NCO Financial Systems Consumer Reviews - Page 5

COLUMBUS, OHIO -- NCO contacted me about my student loan. I agreed to their settlement offer because I wanted to be done with the mess. Then the rep said that the settlement could not be approved and upped it another couple hundred dollars. Also she said I had to pay it in full on that day to get the settlement. I could not pay it in full that day. They said I had to make a payment that very day and also demanded more that very day that I could pay them. I could not pay that high an amount so they took a lesser amount.

I made the initial payment, and then I was to settle with three more payments in three months. The first two months I paid roughly $2000 each time. My final payment, according to their own letter, for $500. But the letter that they sent me a few days before my final payment, now stated $550.

When I called the company, the rep I finally spoke to spoke to fast, did not listen to me, and was rude. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was told a supervisor did not come in until 11. I said I would call back then to speak to a supervisor and ended the conversation. Just a few minutes later the same rep called me back and I said I was not discussing it anymore, that I would call back and speak to a supervisor. When I called back, I was never connected to a supervisor. When I called back again and requested the fax number, figuring, I'll fax in my statement and offer, I was put on hold for a ridiculous period of time - just to get a fax number.

This is my second dealing with NCO, and each time they have come back and increased their original settlement offer, saying I was no longer qualified for the lower amount and the supervisor would not approve it. I would suggest to counteroffer what they offer with a lower amount, because they are going to raise their offer, even if you accept their offer. They say, "OK I will get this approved" and then come back and tell you the settlement was not approved, and now you have to pay a lot more. They lure you in with a lower settlement offer and then raise their demands. This seems to be deceptive.

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Note to approver:

Already published in www.insidearm.com, https://www.usconsumerprotection.com, and gettheskinnyoncos.blogspot.com. It is also a news article, not a consumer review.

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NCO Group Expands into Latin America with Acquisition
December 18, 2006

NCO Group, Inc., a leading provider of business process outsourcing services, announced today the completion of the acquisition of the assets of Star Contact (BVI) Ltd. and Call Center-Telemarketing Pro-Panama, S.A. (together "Star Contact"), based in Panama City, Panama.
Star Contact is Central America's leading provider of outsourced, multilingual contact center and customer care services to some of the world's best-known businesses. Joseph Fidanque, III, Star Contact's founder and President, will remain President of Star Contact and assume additional responsibilities as Managing Director of NCO's Latin American Operations.

Commenting on the acquisition, Michael J. Barrist, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "The Star Contact transaction presents NCO with a unique opportunity to continue our global call center expansion, and with Joe Fidanque spearheading our Latin American initiatives, we are poised to launch a complete service offering in Latin America that will include Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Accounts Receivable Management (ARM), and Purchased Debt."

Joseph Fidanque, III, commented on the transaction by stating that, "Star Contact, the first company to offer outsourced contact center services from Panama, is ideally suited to partner with NCO for expansion into Latin America. Star Contact's current mix of CRM services complements NCO's core competencies in Accounts Receivable Management and Purchased Debt offerings, and we are especially enthusiastic about the business opportunities in Latin America for these services. Mr. Fidanque also added, "A critical component to our success has been the quality of our employees and our management. Our unique corporate culture has allowed us to succeed in providing excellent services to leading multinational companies and achieve unparalleled client loyalty. NCO's global leadership will enable us to build upon our success and to profitably extend the NCO model to all the corners of Latin America."

Cypress Capital Advisors, LLC of Coral Gables, Florida, acted as financial advisors to Star Contact and Joseph Fidanque, III.

CollectionIndustry.com

DELAWARE -- I am in the process of buying my first house. There is a collection from NCO on my credit report that was paid in March of 2003. I called NCO a month ago to get a receipt of debt paid. They requested I send a self-addressed stamped envelope. I did so the next day. Three weeks later I had not received the receipt. Last Friday I called again and they said they never received the envelope and she would put in a request to have the receipt mailed.

