Harassment?

4/21/2009

I received a bill from NCO stating that I owed them 360.00. When I called in to make a payment they refused my partial payment and said I had till 9 to make the pay in full. I informed them that was not possible(when I finally got a chance to talk) The person I was speaking to then told me she didn't need a pity party from me and that I shouldn't have gotten a cell phone if I couldn't pay for it(like life doesn't change and unexpected bills never happen). I then asked to speak to her manager who was even more belittling.

Needless to say they never took my payment and now I have to figure out who will take my payment because there must be a not on my account that says something along the lines of "do not take payments unless made in full" Can they really deny partial payments and be so badgering? What can I do about this?

Very Sketchy Business

1/7/2009 PA

I checked on the policy of American Express for their dealings with collections. American Express will not go along with other Credit Card companies to Consolidate accounts. Amex states they put accounts into a pool for collections. NCO must gobble up most. They(NCO) will start calling for payment on the first of the month for something due on the 30th. I called them and they were very evasive(wouldn't even tell me what NCO stood for) I have read they are not very reputable and see how they are harassing a family member. I would suggest anyone who uses American Express to be careful since they then throw your info out to these scam artists. I also would suggest using another card if possible rather than AMEX because once you fall behind...you're done. I called American Express re: paying them rather than this lynch mob and they said that could be done.

The FTC needs to know about them and maybe the news stations should investigate them. I will transfer my Amex balance to another card and not use them...they really scare me.

Previous Calls From and Accounts Placed with NCO

12/27/2008 PA

Several years ago, I had some previous past-due accounts placed with NCO. They would always call me and leave messages on my answering machine stating that it was "essential that I call" a certain toll-free number. I returned their calls alright; after hours. That's when I really left them some nasty messages. I didn't consider this matter to be "essential", and I told them to please stop saying that it's essential that I call them. One time, I spoke with a supervisor about this, and she said that "all bills are essential, ma'am." Also, one of their representative called me at around quarter of nine on a Sunday night. Whenever this representative called, I would simply hang up on her but then she would call back again. Now I have another past-due account with them, and just like before, they will get their money when I get it to them.

What I consider essential are my rent, home and cellphone bills, my electric bill, my medical insurance, my student loan payments, transportation, and food.

Anybody else that I owe money to is just going to have to wait.

How Much Can They Really Do?

12/12/2008 NY

While looking to purchase a home, my mortgage broker pulled my credit (of course) and told me some things I needed to do to boost my score. Surprisingly some old debt from a credit card was NOT 1 of the things he told me to look into. But being the crazy person that I am, I decided to call Citibank and ask who this Merchants credit was, that was calling me on their behalf.

I was transferred from one representative to another to another within Citibank , only to be told that they are not looking for me but NCO purchased the debt. I told Citibank that if they would settle with me I am looking to do that to show the account settled, the representative told me it was out of their (Citibank) hands.

So I called NCO as the merchants credit people were rude, unprofessional and downright ignorant, to try to settle. BIG MISTAKE. They have been calling me everyday.

I finally spoke to someone who sounded reasonable and actually got transferred to yet another reasonable sounding person and mistakenly gave them my job fax number to send me a settlement letter.

Pursuant to your agreement, this letter is to confirm that the above creditor (listed as former creditor: Citibank) will accept the amount...as settlement, if payment is received by 12/20/08. this is an attempt to collect a debt, etc...

The threats of garnishing my wages and suing me in court, is that all really possible or likely? If Citibank is saying I don't owe them anymore, that NCO bought the debt, what does that mean? Why did this not come up as something to rectify by my mortgage broker? Any help?

Don't get them wrong

4/30/2008 PA

Here's the deal... the reason why you are being called is because you have a debt to pay... they just don't want you to get behind your accounts that's all and that is being helpful... Next, why do you buy for something you don't want to pay for in the first place??? Everything has to be paid you don't get a shirt from Old Navy for free... or something from Lowes for free... you have to pay for it...

Don't get mad at these people because of your fault... you use something, you pay for it... you buy something, you have to pay for it... UNDERSTAND!!!

Harassing Phone Calls

3/30/2008 philadelphia, PA PA

I receive an automated message every single day including Sunday --- morning!! There is absolutely no way to reach anyone there - I am recently divorced and they are not likely to be looking for me... I recently refinanced and have a near perfect credit rating and no outstanding debts. These people are so disdainful I would not even help them find my creepy ex-husband. They are on their own with that.

I sent a letter to their headquarters warning them that I will join the class action law suit against them if I get one more phone call. All they do is buy old bad debt that someone else couldn't collect and see if they can get a few pennies on the dollar when really it's is noncollectable..

They just harass people into paying some portion of the bill and it all goes to them! What a racket!

Total disregard to FCRA

11/24/2007 Horsham PA

In 2004 NCO Financial Systems was sued by the FTC for gross violations of the FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) the violations were so numerous that the FTC raised the penalty from $1,000 per violation to $2,500 per violation. The resulting judgment was that of $1,500,000, they also had to enter into a consent decree which they continue to violate to this day. I have counted 36 FCRA violations on my credit report. I will be filing civil suit for $90,000 in statutory damages plus punitive damages. I expect a judgment of at least $120,000 which my attorney says is quite reasonable. Unfortunately this will be only a small dent in this company as they have at least 5 offices and each office rakes in roughly $2,000,000 per month. They are one of (if not the) largest debt buyers in the United States.

These fines are merely costs of business. I am going to also propose a audit by the FTC of their records reported to consumer credit reporting agencies. Hopefully in the aftermath of this audit they will have to pay restitution to all the consumers they have victimized.

Heed the warnings.....

7/23/2007 PA

I have read the entire first page of reviews and complaints regarding this company. No need for me to read further. I have received numerous phone calls from NCO Financial in the past month to get in touch with my husband who is never home because of his over the road trucking job. I've advised them of this, but they still check in. I've offered to speak to them before, but they gave a speech about their policy regarding only speaking to the debt holder due to the federal privacy act. I was always told it was "personal business". Well, today they called and again he's not home so I guess the federal privacy speech went out the window because they started chatting away giving me details of his overdue account and asking me to set up a payment plan. Well, I told her I could not pay in one lump sum today, but I did agree to the $50/month repayment plan, however I would set it up through online Bill Pay with my bank. This would allow my bank to send them a designated amount that we agreed to directly to NCO each month. I refused to share my bank account/routing number with her and stated for fear of identity theft. She assured me the transactions were secure. I told her no company is exempt from unlawful misuse of personal information. If they can send me something in writing that would guarantee that, I may consider sharing my personal financial information, but not on the say so from someone I don't know and a company I am not familiar with. At any rate, the collections rep refused my offer and stated they would pursue with reporting it to the credit bureaus.

I thought I would share my experience. The woman was neither rude nor kind. She was "business-like" . I guess I got lucky there. At any rate, I called the people we actually owed the money to and I've offered a payment schedule I could handle to them to satisfy my debt to which they kindly stated that would be acceptable. I have taken the advice of a previous poster in here regarding the federal letter which I generated immediately and will mail out to them certified with receipt.

You know, we incur debt due to various reasons in life. Ultimately we will also be responsible for that debt no matter who's hand it falls into or how much time passes. That is what directly affects our credit report/rating, not the company who's handling our account. It is their obligation to report it. A collection's agency purpose is to provide a final effort to collect a debt before it reaches your credit report so it's usually in your best interest to satisfy the debt. However, with the rising concerns of identity theft, no company is exempt from an unlawful employee misusing confidential information for personal gain. How often that happens, we'll never know but it's for certain the risk is present. With that type of access, it's too good to pass up for some people. So what do we do when we really want to satisfy a debt but don't want to compromise our personal financial information? Well, if you truly owe the money they cannot refuse you sending them money to repay your debt if you send it on your own. If you do that, I would always send it certified and with return receipt. That is your proof payment was sent and received. I would also keep a copy of the payment you sent and a letter as well as any banking transactions to go with it. On the payment I would indicate your policy/account number related to the debt (not your bank). I would suggest you send money order or cashier's check instead of personal check to keep your personal banking information secure completely. This also prevents any bounced payments since money orders are prepaid. Please make sure this will be accepted otherwise you've wasted your time and money. If available, you may also try online Bill Pay through your bank. You'll need your account # for the collections agency, their full business name, address, phone number and payment amount. Of course you can also call them and ask to pay a certain amount via credit card. If they refuse, then ask for a supervisor. They are the ones bugging you to pay your bill. Too bad if it's not the way they want it. Paying a bill shouldn't be a hassle if one really wants to fulfill their debt obligation. That is the primary function of their business. If that doesn't work, seek legal advice. There are various sources online and some local offices will take the time to give you direction.

