Tax Payers May Have Received Collection Letters That They Did Not Deserve
More than 200 Scranton taxpayers might have be mailed a letter from a debt collection agency they didn’t deserve. The notices are for garbage fees supposedly unpaid that may have actually been paid. According to officials, the garbage bill for 2009 could be at fault for more than 200 collection notices sent to city taxpayers in error last week.
Authorities feel the issue might be the way the bills were folded into the envelopes that the . The bill comes ready with a perforated line above a bar code that was utilized by the consumer, but because a crease made by the folding of the envelope, a second line under the bar code was formed, causing people to rip the bill off without the bar code.
Bills without a bar code could cause a bank not to register the payment. The mailing house that Scranton hired to stuff the envelopes was blamed. If the bill was sent to the bank, it would be the pay stub in their payment that goes directly to a lock box. The stubs are then scanned and the bar code is read. After that the bank provided the town a list of those who had paid up based on the bar code readings.
Representatives from the debt collections company who sent out the letters say that they are taking every dispute from people who may have paid very seriously. Company protocol allows consumers to dispute a notice within 30 days of receiving a collections letter. In addition, representatives said that no bill will be collected while they are still sorting out the issue.
The company will look into every claim from people who said they had paid the bill and received the notice. Those that they determine have paid will be left alone.
Mallory Megan works for a debt collection agency. She also composes stories on business, finance, consumer spending and collection agencies.
Beware Of Cash4Gold
We’ve all seen them – the flashy “Cash4Gold” commercials, at times they feature people on the street dancing, or at other times, M.C. Hammer promising fast cash in turn for your old, unused jewelry. Although human nature makes us want to unconditionally trust the dancing person or even with his track record, M.C. Hammer, it turns out that Cash4Gold may not in fact be too legit to quit.
In recent news, Representative Anthony D. Weiner fingered Cash4Gold because of their bad business practices. Making a speech in front of jewelry appraisers that were legitimate, Weiner requested consumers to take their business to a place that they knew was valid as opposed to the shady mail in gold exchange.
The way that Cash4Gold works is that consumers use special envelopes to mail jewelry and gold to the company’s offices in Florida. According to the advertisements, the company will provide customers with a quick appraisal of the value of the items they have sent, and then they will mail them a check for that amount.
On paper, consumers are given a twelve day time span in which they have the ability to return their check and get the jewelry back. But according to research by Rep. Weiner and Consumer Reports, Cash4Gold paid out only 11 to 29 percent of the actual value of valuables sent to them, and often, they refused to mail jewelry back when it was requested to do so within the 12 day period.
Weiner suggested that the Federal Trade Commission should look into the whole Cash4Gold problem, adding that he wanted to introduce legislation that would regulate companies that use mail to exchange cash and jewelry.
This law would impose fines on businesses that melt down gold without the owner’s consent or before a return period has passed. It could make companies allow enough time for consumers to request a refund and ensure that companies actually insure the jewelry they are returning to consumers.
Mallory McGuinness is employed by a debt collection company. Also she writes articles on business and finance, consumer spending and collection agencies.
Small Business Owners Feeling The Pinch Of The Economy
You would have to be living on Mars if you don’t know that we’re in the worst financial crisis in our lifetimes in America. If you find yourself worried about your business and what can happen next, you’re certainly not alone.
As I write this, the next few days bring great uncertainty about what the government is going to do to try and help bail out the failed banking system in the US. While it’s not clear what form the assistance will take, it appears almost certain that the US government will have to do something to fix the mess created in the financial system by rampant greed. “What’s going to happen?” you ask, Who knows! What is obvious is that the vast majority of Americans are extremely unhappy with the current situation and quite angry about spending billions of dollars to bail out an industry known for greed.
The unfortunate truth is that a bailout is not the end to the troubles for those of us who run small businesses. The US economy is in deep trouble and is not likely to be fixed very quickly. All the major news outlets have commentaries about what’s happening and what to expect. It seems the consensus is that it’s unlikely we’re going to experience a level of unemployment seen during the Great Depression. That’s the good news. The bad news is that things are ugly and their likely get much worse before they get better. And if that wasn’t enough, things are probably not to get better very quickly!
Small-business owners are unlikely to be able to get the credit that they need in order to expand their business in the near future. So what can you do? No one can tell you what you need to do in your particular business, but I’ve always been a strong supporter of the low-cost direct marketing style in my businesses. I suggest you start rethinking all the creative ways you can seek out more revenue at a minimum cost. This means not only getting new customers at minimum cost, but equally important, you need to try to sell more services to the customers you already have.
The situation is a lot more complicated than simply not being able to obtain credit, but it is also going to be difficult for many business owners to even make it through the next several years. There has already been a big drop in consumer spending in the US, and getting new customers as well as maintaining the ones you already have is going to get more difficult. That is why this is the time to get yourself back to the basic and most important task which is to get your business well marketed. There is nothing more important for your business in difficult times such as these than your marketing efforts.
Mallory Megan is employed by a collections agency that works with a debt collection lawyer. She also does pieces on business and finance, the credit industry and collections agencies.
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