GC Services Limited Partnership demanded payment by phone, said they would call day and night. Houston Texas
my husband was called on 10-21-03 and told that he owed 260.24 for an att phone bill. He had never received anything in the mail from GC Services stating his rights regarding this matter. He was told that he needed to pay in full now. either payment in full using a credit card or a check by phone. my husband told the caller that he did not give out this info on the phone and never did check by phone either. he said that he would mail a check to att the caller told him that att would not accept the payment as GC now owned this account. The caller was very rude and demanded my husband pay him by check now. my husband told the caller no and hung up.
on 11-09-03 I recd a call from GC services. I was asked if my husband was home, i said no. They then said that they had spoken to him and that I was doing a moneygram for them in the amount of 260.24 and wondering why this had not been done. I told them i knew nothing about a promise for a moneygram and that i had never spoken to them. They then said my spouse promised them that i would do a moneygram in this amount. I told them no. They then said that i needed to go get my check book or my spouses check book and make a payment now by phone. If i did not do a payment by phone then they would need this paid today by credit card. I told them that I did not have a credit card nor a check book. They said that they knew i had both.
I asked the caller how i would know that this was credited to my att account. they said they would send me a paid in full statement. I told them that I would mail the check directly to att and that att could then pay them directly. they said that att could not take the check and it would be returned to me. i then indicated that i could mail the check directly to them. they said no they would no accept a check by mail.
i asked what the difference was between me mailing them a check or a check by phone. they said that the check by phone would confirm immediate payment. i told them that i would be in contact with att directly and that GC would not be getting any payment from me or my husband as they did not want a check by mail. I was told that they would call me day and night until they got me to do a payment by phone.
i told them that i would be sending them a letter to cease collection activity and would only deal directly with att. they could expect this letter via certified mail return receipt requested within one week.
After i got off the phone i looked at the statement that was mailed to my husband on 10-27-03 and saw that on the balance due statement it ironically said to use the enclosed envelope and send payment to P O Box l321, Houston, TX.
I will not be mailing a payment to this company. I believe that they are fraudulent collection agency and I will not be intimidated by the callers into mailing any payment to them.
Shareon
machias, Maine
U.S.A.
4 Updates & Rebuttals
Jacob
Easton,Pennsylvania,
U.S.A.
that BMG Online thing
#5Consumer Suggestion
Thu, May 19, 2005
I can mention a few things related to the BMG situation and HELP You with this problem.
First lets think about the possibility of another child in school setting up an account using Your daughters name.(My X made one for John Smith to My house)I never saw one Music CD but Im sure she watched for it.
I never got a bill untill a few months down the line.what You could do is explain to BMG what happened(nothing to hide,it is Worth calling on the phone to clear it up)
Sometimes our teenagers slip one past us, BUT I do Believe You Must be 18 or older to gain any account.I could be wrong.
And lastly the Best part of this so Please pay attention it will actually be the burden of proof.
When the account was created there is usually saved IP address information,thusly showing the internet provider or some clue whereabouts the signup process took place.
I take no sides in this Issue but offer advise,but if so the IP address would somehow prove it came from lets say your computer,you would be responsible.
if You chose not to pay it would be up to You,I personally think the Phonecall to BMG would Be a good Idea and maybe put an AND to the problem.
If she didnt order anything, She nor You should have to put up with it.But Remember what I mentioned on that IP stuff..it could have come from her best friends computer.Good Luck!
Jacob
Easton,Pennsylvania,
U.S.A.
that BMG Online thing
#5Consumer Suggestion
Thu, May 19, 2005
I can mention a few things related to the BMG situation and HELP You with this problem.
First lets think about the possibility of another child in school setting up an account using Your daughters name.(My X made one for John Smith to My house)I never saw one Music CD but Im sure she watched for it.
I never got a bill untill a few months down the line.what You could do is explain to BMG what happened(nothing to hide,it is Worth calling on the phone to clear it up)
Sometimes our teenagers slip one past us, BUT I do Believe You Must be 18 or older to gain any account.I could be wrong.
And lastly the Best part of this so Please pay attention it will actually be the burden of proof.
When the account was created there is usually saved IP address information,thusly showing the internet provider or some clue whereabouts the signup process took place.
I take no sides in this Issue but offer advise,but if so the IP address would somehow prove it came from lets say your computer,you would be responsible.
if You chose not to pay it would be up to You,I personally think the Phonecall to BMG would Be a good Idea and maybe put an AND to the problem.
