“Dear Steve,
I joined up with a ABM Debt Services a year and half ago, the first 12 months most of monthly fee went towards my fee to the company and the remainder went into a reserve account for future settlements on my credit cards.
Now that I am past that initial 12 month period, all of my payments (except a $20 monthly fee) go into my reserve account. When my credit card companies contact me I was told to forward them to my Debt company and they would handle it from their, such as any settlements or how the length it would take till I would have enough to make a settlement. The credit card companies are calling me again telling me that they have gotten no response from my debt company, they have left numerous messages with no such luck.
Last week I was served papers to appear in court for one of the credit cards and now I cant get a hold of the company. I too, have left message after message. I only have 30 days to appear in court and don’t want to drag my feet with this company.
I am able to pull funds out of my reserve account without my debt company and settle with the one credit card company. Though I am not sure what to do about the Debt Company I signed up with? Do you have any suggestion?
Who would I file a complaint with about this company, I would hate for anyone else to get stuck with a company that doesn’t stick behind their customer.
Thanks so much, any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
Linda”
Dear Linda,
Sadly, I’m not surprised. I have heard much the same thing from consumers all across the country who are working with a wide variety of debt settlement companies. It certainly appears the settlement company was interested in communicating when they were waiting for their money.
The reality is that working with a debt settlement company does not alter your responsibility to repay a debt you owe. If you stop paying your creditors and instead save the money in an escrow account a creditor can sue you for non-payment. You don’t seem to have much of a defense here with the creditor since you elected to not send payment to them.
If you are unhappy with the services provided to you then you might want to contact your attorney general in your state and local BBB to file a complaint. Getting the word out on sites like this or maybe writing a complaint on RipoffReport.com will help to spread a warning message to others as well.
Please update me on your progress by
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Dear Steve,
We, also, delt with ABM. They milked us for over $4,000, played on the fact that we were going through a traumatic time (I had a brain tumor and couldn’t work), and once actually stated that they were golfing and would call back later. Now, they are no longer in business. They never contacted our creditors. I have all our e-mails. Is there any chance that we could get anything money back?
Unfortunately it is highly unlikely, especially if they are no longer in business. Threatening to file complaints with the BBB, AG, FTC, CFPB, etc hold little threat when they are no longer doing business. Of course it is still good to do those things because one or more of those agencies could still pursue the people behind the scam.
However in terms of getting your money back, it likely won’t happen, that is the nature of scams unfortunately.
If you provide some further details about your current situation, I can try to get you pointed in the right direction. I know it won’t get your money back, but we just have to move forward with the hand that we are currently holding.
I think, now, it is justification…period. Not just for us but to all who falls for these scams.
ABM stated that they would provide us with the services of working with our creditors and to lower our debt. We signed documents and paid a total of $4,081.00 (over a 6 month period of time and it was money we had to borrow from family). This was to pay off about $15,000 of debt that we accumulated due to an illness and death. I contacted (and did not get help) from Better Business Bureau in Syracuse. I filled out paperword for Federal Trade Commissioner, and a court mediator under the New York Attorney General. They had ABM fill paperwork out and made us sound like demons. Nothing ever came out of FTC and NYAG. I sent copies of every e-mail and all other paperwork that has been sent between us. Didn’t help. I still have all the paperwork.
Hiring this company was a mess basically from the start. They did not do what they promised. We got with debtors and are paying collections but it is just the concept of how they destroyed lives, close-up shop, and go on with their lives.
Thank you so much for getting back to me and giving us a direction to go.
Mel,
Sadly it is not an uncommon tale. The BBB is not a regulator and will not bring action against any company. The state and federal regulators have limited budgets and can’t act on every case. They have to weigh their options carefully and take on cases that impact a number of identified state residents or many consumers and those cases need to have a big chance of success.
Out of business companies are not on the radar of anyone. They are typically losers. You can always take action yourself in your local small claims court and you will probably win but then good luck collecting on that.
Rather than a total loss maybe you could look at it as a $4,800 investment in what not to do. It can provide you with a clear lesson of what not to do and let that serve you for the rest of your life.
The key here is to take a break from blaming the company for a moment and take a look at what caused you to leap by blind faith to the claims they were making without much more investigation. It’s something people do all the time.
Yep, your right. When I look back, I want to kick myself, but when you are at the bottom of the pit, you don’t think…period. It was an expensive lesson. Thank you for the website. Thank goodness, you are there to help people from falling for the “losers” out there and ready to pounce on those that are at their most vuinerable.