Platinum B. Services hit a/c before payment date

Ms Pebbles,

Both of the signers are legally bound to obey whatever is written there in the agreement paper. Your lender is subject to legal actions if they violate the agreement.

You are not responsible for this mishap. They are supposed to compensate the charges claimed by your bank and other financers. So contact them and explain this situation. I would also suggest consulting a lawyer to check if you can file a suit in Small Claim Court.

I stumbled upon this website last night....I wish I would have done so sooner! SMJ Marketing has caused me to be in the hole greatly. Platinum B. Services has taken me for a long long ride and I know it is not over. I have attempted to contact them but no one seems to be of any assistance. All I want is to get my money back and some way be down with this mess.

Did you talk to your bank regarding this matter? They will place the items on dispute with the company. The company has to verify each of the items and give a valid explanation. If they fail to give the info, you will have most of the money credited back to your account.

Write a letter to both the companies so that you can keep a follow up. Your letters should be sent certified with return receipt requested.

Could someone give advise on how to write a dispute letter to my bank?

Pebbles, please check it here -

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/forums/about6113.html

I received a phone call phone a company called Interstate Wire Bureau - wanting my attorney's information so they could proceed with court date regarding a non-payment of a payday loan with Platnium B Services. After contacting Platnium B Services I am told the company is a scam. I did a google search and found the RipOff report. These people are threatening to come to my house and arrest me (which I didn't know was possible without a warrant, etc.) How can I handle this? They won't send me any documentation (could it be that it would then be a Federal Offense in using the USPS?) or any proof that I owe the debt (especially since Plat B says it's a cleared account). Can I file a report with the FTC or anyone else?
Thanks!

Ms. West, They cannot arrest you without a warrant. They will threaten anything and everything to get you to pay. You can report them to your Attorney General's office for threatening you.

Ms. West,

Welcome to forums :D

You can file complaint against them with FTC, BBB or AG of your state. FTC would probably run an investigation once huge numbers of complaints are filed. It will help consumers understand how much legitimate this company is.

Thanks for your quick response! Have you ever heard of this company? If you try calling them 866-201-4603, a person answers the phone "security desk" and will not tell you ANYTHING about the company, what it does, where it's located, etc. - however, they are located in Cheyenne, Wyoming according to the address the guy gave me yesterday.
Is it a legitimate company?
Why does Platinum B Services not know who they are, but these people have a boatload of information on me - and the numbers that people above are saying $580.60 is what they are telling me I owe.
I've left a message with Platinum B Services. How do I go about filing a claim with the AG?
Thanks again!
Ms West

Ms West,

You can file your complaint with BBB and FTC online. To file a report with attorney general, you need to contact office of AG of your state. Or you can visit their website to know your options.

Need phone # and Address for Platinum b services. Keep telling me I owe and the debt collector people are rude and the supervisor hung up on me.

Hi Beth,

If you browse this forum, you will find lots of discussion on Platinum B Services. Forum members have posted their feedback about this company in this forum.

Some of the members have mentioned the contact information of Platinum B also. Visit this thread:

http://forums.debtcc.com/forums/about3639.html

Please inform us if you need any more information.

Hi. I was told that my money would be in the bank by midnight last night, it is not there, I am going to have my bank deny any ach withdrawls if it is not there by monday, i figure it is the weekend and so it would not be there until monday, I wish I would have visited this site before I agreed to a loan with them.

Trish,

Please talk to your bank ASAP. Did you agree to pay them in advance? Keep a close eye on your bank account. If you do not want the loan, contact them and cancel the agreement. There should be some way of revoking your consent.