In the end, we'll never know what started this consumer war between debtors and collections agencies. The general opinion regarding collections agencies are "pushy" people who will do whatever it takes to get your debt settled. It makes the collection agencies money to settle a debt. They buy delinquent accounts from companies who cannot get people to pay their debts. If you incur a debt for any reason, say hospital, they generally give you 90 days to pay your bill. After that, they forward it to collections. That is to say your account is "sold" to a collections agency to then collect the debt. They get paid to collect that debt. That would mean the company would have to be aggressive in obtaining payment for that debt so you get the numerous calls for debt collection. Somewhere along the line, this aggressive way of doing business has gone beyond customer service and grown into threats, name calling, demeaning conversations, misrepresentation, etc. I'm not saying all that is reflective of NCO, but I've dealt with a few other companies that have done so. The collections market is competitive. Bottom line is, don't incur debt if you don't have to. Crawling out from underneath is a very nasty job. Nothing justifies their treatment of people, but they won't stop. So instead of complaining, let it be a new revelation to stop debt putting yourself in debt and get rid of collections agencies for good. Only one who will care about you truly is "YOU".

Run from nco financial don't send them any bank info

7/20/2007 BELTON SC

I received a letter from nco about a debt from medical university sc for 186.11. I agreed i owed the bill and sent them a check for half. They in return cashed my check and also drafted my bank account the same amount. Then this month they did an unauthorized draft check debiting my account. If my account was low i would have been screwed. I have tried to speak to someone but keep getting the runaround each time .This company is crooked and should be investegated for their bussiness practices.

STAY CLEAR OF THIS COMPANY

Crooked and Illegal Tactics

6/8/2007 OH

Let's talk about Bottom feeder low lifes . . . I was contacted by NCO regarding student loans. Payments for the student loans are being held from my SSD checks. I receive a monthly statement showing that the payment goes directly to the agency who originally issued the loan.... A representitive of the company told me about some sort of " forgiveness program " ... The next day I received paperwork from NCO to fill out regarding this program. After reading the papers I saw NO mention of forgiveness what-so-ever , so I filed them in the "Circular File ". Two days after , I get more papers , this time from a company called " DirectLoans " -- identical to the ones I had already tossed --- when I phoned them, I was told that NCO had applied for a loan " On my behalf " . I of course contacted NCO , and asked what right they had to apply for ANYTHING with out my consent. As it is now, I have turned the matter over to the Ohio State Attorney General. I'm also taking action against the individual who " applied " on my behalf ... NCO is still calling ( blocking their number or hanging up when I answer the phone. ) It's time to stand up for what's right and not let these criminals get away with their illegal tactics any longer.

Poor Company and thief NCO Financial and Sprint Wireless

4/12/2007 portsmouth OH

I had a bill 3 years ago wih Sprint and I called them to have the phone turned off. I put the phones in a drawer where they could not be used and I paid off all the bills that they said I owed.
Then about 2 months later I received a phone call from NCO Financial Group telling me I owed $1250.00 and that they were going to call my employeer if I didn't pay it. My wife sent a check and paid it in full. about 2 monts later I received a call from them again claiming I owed $509.00 which I refused to pay. They called my house every day for the last 2 and 1/2 years finally my wife sent them $30.00 and they didn't call for about 2 weeks when they said they didn't get the $30.00. I faxed them a copy of the check that they had cashed and said I would only send them the checks each month after I received a balance. This morning I received a call frof a raving woman screaming that she did not have to give me a balance and would not do it. She said she wall call Sprint and have them call the company I worked for and make me pay it.
By the way the woman said her name is Shannon.
Can't somebody do something about these people

Receipt of payment / account settlement

4/9/2007 Richardson TX

The patient account for my father ( a tourist here who unfortunately had to be hospitalized) was forwarded to NCO for collection. They said they could give me a 25% credit if i paid immediately.. and i did.. on Frb 20th.. and today is april 9th and i have been calling them almost everyday to get a receipt.. a latter of payment.. an account settlement letter.. or something.. which i can forward to the medical insurance company for reimbursement. Everyday.. i am either put on hold.. or transferred here and there.. or spoken to very rudely... The excuses i get are that "I am not authorized to mail you anything" "That's a different department and i am putting in a request" "We don't send any letters" "Use your credit card statements as receipts" etc etc etc. i am so sick and tired of it all. After making a payment, am i wrong to expect a receipt from them?

Oh and that's not all.. even after having settled the account a couple of months ago, the hospital still does not show it as settled. And i am trying to get that cleared.. and that's not happening either.

Is there something i can do? please help...

Strongarming tactics

4/3/2007 New York NY

During the Christmas break and in preparation for the New Year, I set out to aright the wrongs I committed and started to pay off debts. I found an old letter from NCO Financial regarding an old Discover credit card bill from my student years which had been since charged off.

I called NCO regarding the account and expressed my desire to pay the bill. I spoke with Ms. Williams, and she gave me the total amount of my bill, (now a little over $3000, sadly to say mainly in interest and fees on an account with $1000 limit).

She asked me what I thought I could pay. I suggested $500.00/month, paying then the final balance at the end. I was told that three payments was the limit that they could accept so I relunctantly made an arrangement to pay $733/month plus $5.00 processing fee from my bank account.

This payment is actually more than my rent per month, and has made things a bit difficult. At the time, I was feeling very contrite and not thinking about what rights I may have. I get in that "I must suffer" mode at times.

There was definitely a rudeness about the whole agreement process. I said what I could afford and was blown off. It was as if I said nothing at all. I do feel that I was taken advantage.

I don't have an issue with paying legitimate debts, and wish to amend the irresponsibility of the past. However, I could do with out the strongarming tactics of collection agencies. I wish I had been more assertive of my needs in the arrangement process.

Can't be trusted

3/17/2007 MI

Thank you all for entering your thoughts. I know now what I'm up against. About 2/1/2007 I agreed on a settlement amount, to be paid by 2/28. I told them I wouldn't pay unless I had the agreement in writing. After waiting over a week, I called. They said on Saturday, "I don't know if its been sent", then again on Saturday, "It was sent today", then on Monday eve, "It was sent last Friday". I haven't received the copy "mailed" to me. I finally was able to get someone to fax me an agreement. I paid the debt in full on 2/15/2007. Since the 30 days is up I decided to check the web site. They posted the payment, they just posted it for $25 less than what was actually paid. I have the agreement and images of the canceled check. Wish me luck getting it reported as paid. By the way, I'm going to see what the Attorney General is will do if this isn't taken care of quickly.

Answering Machine format

12/15/2006 IL

I recently was presented with an answering machine message where in they asked if this was "NAME OF PERSON", if this is not "NAME OF PERSON - please hang up. By not hanging up you're acknowledging that you are "NAME OF PERSON"; this is an attempt to collect a debt; any information will be used for that purpose...etc...blah blah blah.

Any thoughts on this friends? Illegal? Not? Why? Why not? (Yes I know the answer)

Is this an effective attempt to beat the 3rd party disclosure predicament presented when an answering machine can be (and has been) onsidered a third party - not to mention anyone who might be listening to the message who isn't the debtor/spouse?

Highly Illegal

12/5/2006

I recived a message from NCO Financial stating "This is an attempt to collect a debt..."
(illegal: you cannot diclose debt unless speaking w/ debtor or in written mail direct to said person). So I call the # and received message "Please leave you name and SSN and will contact you during business hours" (I'm not an idiot, no msg letf). When I finally did get a hold of a live person they again asked for my ssn. Of course I refused and gave the # they had called. After only verify my name that state I owed Columbia House $89. I have never applied w/ or received and product or notice from Columbia House. I told this to the woman on the phone and got "OKthankyoubye" and hung up. That is when I started my own investigation.
Unbelieveable!! So many of the things I have heard are so incredibly illegal I cannot believe they are in business. I am no lawyer but I am also in collections, and believe me, all of the companies I have worked for over the years have fired people for less than what these creeps have done.
First of all you need no know your rights All 3rd party collection agencies are have guide lines.
FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practice Act)
It includes this like false of misleading info (stating they will tell you boss or client, will threaten leagal action when none can be taken or have no real intentions to)
If you've told them not to call you place of business they are no longer able to. If you send them a cease and disist letter they can no longer contact you by phone.
Please educate yourselve, there is so much harrassment that you do NOT have to deal w/.

