August 2008   On July 22nd, 2008 I received a voicemail from one David Sherry from NES. It was not the first one I received, but anytime I tried returning the call, the phone was never picked up, and when I called there was no answering machine to leave a message. In this particular voicemail, he told me he had been trying to contact me since the beginning of the month, and that he would be in the office until 9pm that night, and that I had "no excuse" not to call him back.

I did so, at around 8pm that night--directly after listening to his voicemail. And this time when I called, someone actually picked up! I requested him by name and extension-- 1925

He told me that I owed Citi Bank just under a thousand dollars, but that they would be willing to settle for 500 of it. He told me that I needed to pay the $500.00 by the end of the month, or that it will be noted on my account that I refused to pay. He insisted that I give him my banking information, and that he would post date a check for the full 500 for the 31st. I told him that one, myself and my fiancé do not use checks and 2, is there any way I could get more time to pay off this debt. He said no.

I then asked if I could possibly break it down into smaller more manageable payments, again he said no. He then informed me that if the matter was not solved today, then they would be filing suit against me, and obtain a judgment, and that instead of paying the 900 I owe they would tack on lawyer fees and court fees as well, so that I would then owe 2500 in all. I responded that there was no way I could get the money he wanted in such a short amount of time, and he asked if I could borrow it from anyone.

I live in Michigan. No One I know has 500 just laying around for me to borrow. I explained my current situation to him--I have no assets, I don't even have an apartment to get kicked out of, I live in my fiancé's parents basement, etc. He said that was no excuse, and that I needed to find a way to get the money, because else wise they will file suit against me.

At that point, my fiancé took over the call, as we share a bank account. They talked for a good 15 minutes, at which case he was basically stonewalled the same way I was, though Mr. Sherry was very rude to him. Finally, I was given the phone back. Mr. Sherry then proceeded to tell me that if a suite is filed against me, than that will ruin any plans my fiancé and I would have for getting a house in the future. "Once you've been sued, no one will touch you" were his exact words. He proceeded to tell me that they would garnish my wages (of which total a mere 500 a month, if I am lucky. Gotta love that retail), and seize my assets.

For fear of a lawsuit, and because I was tired and confused and just in general tired of the situation, I mistakenly acquiesced to paying him 100 that day, and hopefully getting the rest somehow by the 31st. I gave him the banking information, at which point the conversation was over.

After hanging up, my fiancé and I compared notes and found that to me Mr. Sherry had represented himself as a lawyer, but to my fiancé he had represented himself as a paralegal.

Mad about being lied to, my fiancé called NES back and requested to speak with someone about filing a complaint against Mr. Sherry. At first he talked to Sherry again, at which point he found that he was neither a paralegal nor a lawyer, but just an employee who worked in collections.

He was then handed to a supervisor we only know as "Terrance". My fiancé asked to get copies of the recordings of the conversation we had just had with Mr. Sherry, and Terrance said that he couldn't do that, but he could give him the proper information for filing a complaint, but just what was this complaint about?

My Fiancé told him about the way Mr. Sherry misrepresented himself, and Terrance agreed to give him the information to file a complaint. When my fiancé further told Terrance that we know misrepresentation is illegal b/c I am studying to become a paralegal (I have just begun, but the first rule is NEVER say you are a lawyer!) Terrance then became belligerent and refused to give him the complaint information.

My fiancé did not ONCE yell or curse at Terrance, but after he disclosed that information about me, Terrance flipped and started yelling. When my fiancé pointed out that he was over-reacting, that he had just called to get the complaint information, Terrance eventually said "if you're such a smart guy, find out for yourself" an then put hung up on him.

Whilst my fiancé was on the phone with them, I had been on the phone with a close family friend who has a strong legal background. She advised me to get a lawyer, and possibly file for bankruptcy, but see what a lawyer said.

I had already been pondering the option of bankruptcy, but had been reticent in doing so until now. My fiancé has already finished with his personal bankruptcy, and I had been considering on using the same lawyer. Though I knew she was not in office, I left a voicemail stating my wish to being filing one ASAP.

