Well as a follow up on my earlier posts-- (macy's acct that I was not able to make complete monthly installments-but paid something- was turned over to collection acct. - Omni collections-) I tried over and over to talk to someone in the executive offices with Macy's and kept being transferred over and over and then finally they would tell me that they could no longer help me-- that it had been turned over to Omni and that I must deal with them. I spoke with Omni today and while the girl was extremely nice-- she said there definitely only two options: Option 1- Pay the amount in full ($3420.00) and Macys would re-open my account and place it as a good standing on my credit report or Option 2: Reduce the balance and they would accept $2700 and keep the acct. closed and the rating on my CR report would be a nbegative rating. She said on a balance of this size that they would not be accepting "monthly installments"-- I have until the 24th to let them know; otherwise, she says "they will proceed with employment verification and enforcement of the terms of the contract. I asked her if that meant garnishment or what does that mean and she said "all I can tell you is that they will proceed with steps to enforce the terms of the contract." WTHeck does that mean? I couldn't afford (after job restructuring and hours decreasing and a few other factors) the min. payments of $200. a month- I certainly can't afford to even pay the $2700.00. I did invest 29.95 in a cell phone recording device so that I could record my conversations with the CA-- that in itself made me feel much better-- My questions for you seasoned veterans are: What is the best next step that I should take? and What is probably going to be their next step? Garnishment? A quick reply would be sooooo greatly appreciated-- as I always say I am such a scaredy cat when it comes to this!! Hope B.
$29.95????? Where did you get one for $29.95? I have never seen one for that price which allowed a person to record and listen at the same time. I have a Radio Shack wireless phone recording controller (Cat #17-855) and it will record but has no speaker. The only way to be able to listen with that unit is to use a set of ear phones with it and that means a lot of wires to get all tangled up. That would not be good while driving or doing anything but sitting down somewhere. The alternative to all those wires is to use a Bluetooth transmitter and a Bluetooth earpiece and that will set you back well over $200 more. My cell phones are all Bluetooth equipped from the factory but it is still necessary to spend extra money on a Bluetooth ear piece. Spending anywhere from $300 to $600 per cell phone plus another $100.00 for the earphone isn't cheap and then you can't listen and record at the same time since plugging the recorder into the phone jack cuts off the sound entirely on most phones I ever saw. It is a mess no matter what you do. A better method is probably to use a small digital voice recorder such as the Olympus ws-100 or the Olympus ws-200 or maybe the Sony ICB-28 or equivalent then just put the cell phone on speaker mode and hold the little recorder's mike up close to the speaker. They will pick it up just fine and that's a lot cheaper than having Bluetooth. I do like the Bluetooth system for hands free driving and for connecting the cell phone to a laptop so you can download your contacts, spreadsheets, Microsoft word files, or power point presentations as well as using the cellphone for a laptop modem sometimes when there isn't any other way available to connect to the internet. My cellphones are all internet capable and can surf just fine but the problem is the small screen size. It is basically dial up speeds except they do connect at up to 115k instead of the 56K and we will soon be seeing cable speeds for cell phones too. They already have that in England and some other countries but we don't have it here in the U.S. yet that I know of.
In all honesty, your best step absent settling this account would to be prepare for litigation; i.e., them instituting a civil action against you. Please bear in mind they may not but, even still, you would be in a better position adhering to the below than you are now. First, dispute the Macy's tradelines. We will hope that they verify and fail to mark the account as in dispute. There is authority on this point which has held this is a FCRA violation, specifically under 1681s-2b. Second, request validation from the collection agency, Omni. They may commit a host of violations from said requests. Third, dispute their tradeline, if one is present. All you can do thereafter is wait if you cannot afford to pay this off. However, you may accrue enough violations against both to institute a pre-emptive civil action of your own in attempt to get the underlying debt negated.
"enforce the terms of the contract" and why they wouldn't answer if that meant suit and garnishment. It provides a 'veiled threat' of legal proceedings, (which you picked up), but if they answered with a specific definition of "enforce the terms of the contract", they would be trapped into suing, or getting sued for making a false threat of suing you.
Cap1-- you are exactly right-- I have the "bundle of wire"-- I already had the small tape recorder (for dictation-- I am a secretary), and an earpeice for my cell so the only peice of equip. I needed to purchase was the box for 29.95 that plugs into the tape recorder-- and the earpeice plug of my phone -- (my earpiece now plugs into the new device-- it works great. apex-- sorry to keep bothering you--but when you say "prepare for litigation" what does that entail-- garnishment? Is that the worst-- I mean that is pretty bad and will hurt me trying to pay my other bills -but is that the worst that they can do-- IN YOUR OPINION? thanks!