Know your rights
(FDCPA) http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm

Any questions please feel free to respond

Complaint

10/19/2006

I too received a bill from NCO in the amount of $14.95. My wife was going to pay it, but I decided to research it. So many people have been dunned by this company in the name of AOL. Can't help but wonder if NCO has any other clients besides AOL.
I wrote a letter refusing payment as I did not owe the money. Sent it registered mail. Haven't used AOL in over a year and never received a bill from them.
Wrote a letter to the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, Fraud Unit. Refered them to this site.
Wrote a letter to the Philadelphia Better Business Bureau. Refered them to this site.
Wrote a letter to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Refered them to this site.
If you get a letter or phone call from these people, don't let this go, contact everyone you can think of and complain about them. Sooner or later, someone may get interested and do something.
My next step is to write to the three credit reporting bureaus, advise them of this scam and, of course, refer them to this site.
Ain't the internet great? Years ago, a scam like this would probably have gone unnoticed and unreported.
Thank you, my3cents.com

Attempted debt collection for aol

9/29/2006 PA

I received a debt collection for charges from aol. I never dealt with aol, but had some charges from aol on my credit card statement,[ MBNA ]. I disputed the charges and they acknowledged them and credited my account. This was about 2 months ago. On 9-27-06, Igot a debt collection notice from NCO financial.Could not contact them with the phone number on the letter nor through their web site which would allow me access. I researched NCO on MY3CENTS and found other complaints such as mine. Wrote them a letter disputing all their info. Glad to see a site such as MY3CENTS exists !!!!!

Is it legal for NCO to send mail to my boyfriend's address??

5/19/2006 Montreal

Hello Everyone,
This is a bit perplexing for me. I posted my ongoing struggle with NCO a while back, so I won't bore everyone with a repeat. My problem at this point? My boyfriend called me this evening, and in a surprised tone, told me that he had received a letter at his address but addressed to ME, from NCO Financial. The reason this is so strange, is that we do not live together, share any bills, phone numbers, PO Box, NOTHING! At first I couldn't even figure out how the heck they would have his address (yet use my name). My dispute with them is over a hospital bill, so now I am assuming NCO must have gotten my boyfriend's address from the hospital, since I listed him as my emergency contact. Up until now, all letters have come to my apartment. So my question is, is it legal for them to just take my boyfriend's address and slap my name on it in hopes of it reaching me?? It's not like they have never made contact with me at my address and phone # (on the contrary, I have spoken with a collector several times from my home phone)...Any ideas? thanks...

NCO adjusted the date on a collection item on my credit report!

5/1/2006 San Diego CA

I have recently pulled my credit report in order to obtain a business loan and learned of a collection account from NCO Financial. The item in question was charged off in December of 1998 and has passed the 7 year period where it can show on a credit report. NCO has adjusted the item on my credit report as being opened in December of 2004, an obvious attempt to allow the collection to continue to show on my credit report. Regardless of my payment status this item should not be on my credit report and has damaged my chances of obtaining financing for my business.


In doing some research I found a lawsuit for 1.5M that they were ordered to pay in 2004 for the same practice. I read the entire judgemnet! This is so frustrating!

Collection Problems/ Debt Problems

4/13/2006 PA

I have had credit cards since 1987 and have paid them all ontime. In June of 2004, I ran into some serious financial problems. The result was either pay my home and cars or pay the credit card companies. When I immediately realized I was in trouble, I searched the web and found a Credit Counseling Company called MMI (Money Management International)They took all my information and were very helpful. It took some time, but I eventually got responses back from all my creditors and the news wasn't very good. Of the cards I owed money on the following were PERSONAL.... (Amex Platinum)(Amex Platinum Signature Loan) (Citibank Visa) (Discover) AND the following were BUSINESS (Amex Blue - Sole Propietorship) (Amex Blue - Corporate) It would be worth mentioning that my sole proprietorship was taken over by the corporation. Anyway... when MMI came back to me with a negotiated payment, it was MORE than my regular payments to the credit card companies that I already couldn't afford AND it didn't include any of the AMEX Business cards. I tried in good faith to work out a deal with both MMI and the credit card companies to no avail. No one would budge. So I was only left with one thing to do, and that was to not pay anyone. I received calls and letters from many collection agencies since June of 2004, but I have been able to avoid speaking with them directly. One collection company NCO Financial called all my surrounding neighbors, have been calling my family members repeatedly after being told not to call, and they have contact my employer over and over again. My boss told them not to call, yet they play this game that (the person who called) had never called before, yet they hand it off to another person to call the company. I live in Pennsylvania which I think has a statuate of limitation of 3 years. I have about 14 more months to go before I reach the 3 year mark. I have several questions since everyone here seems so knowlegeable..... How do I get NCO to stop calling my friends, family, employer and neighbors? Should I wait the 3 years? Should I contact a lawyer to see if he can get affordable terms for repayment? Should I file personal bankruptcy? Right now with my breather of time since June 2004, I would be able to pay about $1000.00 per month. My total credit card debt with interest and penalties and late fees is approaching $78,000.00. In a five year repayment plan at 1000.00 per month, that would be 60,000 which is about the original principle. It's sad because I truly wanted to make a deal in June 2004, yet the credit card companies wanted to play hard ball. I could have filed bankruptcy prior to the law change and had it all wiped out, but I really feel obligated to repay my debts. I am not a dead beat, just someone who feel on hard times. What do you all think?

Attitude of NCO with potential payees

1/3/2006 TX

I have had the same experience with NCO as the rest of the comments here. The comments from their employees are snide and condescending as stated. Being a low life does not hinge on how much money one makes but the character of one's self. These people show they have very little character by their rude behavior. Their loss, not ours since many of us will not take their rudeness without returning the same - not everybody turns the other cheek. The fact that there is some outstanding debt does not give cause for disrespect especially not knowing each individual circumstance.
Their rudeness to third parties, not connected with the object of their search is even more unacceptable. I don't know about the legal. In my case an NCO rep called my HR department and was very rude to one of their peresonnel, eventually hanging up the phone - this jerk Nicholas Macintosh called her, not the other way around.
All the complaining bodies and people need to come together in concert against such practices and those who support such practices, not just NCO but all such entities. Part of the problem lies in our "representative" system.
It was suggested that I try an organization called NACA that works with comsumer issues. Know that NACA will not work with a student loan. They claim to have over 1000 lawyers in their database but not one of them will work with a student loan. Most won't even answer your request when they see that you are having a problem with one of these. NCO takes advantage of this and they don't care what your particular problem is or was with the default. There are a lot of people with a lot of actual legitimate issues with NCO.
Those who have defended NCO need to look in their own back yard. As examplified by the fellow I talked with and the lady who recorded the conversation-even though she tried unsuccessfully to steer that conversation, there are some nice folks in there. You may not be the culprit but the fact that is that there are some very negative, despicable folks in NCO who evidently have little to no self respect, and feel they can push that sickness off to everyone they deal with over the phone in itself, needs adjudicating for everybody that's received their condescension and threats. They also seem to think they will never run into any of the people they have been abusive with face to face, but as the world "shrinks" that probability increases.
The kind of treatment they exhibit needs to be illegal but since it is not, there is no choice but rebuff this kind of behavior. Those who support this travesty are also part of the problem.
In my case there is a legitimate grievance with the debt in that the original default was illegitimate. The bill in question had been paid off several years before by the University as part of the entry process and I attended school almost to graduation after it was paid. It is a commonly known fact that one cannot register for any college anywhere in the country with an outstanding unpaid student loan. When I explained this to the collection agent at that time he called me a liar because he claimed "had the papers that said otherwise".
Also the unavailibility of any body of assistance with this from day one through now, the negative effects this caused-both immediate and long term from this, and collections process in which NCO is trying to be involved in the manner they are trying to be involved, totally oblivious to any possibility of dispute is of issue. There can be no dealings with them at all in face of their rudeness.
Since the original writing of this I have been contacted by a more civil NCO representative with whom I explained that the default was in dispute and has been since inception. I told him of the rudeness of the people who previously called then gave him my address and told him that all further contact needed to be in writing in order to maintain a paper trail. He agreed and we hung up. Later that afternoon another NCO rep called who wanted the same information so I told him I had already talked with Mr.Soinso a couple of hours before that and he had all the information, and I had requested all further contact be by mail. I politely hung up. The next day another NCO rep called. She was polite and said she was recording the conversation when it ended but not at the start. I explained to her the illegitimacy of the original default before she could cut in and attempt to guide the conversation and again asked that all further communications be by mail both for a paper trail and due the rudeness of various NCO reps who have called. Over the next several days there have been 2 to 5 calls a day from 800 and unidentified numbers all of which if and when answered are calls from various NCO people.
A few days later I received a bill in the mail for the full amount, over half of which is interest.
A detailed explanation of the nature of the original default and the problems this caused has been sent to them.
In this case the action of a callous, misinformed, collection agent threw a wrench in the gears of my college. If this debt had not been paid the school would not have allowed me to enroll at all. The original debt was paid through the university's internal mechanism during registration process. I went though registration 10+ more times without any problem.
Once this happened I went to the Financial Aid office to find out what to do and they gave me their contact info to give to this jerk to call them to verify the debt had been cleared. When I called and tried to convey this, he started railing me about being a "deadbeat" and refused to contact the school altogether. I gave them his number and he refused to talk to them too. He had the upper hand and I was kicked out of school. This led to a series of hardships not counting the change in direction generated by not being allowed to finish. I did not have the cash payment he was demanding and could not borrow it as he also demanded especially in the face of the debt having been paid off several years before. This person was not an NCO employee but another collection company that did what NCO does today and apparantly with the same rudeness and condesencion (This seems to be endemic in the collections business.)
I have sought lawyers for over a decade now and nobody will touch this. My only choice has been to refuse to pay until this is settled equitably considering the damage done. I work for myself mostly for cash on the barrelhead at this time and my wages can't be garnished in the manner they are trying. I figure my Federal tax exactly and pay the IRS directly so there is no excess for NCO to take.

