National Enterprise Systems
Reviews and Complaints

I became involved with this company at the beginning of October 2008. My first contact was a very high strung woman named Nina Brown who asked me if I was aware of the pending lawsuit against me for defrauding Chase bank. I had an unpaid credit account with Chase that was closed at the beginning of the year. The debt is legitimate but this was the first I had heard of a collection attempt on the account by a third party collector. These bottom feeders had obviously brought this bad debt.

She proceeded to tell me that the lawsuit would proceed and they would garnish my wages and seize any assets I have if I did not pay the 5900 dollar balance on the account with her on he phone NOW. I told her that I did want to have this cleared up, but that I would have to make a couple of phone calls to see if I could get that together. She kept screaming at me and telling me that any hang up would result in her marking the account 'refusal to pay'. I kept repeating that I was not refusing to pay, but did need to check the status of a few things financially to see if I could pull the money together. She kept saying 'well we can go ahead and conference call your bank right now so they can give us your information'. She was insistent that I conference call my bank and if I couldn't then I did not have the money and she would proceed with the lawsuit. I finally told her that I was not willing to do anything like that and we hung up. I was extremely upset after hanging up with her.

Within moments I received another phone call from another agent with National Enterprise Systems, Al Johnson. (BTW, I think it is very shady that everyone in this company has very common last names: johnson, Brown, Jones and the like). Mr. Johnson was much calmer and quickly told me that I should ignore what the other agent said and I could settle the account for 3600 dollars. I told him I was not sure I had that and I would have to get off the phone and make some calls to see what I was able to do. He told me that it would be fine and to call him back by Friday to let him know what I wanted to do.

I did call him back stating that I was interested in th settlement but would need something in writing first. He said okay and then incessantly called me telling me that he had sent the letter, that should have received it and he needed an answer on what I wanted to do. He badgered me several times about my checking account information saying that they had to have the information to 'hold my file'. I told him I would get back to him. Well, that was not enough because he began to call every hour on he hour. I was ridiculous!

Also, at the beginning of the month he had initially contacted my parents at their house rying to get in touch with me. How he got their number I can only imagine. After this contact, my parents told me they wanted to have nothing to do with it and I told him explicitly not to contact them regarding the matter since I am 26 years old and the responsiblity is mine. Here comes the BIG ONE...

After not answering the incessant phone calls for about a week, because I was drafting my debt validation letter to them and had heard NOT to talk to them on the phone, He called my parents again. Mr. Johnson told my parents that I had a debt of 5900 dollars that could be settled right now for 1500 dollars. Mr. Johnson told my mother that I had asked him to call them to take care of the balance, which I NEVER DID!

After speaking with my mother and almost getting her credit card number, my father took the phone to try to see what was going on. They told him that the account could be settled right now for an overnighted payment of 3600 dollars. With that my father tore into him and told him outright that he was breaking the law.

My father later called back and got the company's name and address so that he could file a report with the better business bureau in both my state, Georgia, and Ohio. Magically, the incessant phone calls did not occur for a day. This morning I was contacted by a new agent named Mitch who wanted to help me settle my account. Needless to say, I told him to wait for my letter and that I no longer wanted to be contacted by phone and hung up. Of course, he called right back...

This company has broken the law numerous times and violated almost every section of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (read this if you haven't already). I am at the point where I want to pursue a lawsuit against them and know that I have a great case based on their actions and total disregard for the law. I would be willing to participate in a class action lawsuit against them as well. This kind of behavior can not be tolerated! WE, as consumers, have a right to not be harassed. This company needs to be brought down and I would love to have a hand in their downfall.

I was rudely awakened at 8:05 a.m. on one of my few days off by this company. (I have no unpaid debts.)
When I asked who was calling at this hour, Ms. Lott said the name of the company VERY quickly, and I believe she was trying to conceal the company name. She demanded to speak to a "Diane", to know if I was Diane, to know if I KNEW, "Diane", and when I said no, she hung up.
When I called the company, I spoke with 2 others, both of whom were very aggressive in trying to find out about Diane. They were brazenly unapologetic, and I warned that I would take action if they ever contacted me again. I think that any company that uses National Enterprise Systems to collect its debts is risking great harm to its own reputation.