If you have an account with us WE CAN BE REACHED AT TOLL FREE 1-866-722-2770 OR BY FAX AT 1-866-599-5161, OR EMAIL AT INFO(at)PLATINUMBSERVICES.COM.
We are NOT Ellis Crosby, Interstate wire, or ANY other company listed in this forum. WE ARE SJM MARKETING CORP./PLATINUM B SERVICES. WE ARE A LEGITIMATE COMPANY. If your account has been sent to 3rd party collections, it is because YOU defaulted on your account, WE CANNOT HELP YOU. If you had read your contracts before entering into the agreement you would understand this.
If you need to schedule a payoff or paydown please call us at the above number to schedule this as soon as possible. If you need a copy of your original paperwork you can call and request them.
We are NOT located in Florida, Texas, or any other state that has been listed. CLOSING YOUR ACCOUNT WILL NOT HELP. IT WILL ONLY MAKE THINGS WORSE. The same goes for STOP PAYMENTS and REVOKED AUTHORIZATION.
If you need advice or help with your loan CALL US. We understand that people get strapped for cash from time to time. That is why we are here. We are not here to scam you, rip you off, steal your money. We do pride ourselves on customer service, we are here to help. Now, with that being said we have paperwork that we must follow. We have company policy and protocol to comply with. We leave it up to our customers to take control of their own account. If you are refinanced, it is b/c of what your paperwork states.
If you have problems of any sort with your account, just simply call us.

Yours Truly,

The Staff
SJM Marketing/Platinum B Services

Hey Platinum B, How bout signing your name and title, and perhaps direct contact information. That might help diffuse some of the issues reported on here.

To other readers... lets treat this as a good chance to actually have a constructive dialogue with "the other side". It is refreshing to have a lender/collector post here in a positve manner.. lets keep it going.

To find more imfo on interstate wireless contact
accounts receivable technologies 800-392-4029. They are actually handling collections for platinumb services. If you paid interstate wireless bureau then fax your receipts to them and they will clear your account as any money you paid interstae wireless was never paid to platinumb services. They kept it!!!

i have had this company called Prelitigation Services that has been calling my job.They told me that the work for Platinum B Services. Well I called the number left for me and a girl by the Name of Nikkie? (how ever you want to spell it), she would not give me any answers, i asked for a number to the Federal United Bank because she did say she was working for them. I even asked could she fax me something and she told me no it was my fault that i lost my paperwork. i had 3 people total to hang up in my face. they called me back at work, told me that someone was coming to my job or home, i needed to contact a family memeber to help me get out of the matter that i was about to get into because they were going to arrest me. i ended up paying out of fear (i can get arrested, i have a 4yr old son) 250.00. what do i do to get my money back since i just found out that they were scaming me?

Veronica,

Hope you had done some research before sending the money. This is the tactic they use to extract money from people. Few people can realize that no one can arrest you for being default on a debt.

Anyway, take it as a lesson and never pay to any company without doing some research work. However, how did you send the money? Was it an MO or you sent it though your bank account? If they get access to your account once, they might try to withdraw for several times. Please beware of that. Contact your bank and inform about the incident.

Also file your complaint with FTC, BBB and AG's office of your state. You can call the Consumer Protection Office too and inquire on how to get the money back. Keep us posted.

I sent the money by wire with money gram. my mind was already distracted that morning. so when they told me that they were sending someone to my job or my home, i saw it as an inconvenience to me and my son so i really didnt start thinking until after the fact. i tried money gram to see if there was anyway that i could get a refund on the wire. they did a search and since i had already given the reference # to them, the money was already gone. I did contact the local FBI services, filed a complaint with them, the ATG and the BBB office. I was directed all the was to the Florida police dept. in which a detective filed a written report for me over the phone. at this point i dont know what else i can do. thanks

Veronica,

You have covered all the required steps. Hope you will hear from any of them very soon.

However, you should be alert in future. Browse this forum and collect some info on how to deal with payday lenders, collection agencies legally. You can post your question in forums if you find anything difficult to swallow.

Why is it that you can never get to Platinumbservices web site to check the so called contract?