If she didnt order anything, She nor You should have to put up with it.But Remember what I mentioned on that IP stuff..it could have come from her best friends computer.Good Luck!
Janet
Oak Grove,Louisiana,
U.S.A.
How Dare These People!
#5Consumer Comment
Fri, April 02, 2004
My minor daughter (15 years old) received a letter
in the mail today (04/01/04) from GC Services Limited Collection Agency demanding payment on an
account they claim she has with BMG Music Service.
The letter (addressed to my daughter) stated this is the last effort they would make to resolve her account with said music company, and that her
lack of response to date indicates to them that she does not intend to pay for the merchandise she
received from BMG Music Service. They state that as long as this account remains outstanding with them, the unpaid status will be a part of their
file. They asked, "Is it not about time you resolved this matter, especially in view of the consequences (that's like a threat)? We are anxious to update your record as well as ours. Send your payment!"
How dare they do something like this to a 15 year old?! My daughter was close to tears when she showed me the letter. She had no idea who these
people were, nor did she know who BMG Music Service is. She has NEVER ordered anything from BMG Music Service!!
The letter from the collection agency shows the balance they say she owes to BMG and lists an account number. I am so mad about this! I would think if she owed BMG Music for something she supposedly ordered, BMG would have sent her a bill for the order. She has never received a bill from these people....not EVER! Usually a company will send several notices to a customer requesting payment before they turn the matter over to a collection agency, so the fact that she has never received a bill from BMG Music makes the GC Services Limited Collection Agency sound suspicious immediately. Then the letter from GC Services Limited states that this will be their last effort to resolve her account with BMG,
which implies that they have sent other letters requesting payment to them for the balance she supposedly owes BMG!
My daughter certainly does not order from the internet, because she does not have access to a credit card, and if she had placed an order by phone to BMG she would have had to have a credit card for that. If she had ordered something by mail she would have had to ask her dad or me for
the money or to write a personal check (something else she has no access to) for her order.
I have tried repeatedly by going to the BMG Music
Service web site to find a way to submit the account number listed in the collection agency letter, and to see if I could get any information
from them, but you have to be a member with a username and password to get any information regarding an account. Well, I would think if my
daughter ordered any of their products that probably automatically made her a member, and she should be able to access her account????? Of
course, we can't do that because she is not a member and does not have an account with BMG!!!!
I am fuming about this whole thing! I know in my heart this account they say she has with BMG is bogus. And to send a threatening letter to a 15
year old who has no idea what is going on is the last straw! I'm intelligent enough to know that teenagers will do things without consulting their parents, but she has no means by which to do this
in a way that her dad and I would not know, and if
she had in fact ordered something from BMG, why has she never received a bill or any other correspondence from them? I go through our mail every day and I would know if she had received anything from BMG Music Service, or from this collection agency prior to the letter she got
today, because I would have asked her if she had ordered CDs, cassette tapes, or etc., or I would have asked her why would she be receiving a letter from a collection agency, and this has never happened....not anything from BMG Music or
this collection agency, or for that matter, any music company or collection agency!
When I showed the letter to my husband, he brought up an interesting fact. He told me to just think about this...suppose they sent letters
similar to the one they sent our daughter to maybe 20,000 other people and maybe half that number of people decided they didn't want to be hassled by this collection agency, and just sent them a check for the amount they said they owed the company who had reported them to the collection agency......the collection agency would
be getting mega bucks! I really think that's exactly what they are doing. Some people will actually send money even if they don't feel they owe it, or don't remember owing it just to avoid the hassle. I'm not one of those people.
When I owe someone money I pay them. If my daughter had ordered the merchandise we would pay
for it, but isn't it strange (very strange) that if she owed BMG Music for an order why she has never received a bill from BMG?? This is a scam. It's too obvious not to be.
What I would really like to do is to get in touch
with BMG Music Service and GC Services Limited
directly, but I do not want to mail them a letter,
or call them on the phone. I would like to be able
to contact them by email, but I can't find a way to do that when I go to their web sites. When you send someone a letter through the mail you never know if they actually read that letter or if they throw it in the trash, and if you call them by phone you are sometimes kept on the line holding for certain departments or being transferred to another department for an unbelievable amount of time, at your cost, and still don't get the answers you need.
The GC Services Limited agency we got the collection letter from shows a Houston, TX mailing address. Is there any way you could put me in touch with them by email? That was what I was trying to find (a web site where I could email them) when I came across your web site.