I became involved with this company at the beginning of October 2008. My first contact was a very high strung woman named Nina Brown who asked me if I was aware of the pending lawsuit against me for defrauding Chase bank. I had an unpaid credit account with Chase that was closed at the beginning of the year. The debt is legitimate but this was the first I had heard of a collection attempt on the account by a third party collector. These bottom feeders had obviously brought this bad debt.

She proceeded to tell me that the lawsuit would proceed and they would garnish my wages and seize any assets I have if I did not pay the 5900 dollar balance on the account with her on he phone NOW. I told her that I did want to have this cleared up, but that I would have to make a couple of phone calls to see if I could get that together. She kept screaming at me and telling me that any hang up would result in her marking the account 'refusal to pay'. I kept repeating that I was not refusing to pay, but did need to check the status of a few things financially to see if I could pull the money together. She kept saying 'well we can go ahead and conference call your bank right now so they can give us your information'. She was insistent that I conference call my bank and if I couldn't then I did not have the money and she would proceed with the lawsuit. I finally told her that I was not willing to do anything like that and we hung up. I was extremely upset after hanging up with her.

Within moments I received another phone call from another agent with National Enterprise Systems, Al Johnson. (BTW, I think it is very shady that everyone in this company has very common last names: johnson, Brown, Jones and the like). Mr. Johnson was much calmer and quickly told me that I should ignore what the other agent said and I could settle the account for 3600 dollars. I told him I was not sure I had that and I would have to get off the phone and make some calls to see what I was able to do. He told me that it would be fine and to call him back by Friday to let him know what I wanted to do.

I did call him back stating that I was interested in th settlement but would need something in writing first. He said okay and then incessantly called me telling me that he had sent the letter, that should have received it and he needed an answer on what I wanted to do. He badgered me several times about my checking account information saying that they had to have the information to 'hold my file'. I told him I would get back to him. Well, that was not enough because he began to call every hour on he hour. I was ridiculous!

Also, at the beginning of the month he had initially contacted my parents at their house trying to get in touch with me. How he got their number I can only imagine. After this contact, my parents told me they wanted to have nothing to do with it and I told him explicitly not to contact them regarding the matter since I am 26 years old and the responsibility is mine. Here comes the BIG ONE...

After not answering the incessant phone calls for about a week, because I was drafting my debt validation letter to them and had heard NOT to talk to them on the phone, He called my parents again. Mr. Johnson told my parents that I had a debt of 5900 dollars that could be settled right now for 1500 dollars. Mr. Johnson told my mother that I had asked him to call them to take care of the balance, which I NEVER DID!

After speaking with my mother and almost getting her credit card number, my father took the phone to try to see what was going on. They told him that the account could be settled right now for an overnighted payment of 3600 dollars. With that my father tore into him and told him outright that he was breaking the law.

My father later called back and got the company's name and address so that he could file a report with the better business bureau in both my state, Georgia, and Ohio. Magically, the incessant phone calls did not occur for a day. This morning I was contacted by a new agent named Mitch who wanted to help me settle my account. Needless to say, I told him to wait for my letter and that I no longer wanted to be contacted by phone and hung up. Of course, he called right back...

This company has broken the law numerous times and violated almost every section of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (read this if you haven't already). I am at the point where I want to pursue a lawsuit against them and know that I have a great case based on their actions and total disregard for the law. I would be willing to participate in a class action lawsuit against them as well. This kind of behavior can not be tolerated! WE, as consumers, have a right to not be harassed. This company needs to be brought down and I would love to have a hand in their downfall.

