Transworld Systems review: Scam 9

I had a hospital bill that I had been paying, but wound up going to Transworld. According to the guy in the billing department they were swamped, and had to turn some of their accounts over in order to take care of it all. So even though I had been paying in a timely manner, I was now dealing with Transworld Systems. It didn't really matter much to me, I payed the same amount, so it wasn't a big deal. However I was wary about giving them a bank account or credit card number, as I've heard how unscrupulous these collection agencies can be, so I got a money card that I put the cash on every month and couldn't be overcharged.

The person I dealt with at Transworld was friendly enough, but I was having an issue with them. I've read other people say the same thing, and apparently it's something Transworld is famous for, not sending statements. They say they are going to send it, but it never shows up. And if you follow up they'll give you a story about how they sent it, and it hasn't come back, so there must be a problem with the post office. However every month the letter they sent about how they were going to charge me so and so amount on whatever date showed up just fine. But they would never give me anything in writing as to how much I owed, or proof that I had payed. So I kept my own records using a balance I was told over the phone and writing down how much money I paid each month.

So other than that things went smoothly with Transworld, each month I would put the money on, and that was that. One day the guy I had dealt with called me up and told me that my balance was just over $300 and asked if I could pay it off and be done with it. It was about $100 more than my records showed I owed, but I didn't argue. After all my handwritten ledger wasn't something that was going to hold up in court or anything, and I was just looking forward to getting it taken care of so I would have one less bill to pay and wouldn't have to go putmoney on that card every month.

So I paid the $300 something dollars, and thought I was done with them. A couple months passed and I got another call from Transworld, he said I still owed them around $120. I was hesitant this time, because the last payment was supposed to be my final payment. He said that the balance had not been correct and gave me some story about somebody elses payment having been posted to my account, and that I still owed them that amount. I told him that I wasn't going to pay any more until I got something in writing showing my balance. He once again said he would send it out, but wanted to schedule the payment while he had me onthe phone, I agreed on a date for a month later and made sure he knew that I wasn't going to put the money on the card if the statement didn't arrive.

Well the statement didn't arrive, and I called him, he once again gave me the story that he sent it. He then accused me of just not wanting to pay themoney . We got in a bit of a shouting match, as he was flinging insults at me and I wasn't going to take any attitude off of him. Finally just to get offthe phone with him I said I would send him a check, but I knew I wasn't going to do so until I got some proof I wouldn't have to make yet another final payment. The next day I called Transworld to talk to sombody else, thinking maybe I could get some better answers and my statement by talking to somebdy else, or somebody higher than him, who he had refused to let me speak to the night before.

The guy I talked to told me that they couldn't send me a statement because they had already done so several times, and my account was blocked from recieving any more mail. However he did tell me to call the original billers as they would have the same info because Transworld sends them a monthly update on payments. However I had a hard time getting in touch with anybody at that business office, I guess they were still swamped, and after a week of leaving message I hadn't heard anything back, but I did get a call from Transworld again, saying they had not received the check. So I decided to have a little fun with the guy and turn the tables of the missing statements on them. I told him I had sent the check, and I wasn't sure why he didn't get it. He said he would wait a few more days then, as it may have gotten hung up in the mail. My intentions were to actually send him the check though, if the balance they were giving me checked out with the hospital.

After still not getting in touch with somebody at the hospital he called again, and this time he was very mad, saying I never really mailed a check, insulting me more and so forth. So I gave him the same thing he gave me, saying maybe there was something wrong with the post office, after all if none of his statements ever made it to me, it's only reasonable that the same could happen with my check. He called BS on that, and I could tell from his total dismissal of that excuse that he knew he had never mailed a statement. I told him that I am waiting to hear back from the hospital, as I'm going to get the correct information from them, and he just EXPLODED on me. He said I'm not to talk with them, I talk to HIM. I'm dealing with him now, that I had my chance with the hospital. Apparently he didn't know that they had my account for reasons other than me not paying. So I just told him that when I got the info I needed, he would get the payment and I hung up.

