Oxford Management Services (Dell Collections)

[ihacksaw]

What is the name of your state? WA

I went into collections on a Dell PC I financed and they sold the account to Oxford Management Services for collections. At the beginning of 2007 I received a letter saying it is tax time and if I pay the amount of $1,180.53 with my income tax money by March 3rd 2007 the account will be considered paid in full. I owed a total of about $2,100 so to me that was a great deal. Well the only issue I had with this was that I wasn't going to receive my tax money until 2 days after the deadline. I made contact with oxford via e-mail asking for a 2 day extension on this deal and they replied in the e-mail this would be fine and that they would put a note on my account. Well my biggest mistake was throwing out the letter and deleting the e-mail after I made the payment and got notice they received it. At around May 2007 a new company starting trying to collect the full amount. I contacted them and they said unless they receive a letter from Oxford Management Services the debt is still owed and for the full amount. I called and Oxford Management Services said the deal was only if I paid in Feb which doesn't make since since who gets tax money back in Feb? and of course I no longer have the letter to prove this deadline. He did say he would go ahead and send a letter of payoff to me. Well this never arrived and now a 3rd collection company has taken over the collections. Even if Oxford Management Services was going to go back on the deal they never even reported the payment I made to them. I do have the proof of date and payment on my bank account. I have contacted Dell who will not get involved saying they are no longer part of this collection. I have made many e-mail contacts with Oxford Management Services who has never responded once and of course I have no copies of these e-mails because they are web based from their website.

Any advised or help on this would be great. Thank You!
Jason

 

[TigerD]

What is the name of your state? WA
I went into collections on a Dell PC I financed and they sold the account to Oxford Management Services for collections.
I used to manage a team on the Dell port for another CA. If the account was sold -- it is really old.

To summarize your problem: You wanted a settlement and missed the deadline. It sucks, but you aren't going to win this one.
If you make a settlement agreement with a CA you need to:
1. Get the agreement in writing.
2. Follow it to the letter.
3. Save copies of everything to prove it if the account should pop back up for some reason.

Your problems are augmented because you reset the SOL with your payment.

That said. Dell Financial Service has a hardship program that the CAs can set you up on - if it hasn't actually been sold. DFS will not tell you about it and collectors hate it so they won't tell you about it. But if you ask, they can't refuse you the info on the phone. DFS monitors every call.

DC

 

[ihacksaw]

Thank you for your reply!! The only other question I have left is if my total debt was $2,100.00 and I paid up $1,180.53 how can I get this amount reported paid?

Thank You!

 

[soon2bstep]

dfs

***as an exp debt collector for DFS, i will tell you that they will only put you on the hardship if you have made PAST pymts, not RECENT pymts...also, you have to show your income, and so far, out of around 200 consumers i actually get to talk to, 10 are refered for HS prg, and i've had my mgr email me back 3 that actually got on it!
i've had to collect on a dead person, who had literally filed bankruptcy 3 days before their fatal car accident, and had to continue collecting from the family...dell refused the hardship, stating that only the original account holder could file for it...
i've collected from wives in the military, who were told they could put these pymts on allotment, to find out dell not only didnt get the money, but that they don't allow allotments!
also, another word and advice on dell.....when you get frustrated by the payments, and think ""i've paid for the computer 3 times over"" remember, it's like a credit card, they give you a credit limit, and THAT'S what you're paying on!!! your computer was 600, your credit line is 2500, you're not paying on 600, you're paying for the 2500 credit line, which is HOW you end up in collections.....i've also collected from a man in NYC, who owed """""16.43""""" from a "product return fee" after he returned an unopened computer w/in 72 hrs of receiving it! that was march of last year, and i started calling him when i got the acct in sept of this year!!!

 

[TigerD]

***as an exp debt collector for DFS, i will tell you that they will only put you on the hardship if you have made PAST pymts, not RECENT pymts...also, you have to show your income, and so far, out of around 200 consumers i actually get to talk to, 10 are refered for HS prg, and i've had my mgr email me back 3 that actually got on it!
...
i've also collected from a man in NYC, who owed """""16.43""""" from a "product return fee" after he returned an unopened computer w/in 72 hrs of receiving it! that was march of last year, and i started calling him when i got the acct in sept of this year!!!

Yup some things haven't changed at all with DFS. I left a little over a month after they started the hardship program through collection agencies.

Good to see another collector on here. Hope you'll contribute and help a few people out too.