I have been harassed to many times! I get back to back calls from NES everyday it's never the same person calling except i have wrote down all the names that call me and Joy is the most frequent. I called and spoke with a Patricia O'Neil, that is supposedly one of the head supervisors. I' am not even the guy they are looking for and when i tell them that they say "quit lying we know it's you" and make threats. I don't see how this company is still in business. I have went to dozens of sites and left similar complaints. I hope your right and together take this company out.

I have received exactly 1 call from National Enterprise Systems (NES). I have received no mail correspondence from them. They told me that I was "defrauding" their client. That is far from the case, and I'm not disputing the debt. What I have a problem with is the way they threaten and intimidate. When I talked to them, they told me that the debt had to be settled on the first contact (I've never heard of this). They insisted that I provide them with my bank account information, which I did after some hesitation, and after they assured me that no transaction would take place.

At first, they would not even extend me the courtesy of 24-hours to try to make some arrangements. After speaking to a "supervisor", the 24-hours was finally granted. After I was unable to come up with the funds immediately, they told me that they would file a lawsuit, against me and my wife (she has her own credit in her name, with her SSN). I'm not sure how they can do that.

They then said that "it should not take 50 calls to get to you" (keep in mind that they only called me 1 time). After that, they nastily hung up the phone on me, without any common courtesy.

The 2 NES employees that I dealt with were extremely rude, extremely discourteous, and extremely unprofessional. They don’t seem to care about anybody’s personal situation. I guess they probably work on commission.

The Better Business Bureau (bbb.org) in Ohio has given NES an “Unsatisfactory” rating.

I'm not sure how a legitimate creditor can sign on with them for their collection efforts.

I have dealt with other collection agencies, and they have been very understanding, helpful, and patient.

On July 30, 2008, a Chase Bank representative called and ran through my outstanding balance on my credit card and informed me that the $50 I was making towards this debt was not sufficient, however if I could at least bring the payment to $140/month, it would be acceptable. I acknowledged the $50 payment and told her that I would do something. She insisted that she needed to process the payment that same day as failure to doing so would result in Chase Bank turning over my debt to attorneys. I told her that her call came in at a time I was in a meeting and was not able to excuse myself but I would submit the payment later in the day since I had access to my credit card account online. After much insistence, I ended the conversation. However, she continued to make several attempts that morning to reach me on my office phone. I did not answer any of these calls.

That afternoon I submitted the $90 payment which brought the August payment to $140. Record of some of the calls from National Enterprise Systems between August 1 and 28, 2008. Calls from NES came in almost everyday (several times a day) but these are calls that I actually spoke with an agent.

August 5, 2008 -- The caller identified himself as someone calling from a company Chase Bank had retained to process a court document against me since I was delinquent on the credit card payments. He told me that if I did not comply, I was being sued and the Maryland Courts were going to contact me. He also told me that I needed to comply and take this matter very seriously because if I didn’t, my license would be suspended. He also told me that a summons was going to be served on me at my place of work. How you want that, he said.

I explained to him the July 30 conversation with the Chase Bank representative but this didn’t help matters. After a few back and forth, phone conversation ended. A few minutes later he called again but I didn’t answer the call.

August 6, 2008 -- The caller informed me that this call was in reference to the 8/5 conversation and I was in restitution and that a lawsuit may be filed against me if I didn’t continue to comply with them.

August 8, 2008 -- The caller explained to me how consolidating all credit card debt with the Chase Bank would be to my advantage – he listed the debts. I refused to accept that offer and basically the conversation changed and during that conversation I was also informed that if I didn’t comply, NES would call my employers (HR) and report the debt I owe and threatened me saying his company would take legal action against me.

Much later into their calls, I finally received the letter from National Enterprise Systems (NES) dated August 5, 2008 informing me that their office was listed for this collection – service provider is listed as Chase Bank, account number is given and the total due with a payment coupon attached for the full amount to be paid to NES.

August 14, 2008 -- The caller on the phone began by saying that she was calling in connection with a fraud case filed and gave me a reference number -- [protected]-MD. She told me that I had committed a fraud against the Chase Bank debt. She told me that I was not a responsible customer and during the conversation she began yelling; “you are in debt, you are in debt, you are in debt, you are not responsible enough, you should be ashamed of yourself, and if you are sensible you should be paying this debt like you are doing other debts. We will file a complaint against you with your credit union and have your wage garnished. You have committed credit card fraud. She yelled out your credit will be ruined”.

