ComplaintsforAlpine Credit Inc

• Initial Complaint

  04/12/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am not liable for this debt. I do not have a contract with this collection agency. I am demanding this be removed from my credit report.

  Business response

  04/14/2024

  We have verified the accuracy of our report multiple times. The consumer has been properly notified of the debts assignment to us for collection - she has disputed it - we have investigated, verified and provided her with the validation documents provided us by our client, which includes a signed services agreement by her - agreeing to pay our client a discounted fee of $400.00 for their services. The consumer has not paid our client anything at all for the services provided. The account has been properly reported as being disputed by the consumer. The consumer contracted for the services - the services were provided as requested and yet the consumer has still failed and refused to pay anything.

• Initial Complaint

  02/23/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Alpine Credit uses highly aggressive tactics to settle accounts with medical providers. I was served a judgement to my home in Summit County ******** by a Summit County Sheriff, and then a lien placed on my home, for an account of ******. The provider owed was involved in a surgury that resulted in osteomyelitis which has required 2 surgeries to correct (2019, 2022), and another in May of 2024. Today on 2/23 I called to set up a payment plan for 3 payments of ****** which includes 8% interest charge which is currently accruing. This is a despicable business.

  Business response

  02/29/2024

  This consumer received payment from his insurance company for these services and failed or refused to tender that payment to our client. We tried to resolve this with him multiple times over the course of 2 years before finally have no option left but to file suit. Since then, he has made multiple payment arrangements but still failed to ever submit even on payment. It appears from this complaint and his history with us that he *********** not pay this voluntarily which leaves us with no option but to do what we can to secure our judgment. It is unfortunate that we are where we are, but this is a just debt for valuable services provided by our client that they have yet to be paid for. Again - he kept the money his insurance paid to him for these services.

• Initial Complaint

  08/25/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Just over a week ago I received a letter in the mail from Alpine Credit Inc., informing me that they were debt collectors pursuing $1500+ from me due to the towing of a ***** Tribute that I had not owned for over a year. I emailed and sent via certified mail proof of Release of Liability through the *** from over a year ago. I called seeking a confirmation of the closure of this matter. I spoke with a woman named ***** who told me that the account was closed, however, she adamantly refused to send me any kind of confirmation in writing that this matter is closed. I feel that it is necessary to have a written confirmation to avoid any further miscommunication. Can the BBB assist me in procuring this written proof so that I can feel assured that this matter is closed.

  Business response

  08/29/2023

  Our policy is to only provide required correspondence. In this case we sent the required notice of the debts assignment, the consumer disputed the debt, we investigated and decided to cancel the account back to our client. We are not required to incur the expense of providing any documentation to that effect.

   

• Initial Complaint

  08/08/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Alpine Credit received am outstanding balance from a healthcare provider. I went to their website to resolve the bill which totaled 584$ inclusive of fees. Magically 10 minutes later after I called them directly to discuss the matter, $165 of additional "Attorney Fees" were added to my bill. This is completely unethical.

  Business response

  08/08/2023

  A claim was assigned to us for collection in July 2022. The required validation notice was mailed to the consumer 7/13/2022 and not returned as undeliverable. The consumer did not respond to the notice or our 2 telephone messages in March and June of 2023. A lawsuit for payment was prepared, issued and served upon him 8/07/2023. Our costs associated with a lawsuit are not added onto the account file until service of process is completed, hence they are not viewable via the web-portal until they are added. In this case, the service of process was done 8/07/2023 after business hours and the file was not updated until after the return of service was received, but still before the consumer telephoned our office this afternoon. The court costs (process service and filing fees) are allowed under statute, and the requested attorney fees are specified in the financial agreement signed by the consumer (as well as collection costs which we have not requested in this case). We offered to attempt to save the consumer (and us) the filing fee if he elected to pay the remaining balance in full prior the case actually being e-filed with the court today. Instead he made a payment via our web-portal of only $487.32, which was not sufficient to recover our attorney's fees in this case and not the amount we advised him was needed during the call. So, the case was then e-filed about an hour later. His payment was applied and reduced the balance accordingly, however there does currently remain a balance due on this account that we will be asking the court to award if such remains unpaid. The consumer is free to file his answer with the court if he wishes to contest further. Important to note that this debt is simply the remaining patient portion after insurance, and that he was sent no less than 2 statements from our client prior to being assigned to collections, as well as would have been provided an explanation of benefits by his insurance detailing the remaining patient portion of the debt. Yet, we are still now some 17 months after the services were provided, after our notice to him and our 2 unreturned voice messages, and the only thing that seemed to get his attention was being served the summons, and now he complains about our insistence on the recovery of the reasonable attorney fees by our counsel for the lawsuit. Attorneys do not work for free, and there are reasonable costs incurred to file lawsuits for payment of delinquent debts which the plaintiff is entitled to recover.

