revisiting the united collections bureau
A few minutes ago, i was going over some website statistics, and i found a few hits lying around for people searching for “united collections bureau”. I decided to look back at the google results, and i found this very interesting post about some other people having to deal with them.
It’s really sickening to see how many people these people have harassed. I hope the FTC followed up on my complaint, and fined these bastards hard. I also encourage anybody else who has been harassed by this, or any other bill collection agency file a complaint with the FTC at this website .
28th Nov |
Mikey,
I have been harrased by these people too. One Richard Garcia. He called me at work and I told him not to. He called another day and I told him I had asked him not to call me at work. He called back not 1 minute later and screamed at me. Now, their computers call me and when I call back no one is there. Anyway, that is my experience with UCB.
Comment by Kelly Clever — Tue, Apr 4th, 2006 @ 6:48 pm
Thanks for the reply. I recommend you file a complaint with the FTC. You can do so here:
https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01
If you get anywhere, let me know. I would be very interested in seeing this company getting shut down by the government.
Comment by mikey — Tue, Apr 4th, 2006 @ 7:22 pm
I too am being harassed, they keep calling relatives, even ex-spouses even though they have been instructed not too. I filed 2 complaints with FTC
Comment by DEBBIE — Sat, May 6th, 2006 @ 3:52 pm
I too am being harassed, they keep calling relatives, even though they have been instructed not too. they called my daughter and told her”be careful, you don’t know who you’re messing with”. They told my wife they either want 1/3 balance, full balance, or face litigation, and that i could refinance my house and pay them. they knew my mortgage payment, value of my house, & how much was left to pay on it.I also have filed 2 complaints with FTC.
Comment by Paul Closson — Thu, May 18th, 2006 @ 11:55 am
I to have been harrassed by this company. They called my 80 year old mother-in-law and told her I was being sued for bank fraud for not paying a balance on my Citibank credit card and told her my balance. They also called my ex-husband, my work, and my step-son’s elderly grandparents who I don’t even know telling them I was being sued for bank fraud. They also had a copy of my most recent credit report. I contacted Citibank my mail, the FTC and the state attorney generals offices in Ohio and in Florida. They are based out of Ohio but the agent was calling from Florida. Does the FTC follow up on any of these cases?
Comment by Renee — Sat, May 20th, 2006 @ 1:55 am
I have delt with these crooks before I had a very long hospital stay and recovery they attacked my wife over the phone at her work and they threatened me while in my hospital bed. They are a organized crime clearing house for the credit card companies. I delt yesterday with SIMON from florida who related that I was going to jail. I have now began filing a complaint with the FTC and the BBB. I am filing with Florida State board of lic. Anyone dealing with these creeps beware send no money.
Comment by Robert Piaczynski — Wed, Jun 14th, 2006 @ 3:37 am
Hey Everybody,
I am a current collections employee and I hope to clear a few issues up. First things first. If you’ve had a bad experience with us it’s because you owe money and our job is to collect it. Very rare would anybody consider that good. Naturally you are going to hate any and all collection agencies. As a trainee in my company you go through extensive testing on FTC regulations, FDCPA, HIPAA, ethics, practices and many other guidelines. The company will and has always stressed on employees to practice good ethics and follow the guidlines. Managers monitor employees when they can but just as in any work environment there are always a few bad apples. There is a very high turnover in collections and there are many fines due to employees who are out of line. Believe it or not action is taken. If you have filed a complaint it has been dealt with so long as the FTC has brought the issue to the collection agency. I encourage blogs and websites that have people discussing these matters because, as I am right now, we look around to see what problems people are facing with collections agencies. Human error naturally happens and not everything can be caught by management. However I can promise you that much effort is made in finding THE PERFECT COLLECTOR. I am always respectful and helpful to a debtor but the road goes both ways. Understand that we are not out against you personally, it is simply our job to do what we do. We put up with more yelling and cursing in one hour than most people would hear in a month! So long as I personally follow all guidlines and laws I know I’m helping those who are in bad financial situations and the companies who aren’t being compensated for their services. Be educated on all the laws and PLEASE keep track of all your financial transactions. If your debts are being paid or are paid in full you will never hear from ANY collection agency.