Yesterday I called and requested they fax the receipt because I need it to close on the house. The girls said... "Well, it might be done today... Otherwise tomorrow." Surprise surprise... I call again today and when they finally find my information, they put me on hold for 10 minutes and then told me to call back because the person I needed to talk to wasn't there.

I did not let that happen. SO, then what was supposed to be a supervisor got on the phone. He accused me of never sending the envelope OR calling last Friday. He said they don't need to send the receipt and they do it as a courtesy. He was so rude and condescending... And all I want is a receipt to prove I paid this debt over THREE YEARS AGO.

I am a good person, I work hard, I am a single mom just trying to do the best for my family. This person made me feel like a crook and for what? He wasn't making any money off of me? They are in the wrong for never marking the debt paid and they can't simply fax a receipt verifying it paid. Oh... I am sooo upset. I am going to write letters. Better Business, Federal Trade, my governor, the President, heck... OPRAH!

There should be some sort of recourse for this! I have done nothing wrong and did not to deserve to be treated the way I was. It just ripples... This has consequences on my, my kids, my banker, the loan processors, the people I am buying the house from, the people they are buying THEIR house from, etc. When it would all have been fine if they could just simple fax a receipt.

Last Saturday 9/23/06, I received two letters from NCO Financial. When I opened the letters, I was shocked to find out that I owe some money to AOL. When I realized it was a collection agency I became fearful of the threats contained in the letter, if I do not pay up.

Three years ago I closed my account with AOL by telephone. I had paid off any kind of outstanding balance I had with them. I never heard from AOL again after that. Which is why I found it unusual that AOL didn't contact me first. After all, there was a gap of three years. Usually a company would make a couple of attempts first before sending a collector after you.

Of course, I received these letters on a Saturday, and had to wait until Monday to call and find out what this was all about. In the meantime, I went to their website, provided the info they wanted. I couldn't get in because I was told that my info wasn't correct and I had to call them. I was so frustrated by this time, but I waited until Monday to call.

Monday I tried to call them and all I get was a couple of rings and then the sound of a fax. Okay, so I tried later and I get a few rings, then a hang-up. BTW, the rings sounded different then any other ring I've heard. By the time Monday came, I had figured this must've been a scam. However, I wanted to make sure. After these attempted calls, I was convinced this company was a scam.

I wanted to look into this further. I looked them up on the internet and this is where I found this website. Much to my relief, I found others have had this same problem. I will not pay them because I know I have paid AOL already three years ago. I would rather pay an attorney fee, if it ever gets that far than to allow anyone to get away with a scam. Which is what I am strongly suspecting this is. Thanks for allowing me to add my experience in order to inform others. I am saving the letters if it gets to the point of having to dispute this. Am I doing the right thing?

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Note to approver:

Already published on other sites: www.arlcollect.com.au/Default.aspx?page=newsarticle&naid=17, www.debtorboards.com › Credit Basics › General Credit Forum, www.ripoffreport.com/.../NCO-Group/.../NCO-Group-Threats-Lies-Wil..., and https://www.usconsumerprotection.com/.../nco-financial.../6449-562997...

Also, more of a news article, rather than a review.

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NCO Group Announces Agreement to be Acquired by CEO and Equity Group for $1.26 billion

July 24, 2006

NCO Group, Inc., a leading provider of business process outsourcing services, announced today that it had entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by One Equity Partners ("OEP") and Michael J. Barrist, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, in a transaction valued at approximately $1.26 billion. Other members of executive management will be given an opportunity to invest in the surviving company and Mr. Barrist will continue as Chief Executive Officer.
Under the terms of the agreement, NCO shareholders will receive $27.50 in cash for each share of NCO common stock they hold as of the effective date of the merger. The price represents a 44 percent premium to the closing price of the stock prior to the Company's May 16, 2006 announcement of the receipt of the proposal from Mr. Barrist.

The merger agreement was negotiated on behalf of NCO by a special committee of the Board of Directors composed entirely of independent members of the Board. Upon the unanimous recommendation of the special committee, the Board of Directors has approved the merger agreement and has recommended to NCO's shareholders that they adopt the agreement.

The transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2006, subject to receipt of shareholder approval and customary regulatory approvals as well as satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

Blank Rome LLP acted as legal counsel to NCO and Bass, Berry & Sims PLC acted as legal counsel to the Special Committee. Credit Suisse acted as financial advisor to the Special Committee.

Dechert LLP acted as legal counsel for OEP and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP acted as legal counsel for Michael J. Barrist. Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated and JPMorgan Chase & Co. acted as financial advisors to OEP.

OHIO -- I have to say thank you to all of you for posting all of this information. NCO sent me 2 letters in February for old debts - debts from I was young and stupid about my credit. One was for the Limited and the other from Victoria's Secret. One was initially probably $50, the other $30. Anyway, the letters stated that I owed $328 and $210, which I thought was crazy, and both creditors were listed as WFNNB, which means nothing to me. When I called I spoke with a really nice woman, but something seemed fishy - they immediately knocked the debt down to 1/2, and the dates on the accounts were 1998 and 1999.

They did threaten to file a lawsuit against me. They offered to take two payments of $135 and call it even. But I wanted to check things out first and make sure that they were valid, and boy am I glad I did. The first account is not even on my credit report anymore. And the statute of limitations in Ohio is 6 years. I called them and told them I wanted a full statement of what I owed sent to me, so I could check the statute of limitations on the debt. The guy put me on hold twice, then told me the computers were down. He took the numbers of the letters, my name, and my phone #, and said he will get back to me. Yeah. I believe that.

I will be sending them official letters tomorrow disputing the debt. I've read a few of these postings, and some people seem upset that people don't just pay their debts. Well, I would pay the debt - if it was the $30 I originally owed. But I'm not paying some shady creditor I've never heard of $210 instead. Especially since he said that paying the debt would take it off my credit report. Don't we all wish that were true? They also told me that if I didn't pay it it would be on there for 15 years. NCO isn't even on my credit report - how could they affect it?

NCO Group Announces Decision of 1,400 Employees to Unionize. March 2, 2006. NCO Group, Inc., a leading provider of business process outsourcing services, announced today that the employees at its call center in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada voted to join the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union ("BCGEU").

If the Company is able to reach a collective agreement, it will only cover the Company's Surrey, British Columbia call center. The 1,400 telephone representatives constitute approximately seven percent of NCO's total employees. This facility provides customer relationship management services and generated approximately two percent of NCO's consolidated 2005 revenue. The financial impact of such organizing effort is not known at the current time. Currently, the Company is not aware of any union organizing efforts at any of its other facilities.

Commenting on this development, Michael J. Barrist, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We are very disappointed that our Surrey associates have voted for union representation. Against a backdrop of increasing pricing pressure from our clients, a strengthening Canadian dollar and a client-driven trend towards moving North American call center business off-shore, the BCGEU convinced approximately 51 percent of the employees who voted that the union could improve their pay, benefits and working conditions.

We have informed the clients who are serviced by the Surrey facility, and once they have the opportunity to integrate this information into their long-range planning as to where they want NCO to perform their work, we will be in a better position to inform our investors of the impact of this development."

NCO Group, Inc. is a leading provider of business process outsourcing services including accounts receivable management, customer relationship management and other services. NCO provides services through over 100 offices in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, India, the Philippines, the Caribbean and Panama. Source: Press Release.

ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA -- I have a HUGE situation about NCO Financial. I am in the Army, and they offer to pay 100% of tuition using the EAP. I went to school from 2000-2001, and eap paid the school directly. At the time, the school was actually getting paid an average of $187 a quarter, which went to my books and supplies (still no out of pocket expenses) turns out that AES got involved somewhere along the way, saying that I owe the full amount of the tuition in student loans, totaling $12,000. I said "whoa, the army is supposed to pay this", and I didn't even know anything about me having student loans in the first place, so I kept referring queries about this to the Army.

