Complaint Review: NCO FINANCIAL SYSTEMS - American Express - Horsham Pennsylvania

Before you go saying I spelled revised incorrectly, it was a typo. I didn't want you freaking out about that. You might want to check your own use of grammar/spelling before you get on someone for one spelling mistake. It's not like I'm going to go proof read before I post them. By the way, matching tenses with the number of subjects is usually a good idea.

Okay, now things are not adding up with your story. First you claim, "Of course I was unable to make any more payments on this card due to our financial situation (all our money going to her medical bills)." You say in particular that ALL of your family's money was going to your grandmother's healthcare bills. If your family has so much money, then why were you all in such dire straits? You seem to be VERY dependent on the fact that they have money, so why were they not paying it off? Something just doesn't add up here. I don't see why you have to try to lie and say that you come from some rich family to try to impress me. I happen to come from a family with money, but it's not MY money. I have NEVER felt like I was owed anything in life, and I want to work for what I have (which is completely against the way I was raised). My parent's money, my grandparent's money, etc. is THEIR money, not MINE. I moved out at 18 (I certainly would not want to be living with my parents or other relatives at 18, let alone 21 or even older! I am an adult and choose to act like one and be responsible like one) because I chose to make a life for myself, unlike any other family member of mine. Even when I was unemployed and scraping by, I never accepted monetary relief from them. If I were in a situation where I owed someone money and my family had money (like yours supposedly does) I would have certainly BORROWED it from them though. So believe me, you do not have to go back and forth with lies about what money your family has or doesn't have. Social/monetary status means NOTHING to me unless you've earned it, and regardless of how much or little money you have, that doesn't negate the fact that you DIDN'T pay what you owe. I could have had my father easily buy my house with a single check if I made one short and sweet phone call, but I don't want to be like that. I never had to worry about having to buy a house either since my parents own two between both of them, and I only have 1 sibling. It's much more rewarding to actually be buying my house with my husband's and my funds that we earned ourselves. I could honestly care less what I am left when they pass away, first because I would rather have them here than their belongings/money, second as I've said before I am not owed anything in life. One more thing, if your family has so much money like you claim, why do you have to work to support her? Again, something doesn't add up. You bring up the point that you said you consider yourself naive as well. That's fine, you may consider yourself naive, even though I think it's just purposeful ignorance/stupidity, not to mention laziness for not learning about credit before going out and doing all of that glamorous shopping. Just how is it that so many students/young people manage not to fall into that credit trap? Hmmm, let's think. They read the terms, they pay their bills, and they research things. Essentially the stuff that any student going to a good school as you self proclaim, or even a mediocre school should KNOW to do. I mean, isn't college all about research and responsibility (unless of course you do decide to make a choice to not do those things, but again it is a choice)? However, in your original post, you said that many young people are naive. Don't lump other young people with yourself because you messed up. Pay the freakin' bill and get on with life. You made the debt, you were the one who screwed over the credit card company, and now you deserve the high amount (which again is weird that you consider that a lot of money with how rich your family is). Do you not realize that the credit card company is losing money on this now? They most likely had to sell off your debt for far less than you owed them, thus causing responsible people such as myself to pay higher rates for your lack of self-responsibility. GROW UP

Okay, so I have reviced this posting before sending in this response. I was going to go off on your spelling/grammar, but there is no reason to do that. I'm sorry I spelled ONE word wrong, my goodness I must be going staight to he**. Now, to move on. In your response you say you may have been judgemental of me as well. What do you mean by this? That you would have been judgemental of me not working when I became permenantly physically disabled? Even though as soon as I was out of the hospital I joined a vocational rehabilitation program so I wouldn't become a burden on society. What's there to judge there? I never once received a penny of governmental assistance, and like I said, I always paid my bills and went without. I am owed nothing in life from anyone. My life circumstances are mine to deal with, not the responsibility of others. All I was saying in my original response is that not all (not even most) young people are NAIVE, and it is wrong of you to label them as such. I don't like having a label of being irresponsible hanging over my head because of the mistakes of others. Like I said, I'm responsible. I don't agree with you not paying your bills, and I was stating this in my response. Whatever they charge you is your own fault for not paying. You give up a lot when you don't pay for what you spend.

And to the girl who can't spell the word "Naive"... I wasn't asking for judgement on my personal character or reasons for taking care of my grandmother and not working (sorry I may have been judgemental of you as well), I am simply asking advice regarding NCO being unwilling to show me a copy of my statement. If it's correct, I'll pay it, no questions asked. Afterall, it's my debt, my responsibility. I only want to be sure I'm paying a fair amount. It doesn't make sense than the first year that elapsed, the debt only incurred about $150 in fees, and then in the past year, the suddenly added about $600 more? Doesn't make sense... so we'll see what happens. Oh, and you're very lucky you can get a house there for $150k... the minimum here is about $500k... yikes. Glad I won't ever have to spend that much, just upgrade the house I'm getting to a better one.

