
PAUL of Babylon, ny on Jan. 21, 2011
When I first contacted National Recovery Network, I was very impressed. The people I spoke with were very professional and gave me hope that I would get my truck and trailer back. Once I decided to hire National Recovery Network, Dustin ** was assigned to me. I had so many questions, and he was able to answer all of them. Then he asked me to fax him as many documents that would be helpful to the recovery. I not only faxed him all the pertinent documents but also all the information on the present location of the truck and trailer. I also supplied key codes for the truck. This information should have make the recovery efforts much easier for the National Recovery Network.
I was most concerned about the cost of the recovery of my property due to my financial situation. But I was assured by Dustin ** that the base fee would be $1499 and with all the info I had supplied him, he also assured me that "at the outside, the most it would cost me would be $2500 and if it exceeded, $2500--I would be notified prior." I was not!
He mentioned that National Recovery Network had a legal department, and all documents would be reviewed before the recovery process began. He was well aware of all the circumstances of my situation and involvement with Scott **, who contracted to purchase my truck and trailer and defaulted with over $37,000 owed to me, including late charges and interest. Further, Scott who lives in Springfield, Ohio traded my truck and trailer with someone located in Mesa, Arizona without my knowledge. (This is the reason we hired National Recovery.)
I had hired National Recovery Network on November 25, 2010. And I never received one update on their website until December 22 at which time I was informed that it's recovered. Then I called on December 23 and spoke to Alex, the investigator who recovered the truck. He told me he was not sure what was going on and he would call me back. The next call from the company was received by my wife Barbara from Michelle on December 27 who asked to give her the bank info on the truck and trailer. I thought that was odd, since we had already given that info previously via fax. My wife asked her at that time the cost of the recovery, and Michelle said the Billing department would contact us. But no one from Billing called me.
I emailed Alex on December 28, and he called me back. At that time, I asked him if there were any problems with the recovery, and he stated that it was a very easy recovery with "no confrontation at all." He further told me that the person who had the truck just handed over the keys to the truck. He also told me that he had to "pull some strings bordering illegal practice" with the Ohio DMV to have the lien put back on the title and the title converted back into my name.
Alex then asked permission to speak with my bank, stating he had to make sure I was the original owner to protect his company. I then gave my banker, Robin ** permission to speak to him. Alex asked Robin for a 10-day payoff amount which I found odd, since every time I asked him a question concerning costs, he would tell me that he is only an investigator and he does not get involved in billing. I was misled into giving the bank the authority to speak to Alex, because he asked about the financial status of my account which had no bearing on the recovery of my truck or cost of recovery.
Still, there was no word from Billing on December 29. I emailed Alex again, asking for the name of a supervisor, and he gave me Rick St. Marie who is the general manager and owner of the company. I spoke to Rick, and he still would not give me a price but said I would receive a fax at 3pm, Arizona time. I received a faxed bill of $19,500 with no details for the recovery of my truck. I was never informed by anyone in the company that there would be so much of an additional cost to the $1499.00.
I called Rick and he told me that this was an extremely difficult recovery and that the key codes that I supplied him were incorrect and he had 6 armed employees present because of the "bad neighborhood" the truck was parked in. Earlier, Alex, the person who actually did the recovery, informed me that
it was a very easy recovery and the keys were handed to him. This is an extreme contradiction to what Rick told me.
Rick also told me that there was no fraud on the part of Scott ** when he registered the truck and trailer in Ohio. Ohio DMV left the lien holder's name off the titles. He also informed me that he had interviewed Scott ** and spoke to his attorney, Mr. **. This had nothing to do with the recovery of my property, and I do not understand why they were contacted. This made me believe he was protecting him and not looking out for my best interests. I should have been informed as to why this was necessary.
I asked Rick why I was billed $19,500, and he stated that there was fraud involved with the Ohio titles, and due to the circumstances of a difficult recovery (I was told it was a "smooth" recovery prior by the investigator), he billed us on a sliding scale of 5-30% of the value of the vehicle, charging us the maximum of 30%. Please recall that prior he said there was no fraud.
Unfortunately, I found out after the fact that there are 26 very similar complaints against National Recovery Network to the Better Business Bureau. The bottom line is I hired National Recovery Network to recover my truck and trailer due to the fact that Scott ** stopped paying me what he owed on the contract to purchase my truck and trailer.