Any one else has dealt with Spectrum billing services?

the name of the company was spectrum billin g services as far as i know they mail u a sbs calling card which just means if your cc doesnt go through they just bill it to your home. but not the phone as far as contacting my relatives its been just my father with threats that his son is going to jail i live in pennsylvania

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yes i am a member but havent signed in i think you are correct that they are the the collection people that work for them so honestly do you think i could end up in jail?

[QUOTE=Anonymous;498596]yes i am a member but havent signed in i think you are correct that they are the the collection people that work for them so honestly do you think i could end up in jail?[/QUOTE]


There ain't no way.

Consumer debts are civil matters in the United States. Not crimes. No matter what they tell you.

I'm about of the opinion that these bozos are just a third party collector. That's why I'm teying to get info like who runs the chat line, and how the charges show up on your card statement. If they're first party (ie, the original creditor, the people you bought services from) there are things we can do to deal with them. But... If I can prove they're third party (ie, just a collection agency or billing contractor), we can open up a really big can of whoop-ass on them instead. Please, get me the info I asked you for.

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Do this only if you don't owe...NOW

Sample Cease & Desist Letter-
Date:

Name Of Person at Collection Agency
Collection Agency Name
Address
City, State, ZIP
RE: Account #

Dear Name of Agent or Agency,
You are here by notified that your services are no longer desired. This is in accordance with the laws of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
You and your company must Cease and Desist all attempts to collect the above debt. Failure to comply with this law will result in my filing a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and my state’s Attorney general’s Office. I will be thorough and pursue all criminal and civil claims against you and your company.
Be warned, that if any negative information pertaining to this debt is added to my credit file after receipt of this letter, I will file suit against you and your company, both personally and corporately, to seek any and all legal remedies afforded me by law.
I am not going to ever deal with collection agencies, and my intention is only to settle this account with the original creditor.

Regards,
Signature
Name

make sure to include that you "have sent this certified mail, should any legal action be necessary"

my husband recieved numerous calls from spectrum at his parents house(he hasn't lived there for almost 5 years now). we never recieved anything from them until about 2 months ago and they stated that it was thier 5th attempt at mailing a statement.everytime we tried to contact them there was never a live person to talk to. nobody would return our calls. we found out that the charges were made to a s*x line and where the calls were made from. we sent them a letter with all the information we had discovered and still nothing. finally we found out that somebody with that same name as my husband is responsible for these charges. all the company had was a name and they just picked the 1st person that came up. they were incredibly rude each time we've dealt with them (the 1 or 2 times somebody has actually spoken to us). they also gave me all the personal information that had for the person who is responsible for the charges. they played me a message of the guys voice and it sounds nothing like my husband. this company really needs to be investigated!

Here's the deal

Spectrum is NOT a 3rd party collection agency. They are the original creditor.
Alot of you think you know what the deal is, but before you know the facts, you shouldnt be offering up advice on how to take legal action...what a joke.
Especially when you keep giving laws that pertain to 3rd PARTY COLLECTIONS!!!!!!

Spectrum offers phone services, mainly ADULT ENTERTAINMENT telephone calls, and the main method of payment is by credit card. The calls are traced AND the calls are recorded. They do not bill anybody but the cardholder/caller and they have been in business for over 22 years now!!!!!! So if they were NOT legit, believe me, they'd not have made it this far and been this succesful in the process.

If your husband got a bill, 99% of the time he made some calls to an adult line.
If you dont think so, ask where the calls are placed from, in most cases your sneaky husbands use their cell phones. And every call can be verified by observing the cellular phone bill itself, the 800 number dialer to will be there.

Either way, again, Spectrum has been in business for over 22 yrs and the nature of the business in itself will cause complaints to arise. Nobody likes to pay for sex calls (especially at $5.99 a minute), and nobody likes to have their wifes or others find out and when they do, most people try to deny out of embarrassment.

And the fraud aspects: There's collectors and then there's investigators.
You all do know the difference right? One attempts to collect a debt, the other investigates matter, deterimines the legitacy of the bills or calls.
Lets say you make $1,000 in adult calls on your credit card and then you decide to use deception to get out of the bill and you lie and contact your bank and say you did not make the call and call us with the same lies. In some cases the bank will give you back your money because of this being a phone purchase and they dont want to get into a "he said, she said", so they let it fall back to the merchant (Spectrum).
So it's now Spectrum's legal right to investigate the fraud claim made by the cardholder. This includes contacting the cardholder, the person who owns the phone where the calls came from, or any other person that can identify whom the caller is....remember, calls are traced and recorded.