Also, be sure that you are dealing with a real agency. If you find that you are than it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT to settle your accounts before further action is taken. Every agency I’m aware of has a timeline in which they follow that allows so many weeks before these debts effect credit history. Try your best to clear issues ASAP and if you are dealing with a collector whom you feel is rude or isn’t helping you in any way simply ask for a supervisor to put you on the line with an employee that handles your account well. I hope that some day the relationship between debtors and collectors will improve however we ARE dealing, after all, with negative finances. Please keep up with the feedback so that we can see our problems.
Comment by Levi — Fri, Sep 8th, 2006 @ 10:17 pm
“I too am being harassed, they keep calling relatives, even ex-spouses even though they have been instructed not too.”
Ex-spouses huh? yeah they called by boyfriend’s ex-spouse looking for me… How in the world do they even know I know her, or him for that matter?
This is ridiculus
Comment by Barbara — Wed, Sep 20th, 2006 @ 6:30 pm
A guy from UCB called on 8/1 at my place of WORK and when he couldn’t be patched through to me, he began berating, harassing and yelling at my receptionist. He was told not to call this number anymore and not only did he continue to call, but he threatened my staff members if they wouldn’t put me on the phone. I happen to know the law and, debt or no debt, this activity is intolerable and none of us have to be forced to take it. Most people don’t know this, but this activity (calling a person’s place of work when told expressly not to) is harassment and is a direct violation of the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. section 805. I reported United Collections Bureau to the Federal Trade Commission on 8/1 and am planning to contact the Florida State Attorney General’s office if this activity continues. For those of you on this page who have faced this, know your rights. You DO NOT have to take this type of harassment. Those of us in debt know what we are responsible to do to get out of debt and should not be bullied and terrorized. This activity is a form of terrorism and these guys WILL be held responsible for their activities. I urge all of you to take on the same crusade when you are harassed like this. The only way to stop these criminals is to take them down!!! Unfortunately for them, they screwed with the wrong guy!
Comment by Eric — Fri, Aug 3rd, 2007 @ 6:55 am
I am an ex employee for UBC and as an employee i had to say harassing, fearfull things to the debtors. And if i didnt i then was pulled aside and told i must be more aggressive. I understand you must be firm in order to get the funds, however the upper management was insisting on saying these harmful derogitory statements on the phone.
Comment by Christine — Wed, Aug 8th, 2007 @ 7:59 am
I haven’t talked to these people, but I get several messages a day from “the legal department for UCB” the messages alone are extremely threatening, they say that if I do not call them back there will be serious charges against me such as breach of contract and bank fraud. It sort of scared me and I had no idea who this company was or what they wanted and I wasn’t aware that I had any unpaid debt, so I went searching on the internet and found this site an others speaking of this collection agency. I then realized I may have a citibank unpaid credit card, but less than $1,000. I never received anything by mail and this is the first time I have received these threatening phone calls.. I assume they will continue until I speak to them. Do I change my number? Do I ignore them? Won’t it make things worse? I don’t want them calling my relatives or my work? from everything I’ve been reading about this company, it sounds best to stay clear of them and have them put everything in writing so I can answer. What should I do? Any comments?
Comment by Michelle — Sat, Aug 11th, 2007 @ 9:58 pm
Christine you are an ex employee of UBC or UCB?
Comment by Michelle — Mon, Aug 13th, 2007 @ 5:37 pm
I received a call from my brother in law who lives in Maryland (i live in NY) that a Daniel Soto called from UCB and “that it was urgent that he talked to you and that I was listed as a secondary contact for you.” My brother in law asked if everything was ok , he responded that it was urgent that I got back to him today. Well I never listed my brother in law as a contact he is 11 years younger than me. Well, after I hung up with my Brother in law, My sisiter inlaw called and said that there was a message on her machine from Daniel Soto of UCB she saved me a copy. A little bit later I receve a call from a business assoc. that a Daniel called there. My business assoc. called back and gave him the business and referred it to a friend who is an attorney.
