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I went in to a bestbuy to buy a unlocked iphone for myself. The rep said they don’t sell unlocked, he told me about this great sale going on with at&t buy 1 iphone 7 plus get one free. it sounded like it was my lucky day, thinking I will get my whole family on a plan with me and save money of course i can’t even explain how i fell in too this trap. the rep lied to me about so many thing ie: he did not let me know that i need to pay in full for the first 3 months, that it was the slow data plan, it was not unlimited, and if you leave the service you will need to pay for all phones not as he said that i can leave when i want so long the first one is paid the second one is free.
i was told i had until a specific date to return it after i found out all the lies that were sold to me.
but when i went in to return i was told that the date on the receipt is not included, meaning it’s up to that date… even though the store manager told it includes that date.
so now I am stuck with new phones all on my name I called at&t many times but of course they sat it was bestbuy to blame. and when i go in to bestbuy they would not even look at me and blame at&t.now i am being harassed by a collection agency by the name of DIVERSIFIED day and night they are destroying my credit score. i bought 5 phones and got 5 and they are billing me for !0.
If you have any idea how to help or know any trustworthy attorney that I can consult in regards on best buy misleading me please please help.
Thank YOU.
I don’t fully understand the specifics of your situation, but would suggest writing a coherent letter detailing the situation to the consumer relations department of both Best Buy and AT&T. I would send a copy of the letter to both the office of the CEO of both companies as well. I still remember laughing at my coworker Irv when he called the office of Eckhard Pfeiffer the president of Compaq Computers (yes, 20 years later I remember how I laughed and told him he was nuts) and less than 2 weeks later a resolution was forthcoming (and yes, 20 years later, I still remember how Irv laughed at me). What do you have to lose? As for the collection agency, tell them you contest the claim against you.
A lawyer is called for.
If they haven’t already, demand that the collection agency first contact you in writing. First contact should never be by phone, and do not give out any personal information over the phone. The collection agency must provide you their name, telephone number, name of the creditor, the amount owed, when the debt was incurred, and who is responsible for the debt. You can also send them letters specifying how you want or don’t want to be contacted. If they are repeatedly calling you, calling you late at night, threatening you, or publicizing your debt to anyone other than a credit score agency, their behavior is likely illegal. Keep records of all communications and interactions and contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Fpr a variety of reasons that don’t warrant detailing here in the CR, you have made several fundamental errors in both your initial purchase agreements, willingness to accept oral reps by store managers and subsequent responses to the collection agency. Diversified is a very agressive agency but generally stays within the law. Get yourself a good attorney an take her/his advice, Good luck
Yaakov: one thing i can tell, if you are dealing with a NY purchase, under NY General Construction Law § 20, the day of the purchase is not included in the computation:
“The proper method when computing time periods is to exclude the day of the event and to include the last day up to midnight of that day.” Bacalokonstantis v. Nichols, 141 A.D.2d 482, 484, 529 N.Y.S.2d 111, 113 (2d Dept. 1988) (citing New York General Construction Law § 20); accord, e.g., Austrian Lance & Stewart, P.C. v. Rockefeller Ctr., Inc., 163 A.D.2d 125, 130, 558 N.Y.S.2d 521, 525 (1st Dep’t 1990) (where period for tenant to cure default was “denoted in days rather than hours,” period ran until midnight on the last day designated for the cure) (citing New York General Construction Law § 20); Antine v. City of New York, 14 Misc. 3d 161, 172-73, 830 N.Y.S.2d 430, 439 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Co. 2006); Alvarez v. Warden, 178 Misc. 2d 254, 255, 680 N.Y.S.2d 153, 154 (Sup. Ct. Bronx Co. 1998) Union Mutual Life Ins. Co. v. Kevie, 17 A.D.2d 109, 110, 232 N.Y.S.2d 678, 679 (1st Dep’t 1962), aff’d, 13 N.Y.2d 971, 194 N.E.2d 686, 244 N.Y.S.2d 777 (1963).
So if you had, lets say, 10 days to return, you get 10 days starting the day after the purchase. Other states have similar laws.
Sorry this happened to you..
If you paid via credit/debit card, maybe you can dispute it at your bank, submit your evidence, and statements to your bank, and they will file the claim?
Take Best Buy to small claims court for false promises and ask for your money back for the phone and whatever AT&T overcharged you. They’ll probably offer a settlement right away. Well worth the $15 filing fee.
Unless they already have your phone number, I would never call the collections company with my own phones. They automatically update and call you while you’re already talking to them, and then lie that the phone number you gave them was always on file and they’ve contacted you hundreds of times. I tried to settle a small bill once that was some oversight from my wifes family, and was fully ready and willing to pay. The collections people gave me all sorts of run-arounds and couldn’t even stop lying in such a case. If they can’t function within the confines of the law and business in a simple non-contested thing, I wouldn’t bother in another time by myself.
There are consumer lawyers, in theory, who are supposed to handle this. (I say in theory, because I never found one interested in the federal fair debt law that they advertise on tv).Sounds like a Breach of Contract or Breach of warranty, and tons of other claims.
I second the idea of disputing it with the bank. However, that won’t fix the “diversified” nonsense automatically.
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