Last night I wrote a diary about the abuse we suffered yesterday because of Macy's over-the-line collection practices. To those of you who missed it I can sum it up as follows. We have a Macy's account that has a $0.0 balance and was paid well ahead of the due date. The phone contact for the account is my cell phone number. Yesterday morning, we received a phone call with a Florida area code and they hung up before we could answer it. I verified the number via "the Google" and found out the number was legitimate.
When we called back, we were shocked to find that it was a number for Macy's Collections Center. Somehow they had entered my husband's cell phone number for another account. We told them that they were calling the wrong people and they assured us that the number would be purged.
Three hours passed and my husband received another call. He told the rep that we had spoked to Macy's who assured us that the number was purged and that he was also at work. I called the store manager of the local Macy's to let her know our displeasure.
Another three hours later and things turned very ugly. Another rep called my husband and this time she spoke Spanish. She stared yelling at my husband and asked him whether he was legal or illegal in the U.S. and that he could be deported. He first thought it was ICE calling him and he was scared. For the record he is a permancent resident. He tried to explain to the rep what had happened but she would not let him explain.
All this was taking place while he was at work and his supervisor could hear the phone call. He then demanded that she listen to him and he explained what had been happening all day and the numerous phone calles that had occured between us and Macy's. He then called me highly upset and asked that I call Macy's again. I did and spoke to another rep who agreed that the rep who called was out of line.
When my husband came home he was still very upset. He made a great point about what had happened. He pointed out that if this was the practice of their collection reps to frighten Spanish-speaking customers to pay a bill that this was not fair. I pointed out that it was illegal. We filed compaints with the FTC and the Washington State Attorney General's office.
At the suggestion of rontun and oxfdblu I also emailed Terry Lundgren, CEO of Macy's. Rontun also mentioned that Citi cards issues the credit cards for Macy's. That leads into another interesting policy question since Citi took billions in TARP money last year.
Here is where our story takes an interesting turn.
This morning we received a phone call from a Macy's Collections Manager. Apparently Terry Lundgreen read my email and called her to find out what happened. She apologized profusely and said this was not the way they treat their customers. (No comment on our part.) She spent a long time talking to me and then she spoke to my husband. He told her exactly what happened last night with his last phone call. He told her at first he thought it was ICE calling him. He also told her that after he spoke with the Macy's collection rep he felt horrible and that this took place in front of his supervisor at his workplace. He said that no one had the right to speak to him this way or ask his immgration status.
I let her know that I felt this type of behavior was very wrong, and very illegal. No one should get three calls in seven hours especially when the mistake is theirs. I also wondered aloud if this was how Macy's treated it's Latino customers and if asking customers their immigration status was a standard practice. I also opined that if Macy's was off-shoring this department than they at least need to educate the people who work there about the laws here. I also let her know that I had filed the complaints.
She asked several times what Macy's could do to recify this with us. To be honest, we need more time to think this over and we both told her as such. We are taking our time and we want to explore all options.
We want to thank everyone in the DKos community who commented on our diary last night and gave us a lot of great advice. That is what makes this community so great. We Progressives look out for one another. We care.
I still think Macy's should be named one of Keith Olbermann's "Worst.Persons.In.The World." It was an Epic.Fail. on their part.
At the suggestion of lizard people, I linked this to Digg.