No one at the agency would tell me their name. I was hung up on numerous time when the company called me. I talked to someone about payments and when I was transferred to a supervisor to make a complaint he told me I must be wrong and I was lying. The lady I talked to abou the payment also called me a liar. All you have to do is look at the comments from other people and you will see the same story as mine from more than just a few people. This may hav been a reputable company at one time but they aren't anymore. I am dealing directly with the hospital over this and will be telling them of this company as well. In closing their response was a complete lie and I do not accept that

Regards,

Business

Response:

I refer you back to my original response with regards to our version of the events. We have never been in the business of lying, and we certainly never use the word liar when speaking with a debtor. I am sorry this individual perceives his experience with our company as negative. I certainly hope he will contact the original creditor directly to work out the debts involved.

Sincerely,

[redacted], Manager

Peerless Credit Services

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

It's clear this company won't own up to what was said. I did speak with 4 different people at this company none of which is the person responding to the call. He makes no note of speaking to anyone about said call. I'm going to contact the local paper and let them know of this company's shady practices. He's made no reference as to why I was hung up on when trying to find out the company name. I am using the word liar because this guy most definitely is lying. I will also be letting the company thu were collecting for know of the hassle I was out through. Clearly he has no clue of the actual calls and is just spouting off policy. It's sad when a boss is so clueless he doesn't know what his employees are saying on the phone. It was only after seeing all the problems numerous other people have had with this company that I decided to file this complaint. To often a managers word is taken as gospel when they actually have no clue of the actual events.

Regards,

Review: I have received numerous phone calls from this company many, many times a day and night. Today, 1/19/2015, I have received a phone call in which a woman did not identify herself. I do not know who this person is nor what they wanted. Peerless Credit services practices unethical, unmoral, rude, disrespectful, and law-breaking phone calls. The woman had called my cell phone not my home number. I do not have a home number. Peerless employees are required by law to identify who they are and what place they are calling from when calling a cell phone number. My cell phone carrier has been notified by this illegal action. Peerless Credit services lack communication skills and business related information-giving skills. There is no reason to call me more than five times a day!!! It is harassment.I got connected to a woman when I first called and explained my problem. She then directed me to the handler of my case, Nicki. When I had talked to Nicki from Peerless Credit Services, she was not nice to speak to in regard to a billing issue we have with [redacted]. I had asked her if she was informed by the previous woman about my issue and she said "you were disputing". I replied that I had explained my situation to the other woman, but I was wondering if she communicated with you. Nicki replied with little to no patience and a sigh. She said why are you calling/what do you want as she was trying to talk over me. I asked her why she was being rude to me when all I asked was a simple question. Nicki continued with her rudeness and no patience. I was upset with her reaction as to why a business would interact with a client in such a manner. I asked her if she was happy with how she treats me and other people. She was practically yelling at me and then hung up on me. Not professional at all nor does she have business etiquette.Desired Settlement: Peerless Credit Services should stop contacting me. Period. No reason to deal with ignorant people within a company!I want an apology from my case handler in a letter. This was uncalled for and very disrespectful. She rose her voice to me for no reason when all I was asking was if the lady that connected me to her updated her as to why I was calling. I would surely hope your company reviews the phone call as it is recorded. Peerless Credit Services, you will not get far by having rude employees handle your clients.

Business

Response:

Based on the information from the complaint we think we found the account this customer is referring to. We reviewed the notes and the recorded call and found the following.We called for the first time 1-8-15 at 12.12p and got an answering machine and did not leave a message per the legal guidelines.On the same day at 12:13p we called an alternate number on the account and again got an answering machine but did not leave a message per the legal guidelines.On 1-19-15 at 12:45p we called and got an answering machine and did not leave a message per the legal guidelines.On 1-19-15 we called an alternate number on the account and encountered a woman who instisted that our representative was a girlfriend calling for her husband and demanded information why we were calling. She did not identify herself so we provided no information regarding the nature of our call. A women called us back later that day at 1:23p (apparently using our number from caller ID) identifying herself as the wife. She was aggressive with our representative. Because the woman was being combative, we informed we would end the call and proceeded to do so. There has been no contact on the account since. We will notify our client of the situation and recommend they take additional steps to collect.This company has been in business for over 32 years. We have always followed the guidelines that govern our industry, and have a stellar reputation amongst our clients.Sincerely,Jim S[redacted], ManagerPeerless Credit Services

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:First, I would like to hear the recording of me being combative. Second, as defined by an online dictionary, combative is 'ready to fight'. This was a phone call, not a face to face meeting. Third, any person would be defensive if some unknown female is randomly calling cell phones and does not identify what business they are representing. Also we have documentation that the number made prior calls to both of our cell phones and left no messages. Most people, including my husband and I, see this as a spam call or someone playing games. Fourth, to my knowledge the female calling did not inform me that our conversation was being recorded. Either way, I would like the Revdex.com and I to have the opportunity to hear both phone calls with the female callers who were rude, unprofessional, and had no patience to answer my questions. Peerless should be willing to give the requested audio as I am requesting it through this business complaint solution center. Fifth, "Federal law permits recording telephone calls and in-person conversations with the CONSENT of a least one of the parties. See 18 U.S.C2511(2)(d). This is called one party consent law. Under a one party consent law, you can record a phone call or conversation so long as you are a party to the conversation." Only the second time I had contact with the lady was I "advised" the line was being recorded. I did not give my consent to be recorded. Peerless has not followed guidelines outlined by the laws. As I have asked several questions both times I had an interaction, both times speaking to the female callers were very unethical, unprofessional, and the female callers were the aggressive ones. I demand a written apology from Jim S[redacted] as well as the female callers. Absolutely worst company to deal with! The constant calling to one household is unreal. I have no problem supplying my cell phone record and my husband's.

One additional piece of information I would like to add is regarding the professionalism of their calls in general. I encourage the Revdex.com to search the following number: ###-###-####. There are numerous complaints from people who are currently receiving calls from this number, Peerless's number. Even when they have the wrong number, they are rude to people. I am certain if you dig deeper into Peerless, you will surely find that they encourage disrespect and harassment on a level that supersedes what is required of a telephone operator and case handler.

Regards,