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Grad Photos Rip Off! Chappell Studio fucks up your credit report! BE Careful!
Students be careful when you order your grad photos from Chappell studio. They work with their collection agency to rip you off not only your money, but also fucks up your credit report!
I'm a recent grad from SFU communication department, and I ordered photos from my convocation from Chappell studio. They sent me the photos before even deposit the cheque. When they finally did so, 25 days later, I have removed funds from my bank to cover rent. (Poor starving students who is trying to pay off student debt)
So my cheque bounced. And a month later, i got a letter from Intl Collection service saying that i owe chappell money, and even if i pay in full, it's still gonna go on my credit report. JUST WHAT A NEW GRAD NEEDS!
The thing is, chappell studio has never contacted at any given time before this happened. THey just sent the bill STAIGHT off to the collection agency. SO Much for QUALITY customer service! They just simply don't give a shit!
Ok, so here is the BEST part. I tried to call the colleciton agency to figure out how to pay for it, and guess what, they don't accept Canadian money. So the bill of $42.60 CAD now becomes $ 42.60 USD. Therefore the following conversations took place.
Part 1: Me Vs. Chappell
Me: "so the collection agency ensures me that they don't accept canadian money. I have to pay the amount in USD? I feel like i'm getting ripped off here by paying more."
Chappell customer service rep: "Oh no. They should accept CAD. We switched collection agency so that they would accept CAD. "
Part 2: Me Vs. Collection Agency
Me: "So i spoke to chappell studio, they ensured me that you guys accept CAD. They told me that's why they switched collection agency to you guys. "
Collection Agency rep: "NO! We do not accept CAD. Never has. And chappell has been our customer for years!"
Me:" Well, should I ask them to contact you to sort this out? Because i've been told differently."
Collection Agency bitch: "Why would you ask them to call us? We don't accept CAD!"
Me: "X%^%$%X*&^*&^*(X&(&".:angry:
The END.
Apparently, this has happend to two other ppl i knew. So guys, try and have your family take lots and lots of photos for you, because Chappell studio will rip you off with or without their overpriced photos.
They have brought only frustration and anger instead of the happy memories of my graduation.
Not to mention I have to get my CAD exchanged into USD and we all know the fucking ridiculous rate the banks offers.
I'm a recent grad from SFU communication department, and I ordered photos from my convocation from Chappell studio. They sent me the photos before even deposit the cheque. When they finally did so, 25 days later, I have removed funds from my bank to cover rent. (Poor starving students who is trying to pay off student debt)
So my cheque bounced. And a month later, i got a letter from Intl Collection service saying that i owe chappell money, and even if i pay in full, it's still gonna go on my credit report. JUST WHAT A NEW GRAD NEEDS!
The thing is, chappell studio has never contacted at any given time before this happened. THey just sent the bill STAIGHT off to the collection agency. SO Much for QUALITY customer service! They just simply don't give a shit!
Ok, so here is the BEST part. I tried to call the colleciton agency to figure out how to pay for it, and guess what, they don't accept Canadian money. So the bill of $42.60 CAD now becomes $ 42.60 USD. Therefore the following conversations took place.
Part 1: Me Vs. Chappell
Me: "so the collection agency ensures me that they don't accept canadian money. I have to pay the amount in USD? I feel like i'm getting ripped off here by paying more."
Chappell customer service rep: "Oh no. They should accept CAD. We switched collection agency so that they would accept CAD. "
Part 2: Me Vs. Collection Agency
Me: "So i spoke to chappell studio, they ensured me that you guys accept CAD. They told me that's why they switched collection agency to you guys. "
Collection Agency rep: "NO! We do not accept CAD. Never has. And chappell has been our customer for years!"
Me:" Well, should I ask them to contact you to sort this out? Because i've been told differently."
Collection Agency bitch: "Why would you ask them to call us? We don't accept CAD!"
Me: "X%^%$%X*&^*&^*(X&(&".:angry:
The END.
Apparently, this has happend to two other ppl i knew. So guys, try and have your family take lots and lots of photos for you, because Chappell studio will rip you off with or without their overpriced photos.
They have brought only frustration and anger instead of the happy memories of my graduation.
Not to mention I have to get my CAD exchanged into USD and we all know the fucking ridiculous rate the banks offers.
