Late last year I was the victim of identity theft. AAA Collections contacted me in an attempt to collect some of the debt accumulated from this theft. I told them of the theft, as to which they said it would be resolved after they received a copy of both the police file and manuscript from the bank verifying the theft. I hand-delivered both documents to their place of business.
A few weeks went by and I noticed that $160 was missing from my bank account and it was credited to AAA Collections. They managed to tap into my new checking account to collect on four checks they knew were fraudulent at $40 each.
I contacted them and told them this error on their part. To which they told me that if I wanted to get reimbursed I would have to get the money from the bank. I contacted the bank and told them this, as to which they told me that they didn't have anything to do with this withdrawal made by AAA Collections.
I contacted AAA Collections again, and asked if they were going to reimburse this money. ""No."" was their reply.
I then contacted the South Dakota Consumer Protection in Pierre. I told the attorney I talked to the whole story and she was very upset that they would do this to me. She was so peeved that at one point as I told her the details she stated, ""They aren't going to talk that way to me!"" She urged me to file a report so she could resolve it.
I was very happy and relieved that I had someone on my side. AAA Collections basically pulled money out of my account under mistaken circumstances, and then unethically decided not to give it back, thinking I had no other recourse but to just accept the loss.
I knew I was in the right and I wanted AAA Collections to know my intentions, so I called them and told them I was going to file a report on them. They basically told me to go ahead and the phone conversation was over.
It wasn't even 15 minutes later I received a phone call. It was AAA Collections. They now agreed to reimburse the money. They also told me that I could go ahead and file the report but to make it clear in the report that their stance now was that they were willing to resolve the issue.
So basically they were crapping their pants!!! When they thought that they could just keep the money and I wouldn't have any recourse, they had no issues whatsoever telling me to kiss off. But once I mentioned that I was going to file a report on them with Consumer Protection in Pierre, they were practically tripping over themselves to get my money back to me!!!
In the end I didn't have to file the report because they gave me my money back. But it took the threat of the power of the Consumer Protection to make them mess their drawers before they decided to change their minds.
Show me a business who practices such unethical decisions just for a few bucks, and I'll show you someone you should NEVER trust with anything of value.
Pros: none from my point of view
Cons: unethical and unscrupulous people
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