Complaint Review: NCS Aka National Credit Service Aka NCI

I applied for a credit card online at a "Secure Site" for MC/Visa in late February, but was not approved. Shortly thereafter I began to receive numerous phone calls at home telling me I have been "approved for a credit limit for a REAL credit card, either MC or VISA, with a Credit Limit for $2,500."

I received several of these credit card offers, but being newlyweds on an extremely tight budget, and struggling to pay our bills on time and rebuild our credit status to a point where we can afford to purchase our own home, the time frame they offered was never opportune.

Approximately week 4 after my initial application, I received another phone call. This one was from a Gary Goodman at National Credit Service; the extension number he gave me was 7555. I was weary of the scam, but the offer seemed too good to pass up. He went through his spiel and informed me that for only $299, they could process my MasterCard with a $2,500 limit and I would receive it within 12-15 business days from the date the money was withdrawn out of my checking account.

He also explained that in addition to receiving the MC via UPS, I would also receive a "for cash certificate from MC for 500$" that I could turn around and deposit back into my bank account to cover the loss of the $299, I had allowed them to debit. "In essence," Mr. Goodman rolled off his tongue like sugar, you will make a $200 profit."

I asked him what the interest rate on the card was, and he said 8%. I also asked him the payment schedule and he informed me it was a "pay all at the end of the month" kind of payment. He then proceeded to tell me that if I made all of my payments on time, then in 3 months, my credit limit would increase from $2,500 to $5000. "Beware," he said, "this offer will only be valid if you set the debit between now and April 1st." He then asked me to verify my date of birth.

I asked Mr. Goodman for a contact phone number and told him I would need to speak with my husband first. He told me he would be going to lunch and would return my call when he got back. I insisted on a contact phone number and at that point he gave me a phone number that I could call for information, 1-866-739-9010.

I contacted my husband at work, and discussed the credit card with him and also how we could maneuver bills to pay for it. I was excited about the credit card, and explained to my husband that with the interest rate that low, we could pay our regular utility bills we already budget for on the credit card and then pay them off at the end of the month, thus reestablishing our credit.

My husband was on board and seemed satisfied that I had all the appropriate information, and since I do the money management in our household, told me to do what I thought was best.

At that point, I called the 1-866 number I had been given, spoke with a customer service representative to make sure what I had understood to be correct, rebudgeted our bills for the month and maneuvered the payment dates around to be able to have the "processing fee" deducted from our account on April 1st when my husband's direct deposit was placed into our bank account. Then I sat back and waited for the phone call from Mr. Goodman.

As promised, Mr. Goodman returned my phone call within an hour and a half. This time he was even pushier. When I asked for a credit card under the same account with my husband's name on it, he wanted yet another bank account number even going so far to ask if both of our names were on the savings account, and then placed me on hold before I could say another word "trying to get approval for a second card for each of us" with the second account number.

The next voice I heard was from Mr. Goodman's supervisor who did not give a name, and asked for my savings account number. I immediately said, "I did not ask for a separate account, I am only interested in the one." At this point Mr. Goodman got back on the phone and proceeded to take my accounting information for the debit. I asked him once again about all the information, and once again he repeated it to me as though by script. Then I was placed on hold to speak with an authorization company who recorded a series of questions and my "yes" answers pertaining to withdrawing the funds form our account. Then the conversation was over, and we waited for the first of April.

On April 1, the money was not withdrawn from our account. I waited and watched the online statements daily. By Thursday, April 3, I was concerned, and called the 1-866 number I had been given. I was terrified when I was transferred to a voicemail box that stated it was "full" and to call back later.

I continued to call several times on Thursday and then again on Friday the 4th. By phone call number 5 on Friday morning the 4th, I got through to someone named "Sam" with Customer Service. I explained my concerns that the money was to be debited from my account on the 1st, and it had not been yet debited. He calmly told me they "usually have 2 accountants on staff, and one was on vacation so the other was behind, and give it until the beginning of following week and then call back."

I waited all day Monday and then half the day Tuesday and called the 1-800 number back again. Once again, I could not get through. I was able to leave a voicemail message. By Tuesday late afternoon, the voicemail box was once again full.

By 10:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, I got through to "Sam" once again. At this point, I explained my concerns and fears to him, and he took my name and number and said he would "research" my account and call me back within 24 hours. I told him I was only able to get through to the "Customer Service" number I was calling him at 1 out of 30 times I called. He seemed concerned and said they would "get it fixed."