How/Where do I complain about NCO?

9/21/2005

Where can I register a complaint about NCO that will get notice/hopefully affect change?

For months I received calls from NCO – cryptic messages, often from a recording about an "important decision" requesting that I call back. When I did call on various occasions and asked the operator what NCO was I got a number of evasive and snide responses. For instance: 1. Question: "What's NCO?" Answer: "My employer" 2. Question: "What does NCO do?" Answer: "a lot of things", yet they expected me to provide my social security number in this day and age of fraud and identity theft. Consequently I blew my stack with the operators and hung up in a fury stating that I’d put my name on the “do not call” registry, to which they replied that they were calling with regard to a business matter that involved me.

Turns out they’d mis-identified me as a debtor (they were looking for Paul A. Davis, and I’m Paul E. Davis).

I found their whole way of doing business and interacting with me appalling and would very much like to register a complaint. It was true harassment – the relentless calls followed by very unfriendly exchanges with operators who assumed that I owed money.

On a side note, I’ve noticed a lot of harsh postings in the vein of “just pay your bills, stupid deadbeat.” The lack of compassion and understanding is reprehensible. It’s not always easy to make one’s way in the world. Many workers don’t have support systems in place (family, quality education, etc) and it saddens me that some people don’t acknowledge the more complex reality that not all citizens are equipped with the same survival tools. Most everyone, when given the opportunity, takes pride in supporting oneself, a family, etc and taking pride in a job well done.

While you're in collections with NCO or ANY Debt Collection Agency

9/1/2005

Alright, I've worked for NCO for awhile now and I'm come to notice that in online forums and other places people complain ALL the time about the debt calls. Since I know how NCO works, I'm going to make it easier on all of you on how to either resolve your debt or stop being "harassed" with phone calls.

#1. Learn the FDCPA.

For those of you that know it, go on to the next section. For those of you that don't read it. It stands for the Fair Debt Collection Practice Act. It's the laws that surround collection activity. If you know the laws about it, you can take control over the call. When a debtor brings up the phrase "FDCPA" it makes my skin crawl, because I don't want to get sued, and I don't want to lose my job so it makes me very edgy, and I'm a VERY confident person. By knowing the laws you can use it to your advantage to either stopping the calls or getting a 'case' against said Debt Group.

#2 Demand cease calls and all communication be done through mail..

This will completely stop the calls because it's an FDCPA violation if you request us to stop and follow the procedures of said debt agency to have them stopped, you'll get no more calls.

#3 DO NOT HANG UP RIGHT AWAY

If you hang up before the debt collector says his/her Mini-Miranda, monitoring/recording disclosure, you WILL get called back. Debt collectors can call the CUSTOMER once per day IF they speak with the customer and REVEAL the information on the account. Hanging up means you don't know what it's about, you'll get called back later.

#4 DO NOT GO THROUGH DEBT CONSOLIDATION

These companies WILL NOT help you. They only pay your minimum payments and will not help get you out of collections, most of these companies say they are non-profit but how do the people that work there get money? They take yours, bundle up a bunch of cash, and then wait until your account can be settled, settle the account for LESS, and keep the rest of your money while your CBR (credit bureau report) is now affected with negative feedback. If you can pay them, you can pay your bill which leads to the final part.

#5 Pay your bill.

Seriously, this is the easiest way to get out of collections. Just pay your damn bill and you won't have to worry about the calls. I know you're going to be out some money, but tough sh it. You agreed to a service, you didn't oblige to the contract/conditions that YOU ARE aware of, be responsible about it.

That's it. If you do any of those steps you can get yourself either out of collections or stop the annoying calls. As collectors we have _THE RIGHT_ to call you, as well there are state laws that do override the FDCPA so learn your state laws. As of 2 days ago, North Carolina can now be called by ANY country while before it was just inside the U.S. Enjoy.

Contacting the Attorney General was beneficial

8/23/2005 Dearborn Heights MI

I received a correspondence today via the MI Attorney General whose office has been acting on my behalf with NCO.

NCO was trying to collect a debt from me that came originated from Chase Providian for $5,500 with half of that being interest. I've never had a Chase Providian account or any account for that matter with the amounts in question. It was addressed to my former married name and it was spelled incorrectly. After seeing so many complaints on this site and Ripoffreport...I contacted the AG and the FTC. The AG immediately went into action and within 3 weeks has resolved the matter to my satisfaction. WAY TO GO MI ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE!!!

The letter was sent to the AG's office. Unfortunately this letter does not explain how they came to attempt a collection from me in the first place. Oh well, I'm thankful it's over.

Thank you for all the great advice that I've seen here. If I didn't stumble across this website I would not have took the action that I took to get it resolved. I've learned a few things too....so maybe there was something positive to come out of it.

Fortunately I feel that there's hope for the people who have been unjustly contacted by NCO. Never give up.


NCO Portfolio Management as successor in interest to
CHASE PROVIDIAN
Account No.: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dear Sir or Madam:

Following up on my August 12, 2005 letter, NCO has closed the referenced account in our office.
According to NCO’ s records, the above referenced account is not being reported on Cheryl X’s
credit profile. It is NCO's intent not to have any further communication with Cheryl X in reference
to the above account.
Should I not hear from you within 30 days, I will assume you have all information necessary to
complete your investigation and close this matter. Thanking you for your cooperation, I remain,

Very truly yours,

Lisa X (prefer not to use real names on internet)
Corporate Compliance Manager

Fraud

7/25/2005

I got a call from NCO Financial Services (1-866-701-1275). I am not sure if this is the same as NCO Financial Systems. Anyway, they stated that I owed $95 for a Columbia House membership/DVDs. I never opened an account with them. They stated that someone paid the membership fee on it, but the unpaid balance was $95. The DVDs were supposedly being shipped to somewhere in Brooklyn--not where I live. After I called Columbia House, they could not find my name anywhere in their system thus have no balance with them and suggested I write a letter to CH so they could follow up with NCO.

Is this a scam? Is there a NCO Financial Services posing as NCO Financial Systems? How can they be collecting a debt that the supposedly does not exist in my name?

Stand up and fight - it's easy!!!

5/6/2005 KY

I have been dealing with these mafioso types for about two years. Finally i got fed up and decided to sue. I went the self representation route. Immediately they wanted to settle - for more than they say I owe! LOVELY! Don't take their unethical and illegal tactics lying down. It shouldn't cost more than 350.00 to turn the tables on these corporate vermine. Heres what to do - send letters, keep copies of everything. Try to resolve your collection issues via correspondence. They have a bunch of mindless minions working for them - you wont have any success but that is OK, that is what you want. After you have some good documentation showing that you made a concerted effort and they ignored your requests (which they will), type up a legal complaint (there are tons of great examples on-line) and file it in District Court. They'll scramble for cover. It will cost them big money to fight a battle that 90% of the time they know they won't win. Juries HATE collection companies and NCO is the absolute worst. What they (NCO) have on their side is that they know most people won't fight them. They just pay up or let NCO keep their credit hostage. What is most amazing is that if you do fight you practically can't lose.

Stand up for your rights!!!

Best of luck (even though you don't really need any)

Right.....How Did They Find This Out & Is It Legal?

