| 07/18/2023 |
Yes |
- Debt collection
- Other debt
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- Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
- Threatened to sue you for very old debt
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Web |
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I received a call on XX/XX/XXXX from XXXX at Southwest Mediation services. The phone number was XXXX. XXXX left a message saying that I was " directly involved in a potential civil action. '' I returned the call. XXXX told me, " I am not a debt collector, I am a mediator. '' She explained that she represented a firm called XXXX, from which I had allegedly obtained a 5 year subscription to a number of magazines. She told me that these magazines were delivered to me at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( I presume in XXXX XXXX, because this address is near where I now live ). In subsequent communication via the XXXX XXXX XXXX complaint system ( I received a reply on XX/XX/XXXX after filing a complaint on the XXXX ) the company says I did this " while employed at XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX In the original call, XXXX said that I stopped paying this subscription at some point before XXXX, at which time it was taken to collections. She said that XXXX was now going to sue me for {$4100.00}, and that she needed to " decide how she would rule on this. '' She wanted me to settle the alleged debt for a smaller amount, and she was prepared to take payment directly.
I have never subscribed to these magazines, have never lived or worked at that address, and did not even live in New Jersey at the time this " contract '' was allegedly executed. No collections have ever appeared on my credit report. The caller spoke as if they were an officer of the court, and attempted to strong arm me into paying. They said I would be sued if I didn't pay. And even if the subscription defaulted in XXXX ( which I adamantly deny ), the statute of limitations for collection has run out anyway. And we won't even start on how to get {$4100.00} out of a default on a magazine subscription.
This firm is probably just committing a fraud, but are at best a debt collector masquerading as some kind of court-authorized official. They are not a mediator. For mediation to occur, both parties must voluntarily enter into mediation. I have not done that. A mediator hears both sides, and uses that information to render a fair decision. They provide only one side of the case, and do not listen to the other side at all. A mediator would listen to one party saying that they have evidence that the claim of the other party is false. Instead, they lean on one party at the behest of the other. And, they want that party to pay them directly, to make the case go away. A mediator would not do this. So they are a debt collector. Even the language they use in response to my complaint and throughout on the XXXX site ( We will send this account back as refusal to pay ) is the language of a debt collector.
But far from collecting a legitimate contract debt, I believe this firm is simply perpetuating a fraud, which judging from the depth and breadth of complaints against them on the XXXX side, is widespread.
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| 10/26/2020 |
Yes |
- Debt collection
- Other debt
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- Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
- Threatened or suggested your credit would be damaged
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Web |
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XX/XX/20 - Received a phone call from number XXXX The woman, XXXX she said her name was, was extremely aggressive almost angry. She said I owed {$300.00} that was overdue and she needed it immediately. TODAY. She referenced her legal department and said I only had that call to make it right before she sent it to legal then onto my credit report. I asked if she was a debt collector and she said no. I asked if the company she was with, Southwest Mediation of Nevada was a debt collector. She said no. I asked who the original creditor was and she said it was XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. She told me I had ordered magazines and did not pay for them. She threatened me, saying she had my voice recorded ordering these magazines and that they were going to sue me right away. My account number with them is XXXX. I was very shook up after the call, I was scared and reached out to our family lawyer. He suggested making a formal complaint here. He also suggested I call the original creditor.
I called XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, VA XXXX They claimed to have sold this debt to Southwest Mediation and that they had sold me magazines and shipped them to XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX, Ohio. I have never been to Ohio, I have never lived in Ohio. This is a fraudulent account that they created with apparently my credit card number and voice verification. I checked all my cards and this company is nowhere to be found. I never paid them or initiated an account. I have never spoken to this company. They said there was nothing they could do because they sold the debt to Southwest Mediation and were out of the deal now and that I was on my own. I will also be making a separate claim here against them.
This is fraud and they are unresponsive to my requests to provide information on the account. Both companies are rude, aggressive and intolerable. Something shady is going on here. Can you please help me?