I then called NES back and demanded they cancel my payment to them, that I no longer wished to pay them. They became annoyed. I then told them that I was filing for bankruptcy, at which point both Terrance AND Mr. Sherry erupted angrily over the phone. One of them--I believe it was Sherry, told me I did not have enough debt to do that, and that I needed to have at least 25,000 to file, which I know is inaccurate.

They then harassed me about who my lawyer was, and I gave them her name and number, as we had discussed this possibility a few months prior, and I know that my voicemail would not come as a surprise to her. When I told them I didn't have the number in front of me, they then started saying that a legitimate lawyer would not be open at that time of night and that I was bluffing. So I found a piece of paper with her number on it, and gave it to them.

I thought the drama was FINALLY over, because the next day they did not debit my acct for the payment I had demanded be cancelled, however on the 28th they processed the payment electronically--expressly against my wishes.

I am now having to fill out a ridiculous amount of forms at the bank, to keep them from taking any MORE money out, and to see if there is anyway to get that payment back, as I expressly forbid it. There is a distinct possibility that my fiancé and I will close that account, and open a new one with our bank, to prevent anymore fraudulent payments.

I know I said they could, but I then called back the SAME DAY and expressly told them they could NOT take the money out of our account, and they did so anyway. I will be taking further action against this company, especially since they have another file on me for a separate debt.

I actually received a call from another agent of NES named Virgil Anderson. All he did was inform me that a suite was being filed with the courts, and that this was just a courtesy call to let me know that. He asked me if I had any "plans" to resolve this account.

This is the first time they had ever contacted me about this separate Wal-Mart account, and to my knowledge I have NEVER received any paper mail from NES regarding EITHER account.

I informed Mr. Anderson of my intent to file bankruptcy, and gave him my lawyers name and number. He asked me which I intended to file, and I told him we were still in the gathering stages, I didn't know, and he would have to ask my lawyer about that. Mr. Anderson accepted that, bid me a good day, and we ended the phone call.

I am quite livid that they took the money out of my account after I called back and told them I wanted that payment canceled, but I have resigned myself to the fact that it may be too late to do anything about that. However, should it happen again, I shall file against them. The company is absolutely horrible, and should be SHUT DOWN.

June 2008    I just want to say, I quote everything they have said to anyone else who has written on here, because they have said the same to me. One of them interrupted the other and told me to shut up and listen, I said whoa whoa you aren't going to tell me to shut up and listen, and he interrupted me and told me "yes I will you are going to shut your mouth and listen to this." I said ok well then were done here, I wasn't rude to you and now you blow up at me, were done here, he started rambling on and on about this and that and I hung up, now they call and call and call and call call, WHILE I AM AT WORK. I really hope the guy that used to work there gets back in contact with you so you can get him into contact with the right people, because this is ridiculous. AND its illegal, the next time they call IF and only IF I can afford the time to take the call from work, I am going to tell them I will ONLY deal with the original creditor and will no longer answer or respond to anything else they send me or when they call me.

Anyhow, I hope all of you HARDWORKING AMERICANS don't let this sorry excuse for a company get you down in the dumps keep fighting to maintain and do what you can in this deteriorated economy and one day you will get yourself back on your feet and put this behind you. I am getting close, I went through the loss of my Grandma, and a divorce, BUT, I am fighting my way back to getting caught up, IT IS POSSIBLE don't let ANY idiot from this company tell you otherwise. I wish you all the best, and hope you get through all this, and BUD THANKS FOR THE AWESOME SITE AND INFO.

June 2008   This company called my home number which i have only given to three family members. First; how they got my number who knows, second; they made my wife cry Third; they made her do a 3 way call to my work so she could talk to me and i told my wife to hang up and then the woman yelled at me so I slammed the phone in her ear. She then called back twice asking for my personnel dept. for employment verification i had my associate hang up on her not once but twice in maybe three minutes. This company are a big harassment to all people who have debt. In Michigan it is against the law for them to call your place of employment and harass you....