  Customer response

  08/08/2023

   
  Complaint: 20441792
  
  I am rejecting this response because: The business states that phone calls were made to us.  No phone call was ever made to me directly. Which ***** from Alpine Credit confirmed. 

  Supposedly, Alpine Credit made a phone call to my wife's phone and that a message was left. This is not possible.  My wife got a new phone and never set up voicemail with the new cell phone provider, hence making it impossible to leave a message.  Per a conversation I had with an attorney today, this does not meet the criteria as an attempt to collect a debt.  We have no recollection of the letter Alpine sent back in July 2022.  Per ***** from Alpine no correspondence either phone or mail was attempted between July of 2022 and March of 2023. 

  Both my wife and i have 800+ credit scores and have zero credit card debit.  Per my latest credit report, we have zero late payments on any debt instrument in more than 10 years. 

  If we had been made aware of this outstanding balance, it would have been paid. As were the reasonable fees associated to this matter that were paid within 24 hours once we became aware. 

  Our stated position is that Alpine Credit did not contact us to make us aware of this issue and moved hastily to a complaint. They did so purposefully to elongate the reconciliation process thus enabling them to charge the additional fees we are now discussing. 

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

  Business response

  08/15/2023

  We are only required to send 1 notice to a consumer. That was done over a year ago and never returned as undeliverable. We are not required to do anything more and any communication attempts beyond that 1 notice are a courtesy. Now that the consumer has referenced his discussions of this matter with an attorney - we cannot respond further via this forum.

• Initial Complaint

  07/03/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Alpine credit is the slime of the earth. They prey on those with medical conditions. They create summons on supposed medical debts without any documentation whatsoever and charge outragous fees associated with the debt.Show me the detail behind the claim and I will happily pay anything I owe.They are the lowest of the low. How they can look at themselves in the mirror in the morning is beyond me.Provide evidence to me of my supposed debt.What slime!

  Business response

  07/07/2023

  Not sure how to respond to such obvious non-factual opinion statements. The consumer has a right to his opinions; however, we certainly take exception to his unfounded characterizations. When consumers for whatever reason fail to pay or make and keep arrangements for payment of the debts for the goods or services they receive, it is well within the creditor's rights to enlist the aid of a specialist in debt collection to recover the unpaid amounts. Most every industry uses debt collection agencies, and medical providers are no different. They provide a valuable service, have employees and debts to pay of their own, and must be paid for the services they provide to do so. 

  The consumer seems to infer that being served a summons was the first notice of the debt(s) he ever received. Without getting into specifics, a medical provider will always mail at least one but usually no less than two statements to the consumer prior to ever sending the debt to collections. After that, the collection agency will always mail at least one statement to the consumer and usually attempt at least one telephone call. If the consumer fails or otherwise refuses to respond and engage with the collection agency to dispute or resolve the debt, a lawsuit for payment is often the next step. This consumer, like every other had multiple opportunities to inquire, discuss, resolve or dispute the debt over the past 2 years and long before being served a summons, yet chose not to. Obviously, the longer a debt goes unpaid, the more costs may be incurred along the way. In the case of a lawsuit, you will typically see the principal of the debt, statutory or contractual interest, process service and court filing fees, as well as attorney fees. Not sure what "outrageous charges" he is referring to as the amounts are pretty basic. The sheriff, courts and attorneys charge what they charge and what is allowed under rule or statute. If a consumer doesn't respond to mailed bills or answer a phone call or return a voice mail message that clearly states it is from a debt collector, then why should he be surprised or upset when served a summons for payment of the debt.

   

  Customer response

  07/07/2023

   
  Complaint: 20268563
  
  I am rejecting this response because when asked for documentation of both the debt and their supposed outreach they refused and hung up.  They prey on folks who struggle to pay their debt during an illness.  
  

  i fortunately have the means to pay medical bills and always pay at times of service. I never received notice and they could not provide documentation of any debt.  When asked they refused and hung up. 
  