I called NES to discuss the debt and payment options. I was told that NES needed the full payment and nothing less because of my behavior towards previous NES callers – NES was not willing to entertain me with any payment options.

This time around, I know the caller’s name, Ms. Heather Collin. I told Heather I didn’t have the funds to clear the amount in full but had already begun to look into different options to repay this debt. She explained to me that we could use my other credit cards since she was seeing that it had enough funds to cover the Chase Bank debt. She asked for my credit card numbers which I provided over the phone. Unfortunately, these two cards were being consolidated and the only available credit wasn’t sufficient to pay the Chase Bank debt. Nevertheless, Heather was able to process a payment to NES of $1, 042. She told me that if I could pay off over 50% of the debt NES/Chase Bank was willing to forego whatever would be balance. She asked me about my line of credit and if I could not tap into this money. Unfortunately I could not draw any funds from it. I mentioned to her that I was still awaiting a response on my application for an increase on my credit card. I also told her that I could look into refinancing my mortgage to pay off this debt but she told me that normally that took a month and it wasn’t good for them as they couldn’t afford to wait that long.

Within a few minutes, after we reconnected via phone, I told her that I had just managed to schedule a 10:30am meeting with the mortgage specialist for Monday, August 25, 2008 and would get back to her after that meeting to update her.

On Monday, August 25, 2008, my manager returned from vacation and it was not possible for me to go to my 10:30am meeting due to a busy morning. I called Heather to let her know and told her that I had rescheduled the meeting to 2:30pm the following day and we agreed that I would call later that afternoon.

On Tuesday, August 26, 2008, around 3:30pm, Heather called my house phone. My son answered the phone and she asked to speak with me but she was told I was at work; she asked how I could be reached because she had an appointment with me. When my son tried to hesitate, she demanded for a number and my son gave her my cell phone.

On Wednesday, August 27, 2008, Heather called my cell phone. I asked her how she got my number and she told me, “Well you have to understand that you are under investigation and we are obtaining all information about you including contact numbers because you are basically not complying with us”. I was really surprised at what she told me because I had already accommodated her despite the fact these calls were being made during my work hours. She knew the effort I was making to clear this debt. Moreover, in the last few days, she had just processed a payment of $1, 042. How could she turn around and say what she had just said? Well I told her that I was on the train and could not speak with her but would call her later.

When I got to work, I didn’t call her but I decided to call Federal Trade Commission and register my complaints against the actions of NES.

Later in the day, Heather called back on my office phone but I didn’t pick up the phone. She however, spoke with a co-worker and left a message with her; “Message from Ms. Heather Collin, the call is in reference to a complaint filed”. Within seconds of leaving that message, she called my cell phone but I didn’t answer.

My co-worker stopped by my office to give me the message which I found as a way of embarrassing me, degrading me and basically saying that we will get you and let your co-workers know about your private life and what is going on.

On Thursday, August 28, 2008, around 12:17pm Heather called my office phone and asked if there was any update on my meeting with the mortgage specialist. I told her about my call to FTC and the letter I had mailed to NES earlier in the day.

She became upset with me and called me a coward for taking that action to file a complaint with FTC and said that it was wrong. She also called me a liar. I told her that I didn’t have to discuss this matter anymore with her over the phone or anyone at NES and mentioned the letter I mailed to NES.

This has been a terrible experience. They tried to instill fear, intimidate me, harass me, bully me and shame me by speaking with my co-worker about my debt or anything to that effect. They tried to use any means within their reach to have me succumb to their deceptive methods of debt collection. Oftentimes even becoming aggressive and making threats which included lawsuits, arrest, and seizure of my license, reporting to my credit union to garnish my wage, calling my employers and reporting this debt; saying that I had committed credit card fraud and leaving a message with my co-worker.

