Date Received: 2017-07-20T00:00:00
Product: Other debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Consumer Consent Provided to Share Complaint: Consent provided
Consumer Complaint: On XX/XX/XXXX I received a call from XXXX XXXX XXXX threatening to sue and ruin my credit report over a {$250.00} debt I had with 5/3 Bank. Worried about my future, I paid the debt using my debit card and transaction is attached. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter from XXXX XXXX about a debt balance I had of {$330.00} from 5/3 Bank from over 6 years ago. They said I had 30 days to respond or else this would go on my credit report. I called XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX and they said their sister company XXXX ( law firm ) bought the balance from 5/3 bank and have been trying to reach out to me for the last 6 years. They said they would reduce the balance owed to {$250.00}, then to {$220.00}. I asked for further evidence about this debt but did not provide any more documentation. Concerned that my credit report would be impacted negatively, I paid XXXX XXXX {$220.00}. Realizing that I might have been scammed, I remembered that I had a debt collector, XXXX XXXX XXXX reached out about a debt from 5/3 Bank and paid {$250.00} on XX/XX/XXXX, the exact amount XXXX XXXX was looking for. This is when I knew I was scammed.
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State/Zip: CA 921XX
Company Response to Complaint: Closed with monetary relief
Was Company Response Timely: Yes
Did Consumer Dispute Company Response: N/A
Complaint ID: 2580829
The above data is from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Keep in mind that every company will get a complaint from time-to-time, even the great ones. But there are a few key data points that will give you an idea about how well the company values their customers and handles consumer issues.
Look at the item Company Response to Complaint: and Did Consumer Dispute Company Response: to get a better idea of how this was resolved. And the field Consumer Complaint: can give you some context of the issue.
In particular what you are looking for was that the company response was timely and that the consumer did not dispute it. The posting of complaints has proven to be a valuable resource for both companies and consumers.
