American Express and Allied Interstate Collections Abuse, by Robert Paisola

Mr. Robert Paisola,

My husband and I have about 20K of debt on our personal American Express card from a Business franchise that we bought that went out of business. We have managed to talk with our other creditors and set up payment plans and lower interest rates. American Express refused to work with us and we have been making payments for the past year (the account is closed) to try and get the balance down which is virtually impossible at a 30% interest rate.

We had been making payments but have fallen behind with Amex and are now at approximately 50 days past due. We tried to contact Amex again but they have already turned it over to the collector (Allied in Ohio). We have been receiving phone calls on both our home and cell phones, they have also started calling other family members in other states. (We have been through this with them once before when our business first closed and we had our company Amex to pay).

My husband talked to the collector this morning and tried to work with him. The collector proceeded to call my husband a “liar” and said that we have the money to pay for this debt! We do not have the money to pay up front, he said that he was looking at a credit card we have with $6,000 free on it and he wanted that plus payments every month for 6 months and then the rest of the balance at the end of the 6 months. This is ridiculous, for one, we have closed ALL our credit cards and are in the process of paying them all back, secondly, we have repeatedly tried to get Amex to work with us to pay it off. The Collector finished the call by telling us that he is going to Amex to tell them that we will not cooperate and they will be suing us.

Can you help?

Best regards,
Stacy

Allied Interstate for American Express- A Class Action Suit Waiting to Happen, By Robert Paisola

Dear Mr. Robert Paisola,

My husband and I have about 20K of debt on our personal American Express card from a Business franchise that we bought that went out of business. We have managed to talk with our other creditors and set up payment plans and lower interest rates. American Express refused to work with us and we have been making payments for the past year (the account is closed) to try and get the balance down which is virtually impossible at a 30% interest rate.

We had been making payments but have fallen behind with Amex and are now at approximately 50 days past due. We tried to contact Amex again but they have already turned it over to the collector (Allied in Ohio). We have been receiving phone calls on both our home and cell phones, they have also started calling other family members in other states. (We have been through this with them once before when our business first closed and we had our company Amex to pay).

My husband talked to the collector this morning and tried to work with him. The collector proceeded to call my husband a “liar” and said that we have the money to pay for this debt! We do not have the money to pay up front, he said that he was looking at a credit card we have with $6,000 free on it and he wanted that plus payments every month for 6 months and then the rest of the balance at the end of the 6 months. This is ridiculous, for one, we have closed ALL our credit cards and are in the process of paying them all back, secondly, we have repeatedly tried to get Amex to work with us to pay it off. The Collector finished the call by telling us that he is going to Amex to tell them that we will not cooperate and they will be suing us.

Can you help?

Best regards,
Stacy

Allied Interstate: Thank you Robert Paisola for Your Help!

Dear Mr. Paisola,
Although, I already have legal counsel, I just wanted to commend you for your efforts against Allied Interstate. I, too, have been harassed and threatened by these goons.

They have threatened to garnish my wages, take me to court, report my account to the credit bureau, and they have all been incredibly rude. I even sold my car to my grandmother so I didn't have to worry about them coming and taking it. This all started In July.

A student loan through Sallie Mae got sent to Progressive Financial (collection agency) although I had been paying. What happened was they had applied my payments to other accounts and never bothered to correct that mistake. So I settled with Progressive in September. Matter closed. Or so I thought.

In January, I start receiving auto dial calls, which I just hung up on. I had no idea who they wanted to reach, and I wasn't going hang on hold for someone that I didn't know and didn't call in the first place. Then I got a letter telling me I owe over $2,000. I knew I had received no statements from Sallie Mae in that amount, and I figured out that the amount they were trying to collect is the amount Sallie Mae should have written off. My mother ended up talking to them and they threatened to garnish wages and sue me.

She didn't know at the time that the debt had been settled through someone else and agreed to pay $50/month. Thank goodness she didn't end up doing so. Then I spoke to a guy (I certainly wouldn't use the term gentleman) who was incredibly rude. He was sarcastic, he implied I was lying when I said that the debt had been settled, and he would not listen and kept saying he didn't understand or get it. It was as if what I was trying to say was in Latin.

He then threatened to garnish my wages and sue me. I took a deep breath and tried to explain again slowly. He got nasty and said gritting my teeth won't make him go away. He also said not to talk to him like I do my kids (I have no kids, thank you) and try to make him feel stupid. I got angry, told him I wasn't going to put up with his snide mouth and hung up. After this call, is when I hired my attorney. A few days later, I get another call. This time, I have until 2.28.08 to pay or else they're going to sue me.

When I explained I don't owe it, he said yes you do. I said I already took care of it, and besides that, I had never received anything from Sallie Mae stating that I owe the amount Allied is trying to collect. He said "yes you did, many times." I said, unless you've been somehow stealing from my mail box, I'm well aware of what I do and do not receive. I said look, I'm tired of you people threatening and harassing, and he denied that he was doing anything of the sort.

He then asked if my attorney was going to pay the debt, which is a bizarre question. I said no. He said then how is he going to pay it. This guy is totally off his rocker by this point and I don't even know what he was saying. I kept saying "excuse me" because I wanted to give him the name and number of my attorney, but he wouldn't shut up long enough for me to do so, and I hung up on him.

I have received another letter. This time they want to settle for a lesser amount and if I don't respond in 10 days. they may not offer the settlement anymore. I don't care because I don't owe anything. Also they said that if I don't pay, Sallie Mae can report my account information to the credit bureaus. If they do that, I'll have their hide since I already paid and I have proof. I've been receiving at least two calls a day. Most of the time, no one says anything. I am pretty sure it's Allied trying to harass me.

