Dell Financial Services Major screw ups.....can't get anything right Austin Texas

To add some clarification here...

I am a former employee of a 3rd party collection agency that does business with DFS. During my nine months of employment at that agency which ended in June, I worked thousands of accounts ranging from the 1st month of delinquency to the 4th month. That's right, DFS outsources some of it's early collection work to outside agencies. However, let me address your issues...

Now that I have my credentials out of the way, let's get down to business.

I want to address your claims one by one.

Phone payments: Yes, there is a $13.95 fee assessed to your overall balance for payments by PHONE. Two notes. Number one, it can usually be waived if you complain about it enough. Secondly, you can ALWAYS mail in the payment...up to six months delinquency, before DFS will officially "Charge-off" your debt. If you are close to your due date and a mail-in payment won't make it on time, they use this as leverage when they are on the phone with you. Some agents can be very persuasive. If they are saying things that you perceive to be lies, hang up the phone. Agents are bound to NOT lie to you, as per the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) this does mean however, that there can be at least some play on words. If you believe fraudulent or harassing action was taken on the part of the collections agency, your states attorney generals office or the better business bureau are two good places to handle these situations.

Online payments:

There is NO fee if you schedule your payment more than one day in advance. Same day transaction incur a $9.95 fee. Your prior planning will obviously help you here. Of note, some customers past a certain level of delinquency (It seems to vary, but generally, it seems to occur only after two months of being past due) get their access to DFS online cut...so the only options left at that point are phone or snail mail. Also of note, you CAN do a billpay through your bank directly, although turnaround times vary by bank, but are almost always less than a mail-in.

Not crediting your account for "extra" payments:

I call your BS on this one. If you are in doubt that monies in addition to your total due aren't posting, look at your account statements for both your bank and your DFS account. You can see the money going out, and your DFS account statements should reflect the payment that was made. If there's a discrepancy, harass the living crap out of DFS customer service and if they fail to help, go through your bank. There is a confirmation method for EVERY type of payment you do. By phone, they give you an confirmation number. By mail, maintain your check number and watch to see when it's cashed. Online by DFS: A confirmation number IS provided. Online through bank billpay: Depending on the bank you may or may not receive a transaction or confirmation number of some kind.

Your credit rating:

If the collections agency says your account with DFS is paid, then obtain official documentation from them, OR record a phone call in which an agent from that collections company admits your DFS account (having them state the actual DFS account number during the call would also help) and file a dispute with the credit agencies. You should know that your past delinquency could be noted on your credit report for several years to come. Of note, within the first two months of delinquency DFS DOES NOT report that to the credit bureaus. Get your account current w/i 60 days, and you won't have to worry about your credit rating.

One last note:

About the high interest on many DFS accounts. If you were paying attention to your monthly billing statements, you'd know EXACTLY what APR you were getting. DFS usually does not hesitate to move you to the delinquency rate after two months of delinquency, assuming your credit was good enough to qualify for a decent rate to begin with.

I may visit other DFS complainers directly, to set the record straight either way.

To add some clarification here...

I am a former employee of a 3rd party collection agency that does business with DFS. During my nine months of employment at that agency which ended in June, I worked thousands of accounts ranging from the 1st month of delinquency to the 4th month. That's right, DFS outsources some of it's early collection work to outside agencies. However, let me address your issues...

Now that I have my credentials out of the way, let's get down to business.

I want to address your claims one by one.

Phone payments: Yes, there is a $13.95 fee assessed to your overall balance for payments by PHONE. Two notes. Number one, it can usually be waived if you complain about it enough. Secondly, you can ALWAYS mail in the payment...up to six months delinquency, before DFS will officially "Charge-off" your debt. If you are close to your due date and a mail-in payment won't make it on time, they use this as leverage when they are on the phone with you. Some agents can be very persuasive. If they are saying things that you perceive to be lies, hang up the phone. Agents are bound to NOT lie to you, as per the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) this does mean however, that there can be at least some play on words. If you believe fraudulent or harassing action was taken on the part of the collections agency, your states attorney generals office or the better business bureau are two good places to handle these situations.

Online payments:

There is NO fee if you schedule your payment more than one day in advance. Same day transaction incur a $9.95 fee. Your prior planning will obviously help you here. Of note, some customers past a certain level of delinquency (It seems to vary, but generally, it seems to occur only after two months of being past due) get their access to DFS online cut...so the only options left at that point are phone or snail mail. Also of note, you CAN do a billpay through your bank directly, although turnaround times vary by bank, but are almost always less than a mail-in.

Not crediting your account for "extra" payments:

I call your BS on this one. If you are in doubt that monies in addition to your total due aren't posting, look at your account statements for both your bank and your DFS account. You can see the money going out, and your DFS account statements should reflect the payment that was made. If there's a discrepancy, harass the living crap out of DFS customer service and if they fail to help, go through your bank. There is a confirmation method for EVERY type of payment you do. By phone, they give you an confirmation number. By mail, maintain your check number and watch to see when it's cashed. Online by DFS: A confirmation number IS provided. Online through bank billpay: Depending on the bank you may or may not receive a transaction or confirmation number of some kind.

Your credit rating:

If the collections agency says your account with DFS is paid, then obtain official documentation from them, OR record a phone call in which an agent from that collections company admits your DFS account (having them state the actual DFS account number during the call would also help) and file a dispute with the credit agencies. You should know that your past delinquency could be noted on your credit report for several years to come. Of note, within the first two months of delinquency DFS DOES NOT report that to the credit bureaus. Get your account current w/i 60 days, and you won't have to worry about your credit rating.

One last note:

About the high interest on many DFS accounts. If you were paying attention to your monthly billing statements, you'd know EXACTLY what APR you were getting. DFS usually does not hesitate to move you to the delinquency rate after two months of delinquency, assuming your credit was good enough to qualify for a decent rate to begin with.

I may visit other DFS complainers directly, to set the record straight either way.

Well according to the collection agency, they claim the account is listed as paid. Dell however failed to report it to the credit bureaus. This was over two years ago and the saga continues.

After reading some of the reports on here, I have noticed that you have filed ALOT of reports. Also the state seems to change, California, North Carolina, Alabama. So it's really hard to take anything you write seriously when you can't even get the state correct.

Also, if you are having so many problems with so many companies, maybe you should take better care of your home finances. It seems everyone is trying to rip you off....