Thread: Does this sound right to you? (about a collection agency)

Ok, we have an account with a company in TN that we've been paying on for about 2 or 3 years now. When we lived in TN we had a payment book but after we moved we never got a new one (after using last slip), not even monthly bills but they still expected thier payments every month. I sent them several letters included with our payments requesting either a payment book or some kind of invoice be sent to use. I just wanted something to show that they were getting our payments, how many we had left, the balance and so on. I just wanted something for my own records and peace of mind. Well we never heard from them. No payment book, no monthly bills, nothing. So, I stopped sending payment. Hey, I had no record of it being put toward our account or anything and I didn't like that. The payment was only $35, so its not like it was breaking us but I felt like I was just throwing money away since I didn't know where it was really going.

Last week we get a call from a collection agency for the account we had. They insisted on getting our checking account information and DH told them flat out, NO! We are not going to give them or anyone else our checking account info for them to withdrawl money whenever they wanted. Not going to happen. We had a bad experience with that a few years ago, so no more.

They tell DH that thats the only way they can accept payment. He offered to send them a money order or a check by mail and they told him that they couldn't accept that. Then they tell DH that they can't accept monthly payments because they are going out of business next month (which I'm guessing is this month since he talked to them in March). Now, that just threw up a huge red flag to me. They are insisting on getting our back info to withdrawl money but yet they are going out of business soon. Hmm... it just doesn't sound right to me.

After he told me that (they kept putting him on hold) I told him I wasn't even going to send them a check. It all just seemed weird to me and I didn't want them to get my account number from the bottom of my check.

When they get back on the phone I told DH to tell them that they can either accept a money order through the mail or stop calling because we are not giving them our checking account info. Well that made them mad and they hurried up and got off the phone. Still saying they couldn't accept a MO through the mail.

What do people use to pay for things like this when they don't have a checking account? Because not everyone has a checking account, ya know what I mean?

Well now that are starting to call back again. I haven't answered or returned their calls yet. What do yall think of this? Does it seem strange to you too? Or is this something they are starting to do?