I had an outstanding balance through a former apartment complex I lived at, Colony Village Apartments(run by Stephen D. Bell Properties)located in New Bern, NC, for carpet replacement and for cleaning costs/water bill(which I was told when I moved out that I had cleared out the cleaning costs/final water bill/prorated rent for that month). Colony Village then sent me this bill saying I had to pay for the replacement of carpet(which I was fine with as I knew it needed replacing) and for all these other costs which I was told had been paid at the time of move out. They them told me it was because the "final statement" of what I owed ran a month behind. This account was turned over 10 days later to Hunter Warfield, where they immediately start charging interest per day. I spoke to a few representatives in the past back in 2008, who were very rude and told me to stop being lazy and get off my a** and pay the bill. I explained that I couldn't afford to and would make payments as I could. I was hung up on. Well I received a settlement offer yesterday for half of the bill in the mail, in which I have 30 days(per the letter) to pay the settlement or make payment arrangements. I received a call today from Hunter Warfield demanding I setup some sort of payment arrangement today on the settlement, despite what the letter said, or they would mark the account as refusal to pay.I explained that I am unemployed and that we live off my husband's pay and I wouldn't be able to do anything til the 15th, upon which the rep began becoming rude, saying "well you've had since 2008, don't you think you should pay it now?!"Once he caught an attitude, I asked to speak with a supervisor. I was than transferred to the manager(Paul, I believe). He immediately demanded to know why I couldn't afford to pay the bill, when I told him I was unemployed and we live off my husband's income, he told me "oh, so you're just a housewife then" like I was some lowlife golddigger. I told him, no, I'm not just a housewife, I am a full time student and I didn't appreciate the manner in which he assumed I was a housewife and how he said it. I then proceeded to explain for the 4th time that I could not make any sort of payment today and that I didn't understand why they would send me a letter with the option of sending payment by mail or through their website, if they were going to call and demand it today or else they would mark the account as refusal to pay and have the company rescind the settlement offer. The Manager then proceeded to tell me I was being rude to him and that they had called in the past and that i yelled and cursed at their reps and refused to pay, I politely explained to him that I had sent off payments in the past only to have them "returned to sender" because their address was not valid and that it was rude of him to assume that I was refusing to pay or had not attempted to pay. He then yelled at me and said he didn't have time to argue scemantics with me and would go ahead and mark the account as refusal to pay and hung up on me. I called back and spoke to the recpetionist, who asked who I wanted to speak to and I told her to any customer service rep that was not going to hang up on me and be rude and treat me like crap. I then was transferred to Jerry, who was very polite and listened to my situation and proceeded to mark the account properly, noting that I would be settling the account around the 15th, no later than the 23rd. This company with the exception of TWO people is on whole, rude, mean and threatens to rescind settlements that are offered in writing before you could possibly even mail a payment to them. Horrible customer service. This company should be ashamed of how it treats people. They immediately treat you like you are the ### of the earth and that you're this lowlife that doesn't pay their bills. They don't care if you are unemployed and they don't listen to you at all.You're lucky to get a wird in edgewise and if you do, then you're the one being rude and belligerent. Don't know how these people can sleep at night. I would rather be a "housewife" then to do their job, since their job is apparently to demean, insult, harass and threaten people. Stay away from any apartment properties run by Stephen D. Bell too because apparently they neglect to tell you what you actually owe until the amount has already been sent to collections.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
To frustratedtotearsinNC:
Once AGAIN I must state, when dealing with a collection agency you are NOT a customer and there is no such thing as customer service at a collection agency. You are the debtor. There is no customer service department for debtors. The ONLY customers are the clients that hire the collection agency to collect your debt. THAT'S IT!
Now let me be clear just because CA's are not customer service when you call doesn't give them the right to treat you like crap either. I don't condone ruthless collectors or agencies but let's be real here can we? Attitude goes both ways. You admitted cursing at them in the past because of some lame excuse that you had your payment returned due to a bad address? Give me a break lady!
You have no problem finding a complaint message board to vent your gripes on but couldn't take the time to Google HWI's name for their new address or even call the reception desk and have them give it to you? Not to mention the debt is from 2008 which makes no sense to me because if you truly wanted to have paid it you could have made a better effort. Three years to pay a debt and blaming it on a bad address is a pathetic excuse.
Where in your story do you take accountability? Sounds to me like all you do is blame everyone else for your problems instead of looking in the mirror. The apartment complex telling you everything is paid isn't legally binding. You should have got it in writing otherwise it's just hearsay.