  They are the lowest of the low.  How they sleep at night is beyond me.  
  
  
  

  Business response

  07/18/2023

  Nothing new to respond to here. The time to request validation of debt documentation typically is prior to being sued - in response to the statements sent by the provider or initial collection notice. Not after being sued. We are not required to provide proof of such account statements and to even infer that such were not sent makes absolutely no sense as it is in the original creditors best interest to do everything they reasonably can to secure payment prior to assigning for collection and incurring those costs. Likewise, it is in the collection agency best interest to send a statement for payment prior to the expense of filing suit. This consumer just doesn't seem to understand we want them to pay us off of the first notice we send as everything we have to do beyond that just costs us more money and we can't add on our time and other non-court related fees to the bill. There is absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, unusual or in any way of violation of any rule or statue in this matter. This consumer can choose to be as mad as he wishes but the fact remains, we represent the interests of those who hire us to collect the debts the consumer fails to pay. The consumer is not customer - our client is. This is common issue with BBB complaints regarding collection agencies. There is no business to customer relationship in these cases to address. 

  Customer response

  07/27/2023

   
  Complaint: 20268563
  
  I am rejecting this response.  Again, sleazy business practices.   
  

  Enough said, they have to look at themselves in the mirror and it is sad they can do so.   Parasites.   

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  03/24/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  As of March of 2023 I need to find a new vehicle so I can travel to my job and when my credit report was run through the bank four charges from Alpine Credit Inc. had appeared. This is the first I had ever heard of them and was told it was due to medical bills. After checking with my local healthcare provider I was informed that the original debt was owed to **************************** who I had never heard of or received any communications from before it was sent to collections. I contacted Alpine **************** in ******, ******** to try to discuss why I had never received any kind of notice of a debt I owed and was told they sent me seven letters but I had never received anything from Alpine. The operator did not seem helpful at all and didn't seem interested in resolving my issue. This very much irritated me after such an already long and exhausting week that I just hung up the phone since I realized this problem would not get handled this way. I cannot confirm that these debts are even mine as **************************** will not return my calls. From what I've read from previous incidents on this site it will not get resolved here either, but I am going to report it so that it is known that this is occurring with more than just one person as I have even seen **************************** come up in other complaints that also pertain to the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

  Business response

  04/04/2023

  We have had 14 accounts assigned against this consumer by our same healthcare client between March 2017 and October 2020. Six of these were discharged in the consumers 2017 bankruptcy, with the remaining 8 accounts for services after the bankruptcy remaining due. Our client had mailed 2 statements for each to the consumer prior to assigning them for collection, and we have mailed no less than 8 statements ourselves. We have no evidence that the statements were not delivered by the postal service as addressed, and the address we have on file is the same as the address shown in this complaint. We have also left multiple voicemail messages for the consumer over the years. The accounts have been reported to the credit bureaus for years now as well.

  We will request the account itemizations from our client and mail them to the consumer after received. We do not find it credible that the consumer did not receive any of the multiple statements sent by either our client or our office on these accounts between October 2018 and October 2020. Not sure what the issue really is here. People claiming to not receive the bills sent them by a healthcare provider or collection agency is a common occurrence, yet we all still spend a fortune on postage each month to send them and there is absolutely no motivation on the part of the healthcare provider or collection agency to not send the statements. The provider wants to get paid without having to pay the collection agency, and the collection agency wants to get paid as soon as possible and with as little effort as possible. The best way to do that is for the consumer to pay off of the first statement. 

• Initial Complaint

  03/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This collection agency decided to take on a debt from a previous employer without verifying it. Turns out, the employer lied to them about how long I worked for them. They claim 6 days, it was 6 weeks. I owe no one a dime. I have since verified through the ******** ********** of ***** how long I actually worked for them, and am now in contact with the *** who was also unaware they told this lie. This is now on my credit report without justification. They also claimed to have served me court papers, which I didnt sign for, and wasnt in the ***************** for the court proceedings. Ill be speaking with my attorney today along with the *** to further report tax fraud.

