Yesterday I received my mortgage payment receipt. On it was an additional monthly charge for $6.00 for an “optional insurance product” that was unknown to me. A letter was included with the receipt indicating that if I failed to pay, our credit rating would be dinged for the service I had, according the letter, “already received.”
Since I have more time on my hands than I would like, I went to work to track down this threat to my credit rating. After three hours, five phone calls, and an incredibly offensive run-around, I discovered that the company that was charging me claimed to have received an “authorization” by me in response to a telemarketing call. I demanded proof of my “agreement” to purchase the insurance and they, having nothing but the word of a poor boiler-room employee, agreed to cancel the “service” and take no further action. (Of course, I will be ordering credit reports to make sure this is the case.)
NOW, HERE’S THE CLINCHER! The company who engaged in this technically legal (amazing but true!) but otherwise unethical billing practice was none other than the world infamous, bail-us-out, AIG!
Isn’t that what they mean when the say hard core DP action?