You sound like quite an insensitive, rude person, actually. And yes, I was practically glued to the hip of my grandmother. And yup, I considered myself NAIVE because when I was at college, there was row after row of credit card companies telling you how cool and easy it is to be approved... and basically yeah they glamourize shopping and credit because they know that soooo many young students will get into loads of debt. And actually I'm pretty bright, or at the very least I'm smart enough to go to a great college, and work a full time job as well to help my grandmother out with finances. So yeah, I'm willing to pay off a fair amount of debt, but not to rip off NCO financial who won't even mail me a copy of my statement. I have no problem paying, if I could just see what the heck it is they want me to pay them for? Luckily for me... I come from a family with a lot of money so it's not like one debt is going to ruin my life. Not like I'll ever need to worry about buying my own house anyways!

Well said Kelly! Your rebuttal should be posted on all the other ROR reports like this one.

Sherry - First of all, it's not surprising you were intimidated. That's what collection agents are trained to do. You have every right to demand justification of the bill in question, but your rights are only protected by Federal law if the request is in writing. Assuming you have the address, write a letter stating that you believe the amount to be in error, and you are disputing the amount owed. Send this certified, and keep records! I would also advise that you issue stop payments on your post dated checks. It's perfectly legal for a collection agency to use this tool to collect a debt, but they must notify you in writing 3 - 10 days before the check is deposited. Until they can justify the bill, you have no reason to make arrangements with them. The bill with fees may very well be justified. Usually, the credit card user agreement is very vague in the sense that almost any amount can be added to your bill if it gets forwarded to an agency. You CAN possibly use this to your advantage, though...indicate in your letter to them that you would be interested in settling the account immediately for the $650 if they will provide you with a letter stating the bill is settled upon payment, therefore saving them the time and trouble of having to obtain your old bills from the initial creditor. They may jump on this arrangement. This may not work if they have already deposited any of your postdated checks though, but would still be worth a shot. I hope this information helps!

Are you implying that because someone is young, they are nieve? Maybe you are, but that's only because you CHOSE not to pay your debt. You obviously knew enough to pay your debt or it would effect your credit. That's not being nieve, that's making a conscious choice to flake out on your responsibilities. I happen to be only 2 years older than you, and have WONDERFUL credit because I DID pay my bills, and was just able to finance a $150,000 house at a 4.25% interest rate. I became permanently disabled at 19 and myself had a hard time paying off past debts because I had to leave my job, but I was NEVER late because I ate Ramen Noodles, walked places, sold belongings, basically did whatever I could to save the money to pay off what I OWED! Yeah, it sucked while I was doing it, and was embarassing as all he**, but I did it til I found a job that would accomodate my disabilities. How stupid does one have to be to realize that if you don't pay your bills you are going to be charged astronomical late fees and super high interest. You're lucky the debt is less than $1500! Think about it, for every month you are late they add, say, a $20 late charge. So on top of your $650 debt, you're having $20 added on each time. Since you decided not to pay, they are going to charge you the highest rate of interest, probably somewhere around 21%. This adds up VERY quickly. Do the math if you are not too stupid to figure it out. I'm so sick of people like you giving young people a bad name. Stop making excuses for yourself and other young people...and yes, I know you're going to come back at me and say that you had to take care of your grandmother, blah blah blah. Totally understandable, but I'm sure you could have afforded the $10 or $20 a month to at least keep yourself from getting behind. I would have babysat for like 2 hours a week, washed a neighbor's car, mowed a lawn, etc. to come up with at least the minimum. You can't tell me that you spent 24/7 glued to the hip of your grandmother and that nobody else was helping. Most credit card companies will lower your minimum payment amount in rough times if you don't screw them over to begin with by not paying them more than "here and there." You deserve the name calling and harassment, you brought it on yourself!

Sorry for all the typos, was writing this up in a bit of a hurry!

Phone number on their statement is no good! It's just some dumb answering machine... "Thank you for calling NCO Financial Systems. All of our representatives who can assist you are either on the other line or away... " blah blah blah... I've left message after message and never get a reply!

Phone number on their statement is no good! It's just some dumb answering machine... "Thank you for calling NCO Financial Systems. All of our representatives who can assist you are either on the other line or away... " blah blah blah... I've left message after message and never get a reply!