The next time I spoke to a person from there, I discussed nothing. I simply gave him my attorney's name and number...and they STILL CALLED! They called today, in fact. My dad told them they had the wrong number. I can't even answer the phone anymore because I just am sick to death of these crooks. It's incredibly stressful. I have filed a lawsuit against Allied Interstate. I don't even care if I get money from them, I just don't ever want to hear from them again.

I also want the $2000 written off like it should have been in the first place. I want my peace of mind back, and it would be great to answer the telephone without worrying about threats being made. I'm sure that is mild compared to many of the stories you've heard regarding Allied. I have listened to the "Nicole phone call", and that woman is a nightmare.

I am just glad that you are helping people that are in the same boat as I am to fight back against these cons. No one should have to put up with that. If you wish post my story on your website, please feel free to do so. If you do, I only ask that my last name be omitted. If you don't that's cool, too. I just want to voice my support of your efforts. I cannot understand how Allied Interstate is still in business. Keep up your great work against Allied. The more people that fight back, the more people will be aware of Allied Interstate's criminality.

And if enough people fight them, maybe, just maybe we can get Allied Interstate gone once and for all.

Stay strong and keep fighting.

Erin

Allied Interstate or Gods Minister- Who will ALWAYS Win- Our Savior will Protect us from The Eviel Ways of Allied Interstate, By Robert Paisola

Dear Mr. Robert Paisola
CEO
The Western Capital Foundation
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

To my shame I have found myself in the deplorable situation of having released probably around $800.00 via a monthly payment plan to these people. Ask anyone I know...you cannot intimidate me...under normal circumstances. My philosophy is "You can only intimidate someone who has the capability of being afraid...and I'm not the one!"

Unfortunately, these people caught me at a very vulnerable time of life, when:
My husband had just suffered a ruptured aneurysm in his brain, died, came back and survived but is disabled
My eldest son was deployed to Afghanistan
My mother-in-law (the only mother I have left) was placed in Hospice
I was the primary care-giver to both she and my husband
No outside income
STILL waiting on my husband's approval for disability
and the stress caused me to suffer a number of mini-strokes
Within a few days of my "episodes" was when they chose to call me for the first time...in the same disrespectful, demanding, threatening way as those others about whom I read today, with threats of law suits, garnishesment of wages (to which I rather gleefully cackled!) and demands for my personal and banking information information.

I was intimidated. I was scared. I was just tired. So I made the arrangements to pay the debt I knew I owed (education loan).

I spoke with a number of people (and incidentally, 'Nicole' on your taped session sounded suspiciously like the 'Kelly' with whom I spoke at one point) and collected numerous phone numbers. Most of those were deleted from my cell phone when I would reach a 'no longer available' (among others) message.

Well, here it is Feb. 2008, and I'm awaiting all the 1099's I am supposed to be getting so that I can file my taxes. The payments I was making to Allied were supposed to be on the interest on that education loan...a possible deduction on my taxes. So I called the last number I had: 888-301-0053.

It rings...then goes directly to a busy signal. I have been calling this particular number since Wednesday, 2/13/08.

I decided to go online and request this form. Surprise! Have you ever been on one of the "About" sites? That's all their site is, is a directory that leads to anyone and everyone EXCEPT their offices! That was http://www.alliedinterstate.com , the URL I was given several months ago when I first started dealing with them back in July of 2007.

At $110 (plus a few extra for fees maybe?) per month, that is a grand toal of $770.00(+).

Today I decided to Google them (nearly a year later than I should have done) and BBB them (ditto) and, guess what?

SURPRISE! I found your www.mycollector.com site.

Well, about 2 hours ago, I contacted my Bank of America customer service. You know how the nicer reps will listen to your tales of woe and "tsk tsk" when you get emotional? She didn't. She asked questions...and then she said to contact the original creditor and find out if the moneys were actually paid to them...and if they weren't, go in to my bank and give them the story, that Bank of America would be happy to take it from there.

Sounds to me like I'm not the only one to call in to cancel auto-pay to Allied. Anyway, I wound up cancelling my bank card and requesting a new one.

I'm also considering requesting a new SSN. I understand that in certain cases that can be done.

Allied gets not one more dime. And I can only hope that Sallie Mae got my payments.

Put that little story in your files if you'd like!

Sincerely
Rev. Peggy L. Pearl-Kirkby

Another Message from Myspace.com on Allied Interstate Collections
Dear Mr. Paisola

I had occasion to Google Allied Interstate (gee, wonder why... ) and wound up on your mycollector website.

After zinging through and listening to all 48 wonderful minutes on the phone with "Nicole" (who, incidentally sure sounded exactly like the "Kelly" I spoke with at one point), I started taking care of business, as it were! No answer to the last phone number I had for these nincompoops, a website that is nothing more than a directory to anything BUT their offices and a phone call to my bank to cancel a card.

I did email you from that site, but when I went back after my morning's toils, I noted that the last date on any of the articles was no more recent than June '07. Of course from there I did find your MySpace presence, thank goodness!

I'm just wondering if there are any, more recent, updates to the Allied Interstate....... thing. And I hope you still check your email from that site.

Could you let me know please?

Sincerely
Rev. Peggy L. Pearl-Kirkby
Led by Grace Ministries
http://ledbygrace. tripod. com

and on MySpace:
http://myspace. com/revcici