You had the settlement letter which I am sure had an expiration date. Why call them to argue with the collector? You spoke to a manager who basically told you there was time to pay it.
Finally you are correct when you stated collection agencies don't care if you are unemployed or eve homeless. You know why? Because it is irrelevant and has NOTHING to do with the contract you legally signed. Too many debtors will use unemployment, being in a hospital or any other pathetic excuse not to pay the bill. They will milk their sob story until it runs its course then come up with another lame one the next time a collector calls them. Funny thing is these are the same people who will call the CA later on, yelling at them when they can't get another apartment or buy a house because it is on their rental history and credit report.
If more Americans in this country would stop acting like a victim and started acting responsible for the decisions they made we would all be better off.
Look at yourself,
I think your being way to hard on her. She tried to settle the debt, and the idiots gave her the wrong address! Not to mention, large property management companies try and force tenants to pay outrageous cost when they vacate their apartments, instead of flipping the bill themselves. Most often the carpet those apartments use are low quality carpeting anyway! A similar incident happened to myself and my ex husband. The apartment tried and forced us to pay for problems they refuse to fix when we lived there! I refused to pay it! If a collection agency is harassing you it is illegal! If they want money for their client, than setting up payment programs is the best way to do this. Threatening, cursing the person out, hanging up on them, abusively calling at their place of work, is just playing dirty! It is unethical, wrong, and evil!~ The jerk should have listened to her, and worked with her to make a payment plan! In this economy MANY people are loosing their jobs, and some CANNOT pay debts because their salaries have been cut in half, hours cut at work, and their struggling to pay their mortgages, put food on the table, and just stay afloat. It must be nice that you have a job, and can criticize the misfortune of others. By the way there is nothing wrong with being a housewife, and raising children. It is much harder than any job I have ever had! This women is going to school to better herself, and she is luck enough to have a supportive husband. Nobody has the right to call you threaten you, curse you out, and belittle you, over a stupid debt that is mostly fraudulent anyway! More people should fight the big property management companies and their outrageous moving costs! Take a long look at yourself and learns some compassion and empathy!
Hello... We have been receiving very threatening and harassing phone calls from Hunter Warfield. It was from an apartment we lived at in NJ. We never received any papers or notice from the landlord, just started getting calls from HW. We have asked HW to send a statement explaining the charges but have yet(over a year) to get any.We finally have had to block their number but they always seem to get thru with yet another number. This morning when they called I again asked for an explaination of the charges and to receive a statement, the guy proceeded to tell me he would file it as a refusal to pay and would continue to file charges, I told him I WAS Not refusing to pay just wanted some proof it writing and he hung up me. When I called back he wouldn't answer his phone. I am not disputing any charges but don't I deserve to see some paper work ? How do I get that from them ?
Sorry, I wrote that on the wrong post sorry!
To: Sadalton,
Yes you do have a right to see the breakdown of charges and request validation of debt. My issue with all these complaints is that if I truly wanted to know about a certain company all I have to do is use the best tool there is today. Google it.
You type their name in and you'll get their location, website address and most importantly contact info so you can request what you want. Here it is. It took me less than 1 minute.
http://hunterwarfield.com
Hunter Warfield
4620 Woodland Corporate Blvd.
Tampa, FL 33614
Ph #: 813.283.4500
General Inquiries:
info@hunterwarfield.com
Now as for you claiming you never received notice on the bill which is owed, the apt complex and collection agency they hire are only obligated to send one letter to the last known address which is usually the apt you lived at. It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you forwarded your address with the post office. If you didn't receive the bill that is NOT legally their obligation or the collection agency to make sure you got it. That simple.
Look at Yourself,
It sounds and looks like you're a representative from Hunter Warfield, based on your hundreds of interactions through this website being 95% or higher with people complaining about them, on your internet high horse, with your internet tough-guy muscles out.
This only solidifies the stories of these people being harassed and verbally abused by the pathetic likes of the debt collectors who work with you. You're the lowest of the low in the workplace - Remember that. You can't do anything other than harass people, while making minimum wage money, in a call center. You're a blip on the working radar in this world. People may have trouble paying their bills, but you're the schmuck that couldn't do anything better in your life other than collections.
Thanks for your two cents of input; Maybe you can collect that for your unsuccessful and irrelevant opinions?
Petty Mayonnaise
Look at Yourself, Do you work for this company? Because the way you defend them is suspicious to say the least.