Many consumers who are on the receiving end of Allied Interstate debt collection calls experience harassment and other illegal tactics as defined under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. It shouldn’t come as a surprise then, that Allied Interstate has also racked up a lot of complaints by consumers who have opted in to the Do Not Call registry.
According to an article in the Washington Examiner, 7,784 Do Not Call complaints were filed against Allied Interstate. Unfortunately, the DNC law doesn’t apply to debt collection agencies, so the Federal Trade Commission can’t nab Allied Interstate for violations.
Charles Pekow, the columnist who wrote the Examiner piece, did a great job connecting the dots between Allied Interstate and, for example, DirectTV, an Allied Interstate client who is among the top 10 offenders of the DNC law.
Allied Interstate debt collection agency is like a dog with a bone – even when they’re barking up the wrong tree. As reported by KGBT 4, a South Texas man was hounded by Allied Interstate, which was trying to get the man to pay for a phone bill that wasn’t his. In fact, he never even had service from that telephone provider.
In the process, Allied Interstate repeatedly attempted to get the man’s social security number and address. This is a good reminder that you should never give your social number to someone over the phone, and that you shouldn’t allow yourself to be coerced into paying a bill that’s not yours. Remember that you have the right to dispute a debt, and that when you send a dispute letter, it’s up to the debt collection agency to prove that the debt is yours to pay. Until they do, they’re not allowed to contact you.
Allied Interstate is a collection agency that is engaged in debt collection, offers financial services to government agencies and takes care of accounts receivable management. It operates in United States and has branches in few other countries. It is in business for several years. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has given it “F” ranking. BBB explains that the rating is due to the discrepancies that exist in their mode of operation.
Let us find out why Allied Interstate has become popular for the wrong reasons. Listed below are few of them.
- The company urges consumers not to maintain any document related to debt collection and prefer entering into verbal agreement instead.
- They ill treat the debtors and use abusive language
- There are instances when the company officials harass debtors to settle debts that were past the SOL or Statute of Limitations by re-aging the account
- They trouble debtors by calling them up at any time of the day.
- Most of their advertisements mislead consumers
- They try to get details of your bank account and ask you for your Social Security Number
- Sometimes they may call your place of work too
- Threaten debtors to file lawsuit etc
The factors mentioned above have made them so unpopular among debtors.
How will you deal with Allied Interstate?
If you find that your mailbox has flooded with mails from this company urging you to pay up for a debt that you owe, there is no need to panic. There are rights that can protect consumers and you can make use of the same. First of all, validate your debt. If it is found that you owe some money, it is better to pay off. If on debt validation, it is found that you don’t owe any cash, communicate the same to the collection agency. Finally, if nothing seems to work, register a complaint with the Attorney General of the state in which you live.