I have had all bad experiences with NES. Since they started calling me early August, we have not been able to come to any agreement. They have threatend and informed me that they had begun legal proceedings. A summons was going to be served on me at my job. They would call HR. One lady who was yelling and screaming, was calling out saying I was in debt (many times) and that I wasn't responsible enough. She started off her call by saying that she was calling about a fraud I had committed against this debt. I was thrown off as I didn't know whether someone was committing fraud on my cards... so the story went on only to realise she was using dubious means to get me... It is a nasty company, very dishonest, very bad ways of getting people to pay their debt. Truly I have had my experiences with NES. Well, I called Chase Bank who I owe the debt and asked them for my statement since I could not pull it from online as I was turned over to NES (and I said to the man on the phone, by the way, NES is terrible). I told him that I needed to review my statement as I was no longer sure what was on it.. I also told him that I had filed a complaint against NES with FTC today and sent them a letter of cease and desist communication. The Chase guy explained basically that I was turned over because my card had charged out and that if I faxed them a copy of the letter I sent to NES, they would look at my account again and have me resume making my payments with them... What world are we living in? Is Chase Bank coniving with NES to intimidate people only to turn around if they see that things are not going well and if you mention you have reported the case to FTC? Oh yes we need immediate help...

Will somebody please do something to these people to stop them from calling us? My wife and I are over 60 AND ARE NOT IN DEBT. They keep calling my phone number and when I call them back they yell and are rude and won't help. Why don't they send a certified letter, and then I would take it to an attorney and file suit against them. Why am I subjected to this excessive calling? Again, me and my wife are not the persons they want and they won't even listen to me over the phone. If they had any guts they would send a certified letter. I don't care if my grammar sounds bad but this is being written on the spur of the moment.

I am having the same problem as everyone else. They call me at work EVERY single day. I have repeatedly told them not to contact me here and have even given them other contact numbers but they said it’s easier for them to call me at work. I have had someone call me from their company saying they are the attorney for the company and will have my pay garnished IMMEDIATELY if I do not post date a check by phone payment for a balance that they cannot or will not verify for me. I hope someone takes steps against this company so they will stop harassing everyone. If you need me for the class action suit...I'm in. I have documented everything from the initial phone two months ago. And trust me...the calls have been made to me daily.

My father-in-law suffers from Alheimer's and Dementia. A family member, another daughter-in-law, took advantage of this situation. She is a LPN and has worked in nursing homes with Alheimer's patients. Anyway, she took my father-in-law to Verizon Wireless and got 5 phones for her family by opening an account in his nme. She also wrote 5 checks from the in-laws account to pay for things at Verizon. She wrote over 50 checks from the joint account of my in-laws. She also used their Lowe's credit card. She forged both their names on checks. In addition, she made my father-in-law sign for things she wanted. She was arrested and plead guilty. She paid restitution and charges were reduced. Verizon had only sent one check into a collection agency that had contacted my in-laws. Verizon was called and they said that four checks had went to National Enterprise Systems. The phone was answered by a woman named Nicole. She informed us that $1, 969.37 was due on the account. Only $1, 126.04 was awarded from the court for the Verizon checks, and $150 was already being sent to another collection agency. This left $976.04 to cover the checks sent to National Enterprise Systems. She said they could reduce it to $1, 575.49, then to $1, 378.55. But, my mother-in-law had to have them deduct the payment right then. She could not offer that later. My mother-in-law has had several heart attacks and has many other health problems. She said that since she had never received any bills from Verizon she wanted to think about this. Nicole said no, she had to do this now.