So at this point, it is no longer a bill, it's an investigation now. So the collections rules change, it is no longer an attempt to collect a debt....That will come later after the investigation is completed. And check out the legal definition of fraud, and please tell us what it says about using deceptive means to cause someone to give up money, property, or services....it's fraud! It's an unlawful act to use deception to get back your $1,000 for calls THAT YOU MADE....

So no, there's no debtors prison, no, but there are certainly hundreds and thousands who are in jail now for fraud, right?

Bottom line, there is real fraud and it happens, there are victims, sure, but Spectrum does not bill victims of fraud. They have evidence than shows where the calls where placed from and voice recordings than can prove whom the caller is.
They are legit.

So far as the sneaky husbands, well thats a whole different story in itself now isnt it.

Enjoy!

In addition to the above

I will gladly offer advice to those with an open ear. Nobody should be billed for something they didnt do, I agree, so does Spectrum billing services.

Spectrum Billing Services does not bill victims of fraud. They are a legitamate business and they will openly respond to your dispute if you have one. The best thing to do is put it in writing, send them a letter and they will respond accordingly. If you did NOT make the calls, in the end, you will not have to pay.

To touch more on the subject: Fraud happens yes, as occasionally a son might use a fathers credit card, or a friend uses another friends credit card, and they make adult calls, sure. BUT this means they also falsely identified themselves to be the real cardholder, most often they also have made calls from the same residence of the cardholder....So in this instance, the cardholder will then get a bill for those calls placed or they will show up on the credit card. This is basically Identity theft, but the industry calls this "friendly fraud".
As 85% of all the fraud incurred to that company are people they know of a friendly nature.
A family member in the home is the main one.

Now this is fraud, sure, because the cardholder is NOT the caller, right? Of course.
But in this instance, it isnt until the cardholder makes a complaint or contacts Spectrum before the company hears that it is fraud. How is Spectrum to know it's fraud otherwise?
The caller gave all the proper info, such as the address the credit card is billed to and more often than not they are calling in from that very residence.

Spectrum also calls the bank, calls the cardholders residence and they also send a letter to notify them of the recent transactions. So they make every attempt to steer clear of fraud, but as with every phone purchase made, there will always be some fraud occuring.

If you truly did not make the telephone calls billed to you by SPECTRUM BILLING, you have some rights. One, contact Spectrum and advise them of the situation. Then they will investigate and attempt to verify the validity of your claim and they can also reveal to you who the real caller is. If they find out the calls were not made by you, they will instruct you how to go about the process to alleviate you of the bill and set themselves up to go after the real party who made the calls. An example, your ex girlfriend steals your credit card and makes these calls, you later find out, Spectrum has her voice on tape, you have the legal right to contact the police and file a repor. You then list her in it and Spectrum now will take you off the bill

Good luck to all

By the way, I used to work for Spectrum Billing in the Customer Service for a few years (now work in Real Estate - LOL ouch I know!), so I have a clear understanding of the situation....just in case you question how I know all of the above

Sorry, hit "submit reply" too fast.
Just so you know, all 3 posts above are from me...I'm the former employee

Ii had my identity comprimised and they dont want to hear about it. lol and they know I work for the US Attorneys office. They will be dealt with in such fashion as they've treated us.

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i am one of them that are in a payment plan with them but why do threaten you with fraud if you admit to the calls and said that you were going to pay for it why do they talk to you like crap

I received an unusual call from these people. Out of the blue this guy was talking on my voicemail about a bill I owed and that my account was transferred to them. He was vague and what tipped me off was the fact that I didn't receive a reference number to refer to them if I had called them back; which I didn't. When they called your private number, they have to give you all the information about the alleged bill in question. When they don't, don't bother responding because that gives them power over you. By acknowledging them you are only substantiating their claims; which gives them enough proof to take you to court even when they have no proof. Don't give them anymore rope to hang you with because I didn't receive any bill from them in the mail, or anymore calls since their one and only call to me. That was when I knew they were blowing smoke up my ass so don't sweat it. The law protects us from fraud and all of you who have been defrauded are well within your rights to sue, but a class action lawsuit will resonate more profoundly with the government in shutting down this scam business once and for all.