I calle dDaniel and told him who I was and started telling him that what he did was illegal , he was yelling at me back saying he didn’t know who i was thta he needed my socila # , I replied that he should knwo he called my whole family. Well after I calmed down I found out what it was a bout. I debt from CitiBank Credit card that I work out a plan with and they gave it to a collection agency #1 which letf threatening messages (I filed a complaint) No wthese guys. I told them that I never received anything from UCB. Daniel told me they sent a lteer to me 2 days prior to the calls. I spoke with a supervisor who also told me that what they di was legal and try to work out payment with mee. Well it get s better later that evening I received a call from my brother (NY) that he received a call and Father in law (GA) that he did. So I will be filing complaints . If anyone has any othe info on this company Please forward. I,ve been in finace for years and ran into some tough times when my wife became ill. I had called all of the credit card companie I had and explained and Citi is the only company thta acted like a street loan shark. Remember WE HAVE RIGHTS TOO!!!!
Comment by John E — Thu, Sep 6th, 2007 @ 10:39 am
This UCb company posted a collection on my credit with out even notifying me this was for a medical bill that should have been paid for by the insurance company and ucb had the insurance info but never submitted the claim and now they refuse to remove the mark on my credit what do I do?
Comment by melissa — Sun, Sep 16th, 2007 @ 8:52 pm
There would not be collection agencies, if there were no debtors. We would not have jobs, if you would just simply pay your bills. We would not call your neighbors, if you would come out of hiding and face life, and pay your bills.
Get a life! Get a Job! Pay your BILLS!!!
Thank you for keeping us employed you debtors!! We appreciate the bonus checks from those who actually made a mistake and forgot, but now pay!
Comment by Kelli — Thu, Sep 20th, 2007 @ 5:23 pm
Im presently dealing with this ucb!! they made me so upset last night and I got so scared!! they threatened suing me, putting lien on property.. garnishing wages… they are so mean!! i was crying while talking to them, and no sympathy, no feelings from them. I reported them to FTC, too. I hope they will do something about this!!I sent them a cease and desist letter, and hope they will stop!!! cant believe they are calling lots of people, relatives and friends! how embarrasing!!
Comment by Janice — Wed, Sep 26th, 2007 @ 3:34 am
follow up.. i did a big mistake giving ucb my bank account infos, because they scared me to death!! i told them ill get money from family and they said i have till 9/27 to get this, but they have to get checking info from me, which because i lost my mind, panicking, i gave it to them. today, i told them, cant get the funds, and they implied that they will go ahead and process and withdraw money from my account, i told them i do not give them authority to do such thing!! i told them, ther’s no money there!! he said, (mr. newman) then, that’s my problem and he hopes when i get summoned by the court, my husband will be the one to receive it, so my husband will know im up to no good!! man, i was shaking!! i will go to the bank tomorrow soon as they open and figure out what to do. do you think ucb will get into my account and steal what little i have?
Comment by Janice — Wed, Sep 26th, 2007 @ 4:07 am
YOU KNOW WHAT KELLI, KELLI, KELLI, KELLI, KELLI….
AND OTHER COL. EMPLOYEES. YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE REAL LIFE IS AND I WISH YOU UNDERSTAND IT.
IF NOT IN THIS LIFE , IN ANOTHER LIFE GOD WILL SHOW YOU.
Comment by marco — Wed, Sep 26th, 2007 @ 10:00 am
Dear Kelli,
By the tone of your speech pattern you seem to me as the type of Debt Collector aired on 20/20’s in depth coverage of unscrupulous Debt collectors. Also I would personally think you would resort to making threatening phone calls, and not listen to people to are tying to collect debts from. I.E. Calling their work, family members, etcetera. When told not to by them. If my hypothesis holds true then it would be only a matter of time until you would get negative remarks about you and placed on your record. Soon you would probably be fired from your company you work with and have a hard time find work with other debt collectors seeing the record and not wanting to take the risk of hiring you.