My name is Josh Mitchem and I am the Vice President of Platinum B Services.
I have tried my best to address all the concerns that have been posted on this website. Thus far it has not done much good, thus I am going to explain these things one more time for all of you that just don't understand. I understand that some of you feel as like you have been dealt wrong by us. I can assure you this is not the case. All we do is follow the paperwork that our customers sign, and agree to.
If you are dealing with an outside collection it is b/c YOU DID NOT PAY YOUR LOAN. If you stop payment, revoke authorization, close or freeze your account, YOU WILL BE SENT TO 3RD PARTY COLLECTIONS NO QUESTIONS ASKED.
I have posted our contact information several times, but here it is again. PHONE: 1-866-722-2770 FAX:1-866-599-5161 MY EMAIL: JMITCHEM(at)PLATINUMBSERVICES.COM. If you need a copy of your paperwork you MUST call us. We do not have website open to the public.
I apologize if this email comes across as short, but these forums make my head hurt. Some of you tend to forget that we LOANED you money in good faith. If your parents loaned you money would you stick to them? Then why have you done it to us, and than you have the audacity to cry and complain when we hire an outside collection company to recover what is rightfully ours.
If you have a problem with this PLEASE CALL ME. ONCE AGAIN MY NUMBER IS 1-866-722-2770 EXT. 101

Josh Mitchem
Vice President
Platinum B Services/SJM Marketing Corp.

Hi Josh,

Good to see your concern to your customers. I have not taken any loan from you; however, I would like to ask few questions to you. Forum members and visitors have raised these questions in past.

• Wage assignment with digital signature is not valid.
  
• What if the 3rd party collection agency appointed by you breaks fdcpa laws? Won't it hurt your goodwill?
  
• If my account is with collection, can I still repay it directly to you?

I myself just received this threatening phone call at work telling me that they filed Bank Fraud charges on me for the payday loan that I made. I did close my checking account because some other internet company was taking money out of my account without my permission. I am scared because they told me within two hours they were going to "process" me and I would be arrested. They wanted the name of my supervisor... he told me that I he was an investigator. He also asked me if someone could identify me here at my worksite... also they said they were going send a computer technician down and find out whether or not I applied for this loan on worktime. HE WAS VERY RUDE AND THREATENING!! I AM VERY SCARED!

Scared,

Take a deep breath and relax. These are the scaring tactics of debt collection. Did you get the call from your creditor or a collection agency called you? Collectors must validate the debt at first. So you can ask for debt validation.

I hope you can see the post of Josh Mitchem, Vice President, Platinum B Services/SJM Marketing Corp above. You can follow the suggestion offered by Josh too. Keep us posted on how they respond to you.

Stan,
I got the call from a person who claimed to be an "investigator," he didnt mention whether or not he was a creditor or a collection agency. He just kept telling me that I was going to have answer to Bank Fraud Charges. He told me that the loan were federally guarenteed. He then went on to say "do you have anything to state for the record?" and I was quite embarrassed because I was sitting at my desk in the middle of an office that has a few other employees in it and so I replied "no," he then hung up on me...

If you receive any more call from them, ask for their identity. They should identify themselves, like who are they, who has appointed them to collect the debt etc.

You can ask them to call you at your convenient time and place. They have to follow it. Once you get their address, send them cease comm. and DV through CMRRR.

Anyway, how could you figure out that they are calling for Platinum B Services? Have they told you? Or you are just guessing. You have to be sure before paying them.

If it was a payday loan, please understand, they cannot bring check-fraud charge against you. Post-dated checks are not considered bad checks from the beginning

Stan,
the man told me that he was an investigator, then he said "you applied for a payday loan on this date from Platinum B Services and then you closed your account and we have filed a Bank Fraud charge against you in your state." He then went on to say "We need the your Attorney's information so that we can send the information as to what you are being charged with."
I said "I dont have an attorney," he also wanted the name and number of my supervisor... he also told me that he was going to get this information anyway whether or not I gave it to him and I replied I cannot give that information out." He did not ever identify who he is "investigating" for. His identified himself as Investigator Rowe and he gave me a number to call (904-356-0927). He was attempting to make me feel very stupid by saying what dont you understand. He did though specifically identify Platinum B services payday loan.

Also, are these people connected with that Platinum card offer on the internet that allows you this "wonderful" credit line for the fee of 79.95 and then you can buy only goods online and then when you go to this website you can only buy junk with the credit??? Because these same people had my bank account number and wanted to ACH my account for this fee and I cancelled.

