Legal Question in Business Law in Washington
Refund Policies
A collection agency debited my account for money on a premature date. This created financial hardship for me. How long does the company have to refund my money? They took my money through electronic transfer and want mail me a check refund. Can they do this? Can I demand the refund in the same way they took it. One of the reps I complained to initially said I would need to fax over the bank statement proving the transaction before I received the refund. He said it is possible they'll electronically refund my money but now they are saying I need to wait 14 days for a paper check through the mail.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Refund Policies
I'm a California attorney and I can't comment on how Washington law would treat this problem, but in California it would be illegal to take more than the amount due pursuant to a debt-payment agreement where your account is to be debited by an ACH transfer on an agreed schedule.
Collection agencies do it anyway, because taking all the money when it's there improves their chances of getting payment in full, and most debtors won't complain, or at least won't very loudly.
On the one occasion I've handled such a matter for a client, the collection agency made an ACH refund the next business day after I called them and demanded the refund of the excess debit. The amount involved was over $5,000 and the client was a relative. Whether it's worth using a lawyer to apply extra pressure depends upon the amount and how cheaply a lawyer would work on this, which may in turn depend upon Washington's fair debt-collection practices law. Ask around locally.
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