June 2008   My nightmare began when Susan Archosky called my teenage sister telling her that if I didn't call them that they were going to send law enforcement to my apartment and arrest me. My sister panicked and called me. I immediately called the company and told them to never contact my sister again. Susan was extremely rude to me but I did agree to make a $100 payment on my husband's business account (which I now know was a big mistake). Susan told me that I need to come up with another $1100 by May 30th and I told her I would try, she then told me I would be receiving paperwork. I never received the paper work and the problem floated to the back of my mind.
Until this morning when my husband got a voicemail from Susan pretending to be a lawyer stating that there was a lawsuit against us at the courthouse and that we had to call back right away. My husband called her and she then began to threaten my husband telling him that she was going to charge us with writing a fraudulent check across state lines because I authorized them to take $1100 from his account today and the money wasn't there (I did not authorize this). She then told my husband that she was going to have us arrested, she was going to destroy his company, take his truck and leave us homeless without jobs (mind you this is my debt from before we were married and I never authorized them to talk to him). At this point my husband believed she was a lawyer and could do all that she promised so he called me in panic and asked me to call them. So I did and soon realized it was the same awe full woman I had talked to on May 8th, Susan. Susan precede to threaten me and tell me that I was not taking this seriously. She even had the nerve to tell me that I should have sent the $200 it cost me to get married 4 years ago to them and not gotten married.  I have to admit that I was freaked out at this point and had a small ok large break down. Then I gathered myself up and did some research and found that she can't destroy me and I have vowed to do what it takes to stop this kind of harassment.

May 2008   I recently worked at this horrible place. National Enterprise Systems is the collection agency from hell. The devil's worst nightmare. Employees are trained to collect according to the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act but once on the floor in their respective departments collectors are told to forget everything they learned.

My supervisor, Bryan Howard under the alias of Paul Stevens, regularly provided a second voice to collectors having trouble closing collections. This idiot would identify himself to callers as a federal agent, an NES attorney, etc., anything to try to scare the debtor into paying. He would actually tell debtors and their spouses that a lawsuit had been filed and if the account is not paid by postdated check by a certain time that day a deputy of the court was coming to serve the debtor on his job. I witness this on a daily basis all day long. B. Howard is neither a federal agent, attorney nor any of the other things he claims to be and NES don't sue debtors. All are clear violations of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act.

Debtors are talked to as if they're inhuman. Even when the debtor is not home the person taking the message is treated like dirt. I will never forget my supervisor shouting at an 81 year old African-American woman for not getting a pen and paper to take the message. "I DON'T CARE IF YOU ARE 81 YEARS OLD HE SCREAMED AT THE WOMAN." I've witness collectors hollering at kids "GO GET YOUR FATHER."

You are not supposed to talk to spouses—in certain states--about their significant others’ debt unless given permission by the spouse to do so. This rule is ignored at NES. In fact when I left training I put the document about the spouse rule on my cubicle wall to reference only to have it snatched and trashed by Bryan Howard who said I wouldn’t need it.

The owners Ernest Pollack, his wife, and two sons: Scott and pie-faced Chris are well aware of what is going on. These people are hands on owners. They constantly walk the call room floors, note the individual collectors and group collection sales and hear all the violations first hand. The more a collector screams at a debtor the more they like it. People actually clap and cheer when a collector goes off on a debtor. All that concerns these greedy bastards is how much money they are collecting at any given time.

Payments are demanded in full although they do offer settlements that are too demanded in full. Money orders and mail-in payments are not accepted, only postdated checks over-the-phone or Western Union Transfers for Citi Bank accounts. Some other creditors do allow NES to also take payment by credit card. For the postdated checks debtors are asked to give their accounting and routing numbers. NES, the scumbags they are, attempts to take the money out before the postdate. Nice company huh!

Collectors and supervisors once provided with bank info by the debtor call banks automated customer service numbers to obtain how much money they have in their accounts. We have their social security numbers so getting info this way is like taking candy from a baby. Some banks have safeguards against this and required you talk to a live person. They also work this wickedness on debtors’ credit card accounts or the credit card accounts of the debtors’ spouse, mother, father, etc. I remember one collector on the phone with a debtor saying “Your Mother Has $7,000 On Her Card She Can Use;” She Can Pay This Debt For You!”

If anyone needs someone who's "been there" in any of their legal actions against this despicable company I’m your guy.   (Get in touch with us again - we have a member of Congress who wants to chat with you.)