What is DV through CMRRR?? Also, I am a Native American and I live on an Indian Reservation, this makes a difference??

Thank You for all of your help and advice

Quote:

Stanley,

We do care alot about our customers that is why I take the time to respond to these forums. That being said I believe that it must be a two way street. If customers do not want to deal with collection companies they should not close their accounts, stop payment, or revoke authorization. If money is borrowed it should be paid back. Now for the 3 questions you asked me.

1) If you are referring to wage assignment as a form of garnishment, I do not know the legalities involved with garnishments. Platinum B Services does not garnish wages or invoke wage assignment for our customers.
2) The first thing every customer must understand is that when an account is sent to outside collection the "Originator" of the debt (i.e. Platinum B Services) no longer owns the debt. All information is turned over to the 3rd party collection company and the "originator" no longer has any legal ties to said account. As far as what this does to our goodwill, we do not feel we affected, due to the fact that once a customer has been sent to 3rd party collections they can NEVER get a loan from us or our 22 affiliate companies.
3)Payments cannot be made to the "originator" once the account has been turned over to 3rd party. We cannot even give you a balance on your account. All we can provide is a toll free number to the 3rd party company.

I understand that these collection companies are very aggressive, but for several years we did in house collections and it proved to be the most challenging part our business. That is why we decided to go with an outside agency that is willing to work with subprime non-secured loans. Keep in mind customers that are sent to 3rd party collections are the customers that decided not to pay their loans.

Josh Mitchem

Thanks for the input Josh. It cleared the cloud. I appreciate your presence here.

I think you will agree that people have tough times in their life. So if someone feels that he/she might miss installments in future, or do not have sufficient fund in the checking account, what do you suggest for them? Can you help them anyway? Looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks again :D

Josh,

Thank you for taking the time to post in the forum. I have no loan with you either but I am getting myself out of the payday loan cycle. Are you willing to work with a debtor who pay not be able to pay back on the scheduled due date if they call you first? Also, are you licensed in every state you loan in? And thirdly, do you check out a collection agency before turning an account over? I've been turned over to some real nasty ones even though payments have been made through my debt consolidation company and proposals have been set up prior to this. Consumers fall on hard times and I believe the majority of people want to pay the loan back. I know that I wasn't trying to "steal" money from any lender. But it does not give any lender the right to harass an individual and threaten them with false information such as internet fraud and jail time. I hope that your company has not done that.

Mishele,

I am glad to hear you are taking care of you loan issues. Remember these loans are meant for short-term use, and if they are used that way ther is no "cycle". With that being said we understand that people do fall on hard times. This is the main reason we are here. Payday loans are meant to help pay for unexpected bills, car repairs, etc. Too many people try to use them as another means of income, thus the collection issues that most have. In the future if you need to use a payday loan, set your finances up so you can payoff on your first due, or if you only need $150 do not take the $300 loan. If neither one of these options works for you, use the paydown option that nearly every loan company offers.
In response to the questions asked.
1) If a customer calls with an issue on their account we are generally always able to work with them as far as moving a paydate back a couple of days or depending on payment history moving the due date back one full cycle. Now before everyone calls and requests that we move their due date there are a couple of catches. 1. We cannot move or change the first due date. The paperwork holds us to this due date. 2. We do not accept money order payments. We tried this in the past and have been burnt to many times. 3. You must call 3 business days in advance.
2) As far as "checking" on 3rd party collection companies before sending our customers to them, there are very very few collection companies that deal with subprime non-secured loans. The companies that do handle these accounts are very aggressive, and please keep in mind that even though some of their tactics are a bit on the side of extreme they can make things very difficult. If they tell you they are taking you to court, by fdcpa law they can. The comment has been made many times about the internet fraud that they tell customers about. If you filled out an application that was false or misleading in anyway the can bring fraud charges against you. Now, does that mean they will go through the effort and financial cost that it takes for one customer? Probably not, but if they find a judge that will take a group it is possible.

