I have also dealt with this company and my advice to you would be to fight back. West Bay is owned by Bryan Dunford (aka Bryan Thomas) of North Kingstown and Cranstion, Rhode Island. He is clumsy, inept and unprofessional. I did a background on him and he has plenty of skeletons in his closet which include but are not limited to drunk driving. He buys up the debt at bottom of the barrel pricing and then goes after people via the credit bureaus or any other avenue that HE sees fit. Unfortunately a lot of what HE sees does not correspond with the rules and regulations of the FDCPA.


How to fight back:


Send a certified letter and keep notes and receipts.

Fight anything he has filed with the credit bureau.

File a complaint against him and his company with the FTC.

Contact the Rhode Island Department of Business regulation and file a complaint there too.

Contact a consumer advocate lawyer in your state and Rhode Island and file a counter-suit.


All of the information I posted here can be verified through a simple Google searchs and Rhode Island criminal records are a matter of public record if you need that information too. Just search "Rhode Island Judiciary" and enter his name when you get to the court records search page.

Best of luck with your situation!

West Bay Acquisitions, LLC, is a collection company at PO box 8009, Cranston, RI 02920. The phone number is 1-888-737-7608. They just sent me a bill for rentals from Hollywood Video and Movie Gallery from May through September of 2009 for one of the stores in my Pittsburgh neighborhood that closed some time ago. The videos all looked like things I would have rented. But be clear that I did not owe Hollywood Video any money -- my account was paid in full when they closed. There are numerous complaints about others receiving similar dunnings for videos they either paid for or never rented. Given the state of consumer protection in the country, I would not be surprised if this perfectly legal. They probably figure that some portion of those dunned will pay up to avoid the risk of this going against their credit rating. I think it entails a threat and is extortion. The process outlined by the Federal Trade Commission is that you notify the collector (West Bay Acquisitions, LLC) in writing that you dispute the debt within 30 days. Also, it is probably a good idea to file complaints with the Federal Trade Commission at 1 877-FTC-HELP, your state, the Better Business Bureau, and maybe some on-line watchdogs. This is not legitimate business, it is an opportunistic crime.
Bob King
Pittsburgh, PA