Stan’s Obligatory Blog

After the follies on Monday with the collection agency who was looking for someone who’s not me, here is some additional stupidity involving them.

On Monday when I called them, they said that they would take me out of their system. But that’s what they said the time before that. Then yesterday, they called again.

So I looked up some information about what to do in cases like this. I found this page at the California Attorney General’s Office:

http://ag.ca.gov/consumers/general/collection_agencies10.htm#bill

It says:

Not Your Bill. If you are not the person the agency is looking for, write and explain the mistake. You may be asked to provide a drivers’ license or social security number to prove that you are the wrong person.

So I called them back (800-227-4000 x3036) again this morning. Once again, I explained that I’m not the person they are looking for and they said that they will take my phone number out of their system. But that’s what they said the two times before. So I asked for their company address so I can send them a letter like the CAG advises. The guy became belligerent, refused to give me the address and then hung up on me.

So I called back to their main number and asked to talk with his supervisor. They connected me with a woman who also refused to give me their address. She insisted that I don’t need to write them a letter and she flatly refused to give me their address. Then she hung up on me.

So, through the magic of Google, I put in their phone number and found:

NCO Financial Services
507 Prudential Road
Horsham, PA 19044
800-220-2274

NCO Financial Systems Inc
150 Crosspoint Parkway
Crosspoint Business Park
Getzville NY 14068
800 227-4000

NCO FINANCIAL SYSTEMS INC
3850 NORTH CAUSEWAY BLVD 3RD FLOOR
METAIRIE, LA United States 70002
(800)227-4000

I don’t know which of those is the actual office that’s harassing me, or if it’s yet another offce, since they seem to be just about everywhere.

I also found that they apparently have a lot of people unhappy with their business practices, and a lot of unsatisfied complaints against them with the BBB. I can’t imagine why, what with the obviously professional crew they have working there…

So just for grins, I filled out the online form to file a complaint about them with the Federal Trade Commission and another with the BBB.

Addendum: I got back a response from the FTC. They also said that I should write to NCO and tell them to stop bothering me. They pointed me to USC 1692, which is the relevant law governing this sort of thing. Offhand, I’d guess that this may be why they didn’t want to give out their address. And perhaps this also implies that their refusal to give out their address is a violation of the law. Maybe I can find a lawyer to file suit and we can split the $1000 punitive damages…