3/23/2005 CO

Okay.....Long story short. A few years ago, my wife and I both lost our jobs, on the same day (we worked for the same company that went under with no notice) and could not pay our bills (we have 5 children, are on rent assistance/food stamps etc) and could no longer afford to pay a credit card bill. No one would work with us at the original creditor ($25/mo was not good enough after missing two payments and getting charged 2x$25 late fee and 2*$35 over limit - which the late fee put us over the limit)

Then comes NCO. Calls all the time. I stopped answering my phone it Caller ID says Unavailable or Blocked Number because it was always them. They know I have gotten their letters - how...are they spying on me, watching when I open my mail or listening in? Oh, and we changed our phone number to a completely different carrier, are unlisted and they have still magically found what it is. Scary, scary, scary -- especially since they did it in less than a month.

They will take $25 a month (after I told them I would willingly pay $20 a month but no one had ever accepted that arrangement yet, which was the monthly minimum on the account to begin with anyway). I say, "Okay, lets do it, where do I mail the payment." She says, "Oh, we have to take it out of your checking account." I say, "I don't have one." She says, "Well, I see here you have paid other bills you have with a checking account in your name." I say, "Really?" I am flabbergasted at this point. I tell her, okay, but that is a business checking account for a small computer repair shop I started after finishing school about a year ago. It is not enough to pay all our bills yet, but for not putting any money up front to start it it is getting my family out of debt and on track finally. Anyways....I say, "I am not the only signatory on that account, so I cannot authorize anything rigth now over the phone." Which my wife and I both are signatories, but I was not going to jeapordize my biz account with these fools on an auto pay. You know, take the $25 in month one, in month 2 and then month 3 take double what the original debt was. And not give it back. And then take another $25 in month 4 because the interest accrued the day after they took the payment out of my checking, but the day before it posted on their system, never mind you don't get a monthly statement as you do from any other normal creditor. Collection agencies should be required by law to send monthly statements of your account, if it is in their possession, whether you are actively paying them or not. They make enought money screwing everyone to pay for sending out the bills.

So she says, "Well, I am sorry then, I cannot accept payments other than the full settlement amount." I say, "Well, I am sorry then I do not have that much cash on me. In fact I have about $20 right now." She says, "Well, go ahead and make a payment and it will credit to your account, but I can't gaurantee it will help, or that it will lower the balance. We will also call everyday and send letters too, even if you do start making payments."

I say, "Okay....." She asks, "When will you be sending your first payment?" I say, "Around the end of the month....or the first of the month in about 1 1/2 weeks". She says, "Okay, I put that in there."

So, why should I send a payment if it will not help the balance or stop the calls and I cannot get a written statement with the final agreed upon settlement amount? I am sending a letter to them to have them stop calling me and stop writing me, and I am contacting the original creditor, (which from other messages on here is better and has not actually authorized NCO as their collection agency in the first place).

Should I be afraid that they somehow know I have paid some of my other bills with my business checking account (I just write the check to the bill instead of writing myself a paycheck and then putting it in my personal account) and seem to think that they can have access to that, which is not wholly mine? Do they have my account number now? I bet they probably do. ID theft from a collection agency is a sad a pathetic day for America, but I feel it has arrived.

What grounds do I have at this point? I wish to resolve this issue, with some one who will work with me...would I have better luck with the original creditor? I have thought about a CCS (consumer credit service, counseling), debt reduction or similar alternatives (I still am trying to pay off some older debts that accumulated when I was unemployed and also from going back to school).

Should I just immediately seek legal counsel at this point? How do they know this information? How can they find out from other creditors that I have paid by check? Is that not illegal? What do they do, call up and ask them, "So Bob, how did customer X pay their bill last month?", Bob says, "Oh, they paid with a check."

Freaky.....too much power.....it is time to afraid.....

Extortion

3/10/2005 Gainesville FL

NCO Financial is a Company that I did not know exist until I applied for a home loan this year for the first time. Three credit reporting agencies and a service named "Fair Issac" rendered a score. Two out of three reported no problems, but one reported a past due account named "NCO-NOKOL" for over $3000.00. First I called the number listed for NOKOL and was told I had a past due Master Card account. I asked when this account was opened and in what name and the answer was 1992 and in my name. They asked for my SSN# but I refused the give that out and asked them what SSN# did they show for that account. They refused to give me a SSN# on the account, refused to give me an account number to verify, then refused to produce a bill or statement showing activity on the account authorized by my signature and positive proof of identity.
Now the law states that an account showing no activity must be dropped after seven years for a bad debt listed. This is how they get around the law, the apply interest every sixth year and eleven months to the account and claim it as "new" activity on the account. If you call to challenge them to prove it really is your account, they increase the frequency of applied interest on a yearly, quarterly, and then monthly basis for fear you are going to take them to court and sue.
I reported the account as not vaild to the only agency posting this bad debt and requested that it should be removed because it is false and has also exceeded the time limit a bad debt can be kept on my file. THEY REFUSED to remove it.
I have a perfect credit report from two agencies and a bad debt from one and I would never had known there was a problem if I had not applied for a home loan.
I'm not weathy, I can't afford to pay lawyers for time involved to sue. In the mean time I'm a Disabled Veteran trying to get a first home through a VA Loan and this NCO Services group will not hear me tell them they got the wrong guy. My credit report shows every debt paid on time for the past ten years stating "never late". I don't know how I got on these ---holes list of people to extort. All I know is that if I can't get a letter from a Company I have never done business with stating this account is clear, I get no home loan. I can by a car, a boat, a motorcycle, anything but a home. That's the one thing in life that meams anything, and that's how they extort money out of people, they tell you to settle the account at a reduced amount and get it off the record. If I owed the money I would just pay it like any other credit company I contract with for a loan.
This practice is extortion and I can not understand how it is allowed to ruin a persons dream of home ownership in America

They have the wrong telephone number

3/8/2005

NCO is driving us crazy. They call my fax machine sometimes 10 times a day. A few months ago, I got so fed up, I unhooked the fax machine just so I could tell whoever was calling to stop. The first time I spoke with them, I told them that I had no idea who this guy was they were trying to reach. The caller apologized and promised to remove the number from their files. Over the next few days, I had to repeat myself three or four times a day. Finally the calls stopped and I put my fax back on line.

Well, last week they started again. Saturday was really bad because my wife was now on night shift and they called 10 times. Again, I unhooked the fax and began answering their calls. I finally told them that if they called again, I would get a lawyer and sue them for harrassment. Guess what? They called back the very next day!

I REALLY WOULD like to sue them for all the aggrevation. I have hooked up a tape recorder and will record all their future calls. After I have four or five on tape, I plan to get a lawyer and start proceedings against them. This is going to hurt financially but I don't care...I'm PISSED.

Report to Credit Bureaus

2/25/2005 Houston TX

How are these people still in business? O.K. Based on ALL the reviews I read from this site, in addition to all the Class Action Suits against it, EVERYONE who has responded to this forum needs to write complaints to:
1) The Federal Trade Commission
2) Their State's Attorney General
3) The Attorney General if the State where the company has their location
4) The reporting Credit Bureaus
5) The Original Creditor (if applicable)
6) The Better Business Bureau, and
7) The Department of Business and Professional Regulations
All it takes is one letter, cut and pasted.
In my attempt, to no avail, to find out what the heck is going on, I realized that there are several companies with the same name in various states. It appears as if NCO Financial Systems, Inc. and NCO Financial Services, Inc. are the same, based on the complaints against them.Could they all be the same company? I just don’t know.
Now, my situation with NCO is different. I never received any letters or phone calls. They just appeared on my credit report (2/3). I found out because my credit score dropped from 720 to 643 in two months. I've worked VERY hard to repair my credit after a bankruptcy 7 years ago, and these snakes, for a lack of a better word, recklessly damage it again. The date they say the account was opened is inaccurate. Impossible. I never applied for any credit during or near that period in an effort to build a stronger credit profile. Now, the only thing I can assume is, IF (an operative word) the debt is legitimate, then they altered the date of the original loan to make it appear as if the debt began when they acquired it. IF that is the case, the they are in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act because they are providing inaccurate information. After VERY little research, I discovered that in fact there was a class action suit filed against NCO for the very same reason. The plaintiffs won the case and were awarded monetary damages, including lawyers fees. See the link.

http://www.stopdebtcollectorscold.com/proposed_settlement.html

Now, if the debt is not a legitimate one, then they are still reporting inaccurate information, willfully and deceivingly attempting to scam me. If anyone is a lawyer, am I right about their obvious violation, assuming my hypothesis? I’ve recorded a dispute with the reporting credit bureaus, but I don’t have much confidence in them since I’m sure they are well aware of the consumer complaints against NCO. What do I do now?
Other links regarding lawsuits:

http://www.edcombs.com/CM/Notices/notices34.asp
http://www.ademilaw.com/settledcases/nco.php
www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/9923012/040513ncocmp9923012.pdf


Other sites regarding NCO:

www.budhibbs.com/NCO%20Financial%20Systems.htm
www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff130184.htm
www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff130105.htm
www.complaints.com/october2002/complaintoftheday.october3.3.htm
www.consumeraffairs.com/cell_phones/mci_ld.html
creditsuit.org/credit.php/blog/my_request_ for_termination_of_dana_capital_group_and_reseller_nco_financial/

Help!