Comments
encourage the other two you know in the same boat to file a complain with BBB as well
so to avoid future incidents such as this.. make sure you have enough funds in your account.. =) and i would advise you to pay it off ASAP cause:
1) it's only 3 dollar difference right now.. we don't know if it's going to rise/drop the next day as the currency is pretty volatile these days
2) you can probably negotiate something with Chapelle as soon as they have the money in their hands.. it's only 42.60 (not a big amount being owed) and you're a student.. just dish out the poor student talk and hopefully tug their heart strings enough to do something abt that credit report of yours..
good luck!
However; I'm quite sure them trying to charge you more than the debt is worth is illegal. Tell them you're not paying anymore than the CAD amount, as that is how much the debt is worth. I repeat, you cannot be charged more than an amount is worth, theres a reason currencies are different amounts. Chapelle sold them the debt as CAD and you will be paying it as CAD. It isnt your problem the collection agency is American.
These people are sons of bitches, creditors have no power and try to break laws all the time. Next time you call them, tell them their phone call is being recorded (even if its not) and that your credit attorney will be reviewing any comments they make in regards to the legality of this conversion scam. Tell them you are willing to pay what chapelle sold the debt to them as, and thats it.
Further: tell them any further contact will be done via mail, and request copies of the original invoice of the debt as per their records with Chapelle. They cant just demand you pay any amount without proof. Upon receiving a satisfactory outline of the charges, the amount should be in CAD, which is what you'll be paying. These people are just assholes being paid minimum wage working on commission.
also, why do you have to call them? wait for them to call you.
You wait for them to call you and its noted on your credit report that you aren't making an effort to pay. Longer you wait, larger the chance it'll affect your credit rating.
Also, you can record ANY conversation and not even have to tell the person if you are not an agent of the government. Telling them you're recording them is going to prevent them from lying to you. I said she should tell them this just as an empty threat so they are on their best behaviour on the phone.
And yes, by all means bullshit them, they make up shit all the time. I know a bit or two about credit law. These people are not monitored and will say whatever it takes for you to pay them. They work on comission.
a few of my clients have tried dishing out threats.. and failed miserably.. suffice to say.. there's nothing they could do about their messed up credit report and now they're paying the consequences of it.. hence i suggest you pay the sum that you owe ASAP and if you do decide to use threats.. use them carefully..
its about getting truth, don't say you aren't paying (which will give them a reason to penalize your credit, say you're going to pay the amount due, and ask for the amount due in paper outlining the exact amount and nature of the charge by mail
be firm and hold your posistion, but yes if you are beligerent it might not get you far. most creditors would rather sell their debt than deal with someone whos trying to get at the truth. creditors will also often accept lower then the amount owed.
even try telling them youre willing to make payment immediately for the CAD amount, and see if theyll accept, don't just question it and give them control of the conversation
Speaking strictly of tape recordings of phone conversations, my understanding is that you're not even legally required to inform the other person. That having been said, such recordings should be used to buttress notarized complaints which can, if necessary, be released to a lawyer and/or the media. It's actually about time someone embarrassed collection agencies a little.
But unless you really do have a lawyer, if you tell them it will scare them into not making up stuff or lying to you. These agencies really need to be monitored, these people have no right to: lie to you, threaten you, intimidate you, raise their voice at you. It's called harassment.
A tip for everyone: if you are ever bothered by a collection agency, tell them to stop calling you and send all further correspondance by mail, and that any further phone calls will be considered undue harassment. Explicitly say you are willing to pay, but require proof of what is owed (not verbal confirmation). Also tell them, that in the mail they will include a breakdown of the costs, the origin of the costs, and proof of it, if they cannot provide this proof you will not pay. Never agree to pay anything you do not feel you owe, if you due owe something and don't agree with the amount then express that and ask for proof.
Even make minute payments, if you pay even 1 dollar they shouldn't be able to report negatively about you if its shown you are making an effort to pay. They will be willing to accept payment plans or negotiated amounts, if they say they are not allowed they are lying. They are companies paid to collect debt, and get bonuses on the amount they do.
whatever happened afterwards was pretty shitty dealing with the agency/ credit report issues, but take this as a reminder to be more responsible with your money
Second, thanks for all the replies and kind suggestions.
NOW Here's the update. Chappell got back to me on the currency issues. It turns out that they were wrong about their own collection agency. The agency can not and will not take canadian funds. So the studio told me that there's nothing they can do about it and $3 is not that big deal.(who the hell they think they are telling me the $3 they screwed me over isn't a big deal). The only thing they can do is one free print of the photo. So i told them to shove it, and since then I have filed a report about them with the BBB.