May 2008   I worked out a payment arrangement with NES. This is my first time dealing with a collections agency. The first call I received was from a Ms. Sims letting me know that we had to pay $1600.00 within 2 weeks or we were going to be sued. I worked out a payment for $800 to be taken April 28th, the second $800 to be taken May 30th. I was contacted by someone at NES the day before the first payment confirming the authorization of the payment from our checking account. I now know the cardinal rule of do not give your checking info! The payment was taken and we were prepared for the second payment on May 30th. Well to my surprise when I went thru my bank info this morning, they helped themselves to my money on the 19th. I am now trying to explain to my mortgage company why my house payment is not going to clear. I cannot believe the comments on numerous complaint list and lists of legal proceedings against this company. It is a shame that nothing more can be done to stop this company.

May 2008   I have been getting messages from "Lisa Martin" (Probably a pseudonym) leaving a 1-800 number to call for several days. This morning my phone rang at five minutes before 8:00 am. As soon as the message finished recording on my machine, it rang again, and another message was left.

I called back and spoke to the most RUDE person. He told me he was looking for someone, asked if I was his wife. I declined to give him any personal information. I asked what the call was regarding, and he told me I could "hang up now" because it didn't concern me. At one point my baby daughter was babbling quietly in the background as I was politely attempting to get info such as an address. I was told:

To go take care of my kid, it was "probably starving."  If I wanted someone to talk to I should call the weather line.

I needed to hang up now because I was "being childish" for not giving personal info but asking questions about who was calling me and why.  I was told the house I live in is "not my house, it is so and so's."

I should not call the rude person at work and ask "ridiculous questions" like who is calling my house at five till eight in the morning and why. Even though they left ME a message at MY HOME telling me to call them. I asked since I am supposedly not who they are looking for will they stop calling my house? Of course not.

I am going out to buy a telephone recording device this weekend, so if it happens again I can play back their own abusive words to them, and if they won't stop I will have evidence to present to the Attorney General's office of their abusive and illegal behavior.

I am writing you concerning a company called National Enterprise Systems, Inc. They ended up calling me up at work and harassing me, I specifically asked them not to contact me there. Not even two minutes later they called my workplace again and asked to speak to my manager. I contacted the local authorities as they stated when they called my residence that they were “Federal Agents" and "I was in big trouble with the law". I thought that they were not allowed to call your place of employment if you asked them not to. Yesterday they contacted my place of employment once again. I am fed up with being harassed.

 2007   I just wanted to thank you for the site and wealth of information to the public warning of the illegal collection tactics from these agencies. I recently fell on hard times due to loss of job and an auto accident with injury. My accounts have been sent to several different collection agencies. Now receiving numerous phone calls daily from NES. I haven't receive any letters from them. The frequency of messages is outrageous-- anywhere from 3-5 a day. It sounds like a general dialer, sometimes Jim Martin and then Lisa Martin. I get the same general message from other agencies but they use the name Tom Martin and Steve Martin. They all sound the same. Isn't there a law as to how many times or messages that they can leave in a day? One other agency has resorted to calling my father and disclosing information about my debt. My father is not on the credit card with me nor is he an authorized user. Thank you for the Cease Communications letter. I have sent it to a couple of agencies that were not cooperative in trying to settle my accounts. You're right....the collection agencies will resort to anything to separate you and any money you might be able to borrow.

 2007   My mother in law in Virginia (where we used to live) called saying someone left a nasty message about an account in collections. We have had a few minor problems with our debt because of a previous employer bouncing our payroll checks. It was in reference to a Sears account. We bought something last year no interest no payments and paid off with tax money. So then we bought a fridge no interest and no payments for 12 months. We were told by Sears that it was rung in wrong. So our credit card is saying that we owe them $600 more than the original balance. We both moved from VA to Louisiana and opened the acct in La so why were they calling my in-laws and why did sears not send us letters? The first guy- Mike Anderson told me that he did not care about our situation and that it was too late to talk to sears. I needed to be a responsible adult and pay them. He also said, very loudly, that they were going to garnish my spouses wages within a week if we did not have payment arrangements made. I told him that it was a misunderstanding with Sears and  they made the mistake. I get 5 + phone calls a day. I faxed, mailed and had the sears asst store manager call them and each time the phone calls would cease for 4 days to a month. They have started again and my father is letting me use his atty. THEY ARE RUTHLESS AND LIARS. THIS MAN CAUSED ME GRIEF AND TEARS AND SCARED ME INTO THINKING WE HAD NO OTHER OPTION BUT TO PAY THIS DEBT. Our credit has suffered because of this. NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO DEAL WITH PEOPLE OF THIS NATURE!

