LeanlifePM. Wow.

Live forum: http://forum.freeipodguide.com/viewtopic.php?t=40274

zer0dmb

30-05-2006 17:28:56

So, while waiting in line today at the grocery store, I received a call from a company called Receivables Management. After talking with the operator, she informed that that a company called LeanLifePM had filed a claim against me.

Back Story November 2005, I signed up for LeanLife while completing a do-it-yourself site. I cancelled 10 days later, despite threats that I would not receive credit. I was charged 6.95 S/H. A few weeks later, boom, $99.90 hits my credit card. I call my CC company to dispute. I send in evidence to back up my claim that I cancelled within 14 days. They said they would take my evidence to the merchant who charged me. My claim was approved, and the money was charged back to my card.

6 months later, here I am, same situation, trying to prove I cancelled this offer to a company I have never heard of. However, LeanLifePM seems to have gone out of business, as their website, www.leanlifepm.com has been down for several weeks according to Alexa.

Has anyone else had this happen? Does anyone have any advice?

ThreatNet

30-05-2006 17:55:11

Don't worry about it unless police come to your door. -p

KeithA

30-05-2006 18:05:28

[quote6e24f03be9="ThreatNet"]Don't worry about it unless police come to your door. -p[/quote6e24f03be9]

Or, depending on your age, unless you care about your credit.

dmorris68

30-05-2006 18:13:28

Tell the collection agency what happened (better yet, put it in writing), stating your case, and telling them you will not pay them anything. Inform them to stop contacting you about it, and to pursue a court date if they so desire, that you'll be happy to meet them in court.

The law, under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act[=http//www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm]Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, says that once you are contacted and informed of the debt, you can ask them to stop continuously contacting you -- they then must either drop it or take you to court.

[quotede2b642af9="Fair Debt Collection Practices Act"]§ 806. Harassment or abuse [15 USC 1692d]

A debt collector may not engage in any conduct the natural consequence of which is to harass, oppress, or abuse any person in connection with the collection of a debt. Without limiting the general application of the foregoing, the following conduct is a violation of this section

(1) The use or threat of use of violence or other criminal means to harm the physical person, reputation, or property of any person.

(2) The use of obscene or profane language or language the natural consequence of which is to abuse the hearer or reader.

(3) The publication of a list of consumers who allegedly refuse to pay debts, except to a consumer reporting agency or to persons meeting the requirements of section 603(f) or 604(3)1 of this Act.

(4) The advertisement for sale of any debt to coerce payment of the debt.

[bde2b642af9](5) Causing a telephone to ring or engaging any person in telephone conversation repeatedly or continuously with intent to annoy, abuse, or harass any person at the called number.[/bde2b642af9]

(6) Except as provided in section 804, the placement of telephone calls without meaningful disclosure of the caller's identity.[/quotede2b642af9]
99% of the time, especially when it's for something as trivial as this and you have your documentation well established that you are in the right, the collection agency will drop it.

Do this in writing, as professionally as you can (if you're not good at writing business correspondence, ask someone to help you). But be firm and assert your rights as a consumer under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. They bank on the fact that most consumers, not knowing their rights under the law, will cave to intimidation and threats.

Of course if you do owe a legitimate debt of any size, I don't recommend you do this, because they may very well call your bluff and go to court -- it costs them little to file a small claims case against you. A judgement against you in court is a worse blemish on your credit report than a settlement out of court. But if you know you're in the right, in a case like this with a shady vendor who is known far and wide for ripping people off like this, you won't have a problem.

zer0dmb

30-05-2006 18:33:49

Thanks guys. I appreciate the help. To be honest, the "collection agency" rep said that if I want to dispute it, just to fax them all of my letters of cancellation, which I still have, clearly showing I cancelled within 14 days. Also, include a write up of what I dispute. She was pretty nice, and to be honest, I think she has probably followed up on LeanLife claims before and she knew they were shady.

I think I will be fine, I just wanted to throw it out there. Plus, the fact that my bank, Chase Manhattan, investigated it, and sided with me, I feel pretty confident that Leanlife has no claim to the money, otherwise, they would have followed up with Chase Manhattan when the money was taken from them the back in December. I am sure Chase contacted them and asked them to prove that I owed the money, and they couldn't.

Anyway, has anybody else ever heard of this? Thanks again for all the replies. Is LeanLifePM still in business?

/zer0

dmorris68

30-05-2006 19:00:11

It's a common complaint with LeanLifePM/WhiteOverNight/Cheat & Eat -- they're run by the same company and do the same thing (bill you before your trial is up, refuse/slow to refund, then call a collection agency on you).

We're not supposed to be talking people through what offers to do and what offers to avoid, but there's enough complaints on these guys to make it pretty obvious they are to be avoided.