Then when life has gotten you down and you are late paying your bills. I just hope someone from the company you worked for calls you and Voila!
In closing, maybe you should not talk down to people you are collecting bills from Kelli. Plus it is easy to point a finger and say they are lazy etcetera, but there are many circumstances in life that people can not avoid and I am sure they are going to pay this back. I mean for petes sake they are paying your salary are they not?
Oh if my hypothesis does hold true. Debt collecting isn’t really that hard of a job and if you are no longer able to find work in that field. Burger King always needs to employees =)
Comment by Aaron — Wed, Sep 26th, 2007 @ 2:09 pm
Well I agree That UCB is absolutley the worst Credit collections company as far as the above UCB supporter goes The rule of business is to be professional regardless of the Task at hand NO EXCUSES!!! Only a second rate Crap Business like UCB would justify treating people the way they do. I got a call from a woman at UCB who was chewing gum and talking to other people while trying to talk to me It was like a woman calling from a club she said so whatch you goin to do about this bill, Wow Customer Service I don’t think so. Nobody is perfect and I am guessing not everyone that works at credit collection Bureas have 100% perfect credit. This one bill was forgotten and then she calls like I am trying to hide from them I don’t need to answer my phone and I don’t think I have ever heard of one of this agencies actually having the power to bring them to court. Anyways I finally I agreed to pay 300.00 dollars on one condition that they don’t actually take the money out until after the 1st of october because the funds would not be there until then so today the check was taken and I am in the negative so they lied and they will expect me to pay off the rest Long story They are a bottom feeding shady company that will get whats coming to them in the end If anyone ever sues let me know I will happily put my name on the list I would love to see this company go bottoms up.
Mathew Maheu
Comment by Mathew Maheu — Fri, Sep 28th, 2007 @ 3:24 pm
Yeah this woman named Mrs. Rosenthal called my neighbor asking for my husband or I and wanted to know if we still lived next door! There have been 100 calls left on our asnwering machine for my daughter. I already told them a dozen times that she doesn’t live here any more.
Comment by Meredith — Fri, Sep 28th, 2007 @ 6:12 pm
Pls. help!!If you read my previous posts.. i gave ucb my bank acct. info, bec. they scared the crap out of me, i was thinking then i can borrow money , and geve ucb my acct. infos. then now i receive a letter, stating their intent to deposit the post dated check. the last time i spoke with them, i told them not to because i was not able to borrow money and theres no money in there. what do i do ?
Comment by Janice — Tue, Oct 2nd, 2007 @ 7:01 pm
Kelli, WHATEVER! You need the Lord! It’s totally obvious in your message. Getting behind on bills entails much more than mistakes and if you’re over 21 you would know that! All sorts of uncontrollable circumstances can lead up to debt and if you live long enough you will know that - who knows THIS COULD HAPPEN TO YOU -THEREFORE YOU GET A LIFE. Since you have to defend your position, you must not really have one and as far as I’m concerned that goes for any of you that feel as Kelli does!!!
Comment by Don't have to — Thu, Oct 4th, 2007 @ 3:28 pm
I too received a call from ucb for a debt to citibank. They called me and started yelling at me when I told them I was about to have a baby and was unable to work because of complications. They told me they were going to garnish my wages and my house. I understand that I owe money, but this is insane. They called me internship for school and I told them not to. They knew my ex boyfriends names and everything! If I didn’t pay the 1385.00 immediately they were going to send it to trial they said. I am going to file a complaint.
