I have an account from Conrad Credit on my report for a Gold's gym membership. I requested validation twice from Conrad and they sent a copy of the signed agreement, nothing else. I know that does not constitute validation. I disputed the item with Experian and they are saying Conrad validated the debt, but they will not share the information they received from Conrad. I am thinking it is time to sue Conrad, as I know they have nothing the constitutes validation. Am I at the sue point here? Thanks for the help.
Did they continue to bill you after you cancelled? Have you specifically requested what you want as validation? A statement showing payments and dates?
I presume you are aware of the sort of problems common to gym memberships: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/buyerbeware/4084849/detail.html http://www.epinions.com/content_90809011844 http://www.my3cents.com/search.cgi?category=HEALTH&industry=HLTH http://www.oag.state.tx.us/oagnews/release.php?id=601&PHPSESSID=c2fb9ca9f96f6febd19e93fb0f90c57d http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff57844.htm
Thanks for your help ontrack. I did request validation and all they sent was the signed agreement, no records of payments I made etc. That is why I disputed it with Experian, knowing that Conrad was unable to validate. My problem is Experian said they did validate, but I know that is wrong. Do I sue Conrad now? Thanks
All a CRA does in response to your dispute is ask the data furnisher to check that what is reported by the CRA's system is "correct". If the DF says "yes", that's the end of it as far as the CRA is concerned. The DF may not even get any details of what your dispute thru the CRA was even about, since it is generally just reduced to a code. The CRA does not see or check anything. From your position preparing to sue a DF, the CRA dispute is a necessary step without which the DF may have no liability, regardless of how erroneous the CRA report is. This is their chance to see and correct an error with no responsibility for what that error might have been, or whether you are even correctly identified. Before disputing, each party can just claim the other made a mistake.
So from that response I conclude that it is time to sue Conrad Credit Corp for reporting false information to Experian. Thanks for your help
Whatever response a CA or CRA provides to your dispute, if you accept it, they will assume they met their obligation. If "validation" is inadequate, dispute their validation, and be specific. What do you believe is the likely origin of this "debt": failure to properly credit payments, failure to terminate membership on request, incorrect billing for amounts not agreed to, or other acts that could be fraudulent? Is there a pattern or history of this with this particular gym, perhaps leading to involvement by local DA or media consumer advocates?
My own view is that whenever you see a long term contract as a condition of obtaining a service, you have a clue that you are dealing with an organization that behaves in a predatory manner. Services can be started or stopped at any time for little cost (phone bill, electricity, water, etc) so why does THIS outfit not want pay-as-you-go? They must know something (their customers don't want to stay).
