Although a BBB complaint may produce the result you want, and will help make the problem visible to other consumers, you may also want to cover your bases with a complaint to your local DA. The BBB seldom gets directly involved in individual cases other than to forward complaints, and possibly post summaries of results. Just as their use of a "separate lender" skews the consumer's incentive to settle, your use of a complaint to a public department run by an elected official that they cannot threaten shifts the potential risk. What would you do in their position over $39?
Who is "National Credit Corporation"? Is that their exact name, what is their address, or what city are they in, and what is their phone number? In other words, do they have a "track record"?
ontrack Wow, thanks for the info. I definitely see your point about the advantage of doing business this way. Should I request a validation of the debt from the CA? I know that this is a popular route when attempting to get something like this taken off your credit report. I will definitely file a complaint with the BBB and their local DA as well. We will see what comes out of that. National Credit Corp Address: 7091 Orchard Lake Rd # 100 West Bloomfield, MI 48322 Phone: (248) 855-2900 If you call the number, among their several options, it gives a separate number if you are trying to cancel your Fitness USA membership. In other words, it seems as though the CA and OC are either one in the same or the CA exists soley to deal with cases from the gym in question. In my googles for NCC I come up with mostly references to an (I'm assuming) unrelated entity set up by Hoover years ago. There are a few references when I narrow my search, including this very interesting article affirming my thoughts that Fitness USA = National Credit Corp. http://www.kron4.com/global/story.asp?s=775328&ClientType=Print
I see your point about not assuming they will do anything they say, including removing anything from my credit report. That being said, it seems as though a more direct method is in order, i.e, debt validation. Thoughts?
The kron4 article was the one I was looking for. (I saw the teaser ad and thought it was already out.) Validation should be requested to preserve rights, but the lever is in the "consumer fraud" domain. Treat both companies as one and the same, as they have interlocking management, and file complaints against both together. Also, file a complaint with your state AG. Disclosures sent after the 3 business day period to cancel, whether received or not, are meaningless, just as if they changed the terms of your contract unilaterally after you signed it, would be. If it is a "loan", presumably it would be covered under TILA, requiring full disclose up from of the APR, total amount of loan, and total cost of the loan over its lifetime. Did it? If not, contact your state AG. It is amazing how hard healthclubs work to give the appearance of compliance with the law, and reasonable terms for cancellation, but no-one actually trying to cancel ever succeeds without a fight. Yet you can start and stop phone or electricity service with seldom a problem. Did they give you a copy of the contract at the time you signed? Or did they say they would have to send a copy to you after it was "reviewed" or "signed" by them, in effect denying you of actual knowledge of how to legally cancel up front? (another common trick. See the Oregon AG site.)
The direct connection between the two companies was what I was looking for. In an unrelated case (on this site, I believe), involving a "magazine subscription service" that was going thru the motions of appearing to give the consumer the right to cancel, as required by some state laws, including sending a legally required notice, it always seemed that the consumer could none the less never actually successfully cancel. The notice never arrived, or arrived after the cancellation period, or whatever other reason they made up, so the reply was "I'm sorry, we can't possibly cancel." When the consumer then refused to pay, the account then went to "collection", for hundreds of dollars for magazines that were never ordered or sent. The "CA" appeared to be at the same address as the "service". This type of operation probably works best when the two companies are related, even though they pretend to be unrelated. They may need to quietly settle to stay below the radar from time to time, and that is harder if a legitimate independent lender gets tangled up in their contract disputes.
You might contact the Consumer Protection Division of the Michigan Attorney General's office, to see if they have similar complaints in their home state. http://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,1607,7-164-34739_20942-44769--,00.html "Collections", when the debt is small and disputed, is a game of Poker, but you don't have to play by their rules.
The primary problem is that I no longer have a copy of the contract. I signed the thing 4 years ago, and have absolutely NO recollection of what was laid out, including the supposed loan details, or anything. So this becomes a problem when I wish to make my complaint: I'm not sure what the contract said so its hard to make the claim they didn't tell me about the loan details when I don't have a copy of what they *did* tell me in the first place. So should I go the validation route at all, or should I spend my efforts primarily in the consumer protection domain? TIA
Did they give you a copy of the contract at the time you signed it? What period was the contract for? Is this a contract that automatically renewed each year, or a multiyear contract? I would be inclined to request validation, including a copy of the signed contract, as well as file a BBB complaint. Include a copy of your cancellation letter with your BBB complaint.
Yes I think they gave me a copy. But no I don't have it. The contract was for 39 months and then self-terminating. I tried to get out of it at the 38th month and they went ahead and billed me the last month, like I said. And as a result of my moving 4 times since this happened, I don't have a copy of my cancellation letter anymore either. I don't think I even have the electronic copy anymore