I called Sam back Thursday morning and got through after the 8th call. I gave him my name and he said that "yes, we are in the process of researching your account to find out what happened." I asked him if I would still receive the card in the allotted amount of time they had promised, at which point he became antagonistic and said sneered at me "Ma'am, this is not a card, it's a package to improve your credit, and the $500 certificate is for items you may buy out of our catalog."

I became adamant about what I had been told and who had told it to me. I told him I had written everything down during the intial conversation and that they had misrepresented themselves. He became extremely rude and told me "Ma'am, we'll have to research that because we have a lot of people who just want to pull out of the program at the last minute, how do I know you aren't one of those?"

I told him I would give him the name and extension number of the person I spoke with, at which point he told me he did not need that information and he would research it on his own. I became extremely upset and told him that I did NOT want that money taken out of my account and I would go through whatever necessary procedure to stop the transaction, that they were a dishonest company, and I did not want any future dealings with them.

He asked for my information once again, (which I found odd hadn't he just written it down a few moments earlier to "handle the situation?" Hadn't he just told me he'd taken my information down the day before and they were "researching it?" Wasn't this the 2nd time in one conversation he was taking my information and the third time in 2 days?).

I gave it to him once again and asked to speak to a supervisor at which point he told me his supervisor was busy, he'd have to transfer the information to him because he was "the only there to help me." I asked for the name of the supervisor and he said his name was "Scott". I asked how to get a hold of him and he told me I couldn't.

I raged for a few moments, telling him if the company took money from my account I would contact the BBB (at which he chuckled and said, go ahead, and I would sue he cut me off saying "Ma'am, I need to take care of this, I am busy and have a lot of phone calls to return, I can't deal with you anymore," and hung up on me. Of course when I called back voice mail.

At that point, I felt like I had been scammed. I immediately called my husband at work and explained what had happened. Then logged onto my bank account online and transferred all the money from my checking account into my savings account to prevent a withdrawal.

Later that afternoon I received a phone call from (514)807-4269, that listed on my caller ID as Montreal, PS. When I answered it after the 2nd ring, the other person hung up. Remembering that I had received several other phone calls from similar area codes that had hung up when I answered over the last two weeks, I called the number back. (The other phone calls were: (416)595-9975, Toronto, ON, 4/08, 5:12 pm; (514)807-4276, Montreal, PQ, 3/21, 11:38 am.)

I called the number back to find out who it was and to make the calls stop. Imagine my surprise when they answered the phone "NCI". I explained that someone had just called and hung up when I answered the phone, the man asked for my name, I gave it to him along with my phone number and he pretended to know who I was.

He began by telling me he was from National Credit Services and he had spoken with me a few weeks earlier about a MC for $299, and he had it all ready to send to me but all he needed now was my SSN. I let him finish then explained to him the problem. I told him I had not in fact spoken with him, but had spoken with a man named Gary Goodman. He said the name did not ring a bell and that Mr. Goodman probably worked the evening shift (odd since he called me both times in the middle of the day).

Then I told him what I had found out just that morning and not only did not wish to give them my SSN, I wanted assurance that the money would not be deducted from my checking account. The man I was speaking with sounded concerned and sincere and asked me to go through my entire story and explain to him what happened saying that if he knew what had happened to get me so upset, he could take care of it.

I went through my story, and by the end, realized I had been placed on speaker phone and there were men laughing in the background. I hung up the phone. Several hours later at 6:26 pm, my husband came home from work and I explained my distress.

While he and I worked on our bills online, we received another call from a (514) 908-2972 number. I let the call go to voice mail. When we listened to the voicemail message, it was from a Scott Williams with NCI Customer Service who stated we received a message for a phone call back; you can contact us at (866)739-9010 between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 pm. When I attempted to call back the 866 number, of course I received a recording, and when I attempted to contact the number Mr. Williams had called fromI received the same recording and voicemail box referral that was of coursefull.

Friday morning, I logged online in an attempt to find out some background information on the company National Credit Services. I found all sorts of documentation and referrals stating what the company does and to whom.

I immediately contacted my bank, explained my position and what had happened and requested they close my account. However, since my husbands direct deposit is routed to our checking account and cannot be changed before the next deposit date, the bank manager said they would open another checking account for us with another savings account, place a freeze on all account withdrawals, and once my husbands direct deposit went through next week, instructed me to call her so she could transfer the funds into a new checking account and close the account out. That is the point at which I am at now.

Kay
Summerville, South Carolina
U.S.A.

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