2/16/2005

I was contacted by NCO regarding a $16,000 debt to Citicard, which I had been paying on - but not the full amount. What are my options with NCO? I want to set up a payment plan, but they want a big lump sum down, which I don't have. Thanks for any help you can give me.

I was lied to

12/27/2004 MD

A guy called me by the name of Mr. _____ Anderson.

Actually he called for my wife who has been on bed rest and has not been working. He says that the account was forwarded to them and is already in litigation. He said it was not forwarded to them for the usual collections.....rather it was forwarded to them as a last chance to stop the litigation which the judge was going to decide on today.

Anyway instead of buying food to put on the table, I decided to settle the account. (My wife can't serve time in jail or go to court because she is bed ridden.) He says I owed 1500+ and they will settle for 700+. So I gave them all my information to get the money out of the bank.

Then after we hung up I realized that we have not gotten anything in the mail in regards to any kind of litigation. (Lie #1 ?)

Then I finally had time to look at the old bills.
The amount owed to the original company was only 700+. (Lie #2 ?)

These people lied to me and now I have no freakin clue where in the world I am going to get money for groceries.

Thank you NCO for being underhanded and deceitful.

What can they do?

12/20/2004

I am being called once a week by NCO in regards to $2000 debt they say I have for a payment for a rented vehicle I was unwilling to pay because of many hidden fees added to the total. When they first called I agreed to settle at the amount that I feel I should have paid for this vehicle which was $500. They agreed to take this as a settlement payment and I paid by check. A couple weeks later I got calls asking when I was going to pay the rest of the debt, this was from another rep. I told them that I have already settled and will not be making any more payments. They said it was a misunderstanding and that debt was still owed. I didn't get anything in writing, everything was done over the phone and I have no recourse or even a name of who I spoke with to 1st settle the debt. I do not feel I should pay them a penny more and I have perfect credit. I was wondering what NCO can do to my credit, bank account, and assets when I tell them I am not going to pay? Any help is greatly appreciated

Received Validation of Debt Now What?

10/12/2004 CA

Hi All-
I posted on here about a month ago regarding NCO harrassment for a cellular bill. They have finally sent me a validation of debt today. But, actually all it is is a photocopy of one of my itemized cellular bills. The balance is shown for a specified amount on the bill. However, the coversheet from NCO states a different balance which is lower than the one stated on the photocopied bill. NCO does not offer any explaination on how they came to the lower stated balance. Now I know I owe money to the cellular company and I had been in dispute with them prior to them sending my account to NCO. The cellular company had issued a few credits on my balance AFTER NCO contacted me. Really, I still don't know the actual total amount I owe. The cellular company told me one amount on the phone, but now NCO is trying to collect a lesser amount?
What steps should I take to correspond NCO? Is a photocopy of a cellular bill a legal form of debt validation? OR do I have rights to know how or why they are trying to collect a totally different balance?
Any information or advice is appreciated.
Thank you.
Badkat

Safest way to pay them?

8/22/2004 CA

I have an overdue bill from a cellular company that was sold to NCO. Really, its only 2 months overdue. I had been working with the cell company disputing some severe overcharges. I had reduced the bill by providing proof that many charges were incorrect.
Recently, NCO started calling me at work. I never recieved any information in the mail either from the cell company OR NCO that my account was in collections.
Anyway,the rude guy I spoke to from NCO began immediatly verbally harassing me with threats to my personal and economic security, stating in detail all the the things he would personally try to do to make my life a living hell if I did not pay. He also read me a list of my current credit card balances! OK, so he has my credit report but is this a legal practice???
I plan to pay the balance I owe, but without the information I was suppose to receive in the mail, the "timeline" I have is ticking away. The balance is quite high and there is no way I could come up with a full payment.
SO, these are the things I plan to do, but I need help from others who have more knowledge please!
-I plan to write them a letter disputing their total and asking for their information, ect.
-Upon receipt of that info, I plan to make a payment of about a 1/3 of the balance ASAP. BUT, since I have been threatened, I don't want to contact them on the phone to make a payment plan OR ever write them any personal checks because I am scared about what they would do to me if they had my bank account number!(I tried to settle the account with the cell company already, and they can't help me anymore because they sold it to NCO).
Should I just make payments with a money order when I can? If I don't officially make a payment plan with NCO, will my payments not be applied to clear my account? I am very confused about what to do!
Thanks to anyone who can offer advice!

NCO cost me thousands of dollars and shame

8/11/2004 NV

This company fits any description I can think of for a terrorist. They destroy, are ignorant, and care about nothing but their mission. Their mission is money at any cost to others.

Why are they in business

7/28/2004

I've been reading about NCO financial, and how rude and unpleasant they are, why is it, for all the people I see on here complaining, and all the complaints and people they deal with that don't make it on here, why are they still in business?
Are people not filing complaints against them to the Better Business Bureau or where ever the complaints are suppose to be made.
I just dont understand how a company such as them are still in business.
Are they not breaking any laws and just passing thru guidelines?

Thoughts about Attitude...not an attack...implied or otherwise

7/27/2004

A lot of collectors mention frivolous disputes, demanding validation even when the debtor has all but admitted that they own the debt (Which always a matter of interpretation). I had a few thoughts on this…and just wanted to share some advice.

If you think it's frivolous, then stop trying to collect and refer the file to legal for authorization to file suit. Let the proper personnel investigate the validity of the dispute. It's a waste of time to rely on your instincts, and it's dangerous; "I just know this guy is giving me the run around". If they know enough to dispute, then that should be a good enough indicator that some of the 'tactics' that you might employ to persuade those less sophisticated consumers to pay up aren't going to work. You're likely dealing with a consumer that could get you in trouble if you attempt said 'tactics'. It's not worth the risk, nor the time. If the amount of the debt makes it economically foolish to file suit…let your legal department, or the OC's legal department, as the case may be, cut their losses and you move onto the next file. It's not worth your time. You're not paid to be a lie detector. You're paid to collect, and if the debtor starts putting up legitimate walls as per the FDCPA, even if you think they're stall tactics, you're gut feelings mean precisely nothing. If you're a gambler, then by all means…have a ball - I invite you to throw those dice. As it's been pointed out…there's more and more debtors out there that are on a safari - and they want your head on the wall - don't wander into their camp looking for food.

We have a stupid cat that continuously burns it's whiskers on candles because it can't resist the allure of the flame - must investigate…smell it…bat at it…but it always ends up getting burnt, and then looking at me like it's my fault. You stupid cat…by now…you know it's fire. The parallel I'm trying to draw here, is that if you see fire…you don't need stick your nose in it to know you could get burnt. The same thing goes for debtors that seem to know a little too much about your job, and the laws that protect them. There's still plenty out there that aren't illuminated, (Their wicks aren't yet lit by this knowledge, if you will), and you'll be safer to concentrate on them…but better do it quickly. It only takes one match to light a thousand candles. Knowledge passes quickly from person to person.

CAN NCO ADD CHARGES

7/26/2004 Sparks NV

A freind of mine just called me all up set. I told her about this site, she ask me to see if any one might know the answer to this. Apparently NCO has an account on her and her husband. They received correndance from NCO informing them they have the account and how much is owed. She got a call yesterday from a collector, the amount that was quoted was higher then what the notice said. She ask what the difference was, she was told that late fees and overlimit fees had been added. Can NCO add thoes fees, it was always my understanding that only intrest could be added to an account once it went into collections. Doesn't this fall under the FFDCPA.

Garnishments

7/25/2004 NY

Ok, all you lawyers out there will have a hay day im sure, however NCO CAN garnish your wages (dose not matter what state you live in) if you owe an outstanding student loan. If you owe any state lender ie, New York Higher Education, Florida Student Loans, or US Dept. of Education.

The Dept. of Education can and will garnish not only wages, they will also garnish Social Security, and Disability. Thoes are federally funded programs, and when you owe an outstand federal debt they can garnish this. This DOES NOT need a court order. No garnishment of a student loan needs a court order. As for credit cards, the CLIENT ie, citi bank, bank of america etc, does the garnishment if they feel fit.

Just thought you would like to know this

Question about Credit Reporting

7/19/2004 cincinnati OH

NCO has reported a collection to Transunion that I disputed. All NCO and Transunion did was change it to a paid collection. They have provided no proof of the debit. It has not been verified to me in any way. I thought it was the CRA's responsibility to verfiy the claim with the reporter. The letter from Transunion tells me to contact NCO for verification? What should I do now?