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| 04/26/2021 |
Yes |
- Debt collection
- Other debt
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- Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
- Threatened to sue you for very old debt
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Web |
Servicemember |
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First I have never had a magazine subscription in my life, so when I got this phone call and this guy started threatening me I got pretty snappy. This dude XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX had tons of my personal information, my last 4, full name, previous addresses and email, but a bunch of bogus info that I didn't recognize too, addresses I have never lived at, emails that weren't mine but used my name. He says he is gon na call me back tomorrow and he wants me to settle a debt for this alleged magazine subscription, I never had, from 2014! Well I am a mouthy guys so I really worked this guy up, got him upset and got him to start making threats. Now he alleges that this company " XXXX XXXX XXXX '' made a verbal contract with me over the phone but refuses to provide any proof of it, he says they have a recording of my voice agreeing to a magazine subscription, and that I either have to settle the debt with him for {$280.00}, or be sued for {$2000.00}. Because he had so much of my info I thought someone was using my information ; but when I got home I started looking and I found this ... XXXX XXXX XXXX That link shows 43 complaints with the XXXX and many of them are far better worded and explain in better detail what is going on. Oh and this XXXX XXXX XXXX That link is to XXXX XXXX XXXX , it is not able to be located by the XXXX it is not a real company and it is definitely linked to the Southwest Mediation Service that XXXX is working for. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX is a XXXX XXXX that is issuing exorbitant fake debt and then attempting to settle that debt for less through the Southwest Mediation Service out of Nevada under threat of a suit that sounds very similar to a SLAPP suit. and guess where XXXX XXXX XXXX are??? Georgia! Because of course Georgia, because that is where XXXX XXXX reported that these ridiculous law suits are still legally entertained by the courts.
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| 04/21/2021 |
Yes |
- Debt collection
- Other debt
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- False statements or representation
- Impersonated attorney, law enforcement, or government official
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Web |
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Received a voicemail from southwest mediation service regarding a civil action suit against me on XX/XX/XXXX, called them back immediately and they stated that i owed them money for a magazine subscription service from XXXX which they claimed was largely unpaid. I never signed up nor received any magazines from anyone or anywhere during that time. They stated that i would have to pay a larger sum of money if i did not settle the civil action suit against me today. When asked to speak to a higher up they stated that we could not speak to a higher up and when asked about the company address and other information so i could verify the legitimacy of the civil action suit they stated that they could not give out that information. On the XXXX XXXX XXXX website, they have a XXXX XXXX XXXX, When on the call with the company i asked them to send me an email regarding the civil suit and the XXXX XXXX listed on the email i received was not the same as the one listed on the XXXX website. The individual who i spoke to was highly unprofessional and used vulgar/inappropriate language. They claimed to be someone named XXXX and said they were the only person we could talk to. However on the XXXX site, there's several names mentioned and none of which XXXX, They claimed to be the only " Mediator '' that worked for the company and that the only other worker was the front desk secretary. When further asked regarding the legitimacy of the civil suit, they stopped responding altogether and began breathing heavily. The business 's XXXX XXXX are located in Nevada however there is no registered company in the state of Nevada with the name stated above. The " Mediator '' also refused to show the contract i supposedly breached and claimed i would only get to see it if it went to the courts and/or " Legal '' as the " Mediator '' referred to it.
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| 07/02/2019 |
Yes |
- Debt collection
- Other debt
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- Attempts to collect debt not owed
- Debt is not yours
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Web |
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Last year I started receiving magazine subscriptions. I thought it was strange as I had definitely not ordered these but they had my name on them. I did not receive a bill or any communication as to why I was receiving these magazines so I didn't worry about it. Then I received a phone call today from Southwest Mediation Services. They informed me that they were calling on behalf of XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX stated that I was in breach of contract, that I had received goods and services ( the magazines ) had not paid for them and that I was now in breach of contract in excess of {$1000.00}. I stated that had never ordered these magazines or agreed to pay for them. The mediation company stated that the 'proof ' was of a recoding of me agreeing verbally to this contract through a phone call from XXXX XXXX. I did not receive this phone call or agree to these terms and they could not provide this 'proof ' over the phone and were only calling in attempt to collect on this debt. I refused to interact further and ended the conversation.
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| 09/23/2020 |
Yes |
- Debt collection
- Other debt
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- Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
- Threatened to sue you for very old debt
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Web |
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I was called by XXXX XXXX XX/XX/2020 from southwest mediation service, stating that i'm directly involved in a potential civil suit for delinquent payments to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. He said that i was being sued for {$2100.00} and they would settle for {$790.00}, and if i paid them today and emailed me a document to sign he had my social and my old address, and said that if we didnt settle this today it would be taken to court. It scared me, so i signed the document and tried to pay the amount. My bank stopped the charges because they said it was a fraudulent charges and after i saw that i started researching online, and found out there was a bunch of people who had been through he same thing with this same company and person. I recieved another phone call by the same person on XX/XX/2020. On XX/XX/2020 a XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX calls me from the same company stating this is not a scam and i needed to pay this or it will be taken to court.