Did you pay? Were you arrested? This is my sons bill he claims he never made these calls:twisted:

My husband recieved a call from Spectrum Billing, they had his voice recorded and all. Fine not a big deal but they did threaten with fraud and jail time. They let me listen to the calls and I deal with only one person every time I call. I made arrangements to pay for the bill but also asked them for a written bill, I also asked that once the bill is paid I get a paid in full reciept. Once the payment goes through I will see how it goes but i informed him on the phone that this will be the only payment to come out, if they try to pull more i will involve my attorney. This company may be legit but seriously if I take my card to the store and have it run if there is nothing on it or not enough I can't use it. the people at fault are the companies that let these charges go through. My husband admitted to calling so the bill is his but these companies should be stopped from charging cards with not enough on them to cover.

First of all, your husband lied and tried to get out of paying for his calls...right? This adult company has voice recordings which i am sure matched up to your husband or you'd not have paid, right? So it really doesnt matter if he admitted making the calls after the fact.

Furthermore, your comparison doesnt hold up here. You mentioned that if you had gone into a normal store and if your card is declined, etc, etc. Well is that what happened here? Did your husband go to a normal store to conduct some every day business???

I dont know you, so I am not trying to be rude, but the bottom line here is that your husband made the calls so he needed to pay for the calls. The rest of your complaint should be directed to your husband and your husband only. If he doesnt like the business or if it's a problem for his wife, he needs to stay off the adult lines or pay for his charges up front without attempting to defraud the business he owes money too.

I'm in the navy and currently deployed and I just received a bill from them for almost 500 and I've never heard of these people in my life I'm glad I did my research before I got fooled into sending these sons of bitches my money I work hard for the money I make I don't wanna give it to some fraudulent company thanks for all the posts

This is absolutely disgusting. These assholes doing that to a service member is just too far. Respond to the bill in writing, certified mail, requesting them to validate the debt.

bull shit they are accusing my son of using his grandfathers credit card without his permission. The cops looked into it and said that there was no laws were broken because he didn't do it. spectrum says they have a recording and when I asked to hear is they said they had to see if they had it. now they want us tto pay double the amount.

This is not true, at least not according to the FBI in San Antonio TX. The USADA here is looking for them and they will be charged to the full extent of the law due to not staying within the Guidlines for the Fair Credit Collection act set forth by the FTC.

This company started to harass me a few months ago saying that I am being sued in CA and that they were trying to serve me and I had 48 hours to pay. I laughed and said validate the debt and besides its past the statue of limitation, I am not paying anything!! Again they said the server is coming today to serve you and I said, I moved to another state, you will not find me in Ca. So they went away and today they are back calling me on a private number telling me they are going to serve me in my new state now. They have my new home address, because they read it off to me, which is creepy. Anyway, I feel so violated by these creeps. I want to get them shut down. Here is something I found online from a Sheriff's office.

Lake County Sheriff's Office warns of phone scam


Sue Bergheim Reporting
kjamnews@madison.threeeagles.com

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents of another phone scam that is hitting the area. Chief Sheriff’s Deputy Tim Walburg says residents have been getting calls from people from Full Spectrum Litigation – which does not exist and is a scam company. These people are looking for credit card or bank account information to settle a debt related to U-S Bank or other financial institutions. Walburg says the representative on the phone says they will try and settle a debt they say you owe. He says they will ask for personal information such as your social security number, date of birth, and address, and they will ask if you would like to settle out-of-court for a small fee, which amounts to less than half the amount they are saying you defaulted the bank.
The number they are calling from is 1-888-787-7602. Walburg says the representative will also say something about sending the case off to court and that it could result in criminal charges. The calls that the Lake County Sheriff’s office have received from residents say the scam calls are related to bad checks to merchants. Walburg says residents should be aware that no prosecution like what this company is saying can happen in Lake County.
If you have received a call or have any questions about these calls, you are encouraged to contact the Sheriff’s Office at 256-7615.

Hey everyone,  I'm getting the calls now and it's become a real hassle.  A woman identifying herself as "Linda" keeps calling and calls are getting more frequent but no less stressful. 

Has anyone tried filing harassment charges?