Mediation, Not Confrontation
Mediation, Not Confrontation. That is the company slogan of Progressive Financial Services. Apparently, nobody told the knucklehead who just hung up on me from PFS, Inc. He called me an idiot for not dialing the right department. Considering I dialed the number his company left on my machine AND their automated service sent me to his extension, I didn’t realize complying with PFS wishes would brand me an idiot. Who knew?
Progressive Financial Services is a collection agency. They hunt down people who default on their student loans. Currently they are hunting down Jeffrey Stanger. I am Jeffery Stanger. Any fourth grader who has picked up one of my books in a library knows that I’m not Jeffrey Stanger. But Progressive Financial of Tempe, Arizona, can’t seem to figure that out. I’m sure they have millions of dollars of high tech equipment, but they’re staffed by trained chimps and disagreeable middle managers who don’t seem to have the ability, inclination, or motivation to permanently delete me from their databases.
They have been calling me on and off for two years. Every time, I explain that I’m not the person they are looking for, and they assure me that I’m not going to be called again. Sometimes I get called the very next day. Katie Kelly (1-800-253-8167 ext. 3450) told me at 1:58 today that I would be purged from the system. PFI’s idea of purging is to wait until I get home from work and call me again. So, when I called back, I got Mr. Disagreeable. (He wouldn’t give me his name.) He’s the one who shouted at me and called me an idiot. I shouted back. I think I’ve earned the right to shout at Progressive Financial of 1919 West Fairmont Drive, Suite 19, Tempe, Arizona, 85282. They won’t leave me alone.
After Mr. Disagreeable, I called back and talked to Mark Zimmerman (1-800-253-8167 ext. 3310). He was a little nicer, but in the end, he gave me the same old song and dance. He assured me that it wouldn’t happen again and gave me some long winded explanation about batches and campaigns. For a split second, he seemed almost sincere. Then, I remembered all the other seemingly sincere people at PFS…
So, if you would like to help me out, send an email to any or all of the following email addresses:
management@progressivefinancial.com — I laughed out loud typing this one. Management?
sales@progressivefinancial.com
collections@progressivefinancial.com
custerv@progressivefinancial.com
Tell them that I’m not the guy they’re looking for. Tell them to stop calling me. And tell them a fourth grader can do their job better than they can.
Carry on, Citizens!
About The AuthorJeff Stanger is an author, talk show host, professional fundraiser, and the answer to several obscure trivia questions. He writes for food and occasionally for spite.
I love ‘custerv@progressivefinancial.com’ too. Tell them that it is against the state law in Indiana to harass people that are not legally obligated to speak with them. Also tell them that it is within your legal bounds to sue for negligent damage to your credit, your time, your phone service, your health, and your turtles.
What’s great about your post is every spam-spider on the Net is going to pick up those addys and blast the hell out of em.
Amen brother. Time for a podcast segment too?
Anybody know an attorney who would write the letter pro-bono indicating that further contact of Jeffery Stanger by this agencyin relation to attempts to contact Jeffrey Stanger will be met with a suit? These guys won’t stop until they see the cost of annoying you as more expensive than reading their file before attempting to contact Jeffrey.
Hello, I copied and pasted your post into an email and sent to all the addresses.
Here is the reply I received:
“Ms. Christie:
If you will let me know what phone number or numbers we are reaching you at, I will ensure that those numbers are put on our DO NOT CALL list for our auto dialers. I might be able to find numbers in Mr. Stanger’s account, but I want to make sure I move the correct numbers to the DO NOT CALL list.
I’m sorry that you have had a frustrating experience with the collection staff at Progressive. I want to assure you, however, that part of my job responsibilities at Progressive includes making sure that we respond appropriately to complaints such as yours.
If you’ll provide me with the phone number or numbers we have been calling, I will take care of getting those numbers off the account today . . . really, I will.
Thanks for letting us know about your concerns, and again, I’m sorry that your experience was not what we strive for. I look forward to hearing from you.
Barbara A. Hoerner, Esq.
Corporate Counsel
Progressive Financial Services, Inc.
1919 W. Fairmont Dr. Bld. 8
Tempe, AZ 85282
bhoerner@progressivefinancial.com
Office: 602.453.8610
Fax: 602.453.8655
Toll Free: 800.745.2053″
Hope it all helps, or at least irritates the crap out of them.
Diane
And here is the second reply:
“Mr. Stanger:
After I sent the first e-mail, I went looking for the account we have been calling you about. We were able to locate it and we have placed the number ### ###-#### on our DO NOT CALL list; once the computers reset overnight, it will not be possible for our collection staff or our computer dialers to place a call to that number. I am also going to visit with Mr. Zimmerman about the person who spoke to you (aka Mr. Disagreeable) and ask him to discuss this complaint with him.
By the way, I’m sorry for referring to you as Ms. Christie in my earlier reply. The e-mail address from which you sent your complaint threw me.
Please feel free to contact me directly if you get any more calls after today.
Barbara A. Hoerner, Esq.
Corporate Counsel
Progressive Financial Services, Inc.
1919 W. Fairmont Dr. Bld. 8
Tempe, AZ 85282
bhoerner@progressivefinancial.com
Office: 602.453.8610
Fax: 602.453.8655
Toll Free: 800.745.2053″
This is fun!
Diane from Down Under,
You are the best! I can’t believe they responded that quickly. Of course, they’ve made promises before…
For your efforts, I’ll send you some bonus material from Kansaska after the first of the year.
Jeff
Okay – Diane from Down Under – you are bold! Well done, Citizen. Let’s hope they remove Ms. Christie’s, er, um, I mean Mr. Stanger’s name and phone number from their records – permanently!
(repeat the following 100X’s)
* RING *
* RING *
. . .please leave a message at the tone.”
Ms. Christie:
It is imperative that you call us back as soon as possible. You can no longer hide from us – we now know how to contact YOU and will pursue you relentlessly at this number (previously attached to *Jeffrery* Stanger).
Hi all, These people have been bothering me for days. To the point of such medical and emotional distress that I had to go to the ER. I have told them I am NOT the person they are looking for yet they have called 6 times today. they tell ME to ‘don’t cop an attitude’ ! In my house, minding my own business.
I have found some of their various fax numbers. Why don’t we all send black faxes and take out their machines? (Just send pages and pages of a black piece of paper, use a magic marker if needed to make your own. A black book or anything else can also work)
8003741028
8664840013
8005854972
8884840013
6024538796
Let’s get em!!!
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