After a few years, I get a phone call from the lovable Bob ** from... come to think of it, he never told me where he was from, until I called back and heard "NCO Financial". I was clueless. Still, I had no clue what the heck NCO Financial was. Anyway, this guy is super rude to me, spouting on and on about what he can do to me to make my life miserable, that he took my income tax refunds, and that he is about to garnish 100% of my wages.

I told him "you cannot to that". He said that according to some new law passed 2 months ago, he could. I asked what the website is with this new law - he avoided answering me, and instead kept threatening me. He would ask a question and when I would try to answer he would just keep talking rudely. He told me that we could set up a credit recovery thing or whatever and if I make payments until the EAP thing gets straightened out with the school, they would totally refund all moneys they took from me 100%.

In my own stupidity I agreed, so I gave them my account info. They took out 200$ the day they said they would, then I get a call 3 days later from the tool mr ** saying my check bounced. I asked him 'what check' and said "you guys took the money out". He told me that he has a slip from my bank stating "insufficient funds" which was B.S., because the funds were there the whole time. This ** told me that I had told 8pm that night to get someone to give me their credit card info to pay this 'again' or he would take all my paychecks. I refused, and he said 'ohhh, you'll be sorry'. What can be done about this? Feel free to email me anytime.

First, they record and monitor their calls. Stop it by: "Per our conversation with your representative our company and the individuals who answer the telephones at our company do not authorize the recording or third-party monitoring of any conversations, in part or in whole. Should your corporation house the data or recordings of any portions of conversations with our employees, you are in violation of Federal wiretapping laws."

"Please cease and desist further contacts by telephone as a result of this negligence. You have been so advised. Further attempts to contact us by telephone will be treated as an unauthorized wiretap violation and a suit will be filed in Federal court in against NCO Financial and the individuals initiating the contacts."

This was written for a company. If you are an individual, you have more rights but can use the above. Let them know that you want them to stop contacting you. Period: "This matter is in full dispute, please so advise your client with due diligence. Furthermore, cease and desist contacting me by telephone or mail with regards to this matter. I will not respond further to your requests, I will deal only with your client in writing."

"Furthermore, continued calls, mails, emails or contacts will be treated as harassment and negligence. Should it continue, I will file a claim against NCO Financial and name the individuals separately in the lawsuit." If you need any help further with NCO, contact me by email!

Reading some of the things that have been said here have been insane. First of all, I would like to save many of you some time. Read this law, the F.D.C.P.A. By being a bill collector..you have to be certified under this law to collect money. I went through a lengthy extended training course reviewing laws and going through things we can and cannot say. Things we can and can't do. Many of you don't realize that as collectors we don't pick your name and chose to call you every day. That would be a computer system. In only a couple states do we HAVE to cease communication w/a debtor that is not written.

However, many actions that you are all talking about are subject to the client we are collecting for. If in the contract a debtor signs and in that small print for your retail charge card or whatever...it says we can garnish wages or take things from you...that isn't us. That would be the client saying we can do that. It really is tricky and when we do call you every day...it isn't a true contact unless we give the mini miranda etc. by law on envelopes, answering machines or to 3rd parties (people who are not the debtor or debtors CURRENT spouse, or parent or guardian of someone under the age of 18).

We cannot state more than our names, the company we are calling from, who we are trying to contact and a number for them to reach us. We can't tell you what it is in regards to, unless we verify with the information provided that you are the person trying to be contacted. Believe me I have bills too. I try my hardest to pay them. I collect on bills from years ago. We understand things happen when people can't pay...if you are guilty. You are guilty. You still owe the money.

If you borrowed someone HUNDREDS of dollars or even TEN dollars and you borrowed it to them years ago and they promised they would pay, even signed a contract.. What would you do? Try to get it back. EXACTLY! Or, take them to court..since everyone loves doing that these days. Now from your standpoint. I have bills as well that yes, I have fallen behind on. Do they want their money back? OF COURSE THEY DO!

So I try but on the other hand if some of these things that all of you are saying are true...then yes...many of these collectors push their limits. We call it the Gray area. If you push us and Shout personal comments at us...of course we will be upset. We are doing our job and trying to feed our family just like you.