Nicole then gave the phone to a Robert Johnson. He said he was the boss. There was no one above him to talk to. I explained that my father-in-law has Alheimer's and he didn't know what he was doing when the bad daughter-in-law took him to Verizon. Mr. Johnson said that didn't matter. My FIL was still responsible. I said that I wasn't sure that he could even sign his name on the account and wanted to verify his signature. Mr. Johnson said that my FIL didn't need to sign his name, he could just nod his head to verify that he was responsible. I said so you mean if the neighbors take FIL to Verizon tomorrow and open an account in his name it's o.k. as long as he nods his head. Mr Johnson said Yes, but why would anyone do that? I said the same reason bad DIL did, to get free phones. I asked him if he had any compassion at all, and he said yes, that's why I'm not asking the $1, 969.37, just $1, 378.55. He said then that payment needed to be made right away. He said that if the call was dropped, we could not receive the same deal because he would not be able to reach us again. Well, my mother-in-law's phone battery quit, and guess what. He called back within 5 seconds. I said, you just lied to me and he said that he hung up on me, that's why he was able to call us back. This was not true, the battery was dead and I had to switch phones. By this time my mother-in-law was breathing hard, and I was concerned about her health. I told him we would consult and call back. He said no because he would press charges against FIL if this was not taken care of. He said he could accept the $976.04 today and they would have two weeks, then he would deduct the $402.51. I was crying, my MIL was crying and so was my FIL with Alheimer's. So, my MIL felt pressured and paid the bill in full with an automatic withdrawal.

This is a nightmare. Why did one check go to one collection agency and the other four to NES. If they had all went to the first one, MIL would have received the statements and got the correct restitution amount. Mr. Robert Johnson is the meanest man I have ever talked to. I do not know how he can sleep at night. I have always been told that people like him will be taken care of because GOD don't like ugly, and this was ugly.

Having a family member do this has devastated the family. My MIL and FIL are already in bad health. Then, they have to deal with humiliation on top of everything else. Why doesn't NES go after bad DIL.

This company collecting a debt from Bank of America, went into by daughter's account and told her exactly how mucky money she had and about her recent transactions. They never sent her any letters, and threatened her with calling her local Sheriff, and taking her to court even after she tried to make a deal with them which they would not accept. She offered them more than 10% of what was owed. They want nearly the entire amount. She had ignorantly given them her account number to pay the debt. Since when can a collections agency use a method of payment to look into your account? This is clearly an invasion of privacy not to mention out and out harassment. Beware Bank of America consumers as they sold the account to this company.

A few weeks ago, I received a voicemail at work from an Officer Gonzalez from the Maricopa Co. Sheriff's Dept advising me that he would be serving me a summons at work that day if I didn't call back a lawyer by the name of Peter Schwartz. I called the number that he left, and it was the NES office. I asked to speak to "Peter Shwartz, " and the guy who answered advised me that he would handle this for the "attorney" who was busy at the moment. He proceeded to yell at me about how I am a liar because I did not have $800 to give him by the end of the day to pay off a debt that I owe. He said that 99% of people are liars like me. He advised that Fed Ex had been out to my house 3 times to give me documents stating when my court date was. I did some research, and found that there is no Officer Gonzalez at the Maricopa Sheriff's Dept. I also spoke to people at NES, and discovered that there is no attorney named Peter Shwartz on staff nor can NES bring suit against a debtor. They can only turn unpaid debts over to the original creditor. So, NES impersonated a police officer as well as a lawyer, and they lied to me about notifying me of some fictitious court date. The representative that I complained to at NES said that she would put in a complaint with her manager. She later told me that other people had filed similar complaints, and that the violations were coming from their California office, not their OH office. Who cares which office it is coming from? What kind of sick individuals can impersonate police, lawyers, and god knows who else as well as scream and lie like they did? I can't think of a more severe violation of the FDCPA. Can you?

I recently worked at this horrible place. National Enterprise Systems is the collection agency from hell. It's the devil's worst nightmare. Employees are trained to collect according to the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act but once on the floor in their respective departments collectors are told to forget everything they learned.