DC

 

[Fizzle1979]

What is the name of your state? WA

I went into collections on a Dell PC I financed and they sold the account to Oxford Management Services for collections. At the beginning of 2007 I received a letter saying it is tax time and if I pay the amount of $1,180.53 with my income tax money by March 3rd 2007 the account will be considered paid in full. I owed a total of about $2,100 so to me that was a great deal. Well the only issue I had with this was that I wasn't going to receive my tax money until 2 days after the deadline. I made contact with oxford via e-mail asking for a 2 day extension on this deal and they replied in the e-mail this would be fine and that they would put a note on my account. Well my biggest mistake was throwing out the letter and deleting the e-mail after I made the payment and got notice they received it. At around May 2007 a new company starting trying to collect the full amount. I contacted them and they said unless they receive a letter from Oxford Management Services the debt is still owed and for the full amount. I called and Oxford Management Services said the deal was only if I paid in Feb which doesn't make since since who gets tax money back in Feb? and of course I no longer have the letter to prove this deadline. He did say he would go ahead and send a letter of payoff to me. Well this never arrived and now a 3rd collection company has taken over the collections. Even if Oxford Management Services was going to go back on the deal they never even reported the payment I made to them. I do have the proof of date and payment on my bank account. I have contacted Dell who will not get involved saying they are no longer part of this collection. I have made many e-mail contacts with Oxford Management Services who has never responded once and of course I have no copies of these e-mails because they are web based from their website.

Any advised or help on this would be great. Thank You!
Jason

Send a letter to the third collection agency disputing this alledged debt.

 

[ihacksaw]

My Reply

Well I must have been lucky. The power of the BBB payed off for me. I made a BBB claim and 1 month later I have a proof of payoff letter with a copy of the BBB complaint.

 

[Zigner]

remember, it's like a credit card, they give you a credit limit, and THAT'S what you're paying on!!! your computer was 600, your credit line is 2500, you're not paying on 600, you're paying for the 2500 credit line

This doesn't make sense...
I have a credit card with an $18k credit line. I have a balance of $32.95. I am NOT paying on $18k.

Maybe you just didn't explain that quite right...?

 

[Fizzle1979]

Well I must have been lucky. The power of the BBB payed off for me. I made a BBB claim and 1 month later I have a proof of payoff letter with a copy of the BBB complaint.

I'm a big fan of the BBB and the ACA International when it comes to debt collection complaints.

 

[Chien]

The power of the BBB payed off for me.

This is just too annoying not to post. OP – congratulations on a satisfying resolution to your problem. With that, I will repeat an oft-said refrain by me and others: BBB is useless and impotent. It has no power – zero, zilch, zip, nada – other than what members choose to give it, in your perception, and you were lucky. It is funded by membership dues from businesses that want the BBB “seal of approval” on their office walls and websites. There are businesses that had those seals of approval on their sites and were shut down by state and federal authorities for repeated legal violations. If you want a more detailed explanation of the inner dynamics, it can be provided. If BBB felt that a rebuttal was in order, this is not the only place on the Net that it has been said. You can rely on the endorsement and the BBB rating with as much confidence as you can roll dice. Don’t take my word; try to google “BBB+useless”. I’m pleased that Dell was responsive, but it was Dell that did it. This is a caveat emptor re: Buyer Better Beware.
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Edit: There is one other thing that I should have added – If you didn’t report to BBB that your problem was resolved, please do – for Dell and the CA. BBB doesn’t follow-up on anything. It logs complaints and “grades” businesses on “unresolved complaints”. If the complaints are successfully resolved, as yours was, it’s dependant on the complainant (you) to report that fact. If the business addresses the problem, but the complainant does not report a resolution, it stays on BBB’s records as an “unresolved complaint”, and the business stays dinged. BBB only tracks for paying members; non-members can be as or more attentive and still be ignored and stay downgraded. I don’t know what category Dell and the CA are in but, if you think BBB solved your problem, tell them.

 

[jesslee83]

This doesn't make sense...
I have a credit card with an $18k credit line. I have a balance of $32.95. I am NOT paying on $18k.

Maybe you just didn't explain that quite right...?

this is s2bs...i no longer use the email assoc. with that account so i cannot redo my password, sorry


while working collections on behalf of DFS i was told (by a DFS rep) that when you open a credit line with them, you DO have a minimum payment, wether you have a balance or not(and it CAN put you into collections)...maybe it is different with collections accounts? i do not know...are you still paying on your dell account?

***yes i do know this is an old thread...i googled my "soon2bstep" and was looking for things i'd written here...doesn't appear to be much haha

 

[Country Living]

New Person - if you know it's an old thread - DON'T NECROPOST!