A couple days after this I finally got in touch with somebody in the business office at the hospital. And I was not surprised at all to find out that my account was completely paid off. Not only that, but the final payment they got had been $90, which is half of the total. So the hospital got $90, Transworld was supposed to get $90 also, which meant a total payment of $180, when I had in fact paid them over $300. I asked the lady if the rest was some sort of extramoney that Transworld was supposed to collect, and she explained to me that it wasn't. For every payment I make to Transworld, half is sent to them, half is kept by Transworld, and when the hospital is paid off, Transworld is paid off too.

So not only did I not owe Transworld another payment, the last payment was $100 over what was actually owed, I payed Transworld $300 something, and they gave the hospital $90, kept the rest, and then tried to hit me up for even moremoney after that. I was going to contact Transworld, but the hospital said they would take care of it for me, apologized for turning me over to them, not only because I had been paying the hospital diligently, but also because they have been receiving a lot of complaints about Transworld, and they were in the process of finding another business to handle their accounts.

Gareth, what you (and evidently the hospital) didn't realize was that collection agencies are allowed to add interest to the outstanding debt. The interest typically goes to the collection agency - the hospital doesn't get half of that. This is allowed by Federal Law. So, the hospital may have seen that your principal balance was paid, but they wouldn't have known about the additional interest charged.

I have yet to hear about any collection agency providing mailed statements to debtors -- they only provide statements to their clients. Had there been a question on your part as to how much principal balance you still owed, the hospital could have easily provided that to you. If you had questioned any additional balance owed on top of principal, the collector would have told you that it was interest added to the principal.

Gareth

I work for Transworld down in TN and i'm super sorry you've run into some issues. Unfortunately, everyone that works for us doesn't always represent the company well. I'd love to get you in touch with the right person and bring some peace here. My direct line is [protected].

Now for adding percentages, we as a company no longer add a 30-50% increase in the balance. One of the largest class action lawsuits in the past 20 years was over that very issue. That being said, certain business have the liberty to do so if they wish, but it is not procedure for us. Truly our goal is to keep people out of this aggressive, expensive side of collections.

There is never excuse to mistreat anyone, I'm extremely sorry. Let me be a resource or help to you if possible.

- Michael Tarrant [protected])

I received a call from TSI stating that I passed this "Core value index assessment" test as a top performer with their companies top sellers. Is this how they start to pull you in? I'm being recruited by TSI here in the North East and was looking for some feedback to assist in my decision making. Thanks in advance to those that respond.

I just got the same email. Is this real or scam?

DEAR REY RAMOS...

The fact that you are even defending your so called "company" online where the public posts comments...well, let's just say that is all the information anybody needs to know about how you handle business operations over there? You got turkeys running this deal? If not, I hope to GOD they are not people...people can be ignorant, but not THIS ignorant...

Sincerely,
EX-CLIENT YOU TRIED TO SCREW OVER

EWWW WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO WORK FOR THESE PEOPLE...DID YOU SMOKE SOMETHING BEFORE YOU THOUGHT THIS OVER?

Both Medical asst and mTarrant are wrong. This company broke the law many time while dealing with your account. And YES they must send a statement if you request it. Here is the FEDERAL GOV. website that lets you know what the laws are and your rights. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre18.shtm Don't let them steal any more money from you. Contact whomever you feel necessary to put a stop to their behavior. You were right to have contacted the original creditor. You ALWAYS have that right. And under the LAW if you did not agree to interest being paid with the ORIGINAL creditor, then the collection agency does not have the right to add interest onto your account.

By reading some of the answers TWI is giving to its clients, they sound like a scam company. I just had a dealing with them for a supposed toll on the Henry Hudson Parkway in NYC. I had gone online with the MTAB&T and looked up my so called violation and was informed that there was no violation listed in their files.
I called a representative for TWI and was told I went through the plaza in March of this year. When I explained to her that the MTAB&T had no violation listed she said it might have been from September or December of last year. I sent NY-EZ Pass a check in March of this year for 4 violations of going through the toll. I must add the MTAB&T has no human toll collector on the HH parkway so there is no way to pay the toll.!
Every time I explained that I had paid the fine, which for a $5, 50 toll becomes a $ 55, 50 fine, she kept giving me a runaround. I finally asked to speak to a Supervisor and was told One would contact me by mail after reviewing my complaint.
I can only warn other victims of this ridiculous toll system on the above highway, the lack of sending me a ticket in the mail and TWI's not listing payments made to the State of NY, they seem to be double billing so they can make their profit