888-617-9696

I have received 2 calls now from an unknown number. A lady by the name of Michelle Black left a message stating she received a claim in her office and is confirming receipt of certified letter that went out.  She asked me to call 888-617-9696 which I've looked up and shows to be a fax number for a wedding event place.  Has anyone delt with this person or company?  She doesn't leave a company name either.

Received a call from this number stating they were serving papers to some guy I've never even heard of. If this is a debt collector they're violating FDCPA. Call them back, record their phone call, and retain a consumer lawyer.

Save your voicemail as well to provide to the lawyer.

Why do I need a lawyer??  I hate that they do not give you any information on vm regarding company.

Got a call from this morning regarding my sister in law that doesn't even have my cell phone number to give out. They gave me the number 888-617-9696 and a claim number to pass on to her.

Is this place even legit? They say they have papers for my wife to sign? My wife was here and they didnt want to talk to her they wanted me to pass along the info?? WTF

this number 888-617-9696 called me and threaten to come to my house if i didnt call them back. can they do that can i have them arrested if some unknown person shows up

They're probably not even in the U.S., let alone in your area.

Been getting called from a Susan Walsh, to give my sister a claim number and to call her back otherwise they will send papers to show in court. I don't have the same last name as my married sister but I do still have the maiden name which is very easy to find a number for. She doesn't have my number to give out so I think they just called some one with the same maiden name as her hoping to get lucky. I've tried calling them and telling them to stop calling - they just ask for a number to reach her at and they don't take my number off the list no matter how many times I've asked. I'm thinking I might just get a lawyer.

I have been receiving phone calls from Michelle Black for the last week or so. She is supposed to come to my house today! :) haha Where do you guys live at? What area? I live in southern Ohio. If we all live in different places, than you know its not legit because she cant travel from ohio to florida to texas!! Let me know what you guys have found out about this place or person! THANKS!

I received a call, well 2 voice mails actually, at my current work number (3.5 years here) in regards to my ex-mother-in-law whom I have not seen, spoken to, or even wrote a letter to in the last 6 years. So how they got my number is beyond me...especially my work number!! Same thing that you got though, Susan Walsh with a claim number to pass along. One more call from her I will seriously think about taking action against them.

So this number 888-617-9696 did not come up on my caller ID but was left in a message as the number to return the call to. I dunno if it is legit nor do I care. I do know that this number comes up listed for some company called Encore-Vintage as their fax number last date on that website is April 2009 so anyone can have that number now I would guess.

First time I answered it and hung up on the man when he refused to identify himself and he wasn't just asking for one person he was asking for 2 different people. That was the first red flag to me outside of the caller ID saying unknown. Then he called right back rattled off some mumbo jumbo that might intimidate someone that doesn't know how these low lifes work.

Sadly I could not find anymore information on the net with out having to pay for it which I am not going to waste my time. Take the time to share the net you will see these company's (mostly just one or two people operations) are spring up all over the US and they are getting sued a lot more lately and loosing at alarming rates because these people mostly are not obeying laws. Sadly they don't have the money to pay the people that are winning the suits against them either.

If I have bored you already please stop reading but I have included what I think is some helpful information on the tale end of this for anyone who wants to read it.

So sadly I have been plagued with a run of bad financial luck for about 4 years now. I have unfortunately gotten used to the harassing phone calls from debt collectors.

The legit ones if they leave a message will.
Display the company's name in the caller ID (Mostly)
They will be professional. (Mostly)
They will leave the name of the company they are representing as well as their name.
They will leave a contact number and a extension if required.

If you talk to them on the phone they will be professional firm and in ever legal way try to get you to pay the debt.

What individuals or company's that buy bad debt for penny's on the dollar to try to extract some profit on bad old debt will do.

They will block their caller ID or spoof the caller ID to some other name in a lame attempt to get you to answer the phone.

They will give the names of people they are looking for as well as any people that you may have listed as a reference.

They will make it sound like you are in immediate danger of being arrested and sent off to jail.

They will make statements if they leave a message that YOU HAVE BEEN OFFICIALLY CONTACTED!

The are rude and unprofessional will scream at you curse at you and just in general not be nice.

Hmm interesting, I also received a call from RESTRICTED today, as I do not typically answer numbers I do not recognize, and never Restricted or Unavailable.  in any event when I listened to my voice messages here is this guy, speaking so fast it is hard to catch any of what he says.  I did after a few attempts get almost word for word the same message that people are reporting here... I beleve his name was Chuck Haley or something similar.  He says same things - is verifying a certified letter sent out, there is an immediate "order" placed on me for intended litigation.  I have 1 option and one only and that is to contact mediation at - you guessed it - 800-617-9696!!  If he did not hear from the mediation firm (funny at first he had said he was calling from the mediation firm, now he has to hear form them hmm), he WILL be visiting me at my place of Residence or place of business on Tues, May the 8th.  Gave some claim umber as well. I called back and of course had to leave a  vm... in it I said look here, I do not know you, am not aware of ANY pending litigation.  Also said here is the deal, you will NOT call and leave messages in that tone of voice.  If you have legitimate reason and proper legal proof that you have ANY valid right to call my phone and leave that message, or to be bold enough to show up on my door at either home OR especially work, well do what you gotta do and see how it works out for you.  I also stated in my vm that if it was a bill collector and this is the approved method of trying to contact and intimidate them, well there really was about to be some court action but not of the nature he had threatened.  

