I received a collection letter from United Consumers Inc. for taxes that they say I owe for the years of 1998, 1999 and 2000. The account numbers for the three accounts begin with my Social Security number. Are these account numbers being provided by the state of Virginia? If so, isn't this a violation of state and/or federal privacy laws? Are these account numbers (SSN) also available to the people who are working in the collection agencies' call center when they call you? I am worried about my SSN being printed on a collection document and the possibility of the state of Virginia not protecting our SSNs. The possibility of identity theft is alarming.
Consumer Complaints & Reviews
I bought a Kirby vacuum from a door-to-door salesman with the agreed price of $1699.00. With sales tax, the price was $1800.94--a totally outrageous price. But I was prepared to pay that. I financed at a rate of 24.99% (loan shark rates), but again, I was prepared to pay. After paying $100.00 per month beginning in December 2008, I called on 1/7/10 to get a balance so I could pay off.
After paying $1200.00, I was told that my pay off was $1307.40, and the offer was only on the table until Sunday, 1/10/10. They implied that this was a break, and I should take it. This was the price on my contract if I had financed for 36 months. I was intimidated and thought I should go ahead and pay so I wouldn't be on the hook for more.
My daughter looked over my contract and told me that I had paid finance charges for the whole 36 months, even though I paid off the balance in a year. I further found out that there was nothing I could do, since United Consumer Services took all the interest up front. Further review shows that Kirby sold my finance contract to United Consumer Finance Services 9 days after I signed the contact with Kirby. Actual review of my contract shows that the original contact was with United Consumer Financial Services.
I guess the letter telling me that they had bought Kirby's contract was just to get Kirby off the hook for the shady finance agreement and rip off that I was lured into. Kirby and United Consumer Financial Services are running a huge scam. I plan to take this complaint not only to Kirby and United Consumer Financial Services, but also to the Better Business Bureau. To rip off a senior citizen taking care of a disabled son is a disgrace.
i received a calls and letters from united consumer financial/kirby on numerous occassions inref to my acct being late within a few days it was due i cancelled automatic debt due to closing my acct for unauthorize usage. i told the cust rep i will be mailing a money order to them from now on. on 3/18 i recieve calling at work which i told them not to call me during my business hours and they still did. I spoke with a francis who refuse to give her last name and i told her the payment was mailed out on 3/13 they should be receiving any day now she began to harrass me about having a another number to call and i told her no i dont have a cell nor home phone, i proceed to tell her i have been making my payments maybe not by 4th of them month but i have been sending them 75.00 instead of 62.50 which is required 12.50 more then the amount owed.
I ask her to not call my job again because iam work and they are harassing me at this point since i have until 3/31 to be consider defualt i made feb payment and now iam making march payment the acct is not late unless skipped 2 months and i havent. i feel this kirby machine have been a ripoff it doesnt work like it should it doesnt pickup lint or anything small on the carpet the shampoor is horrible i now use my old carpet cleaner to shampoo my carpet isnt this great 1800 on a vaccuum that doesnt perform like it said i just wanted to vent and let everyone know that kirby doesnt stand up to its name the vaccuum cleaner doesnt perform like they said it does.
They called my home on 11/17/2008 while I was at a late meeting at work. My 13 year old daughter answered the phone. Apparently, the phone called woke her up and she answered the phone in a harsh tone. The customer service representative from Consumer Financial stated to my 13 year daughter "that is not how you answer the phone you moreron". My daughter called me on my cell phone while in the meeting and gave me the # the lady called from which was (954) 670-5157. I tried very hard to contact that lady.
Today 11/19/08 I phoned customer service at Consumer Financial and asked if they received my final payment and was told yes. I asked the young lady if she could tell me who phoned my home on the 14th of this month and was told she could not give out the lady name. I explained to the lady why I wanted to speak with her and she could not believe it herself. I am very upset by this. It doesn't matter how my daughter answered the phone she is still due respect.
In 1988 I bought a Kirby vacuum on the "36 months same as cash". I learned my lesson then NEVER be late. It cost me $136.00. If you think you can't pay off your line of credit in the lotted amout of time, don't buy it. Period.
Someone talked me into buying the Kirby Vacuum cleaner/Shampooer and it totally does not clean the carpets. I want to stop paying, but am afraid to. The people at consumer financial are totally unprofessional and rude. This should be illegal. Any thing else you buy has to be exactly as it is described to be, and I don't know how these people are getting away with this. They totally lied about this product and now people are stuck with a vacuum cleaner they should be able to drive for the price that is paid for it. I am getting calls from C.F about 15 times a day. I can't beleive that a vacuum cleaner, it's distibutors and the finace company are allowed to destroy peoples lives and their credit when this company is selling lies. Someone should be held accountable. This is not acceptable to me.
I have defaulted on my Kirby Vacuum Payments and United Consumer Financial Services have called my home sometimes over 15 times a day, to the point that I am afraid to answer the phone. They are rude and unprofessional when I talk to them, often degrading me for not making my payments. In the state of Colorado, I understand that if a collection agency calls a debtor, they are in violation of third party disclosure if they do not block their number from coming up on the debtor's caller ID. Not only do I have caller ID, but my phone talks and announces the person that is calling. I have begged and pleaded them to not further contact me by phone and only contact me by mail. I often have guests at my home and recently, I had a Home and Garden Party, with over 6 guests that were in my home when United Consumer Financial Services called 10 times in 2 hours. I was so embarrassed.
I am a Home & Garden party Designer. This allows me to work from home and be able to take care of my children. When I have Home & Garden Parties at my home, and United Consumer Finacial Services calls repeatedly during these parties, It leaves a bad impression on my clients, therefore resulting in no sales, which therefore results in no income for myself to help support my family. I am emotionally drained, I dread the phone ringing. I am bipolar so it is also causing undo stress on myself, whinch is projected on the rest of my family. I can't have my clients over at my house because of UCFS harrassing phone calls.
We got suckered into letting the Kirby sales guy take our perfectly good vac and replace it with the neat Kirby. Little did I know when I tried to get ours back they would not return it. The Finance company United Consurmer Financial Service were pain in the side from day one. They called my house every three days. Not just one call they would call six or seven times a day. When I told them to give me my vac back and they could have theirs they wouldn't.