Please understand, I am not putting this information in this forum to scare anyone. I care about our customers and want them to know their options. I have caught some grief from other payday loan executives in the industry for the information I give you on these forums, but I believe that if consumers are better advised, we get paid, you get the money you need without alot of headache, thus a win-win situation.

Josh, two questions 1) when you outsource to 3rd Party Collections do you maintain ownership of the debt or is it charged off and sold? 2) Do you worry about your liability if you hire a collector who breaks the law or do you require that your CA maintain appropriate liability coverage to protect your firm?

Good questions JJ, I think that is what I was trying to get at. And no you cannot threaten someone with internet fraud. This is an absolutely ridiculous claim. I've checked with my consumer protection office along with others. There is a reason that so many states are banning payday lenders all together. One they are not licensed in a certain state to loan money or they are not licensed to loan money at all. The fees are so high that it is basically high way robbery. My state has cracked down on these fees and other fees such as the famous refinance fees. These scavenger collection agencies need to be careful as well. They have NO right to threaten someone or tell an individual they have no rights. They have to abide by the fdcpa laws. Also if you are not licensed with my state's division of financial institutions, then you are conducting illegal business in my state. These are easy things to check out and I wish I had done so a long time ago. I was not informed them but I am now. I've seen too many companies harass others and myself. Their is not enough regulation for online companies. Josh, I do appreciate your honesty with us and how things work with your company. It has enlightened me to some things that I am dealing with. And believe me I will NEVER take out another payday loan.

ML INC.---------has anyone heard of this company before. If so could you please list their number ---
Thanks!!!!!!

Once an account is with 3rd party collections, we no longer have any legal stake or ties to that account. The collection company holds sole possession of any legalities that happen with that account.

Then you sell the debt?, for as I understand collection law, a third party colelctor is an assignee so again to my question.. do you sell it? or assign it?

That is correct the debt is sold to the 3rd party collection company.

Scared, and others... since they sell their debt the companies that call you are your new creditor.. This means 1) validate the debt, making sure you soecifically request copies of your original signed contract/documents bearing your signature, and all other documents that show they have a legal right to collect the debt..2) a detailed oultine of all amounts owed including fees, interest and how calculated.

Often times debt buyers do not pay for the paperwork that proves a debt is owed. With all the scam s today you should not pay unless you see a sufficient level of proof that you owe the debt. in my mind this means unless the proof shown would be adequate to convince a judge or at least my attorney, I am not paying.

Good advice J.J., however for our customers that are in collection the debt can be validated. I cannot speak for other loan companies though.

Josh

That is good that they can be validated, so your debt buyer gets copies of everything then? if so that is rare, but good to see that it is done.

I have made it clear several times on this forum that I care about my customers, but I do not pity the ones that did not pay their loans. That is why we are as thorough as possible when sending accounts to outside collections. We cover all bases.

Stacie,

What type of company is it?

Josh,

Thank you for answering JJ's questions. It's interesting to learn how these debts are sold. Things make a little bit more sense to me during my own situation. Yet, you have not answered my question about being licensed in the states that you loan in? I'm just curious because this can constitute illegal activity in my state. You should show compassion to those who have fallen on hard times. I'm sure the majority of your customers are not trying to rip you off. There was a reason they needed the money in the first place and I'm sure they would love to work with you to pay it back.

Josh, I hate to be picky, but i am confused.. Do you use outside CA'a prior to selling the debt? or do you try tol collect in house then if you can't collect, do you charge off the debt and sell it?

Thanks for being patient with all my questions, your input is greatly appreciated

J.J. & Mishele,

I am not at liberty to discuss the fine line of licensing on an open forum, however we are legal in every state to conduct ACH loans and debits.

We used to do in house collections, however we are no longer using in house collections for new debt. Once an account returns account closed, stop payment or revoked authorization the debt is immediately sent to 3rd party.

I didn't see any license with the State of Ohio when I checked with the Ohio Division of Financial Insitutions. There are mainly only store front lenders registered in my state. Does you company go by another name?

Check into cash also goes by CIC Financial. They use Riscuity for their collections.