Comment by Danielle — Fri, Oct 12th, 2007 @ 10:17 am
I am totally blown away. I never had any idea that this was going on. I have been working with this company to fix my credit and then just tonight I was terrified by these people at ucb. My aunt answered a phone call by someone claiming to be from the sheriffs office in Jackson MI. they then explained that they had a warrant for my arrest for writing bad checks and that the warrant was to go into affect tomorrow morning. When I hung up from this phone call I decided to call the sheriffs office and she said that they didnt have a officer by the name of Jason Hernandez and that they are going to send out a officer right away and then she told me that I did not have a warrant for arrest. so now where do I go to fix this cause I know that I have a debt and want to pay it but am scarred of what may happen if I work with these guys any more.
Comment by Cynthia Munn — Mon, Oct 22nd, 2007 @ 9:30 pm
Honestly, if you pay your bills you wont have to deal with them. They are all hard on you because of the fact of your not getting things taken care of that need to be, your spending your money on new cars, trips, houses and not taking care of your debts. So when it gets as far as it does its basically dealing with a child. Are you going to give your child a break from taking care of their responsibility? No. Its like cleaning up your messes before you make anotherone So there for do wat you need to do to get your responsibilitys taken care of and you wont have to deal with them. Lets face it, all of you are mad because you have had to face up to your dues, and if we want to bring the lord in this, the bibles states that you are to take care of all your debts owed.
Im a fincial advisor and I dont agree with what these people do to the exstent, but they go into their job like anyone else and do it above and beyond. Do they call you and tell you how to do your job? No, so when they start doing that, then critize thiers. Because, they have to be hard because of what they deal wiht on a day to day basis. People arnt exsactly nice to them. My friend sara was in the collection business before she graduated and came to work for me and I have heard some horror stories.
Like i said im not defending them on everything, because im sure they do things that arnt right, but make sure that its because it wasn the right thing that your upset with, not the fact that you were forced to face your debts. Good Luck Everyone!!
Cheryl
Comment by Cheryl — Tue, Dec 11th, 2007 @ 11:38 pm
I’ve also received calls from the ‘UCB’. I’ve recently gotten myself in a bind and have turned my debt over to a settlement company. It’s hard to make these monthly payments, but I know it’s the only way I’ll ever get out of this mess I’ve gotten myself into. I have received many calls from someone at the “U.C. Bureau” (that’s what this person has been saying) and she started out by leaving voicemails saying that she had some sort of petition to summons me to court on her desk. Well, I informed the debt settlement company I deal with about this and they said they would call and see what this was about. The calls slowed down to about once a week now. This weeks voicemail stated that I needed to call in and resolve this matter or else a letter was going to be sent to my employer. Well, first she was going to send me a summons, now she’s going to send a letter to my employer, which is it? Also, during a call a couple of weeks ago, she told me that it was obvious I was avoiding their calls and that she suggested I get myself a lawyer. Here’s the deal: I’m doing what I can to take care of this mess I’ve created. I could ask family for help, but ya know, I need to do this myself. I created it, why should my family have to bail me out? I’m single and I have all the bills that most couples have. I don’t live “high on the hog” and drive nice vehicles and eat out all the time. I don’t wear expensive clothes or buy myself nice things. I pay for house repairs, car repairs and I eat nonhealthy CHEAP food. About the only thing I splurge on is some good wrinkle cream. I’ll eventually get out of this, but her calling me weekly isn’t going to make it happen. I’ve been instructed by my settlement company not to speak with anyone who calls me because, of course, the callers are going to want to work out a deal with me and since I’ve enrolled in this settlement thing, I CAN’T make a deal with them. That’s what the settlement people are for. My question is, how far can the UCB go? Can they, out of nowhere, send a letter to my employer? Can they take me to court? This isn’t alot of money we’re talking about either ($8000), I mean yeah, it is, but from what I hear, my debt is nothing compared to the national norm. But what are the odds of getting taken to court over that???? anybody?
Comment by KayLee — Wed, Feb 6th, 2008 @ 9:29 am
I keep getting calls prob 2-3 times a week but have never answered a single call. I think it might be citicard who sent me to UCB. What’s crazy is I worked out a payment plan with citi where I had automatic debit for over a yr but all of sudden they stopped, I moved and must have missed a change in terms or what not. So now I has UCB all over my A$$. How do they even know they have the right contact # if I never answer (cell phone btw). Would it be best just to change my cell number? I might be willing to work with citi but refuse to deal with UCB.