NCO Questions

7/15/2004

Let me begin by stating that I have not yet been contacted via telephone by NCO. So I do not have any complaint against them, but after reading this site, I feel I should gather all the facts before I deal with them. All I have recieved at this moment is a letter from PayPal (recieved today July 15th 2004) I'm writing this review now because I need advice on how to proceed with the organization. All help and advice is appreciated.

Here is what had occured: I had some transaction with another PayPal member, when I sold him a game account (nothing was shipped because it's virtual so all I have is the e-mails proving that it was legitimate) He then filed for fraud status and did a Credit Card Chargeback on the transaction, my PayPal balance was $0 at the time so it went into the red. PayPal's Customer "Service" department didn't seem to care what had actually happened, that I was being scammed by the buyer. After that, I closed the account and never used PayPal again because the balance remained negative.

Now here are the questions:
1) In the letter it states "Date Placed for collection with NCO Financial Systems: 8/2003" What exactly does this mean? This is almost a year ago and I just got the letter now.

2) Is PayPal/NCO actually entitled to this money? Fraud services are supposed to protect the victim not be used as a tool for scammers.

3) What should I do to take care of this? I refuse to actually pay this sum because I got scammed.

Thank you very much for your help.
Btw: The userid is marked as Anonymous because I believe someone said it would be a bad idea to post a full name here.

Collections/Settlement Payment

6/1/2004

I have a credit card which I obtained my first year of college. Initially the card's limit was $500 but over the years--because of the interest charges which also put it over the limit(an additional fee), it has racked up over $4000 in costs.

I made a HUGE mistake and stopped paying last August--taking some bad advice from a friend, I was hoping that the card would be charged off and sent to a collections agency where I could try to get a settled amount rather than just paying only to have it applied to the interest and the amount would keep growing.

I know I was stupid but now it has been turned over to NCO collections. They called me and threatened me with a garnishment and even though it is putting me behind in my other bills--I paid them a almost $1000 up front(which I didn't have--it took almost my entire paychecks. They told me that they would contact me to set up additional payment arrangements.

After reading the many posts about NCO and collections, I was wondering what you thought about this:

I plan on contacting them with a written letter stating that I plan on paying the debt by paying $100-150 a month (which is what I was paying before I stopped) until I reached an amount in which I could afford to settle or until it is paid off(I'll send extra when possible).

Does anyone think that this would work or would they continue with a garnishment. I do realize that I am in the wrong but I am about tapped out can't afford to plunk down $1000 for the next 3 or 4 months without losing my apartment and car.

Illegal Collection Practices?????

5/10/2004

I hope this finds its way to someone who can lend some advice as to what steps need to be taken to rectify this issue.

In a nutshell, NCO is attempting to collect on an outstanding debt that was cleared up back in June of 2002 with another collection company. Yes, the exact debt and account from the same original lender.

With this in mind, I will explain the trials and tribulations I've been through since.

I received a letter dated April 1, 2004 giving me an opportunity to transfer an oustanding debt to a Capital One credit card. I've done this before and it is really a good opportunity to re-establish yourself. As I read the letter further, I became furious. The letter was collecting on an amount double the original debt and for an account that was settled back in June of 2002 with Receivables Management Solutions, a completely different collection agency. The same evening I received the letter, I proceeded to contact NCO at the contact number listed on the letter. The representative stated that I needed to make a copy of the clearance letter received from Receivables Management Solutions and mail it to the return address listed on the letter and someone would take care of the issue. I did just that, and sent a certified letter letting them know that I was an educated consumer and that I trusted the credit bureaus would be updated by having the erroneous report removed.

Days and weeks have gone bye. I applied for a credit card during this period, which the application was denied. Having been denied, I took advantage of ordering my free credit bureau copy.

Today, I received my credit bureau which brings me to this site. The bureau now looks even worse. It appears as if I now have the original collection plus another acct. for the same original amount, with a new acct. number. I contacted the same office that I contacted back in April and was given another number to contact along with a persons name, Mr. Richard Norman (real name or not?). I gave "Mr. Norman" the requested information, NCO acct. reference number. The line went silent for almost a minute when I was then told that they had received the certified letter, fourteen days after the post office shows confirmed delivery. This put me on edge from the get go. I was then told that the bureau had been updated last Monday to a zero balance and that he couldn't guarantee how long it would take for my bureau to be update, could be 30, 60, 90 days or even more, knowing that I had a new bureau in my hands. I sat for a minute and thought, then proceeded to ask if not only could I receive a letter confirming our discussion but shouldn't the account have been removed all together, since it was erroneous. I UNLEASHED the lion. He told me that he was busy and did not have time for this. I should have received a clearance letter when the debt was paid. I said that I had, the letter was from Receivables Management and not NCO. As to the issue with the account being removed, he didn't understand. He became very rude and short the further along the conversation went. At that point, I informed Mr. Norman that I would proceed with further action by filing a small claims court suit and hung up.

Can any one out there suggest the next step? I refuse to have my rights as a consumer violated. I've had credit problems in the past. I'm trying to do the right thing. What happens when the right thing isn't good enough? I'm in the process of returning to college and am not in a situation to pay an attorney.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated. If we all rally together, maybe we can stop this nonsense.

credit card debt

4/12/2004

to anyone that works for nco is when doing a settlement what is the least that you would be able to accept on a captial one debt. I been working with them I had one say % 30, 25 and 20 is that the lowest. the debt is over 5 years old

Owing old Bills

4/8/2004 Albany NY

I received a phone call from NCO this morning about an old bill I can not pay. The person I had spoke with was rude and voilated three of the FDCPA. These three were 1. Section 806 (harassment)2. Section 807 (misrepresentation)3. Threaten to place judgement, garnishment of wages and file suit.

How does NCO work?

3/30/2004 MI

I heard that NCO buys debts from companies? Once they do that, are you done dealing with that company?

Question about making payments

3/28/2004 Berkeley CA

I understand that I shouldn't give them my checking account or card information for making payments on my student loans. I was wondering if sending checks was ok and is the best method for paying this back. Can they get my checking account information by paper checks?

Thanks!

A question to the reps of NCO.....

3/3/2004 PA

After reviewing how you all are the FIRST people to jump at those who may not have had the best of circumstances, I have legit questions for all of you.

Prior to your being hired by NCO financial, is your credit report pulled to verify that YOU, yourself have PERFECT CREDIT and have never been behind on any of your bills EVER?

Another question.....
If, let's assume, your spouse gets laid off of his/her job during your employment with NCO Financial and you are unable to keep up with every bill you have, because of the income loss - Are you fired from your job because you have become "one of them"? Is your credit report pulled every 3-6 months to verify your creditability as a debt free collector?

You all continue to bash those who have had difficult times now or in the past. I am just curious to see if NCO requires that it's employees meet and maintain strict credit structures in order to continue to be employeed by their company.

I suggest we as "deliquent consumers" ban NCO...

3/2/2004 Horsham PR

After spending nearly 2 hrs reading other individuals situations with NCO. I have a suggestion.

I am suggesting that as "deliquent consumers" we ban business with NCO. If you are being harrassed by NCO in order to "attempt to collect a debt", contact your original creditor and inform them that you are refusing to do any business with NCO pertaining to this debt, sighting violations of the laws governing collection agencies. Request to send the out standing payments directly to them. Send a CEASE and DESIST letter to NCO financial systems. And HANG UP ON EVERY CALL.

NCO can only stay in business if they are able to settle the deliquent accounts in their possession. If they are unable to collect on future debts, they will be of little use to the original creditor. Those creditors will then either collect from the individual or assign your account to another agency. Put a personal statement on your credit report sighting refusual to do business due to violations of the Collection laws. If we deliquent consumers all ban together, it is possible to have all association with NCO removed from your credit report. No Credit reporting agency wants to be associated with a company that doesn't comply with the laws. Let's face it, once NCO is on your report there is no way their reporting will ever look favorable but if you throw up a big red flag and they start to see others reporting the same thing, someone will investigate their practices.

fight back

1/14/2004

NCO financial keeps calling even after I talked to them several times and told them that I would not pay as I do not owe anything, which is the truth. They still want me to caall John Barkley at 1-800-709-8625. The calls don't bother me but I decided that I write a letter and fax it to them. I set the recall number to the max and fire away. NCO got very upset I did that but I keep doing it every time they tell me to call them. So hey get dozens and dozens of faxes from me in response. If more people will start doing this, maybe the NCO bully can be stopped.

Statue of LImitations??????

