This may sound crazy, but I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this or knows anything about it. Last night while I was at work my fiance took a call for me from a lady who said that she works for a major tire manufacturer (she said the company name), and that they were trying to reach me because they owed me a refund for $270 for tires I bought sometime in the mid 1990's that were part of a recall settlement. She wanted to verify my address, which is now different (she had an old address that still shows up on my credit report), she had my ss# and wanted to try to reach me @ work, which is impossible because I fly airplanes for a living. He told her that I would be home in the morning and that she could call back. He also gave her our current address. He told me about the call and I thought it was odd that she had my ss#, I don't ever remember giving that out when buying tires. I may or may not have bought that brand of tires for my last car (don't remember). I decided to check out the website of this tire manufacturer and see if there was anything about this on there. There was information about a recall that ended last December. So I called the company who then referred me to their consumer affairs department. A lady in consumer affairs is checking on this but has no knowlede of any such program going on at this time. I am wondering if the person who called is actually a creditor/debt collector. I do have old unpaid debt. Is it possible that they could call and pose as someone else to reach me? Is that legal? Maybe I am just paranoid, but the whole thing just seemed very odd.
A $270 refund for tires bought in the mid 1990s? Were they Firestones? That's a rather significant refund. And I don't know of any company that likes giving away money; especially from 7 years ago. I am afraid BF gave away too much information. Did he get a name and number of who called? How about caller ID - does the number show? Dani PS I'm just trying to think of ways that we could retrace the call to find out who actually called. Most recalls are done via snail mail. I have never had one contact me via phone. Not to say they don't.
EXACTLY. That was the red flag for me. Why in the world would she need/have my ss#. Like I mentioned in previous post, I do have some old outstanding debt, which I hope to take care of by the end of the summer. Has anyone ever heard of a company calling and saying they are someone other than who they are to trick you into something? After speaking with the tire companies consumer affairs dept I really don't believe this woman is from the same company, and is going to such lengths to send me $270.
Do you feel comfortable posting the number on this board. Maybe one of us can help you figure out where the call is coming from. Dani
Well I don't know if it would help, it's an 888 toll free #. I just called it again and it is a company called the Arnell (sp) Group. It's an answering machine or vm. I tried looking it up online, and the only company that I have been able to find by that name is a company that appears to make tv commercials? Weird. PS: Yes it's Firestone.
My guess it's a CA. Gotta admit this CA is very creative. Do you owe a lot on one account? My past experience has been that the larger the debt, the more creative the CA becomes. Best regards, Mirage
Yes I do owe a lot on one account. I do not have the money to pay right now, but will be able to pay it very soon. I just spoke to fiance by phone. According to him, the woman who called said that when I return her call I have to leave a message for her to call me back in order to reach her. I think I just won't call her back, it's obviously not what she says it is. It probably is a CA. I spoke to Firestone again and it is most definitely NOT them calling me.
How long has this debt been outstanding? Your state's SOL can be a factor here. Do you subscrible to CE or EQ (yearly plan)? If you do, this may give you a clue as this CA's idenity. The CA most probably pull your report recently. If you do call them do not use your home phone, work phone or your cell. Use a pay phone, as some CAs may have the ability to trace your number. Best regards, Mirage
Thanks for the advice Mirage. I do not subscribe to these services but plan to sign up right away. I pulled my credit reports recently (about a month ago) and did not see anything new. But I was thinking along the same lines as you and will check them again right away. The person I was dealing with @ Firestone is also trying to call this woman who called me and find out what is going on and why she is saying she works for Firestone when in fact she doesnt. The woman who supposedly works for Firestone called 2x yesterday and once today, earlier in the day stating that she would call back which she has not. Maybe since Firestone is trying to reach her she won't call me anymore, at least not under the pretense that she is with Firestone and calling about a refund.
Start a phone log right now with every bit of information you or your Fiance can remember. When they do call back get every bit on info on this person that you can. If this is a CA, it's definitely deceptive practices. That's $1000 per phone call, at this rate they will shortly owe you more than they claim you owe them. Once you nail them as a CA, see if Firestone's Attorneys would like to add some ammunition to your case. Dancer
I just tried to do a search at www.collector.com for Anrell Group and it came back with too many results. I would try to work with Firestone on a fraud case, imagine if they do this all the time, like Firestone doesn't have a bad enough name, they don't need help from this CA.
Can you get a recorder for your phone? Radio Shack sells a $49 and $79 version. You could always return it in a week as "not what you needed". Dancer
Here's a reference to a FTC Opinion on deceptive representation you might wish to reference when you talk to Firestone. Question #3 states that if it appears that they are authorizing these idiots to do this (I know they aren't, but this should get their lawyer's attention) they're liable for damages. http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/letters/douglass.htm Good Luck, Dancer
Thanks everybody! I am taking everyone here advice! At this point I really don't know who this woman is, but I dont know who else it could be other than a CA. She has not called back. The representitive from Firestone said that he would be calling her also. I guess it's a wait and see game right now. I am wondering if she will just stop calling me when Firestone calls her. Thanks again! You guys are a great help.
Check your spelling. Arnell doesn't come up in the search engine, anrell evidently does. It may be that this is someone trying to sell something for firestone, but still could be a CA
Ok I redid it and this is what it says: The search you requested is too broad. Please specify additional criteria to narrow your results. So we need a city state or zip, to narrow the search. I searched on google.com and came back with TONS of returns.