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| 04/13/2020 |
Yes |
- Debt collection
- Other debt
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- Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
- Threatened to sue you for very old debt
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Web |
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On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a call from XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX. Someone named XXXX left a voicemail stating she was calling on behalf of Southwest Mediation Service and a potential civil action would be taken against me. She also called my parents home phone and left the same message. I called back and left a voicemail. I called back again, and XXXX answered. She explained that it was an alleged debt from XX/XX/2012 and the client was taking civil action. She was very rude and belligerent and hung up on me. I called back to try to speak with a manager, and there was no answer for two hours. I left a voicemail stating that I did not want to be contacted by that person again. When I talked to her again a short while ago, she called me rude, ignorant, and told me the case was escalating to her client XXXX something magazine.
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| 11/09/2021 |
Yes |
- Debt collection
- Other debt
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- Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
- Threatened to sue you for very old debt
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Web |
Servicemember |
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I got a call from this number XXXX at XXXX on Tuesday XX/XX/2021 from an XXXX XXXX XXXX to be a lawyer from Soutwest Mediation Services XXXX She asked to speak to me using my maiden name, and said I owe over {$2000.00} for a magazine subscription from years ago. ( I have never signed up for a magazine subscription! ) She said the company are threatening to sue me and damage my credit, but that she managed to get the fees down to {$310.00}. She asked to email me the payment document but did not have my email on file, and asked to clarify my current address. I asked why she didn't have my email on file if people had been trying to collect money from me and she couldn't give me an answer. I have seen many reports online of the same story from the same company, hopefully you can shut this down!
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| 01/20/2021 |
Yes |
- Debt collection
- Other debt
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- Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
- Threatened to sue you for very old debt
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Web |
Servicemember |
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SouthWest Mediation services Called to me 3 times on XX/XX/XXXX. After the first phone call I thought it was fishy I terminated the call she called me back and said I have one more change before legal action proceeds as well as on the previous call they said their job was to get accounts paid before civil action takes place. She stated they aren't a debt collector though. She also said that she would send me Validation of Debt when I refused the rest and she said they do not provide it, then they said they do. They read me my personal information such as my social and DOB. Which is a GLB violation. They said I hadn't paid since XXXX and threatened civil action if I did not respond or pay it in a timely fashion. There are clear UDAAP FDCPA and GLB violations here in my opinion.
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| 11/20/2018 |
Yes |
- Debt collection
- Other debt
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- Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
- Threatened to sue you for very old debt
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Web |
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We were contacted by a " Mediation Services '' threatening to sue for breach of contract on a debt I dont recognize that they claim I agreed to 8 years ago and have never heard about since. They threatened to extort legal fees and penalties if I did not agree to pay within 24 hours. When attempting to contact them about this unknown debt they refused to give any information on the debt collector, what the debt was for, and demanded a credit card number before they would send us an email or letter showing said things. We refused to provide the card number they threatened thousands of dollars in legal and court fees and threatened my wifes medical license for refusing to pay.
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| 10/07/2020 |
Yes |
- Debt collection
- Other debt
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- Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
- Sued you in a state where you do not live or did not sign for the debt
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Web |
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Received a phone call from XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. The lady XXXX stated she had a voice recording from a magazine subscription service and that I had stopped paying them in XX/XX/XXXX. She said that I was being taken to civil court and owed {$1900.00} to the magazine service but that she had worked a deal with them and I could pay {$290.00} today and have the debt go away. This was for magazines i did not purchase. I asked her to send documents with information and she sent a form to fill out my credit card info. She gave me till XXXX today to pay or face civil action. There is no record on any credit reports of debt owed to a subscription service.
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| 03/31/2022 |
Yes |
- Debt collection
- Other debt
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- Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
- Threatened to sue you for very old debt
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Web |
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Southwest Mediation Service called about a legal action for unpaid bills from XXXX XXXX XXXX, regarding magazines that were issued but not paid for. the phone # that they called for is XXXX. One of the magazines mentioned was XXXX XXXX I called them directly and they confirmed that I don't owe them any money.
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| 02/27/2023 |
Yes |
- Debt collection
- Other debt
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- Attempts to collect debt not owed
- Debt is not yours
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Web |
Servicemember |
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| 08/19/2022 |
Yes |
- Debt collection
- Other debt
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- Communication tactics
- Frequent or repeated calls
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Web |
Servicemember |
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| 08/09/2021 |
Yes |
- Debt collection
- I do not know
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- Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
- Threatened to sue you for very old debt
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Web |
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| 02/28/2020 |
Yes |
- Debt collection
- Other debt
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- Attempts to collect debt not owed
- Debt was paid
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Web |
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| 10/29/2019 |
Yes |
- Debt collection
- Other debt
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- Attempts to collect debt not owed
- Debt is not yours
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Phone |
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| 09/11/2019 |
No |
- Debt collection
- Other debt
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- Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
- Threatened to sue you for very old debt
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Web |
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