 2007   I was out of state for military training when my roommate informed me that representatives from National Enterprise Systems (NES) were calling and harassing him in regards to a debt collection for my brother. He informed me that a Ms. Marsha Chambers had called numerous times and asked to speak to me, by name, in regards to a debt my brother had incurred. Ms. Chambers and other staff members called my home number several times a day accusing my roommate of being my brother and asking/demanding that he pay the debt. Originally they stated the debt was $6,000. Ms. Chambers asked for a credit card number from my roommate and for his banking information. NES sent a letter to my brother advising him that he had 30 days to respond/and or dispute the debt collection, yet they demanded payment immediately from my roommate. I guess sending the letter was “eyewash.” Several NES reps called and my brother actually spoke to them, but soon hung up on them because they would refuse to give him their name, address or contact number. Again, payment was demanded immediately with no 30-day response period mentioned.

I asked that my roommate give me Ms. Chambers’ number, which was provided as 1-800-235-4153, Ext. 1277. My military training ran late into the night for two weeks, but I did my best to contact her. I left several messages advising her, and all other NES reps, not call my home number because she was accusing my roommate of being my brother and generally being rude and inconsiderate. Ms. Chambers and I played “phone tag” over the course of several days. I had an appointment the Monday following my return from training. Ms. Chambers called me enroute to my appointment and demanded I pay immediately over the phone. The amount was now in excess of $7,000 (hmmm, an increase of $1,000 in less than a week?) I asked her why the amount was more than the “$6,000 you told my roommate my brother owes?” Ms. Chambers promptly diverted the conversation. She said the debt had to be paid within 24 hours. I kindly reminded her that my brother had 30-days to dispute the charges, to which she brusquely replied “oh, we have DEFINITE evidence your brother made these charges!” So much for the law and the 30 days…She asked what the name of my bank was, to which I told her I wouldn’t give her that information. Then she asked what my bank account number was, and demanded I do a “check by phone”. I advised her I was driving down the road and did not have my checkbook with me. She replied “you don’t know your account number?!” “No” I replied. She asked me repeatedly for my bank’s name and account number. She demanded I provide a credit card number, which I told her I would not give her. She asked if I had someone I could borrow the money from, to which I told her “I’m not going to ask someone else for money, it’s not their responsibility.” Ms. Chambers also advised me to get a payday loan. I told her “I can’t just get $7,000 over night; you’re going to have to wait.” She repeated her numerous demands to the point that I lost count. I told her she caught me at a bad time (driving to an appointment).

I was so upset, that I later called the Arizona State Attorney General’s Office and explained Ms. Chambers’ tactics to them. I was told the tactics were, indeed illegal, as payment cannot be demanded from anyone other than the person who incurred the debt. I was also told that my roommate and I should file formal complaints with their office. The lady also advised me to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Finally, she told to call NES and advise them that they were not to call my home or cell phone number, as they were in my name alone, and not my brother’s.

These are the worst bottom feeders ever. Verizon wireless has no contract with me and is trying to charge me over $500 for a contract that never existed. When I refused to pay they got a hold of these bottom feeders. They called at least 5 times a day, and after I hung up on them and told them to get lost, they called back using profanity and taunting me. They threatened to take me to court for fraudulently entering into a contract and continually used that threat. When asked to provide a copy of a signed contract they refused and continued to threaten court. I told them see you in court and the continued to harass me and threaten me. Ever since Bud got involved they stopped calling and looks like they sold it off. So much for their threats. Do not pay these crooks a penny!

Their representative Brian Howard @ ext1705, is up to the usual tricks. Threatening to get my wife fired by harassing her at work until they let her go. Wanted to verify employment in order to "garnish her wages". The usual yelling and screaming is accompanied by the predictable demeaning statements about our family, our morality, etc..... He has been informed not to call at work and continues and disregards the Cease Communication letter served via certified mail. I have filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and awaiting their response.

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