12/20/2003

Statue of Limitations? I'm wondering if there is a statue of limitations on debt collection or statue that says if an attempt to collect debt hasn't been made in X days, years ect. I say this because I had bad credit 5 years ago, set up a payment plan and had clear credit as of june 1999. Last week I recieved a notice from NCO for a credit card back in 97' with an unpaid balance of 1537, plus over 1200 in incured interest? One, if my credit showed clean when it did and the plan I set up was based on debt through the big three credit bureaus, where do I stand? I disputed the claim, but if it's something that slipped through the cracks and it wasn't reported to me until now is there a statute of limitations? I mean I finally got my credit score over 600.
- Volatile_Index (12/20/2003)

help with a sudden bill

12/16/2003 FL

I received a notice out of the blue that I owe money for an accident I was involved in 2 years ago. No one has ever asked for this money, and all of a sudden, this agency is threatening to ruin my credit report if I do not pay within 15 days. Upon my first call to contact them, they said I could have a discount on the amount, but if I did not pay immediately, I would owe the full amount. Isn't this fishy? Does anyone have similar complaints or any suggestions on what action I should take to dispute such a claim.

Federal Trade Commission

12/5/2003

Just to let everyone know--the FTC at, I believe is, FTC.org, is who everyone of us has to log onto and file a consumer complaint. They are the only authorities out there who are also trying to protect the consumer and gather information so they can go after violators or bring class action type suits. They are the central information gathering warehouse to make everyones voices heard together in one big collaberation--otherwise these companies get away with it and there's no one to come after them. I was a collector while going to college and I can honestly say that we were trained the way the company wanted us to be--I never knew the laws or even knew there were any. It's like a shark feeding frenzy with only one objective--get the money or as much of it as you can--and there's a routine they put you through--if you're smart--you'll figure it out and just ride it out. If we share our experiences, we can figure them out--send the information to all--and watch them shrivel up and blow away. As for the NCO guy--you are one of the feeding frenzy sharks I refer to--do you realize that you have stereotyped every person your company does business with into just one person with one story? They are just a bunch of financial jerks and mental midgets.
I was a credit card victim, abandoned halfway across the country and lost everything--including @ 100 acres of the most beautiful land you could see that I dreamed about since I was a child and finally was able to achieve after 35-40years of dreaming. The only thing that put me on the credit cripple list was the illegal practices of the companies I had accts with. I had every intention of paying what I owed when I lost my job just 4 months into it. I then almost lost my life at the hand of my once loving husband who dealt with the trauma with drugs and getting violent and bizare. I thought my life was over--I was sure was going to die in the canyon I was being kept prisoner in by my husband. Everytime I thought the most horrible trauma of my life had just occurred--it got WORSE. Over and over and over. I made it out, but self preservation made reality become so very clear. That little credit report is a control device. I had lost everything and had nothing they could take. What I HAD gotten back was---MY LIFE. I pay cash for everything I want-I don't ever want to make another payment to anything again in my life. I am FREE!
So, you see--I didn't just enjoy a bunch of stuff from Wal Mart--I'm not materialistic in any way. I probably make 3 times your salary, too. Comparing paychecks, you wouldn't feel so up on a pedestal over the clients you deal with.
You will catch more flies with honey than vinegar--bubba!

MS NEWELL--LET SOMEONE ELSE DO THE HIRING!

10/2/2003 UPPER DARBY PA

MS NEWELL, IF YOU ARE TOO LAZY OR TOO INEPT TO CHECK REFERENCES, VERIFY EDUCATION CLAIMS, IMPLEMENT DRUG TESTING;PERHAPS, YOU SHOULD RESIGN! YOU ARE LETTING CRIMINALS SLIP THROUGH THE CRACKS. I WONDER IF YOU WOULD LEAVE YOUR IDENTIFICATION IN PLAIN VIEW OF THE PEOPLE YOU HIRE! MAYBE YOU DON'T CARE WHO YOU HIRE, BECAUSE YOU'RE ONLY PAYING THESE MONKEYS $8/HR! WHY DON'T YOU TAKE A WALK AROUND YOUR CALL CENTER AND SEE WHO HAS RED EYES AND/OR DILATED PUPILS! I BET IF YOU WANTED TO, YOU COULD PURCHASE A BAG OF MARIJUANA ON THE CALL CENTER FLOOR! GO TRY IT!

Advice and links for dealing with NCO

10/2/2003 Chicago IL

http://www.ripoffreport.com/

This is a good one, with lots of good feed back.
To summarize, no one has to really pay NCO anything. Every threat they give you is FALSE. Don't lose sleep over anything they say; and don't allow yourself to be frightened. They're actually trained to be aggressive, and abusive.


Also:
1. FILE reports with your states attorney, and the FTC, and the BBB. Keep doing so once a month for a year...even if they stop calling you. Sometimes you have to repeat yourself to be heard.

2. Stop the abusive phone calls immediately by faxing a cease and desist letter to:
(614)880-9754.

3. Record your phone calls from them - once they knew that I did this, they weren't any less rude, but they also stopped pursuing the debt.

4. SETTLE WITH THE ORIGINAL CREDITOR...ALWAYS. They will always be happy to work with you; this is because they're the ones you had the original contract with.

5. Do some research; there's so many people out there that have been harassed that you'll be ready for anything that they have to say, and you'll know you're not alone.

You'll notice how they stopped posting to this site...people got too smart for them.

NCO Collectors

9/25/2003 PA

NCO's Upper Darby office, at 100 Constitution Avenue, employs collectors with criminal backgrounds--backgrounds which include theft! These people make unauthorized non-work related credit bureau searches to gain other's personal information. Employees have been known to use this information to obtain utility services. Thieves have access to your social security number and home address! They use their position to gain personal information of people they have grudges with outside of work as well as disgruntled callers they want to get even with! Write letters of complaint to Sharika Newell NCO Financial Systems 100 Constitution Avenue Upper Darby Pa 19084! There are people working there who don't even have G.E.D's!

Any questions?

8/17/2003 Canada

Go to my message board if you live in Canada and feel you have been experiences ILLEGALcollection practices. Even if you don't live in Canada, I will try to answer your question as long as it doesn't have specific state laws involved.

http://wallbreaker.proboards22.com/

NCO and collections

8/1/2003

im glad to see for the most part the people posting their complaints are getting inteligent answers on how to handle their bills. you must realize that collectors are only doing their jobs. no one wakes up and says i want to be a debtor but if you blow these people of they will get nasty. for the person who keeps thinking that nco only purchases debt their silly. 1st off if nco bought a debt and u pay the orig creditor its forwarded to NCO. if its an account placed with NCO on contingincy basis and u pay the orig Creditor its also forwarded to nco.

nco employee's are not telemarketer and they are not customer service. i would seriously be interested in what occupation everyone who is compaining about NCO has. i would also be interested in knowing how much debt they carry.

look these people can get you out of your bills easily. when you car breaks down u go to a mechanic when you get sick you go to a doctor when you have debt you talk to us we are trainded to help you.

also to harry tootle will do nothing to help debtors. the only way to get out of your debt is to pay your bills. even if you are lucky enough to sue a collection agency the debt will remain on your credit report.

Uncooperative

7/3/2003 IL

I owe for my credit card, originally $5,000, and I intend to pay it off, although most of what they say I now owe is interest, $6,600. A couple of years ago they offered to settle for 50%, so I called them. I wasn't ablt to pay it all at once and asked if I could make payments. The guy I spoke to said, "No, it's all or nothing" so I said "Then it's nothing because I don't have it all". Since then my credit report shows it was written off. My account was purchased by them from Fleet Financial, and I would rather pay them, but haven't been able to contact anyone there, either. My card was with Advanta, who sold their consumer credit card business to Fleet. I really don't know if I want to open up a can of worms with NCO again, but I do want to pay my debt. If I could get an offer to settle for 50% I believe I could borrow it, but after reading all the stuff both here and on the internet about them, I doubt if that would be the end of it. What does the FTC say about these people? It seems to that there should be lawsuits against them all over the place, both public and government. We are all at the mercy of these vultures at one time or another and no one is truly safe from them. They flaunt the laws that were established to protect us so that we can meet our obligations with dignity. At one time or another, everyone gets into a bind. It's unavoidable. Layoffs, sickness, etc. if there hasn't already been a class action lawsuit, there certainly should be.

Acutally helpful...

4/2/2003

Got a letter from NCO... turns out that I couldn't make the full paymnet. I offered 10% per month for 10 months. They said no problem. They guy on the phone even said that since it wasn't his money, he didn't really care... just wanted something to put in the database!

Now... I'm wondering if they'll keep their promise to send out a payment agreement and then stick to their end of the plan...