Collection Company of America refuses to remove a $292 claim (which they filed fraudulently for an AT&T phone line that was closed in good standing with a zero balance) from my credit reports. I filed a written dispute with all three credit bureaus, since I had an excellent credit history before. They replied a month later that Collection Company of America insisted that the collection amount was valid and past-due. The collection agency never checked back with AT&T to even confirm that the account never had any balance on it ever and was closed two weeks after it had been opened with a zero balance. I have been trying for over 3 months to get my credit reports repaired, with hours of phone calls and emails each month between AT&T, the credit bureaus, and the collection agency. The matter still remains unresolved.

I received a letter at my grandmother's address in California (which I've never lived at) from Collection Company of America regarding a debt I owed to AT&T Mobility for $150.92. I immediately contacted AT&T as I do have an account with them but I always pay that bill early. The representative stated that I did NOT owe them and there are no notes on my account stated I owe or have owed them in the past. I also tried calling Collection Company of America but there was no answer so I left a very frank message letting them know I do not owe them or AT&T and they could call back and we could conference call all three of us. Doubt I'll hear anything. Since we have these wonderful inventions called the internet and google, I decided to google this company. The amount of complaints from people regarding this company are staggering. Some people didn't even have accounts with the companies this agency claim they owed money to. I decided not to wait and filed a formal complaint on the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection's website. I did not see a mark on my credit report yet so I can't dispute that. But I advise others to follow suit and file a claim at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ . Once enough voices complain, they can't simply ignore the problem. It's enough that credit card companies charge incredibly ridiculous rates in our unstable economy or offer shady promotions, collections companies shouldn't be able to try and take advantage of struggling Americans. I personally have terribly poor credit. After my husband was medically discharged (large intestine had to be removed) from the Marine Corps, we went pretty broke. Two cars repossessed, credit cards at 22.99% suing us, my lovely student loans in default. I know my mistakes, but that doesn't give any company the green light to add on to my debts or yours.

I received a phone call from CCA requiring payment of a certain amount or court action would be taken. They indicated attempts at contacting several months ago, but nothing recent and no hard-copy statement received for months. I made a payment, however have since become nervous about this finding out this companies status in the scam / complaint and rip-off world. As far as I know the actual account for their client is with a $0 balance, and am in the process of confirming that. In the conversation it was repeatedly noted that I was trying to back out of paying anything, that being the furthest from the truth (just trying to get more information regarding the account, as I had not received any correspondence of any form for months). I was told that they were not allowed to mail or email information for privacy reasons and the only contact that I was allowed was a partial name "Mr Gomez" and local office phone number, no extension, etc.

I hope this helps in developing a case against these unprofessional firms and occurences.