In short, do NOT let scare tactics like this intimidate you. You do NOT have to get into any kind fo discussion with these people, especially if they are being rude.  You have the right to ask for their street address, send a certified letter in writing stating they are not to call you on the phone, they can send any business with you via regular US Mail.  Every time they violate the Fair Debt Collection laws (check your state as well as Federal laws), it can be worth up to about $1,000.00 PER INCIDENT.  Keep documentation of dates, times, etc that they call from. Keep any phone messages if you can, phone logs or records also help in proving repeated violations. But let them know in no uncertain terms they are acting in direct violation of Fair Debt collection laws. Do your homework and even consult an attorney if you can.

I had the same rude vm today... I left my own on their vm to be sure.  And haha I am in Texas, they must be really big to be able to canvas the US to visit people's homes or workplaces. They show up here, they can meet my fiercely protective Labrador.  UGH

1st Call: called twice.
Left nearly identical voice messages.
Also called Ex-Wife and left nearly identicial voice message. (Total of 3 known voice messages. I have transcriptions and recordings of all 3)


This message is intended for <Name>. Claim number <Claim Number>.
This is Chuck Hales contacting you in regards to an order that was submitted to my office this morning.
I would like you to be advised that I have been retained to have you signed for this certified notice of intent to appear in court for impending litigation.  
This regarding claim is being placed against you.
At this point you have one opportunity, that is to contact Mediation Firm at (888) 617-9696 using your claim number <Claim Number>.
But to be perfectly clear, you've already been placed on my schedule for Tuesday May 8th.
Unless I hear differently from that Mediation Firm, I will be out to see you at your home or place of business at that time.

<Name>, you have officially been notified.



2nd Call: called once (Today. I guess he couldn't make it out to my house or place of business this morning)

Uh, This message again is intended for <Name>. Uh, this is Chuck Hales calling again to inform you that you've had the opportunity to contact NMS Mediation Firm handling claim <Claim Number>. I have yet to receive a release order with regards to that claim that was filed against you. My call today is simply to setup your scheduled service for tomorrow, May 9th. If you have any questions you do need to contact mediation Firm at (888) 617-9696.  Again, your claim number <Claim Number>.  <Name>, unless I hear differently from that mediation firm, I will be out to see you at your home and place of employment, on Wednesday, that is May 9th, tomorrow. Good luck to ya.

This brings the total to 4 current known voice messages.

From experience (I used to be a reserve sheriffs deputy), no process server, in any capacity, will "inform" you or call to "arrange a time". Also, no process server will "make things go away" if they get a release from a "Mediation Firm".   When a process server "serves" you, there is already a court case scheduled. They can't "undo" it.

I suggest anyone else getting calls from this company do the following.
1: As always monitor your credit report. If you have a "LEGITIMATE" debt, make arrangements with the reporting creditor to clear it.
2: Contact your State Attorney General. Depending on your state, any number of laws have been broken by the individual leaving the voice messages
3: Contact the FTC. Again, depending on your state, there are numerous FDCPA violations contained in that voice message.
4: Contact the FBI.  The individual leaving the voice messages is using coercion and scare tactics to extort money. Depending on how bored your local Field Agent is, it's possible that there could be some reasonable action.

The same person has contacted me with the same information and I am trying to get any information

Thank you very much for this information as I just received the same call from the same man stating the same thing and I'm in Florida stating he is scheduled to come here on Thursday.  I called the 888-617-9696 number and they want money for something from 4yrs ago.

This Business is not BBB accredited
National Mediation Service
Phone: (877) 690-4915
2001 Niagara Falls Blvd Ste 14
Amherst, NY 14228
http://www.nationalmediationservices.com

F on a scale from A+ to F
Factors that lowered the rating for National Mediation Service include:
BBB does not have sufficient information to determine how long this business has been operating
Failure to respond to 3 complaints filed against business
1 serious complaint filed against business

Additional Information
BBB file opened: January 26, 2012

Business Category
COLLECTION AGENCIES

Industry Tips
Debt Collection

http://www.bbb.org/upstate-new-york/Business- ... st-ny-235967284

Thanks everyone for sharing your experience.  I received several messages from James Highland.  who "had a case that came across his desk and was up for litigation."  He threatened to serve me at my home or place of business.  Each call ended with "you have officially been contacted" and the last message today was "good luck to you!"  This guy called my mother and my father!  The message said that unless he hear's otherwise he will be serving me some papers and I needed to contact National Mediation and he left this number 888-617-9696.  I pulled a copy of my credit report and National Mediation wasn't even on there. I'll get back on here and let you know if he actually shows up to my door, but all of my outstanding debts are at least 4 years old so I suspect this is another sleazy bill collector and a crock of BS!

I have been getting several calls from a Debbie Foster telling me to call this number claiming that I need to sign a certified letter of intent and if she didnt hear from NMS that she would be at my house to serve me. And good luck to me. I already know what's on my credit and I don't trust anyone who won't identify what company they are with or who the debt is owed to. It's a scam. Please don't be a sucker and give them any money!