  Business response

  03/01/2023

  This matter has already been litigated with the court awarding judgment against the consumer. The affidavit shows the consumer was personally served the summons and complaint 2 days prior to the date she has since advised us she moved from ********. Our client provided detailed time sheet records verifying the overpayment to the consumer, as well as copies of their multiple requests for reimbursement. The consumer failed to respond to our written notice of the debts assignment, and never responded again to our telephone conversation with her of 8/16/2022 at which time she merely stated that she "didn't recall", and that she "would have to check her records". She hung up on us after that and we did not hear from her again until she started disputing the item on her credit report. At this time we have been provided no evidence at all that disproves the information provided by our client. Simply providing something from the department of labor referencing a start and end date of ones employment does not reflect any actual hours worked during that date range. The consumer is free to challenge the service of process if she wishes, as is her right. At this point we stand by the details contained in the sworn affidavit by the process server.

• Initial Complaint

  11/18/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  we paid Alpine credit inc. $391.00 on Nov 1st for a lien to which a reciet was said to have gone out on the second ***** so far nothing we contacted them several times now to no evail they said they emailed a reciet I have not gotten anything. today we contacted them the lady got loud and rude told me that I took my time paying this lein why should they be in a rush to provide a reciet.

  Business response

  11/19/2022

  The paid ** by credit card on 11/01/2022. A receipt for the payment was mailed to them 11/02/2022 and has not been returned to us. We will mail another statement showing the account is paid. Tell us why here...

• Initial Complaint

  11/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 11/06/2022 Alpine Credit Inc has reported to the Experian credit agency that I am delinquent from a radiology bill from last year when I was hospitalized. The veteran's administration paid all my medical bills for this hospital stay. For some reason the veteran's administration is in dispute with the hospital. I am covered by the VA and should not be put on my credit because they have not resolved their issue. I have had no notification in the mail or phone calls about this problem in the last 11 moths. They have affected my credit score by ********************************************************************************** So now they are going after my credit score because they cannot do their job and contact the VA directly to get this paid. I would like this to be removed from my credit and make Alpine credit do their job and contact the VA for this bill.

  Business response

  11/15/2022

  We have been assigned multiple accounts for collection against this consumer. Our client submitted claims to any ********* carrier provided for each date of service but the claims were not accepted and remained due. It appears that the consumer failed to respond to our clients billing statements and provide any corrected ********* information prior to the accounts being reported to the credit bureaus. As of today, they all remain open and unpaid. However, as it appears there may be valid VA/Triwest ********* coverage for these claims, we have submitted our deletion instruction for each to the credit bureaus even though we do not yet have confirmation of valid coverage from our client. Tell us why here...

• Initial Complaint

  08/05/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Attempted to make a payment on an account and they hung up on me multiple times. I spoke to someone named ***** who then tried to intimidate me into telling him where I worked and acted completely rude and unprofessionally.

  Business response

  08/10/2022

  Oh my. This account was assigned to us for collection 7/25/2022. It was for medical services provided to the consumer by our client and at our clients office on 3/14/2022. The balance is the remaining patient balance after insurance payments and adjustments. The consumer was sent no less than 2 statements by our client and then the 1 from us he responded to. The consumer refused to pay the statutorily accrued interest at the rate of 8% per annum on the account. He was rude to the point our employee did have to terminate the call. He then called back a few minutes later, stating that he was a "collection attorney" and alleging that the assessment of interest on a debt of this nature where the consumer did not sign anything agreeing to pay interest was a FDCPA violation. After we advised him that the assessment of interest in this type of debt is allowed by statue in ******** and therefore not a FDCPA violation for a collection agency to assess, and then inquire the name of the firm he works for, he hung up.

  Since then the consumer made a payment of the principal balance only via our web portal without comment. Now this complaint. We would like to point out to this consumer, not only is the assessment of interest in this manner on this type of debt allowed, but in this case, the ***************** Agreement with our client that he likely signed (we do not at this time know for a fact whether or not he signed or refused to sign) also states in part "...agree to reimburse us the fees of an collection agency, which are based upon a percentage of 20% of the debt, and all costs and expensed, including reasonable attorney fees,....". In this case we did not and are not adding in the additional 20% collection costs as allowed by the agreement, we were simply asking for approximately $2.00 in interest on a debt that was 5 months old. This is a completely unfounded complaint and one that should be beneath anyone who professes to be in anyway familiar with debt collection.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