I am not sending any payment to the GS Services Limited Collection Agency, or to the BMG Music Service! We don't owe them for anything, and I don't know if it will do any good, but I plan to report them to the Better Business Bureau as well.
Please do not contact me by telephone as I am severely hearing impaired and do not communicate
well by phone. My daughter is in school, and my husband is at work during the day.
Thanks for letting me share my feelings about this
matter through your web site..
Janet
Oak Grove,Louisiana,
U.S.A.
How Dare These People!
#5Consumer Comment
Fri, April 02, 2004
My minor daughter (15 years old) received a letter
in the mail today (04/01/04) from GC Services Limited Collection Agency demanding payment on an
account they claim she has with BMG Music Service.
The letter (addressed to my daughter)stated this is the last effort they would make to resolve her account with said music company, and that her lack of response to date indicates to them that she does not intend to pay for the merchandise she
received from BMG Music Service. They state that as long as this account remains outstanding with them, the unpaid status will be a part of their file. They asked, "Is it not about time you resolved this matter, especially in view of the consequences? We are anxious to update your record as well as ours. Send your payment!"
How dare they do something like this to a 15 year old?! My daughter was close to tears when she showed me the letter. She had no idea who these people were, nor did she know who BMG Music Service is. She has NEVER ordered anything from BMG Music Service!! The letter from the collection
agency shows the balance they say she owes to BMG
and lists an account number. I am so mad about this! I would think if she owed BMG Music for something she supposedly ordered, BMG would have sent her a bill for the order. She has never received a bill from these people....not EVER! Usually a company will send several notices to a customer requesting payment before they turn the matter over to a collection agency, so the fact that she has never received a bill from BMG Music
makes the GC Services Limited Collection Agency sound suspicious immediately. Then the letter from GC Services Limited states that this will be their last effort to resolve her account with BMG,
which implies that they have sent other letters requesting payment to them for the balance she supposedly owes BMG!
My daughter certainly does not order from the internet, because she does not have access to a credit card, and if she had placed an order by phone to BMG she would have had to have a credit card for that. If she had ordered something by mail she would have had to ask her dad or me for the money or to write a personal check (something else she has no access to)for her order.
I have tried repeatedly by going to the BMG Music
Service web site to find a way to submit the account number listed in the collection agency letter, and to see if I could get any information from them, but you have to be a member with a username and password to get any information regarding an account. Well, I would think if my daughter ordered any of their products that probably automatically made her a member, and she should be able to access her account????? Of course, we can't do that because she is not a member and does not have an account with BMG!!!!
I am fuming about this whole thing! I know in my heart this account they say she has with BMG is bogus. And to send a threatening letter to a 15 year old who has no idea what is going on is the last straw! I'm intelligent enough to know that teenagers will do things without consulting their parents, but she has no means by which to do this
in a way that her dad and I would not know, and if
she had in fact ordered something from BMG, why has she never received a bill or any other correspondence from them? I go through our mail every day and I would know if she had received anything from BMG Music Service, or from this collection agency prior to the letter she got today.
When I showed the letter to my husband, he brought up an interesting fact. He told me to just think about this...suppose they sent letters similar to the one they sent our daughter to maybe 5000 other people and maybe half that number of people decided they didn't want to be hassled by this collection agency, and just sent them a check for the amount they said they owed the company who had reported them to the collection agency......the collection agency would
be getting mega bucks! I really think that's exactly what they are doing.
When I owe someone money I pay them. If my daughter had ordered the merchandise we would pay
for it, but isn't it stange (very strange)that if she owed BMG Music for an order why she has never
received a bill from BMG?? This is a scam. It's too obvious not to be.
What I would really like to do is to get in touch
with BMG Music Service and GC Services Limited
directly, but I do not want to mail them a letter,
or call them on the phone. I would like to be able
to contact them by email, but I can't find a way to do that when I go to their web sites. When you send someone a letter through the mail you never know if they actually read that letter or if they throw it in the trash, and if you call them by phone you are sometimes kept on the line holding for certain departments or being transferred to another department for an unbelievable amount of time, at your cost, and still don't get the answers you need.
The GC Services Limited agency we got the collection letter from shows a Houston, TX mailing address. Is there any way you could put me in touch with them by email? That was what I was trying to find (a web site where I could email them) when I came accross your web site.
I am not sending any payment to the GS Services Limited Collection Agency, or to the BMG Music Service! We don't owe them for anything, and I don't know if it will do any good, but I plan to report them to the Better Business Bureau.
Thanks for letting me share my feelings about this
matter through your web site!