My supervisor, Bryan Howard under the alias of Paul Stevens, regularly provided a second voice to collectors having trouble closing collections. This idiot would identify himself to callers as a federal agent, an NES attorney, etc., anything to try to scare the debtor into paying. He would actually tell debtors and their spouses that a lawsuit had been filed and if the account is not paid by postdated check by a certain time that day a deputy of the court was coming to serve the debtor on his job. I witness this on a daily basis all day long. B. Howard is neither a federal agent, attorney nor any of the other things he claims to be and NES don't sue debtors. All are clear violations of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act.

Debtors are talked to as if they're inhuman. Even when the debtor is not home the person taking the message is treated like dirt. I will never forgot my supervisor shouting at an 81 year old African-American woman for not getting a pen and paper to take the message. "I DON'T CARE IF YOU ARE 81 YEARS OLD HE SCREAMED AT THE WOMAN." I've witness collectors hollering at kids "GO GET YOUR FATHER."

You are not supposed to talk to spouses—in certain states--about their significant others’ debt unless given permission by the spouse to do so. This rule is ignored at NES. In fact when I left training I put the document about the spouse rule on my cubicle wall to reference only to have it snatched and trashed by Bryan Howard who said I wouldn’t need it.

The owners Ernest Pollack, his wife, and two sons: Scott and pie-faced Chris are well aware of what is going on. These people are hands on owners. They constantly walk the call room floors, note the individual collectors and group collection sales and hear all the violations first hand. The more a collector screams at a debtor the more they like it. People actually clap and cheer when a collector goes off on a debtor. All that concerns these greedy money grabbers is how much money they are collecting at any given time.

Payments are demanded in full although they do offer settlements that are too demanded in full. Money orders and mail-in payments are not accepted, only postdated checks over-the-phone or Western Union Transfers for Citi Bank accounts. Some other creditors do allow NES to also take payment by credit card. For the postdated checks debtors are asked to give their accounting and routing numbers. NES, the ### they are, attempts to take the money out before the postdate. Nice company huh!

Collectors and supervisors once provided with bank info by the debtor call banks automated customer service numbers to obtain how much money they have in their accounts. We have their social security numbers so getting info this way is like taking candy from a baby. Some banks have safeguards against this and required you talk to a live person. They also work this wickedness on debtors’ credit card accounts or the credit card accounts of the debtors’ spouse, mother, father, etc. I remember one collector on the phone with a debtor saying “Your Mother Has $7, 000 On Her Card She Can Use;” She Can Pay This Debt For You!”

If anyone needs someone who's "been there" in any of their legal actions against this despicable company I’m your guy. Channel 19 News in Cleveland, Ohio did an investigative report on NES 5-14-08. Look it up in their News Videos Archives - www.woio.com.

NES is the job from ***. I worked for them for 18 months. In training they stress FDCPA laws. However once on the collection floor they tell you to forget what you learned in training. They set a goal of 8k in fee you have to collect just to cover your desk and their expenses they have to pay just to have you as an employee. Supervisor are to walk the collection floor at all times, if they see you are on a call, they will yell at you and say do not let that person hang up without a check by phone, credit card payment or one by a family member. If the consumer refuses the supervisor will take the call over and berate the consumer until they do so. They are in strict violation, if I can help I will testify to this affect.

I was contacted at 5pm on Wednesday, March 5th by an NES employee regarding an 'urgent business matter'. I returned the call because I was unsure who she was, what business she worked for and what the 'urgent business matter' entailed. When I called back, I was NOT told by her that she was a 'debt collector attempting to collect a debt and that any information obtained will be used for that purpose'. She told me that NES wanted to work out a settlement for a credit card to which I agreed to hear. She told me that the creditor would settle for a smaller amount if I paid all of it by 9pm that day. I informed her I couldn't come up with that money. I was then told that if I didn't pay this settlement, paperwork was going to be filed in court tomorrow morning (Thursday, March 6th) and I was being sued. She then attempted to set up a payment plan with me and I acquiesced because of the fear of being taken to court. She then asked me to hold so she could get a manager on the line to approve a payment plan.

As I was holding, I could hear her conversation with a manager as they discussed the pending lawsuit against me. He asked her if she had informed me about my pending case. She then replied that I was on the line and he could speak directly to me. At this point, it was a three-way telephone conversation with myself, the manager and the employee.

The manager then told me the following:

• I was being sued for the balance of my debt unless I came up with the money that night.
• My account was sold to a group of lawyers that were going to sue me for the money owed.
• That he refused to set up a payment plan with me.
• The paperwork was going to be filed in court tomorrow unless I paid and that he didn't want to get any angry phone calls from parents or lawyers because it was going to court tomorrow unless I paid tonight.
• I was sent a 60-day notice regarding this pending litigation and it wasn't his fault I chose to ignore it.
• That they could put a lien on my vehicle and take my vehicle or any other of my assets to collect this debt.
• That if I didn't pay and this went to court I would also be responsible to pay any attorney and court fees that the plaintiff incurred.
• That I was in legal trouble with the state of South Carolina.

The manager wouldn't listen to me nor would he answer my questions. He raised his voice, threatened me with a lawsuit, misrepresented my financial account, lied about the details of my account, attempted to intimidate me and actually shouted at me. Finally, he yelled at me 'You're in a lot of trouble and you better get a lawyer'. Then he hung the telephone up on me.

A few minutes later she called me back and said 'I was told to call you back'. I then attempted to ask her questions regarding the lawsuit they said was being filed, which she would not answer. I asked her to speak to someone regarding the way I was harassed on the telephone and she said I already talked to the manager and that was it. She refused to connect me with someone else. She informed me to figure out a way to obtain the money and call her back before 9:00pm.

Roughly around 5:45, my mother phoned NES. She then put the manager on the phone and he revealed the following confidential information about my account to a third party WITHOUT MY CONSENT:

• The current amount I owe.
• The creditor I owe the money to.
• The settlement I was offered.
• The number of payments I made over the past year.
• The fact that I purchased a car in the past year and they could take it away.
• That they wouldn't offer me a payment plan because of my negligence.
• That they have been calling me for the last 60 days trying to reach me.

The manager also informed my mother that paperwork for a lawsuit was going to court in the morning and that my account was sold to 'a group of lawyers'.

Later in the evening on Wednesday, March 5th, she called me again and told that she decided to 'work with me' and set up a payment plan. She said I had to 'call her directly' about the account. I asked her why all of a sudden did NES decide to work with me and she said because 'I felt you were sincere and that you really want to pay this debt off'. I again asked her to speak to someone regarding the harassment I endured and she again told me he was the manager. She would not connect me to anyone else. I told her I was in the car and I would call her when I got home to discuss the matter further.

I phoned her back when I arrived home and set up a payment plan for a settlement balance that was way out of my budget. She told me that unless I paid this amount, the paperwork was going to be filed in court in the morning. I asked her to send me a letter stating the settlement terms that was offered to me so I would have documentation. She refused saying she couldn't send me any paperwork until the last payment had been made.

After pondering what transpired, I called NES back to make a complaint. I was transferred to the Compliance Department where I spoke with another female employee. She was willing to listen to my issue and answer my questions. I asked her if she had access to my entire account and once she said she did, I asked her if the statements referenced above made by both the employee and the manager ere true:

She informed me that all of the above statements were FALSE. I'm not being sued, there is no paperwork going to court and if I was being sued, NES would not be the one contacting me to tell me. She also said she could send me a letter stating the settlement I discussed with the employee, after th employee said she couldn't. She also informed me that she would cancel the payment plan I set up with the employee and set up payments that were affordable to me. She told me she altered my account so that I would not be contacted by another representative of NES.

It is glaringly apparent that NES and its employees and managers are in violation of numerous sections of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Not only is it unacceptable for NES to utilize the procedures I have mentioned, it is also illegal. In further researching NES, I have learned that they have had several complaints lodged against them and that they have an unsatisfactory rating with the Better Business Bureau. I can only assume that the manner in which I was treated is standard operating procedure.

I'm calling again tomorrow to cancel all payments with them and making sure I get written documentation. I hope all goes well!