Comment by AI3 — Tue, Feb 19th, 2008 @ 2:43 pm
Janice/Kaylee - 1st Janice, What you did is very common in the business. Through fear of consequences you entered into an agreement you knew was impossible to keep. When you tried to cancel you were basically told, “Good Luck, we are doing it anyway”. This, by the way, is illegal. Your solution is simple. First, contact the agency. Don’t bother with the rep (newman). Ask for a manager and not a supervisor. Supervisors are nothing but glorified reps with the same mentality however, managers are there to protect the company and will therfore handle the request accordingly. If that fails, contact your bank. Ask them to put a stop payment on your check because it was not authorized OR because you withdrew the authorization prior to posting. Follow that up with a CERTIFIED letter addressed to the upper members of management. In this case, per UCB’s website UCBINC.COM, would be Harold Rickard or Sanju Sharma. While turning a blind eye to what happends on the collection floor they cannot ignore a certified letter directly addressed to them. They may never see it, as thier secretaries will most likley intercept, however you have proof that it was signed for on thier behalf. If at that point the check is deposited contact the State Atty General’s office. They have several offices so make sure you are contacting the correct State Atty. Forget the FTC, BBB, and other governing bodies. UCB, and other agencies, laugh at those complaints. They normally have an atty working for them to add the “we are in compliance” look to how those complaints are handled. The State Atty complaints they cannot ignore and, more importantly, each one is logged and reviewed constantly. They will impose fines, make recommendations to the consumers and, if there are many of the same types of complaints, consider filing suit against the agency. That in turn could result in a private class action suit which ultimately would hurt the worst. Agencies dread the words “CLASS ACTION”. It is thier #1 fear as thier clients, especially CitiBank, would not want that kind of bad press and would immediatley terminate the agency to avoid hurting thier reputation. If CitiBank is thier largest client that could result in a full shutdown of UCB. Be Smart, Not Angry!
Kaylee - $8000 is a large bill. The average is somewhere in the $7000-7300 range within a prime collection portfolio. So, you are on the higher end. No worries though. You are doing what you need to do to get yourself out of the deficit you face. While most credit card companies will work with 3rd party settlement companies you must remember they DO NOT have to. Your contract, which is binding upon use of the card, states you must pay in full the account upon default of your contractual terms. Bieng 31+ days late, over the limit, or bouncing a payment are some of those terms.
CitiBank might run your account through and early stage collection process of dialer calls. In most cases they will outsource your account to an agency like UCB. It will be sent there as part of a specific group of accounts called a “portfolio”. Portfolios batch accounts together according to collection liquidity. The easier the dollars collected the better the liquidity rate. Example, Citi sends 20 million dollars in collection accounts that are 60-90 days late. If they collect $600,000 the liquidity rate is 3.0%. If they send that same batch at 90-120 days then the liquidty may be 1.5% thus warranting a diffirent type of collections. In this case, the 3.0% portfolio would be considerd “prime” and the 1.5% would be considerd “mid-prime”. The better collectors, and most aggressive, would be on prime while the lower end, or new, collectors would be on mid-prime. Now within these portfolios there will be accounts that have been outsourced as “pre-legal”. That is very real and CitiBank is VERY, VERY, agressive when it comes to thier pre-legal accounts. When your account is in pre-legal it means that you are believed to meet thier suit criteria if you do not resolve the debt with the agency. This criteria is normally very simple, what state do they live in, do they have a job, are they a homeowner. That simple. If you match any of these two, and do not pay your bill as requested, the agency will close the bill uncollectable and refer back to the creditor as an account that meets thier criteria for suit. From there, within 72 hours, the account is again outsourced to an atty in your local area and you are notified of thier intent to sue on behalf of CitiBank. Since your account is with UCB but you are also with a 3rd party settlement agency that means that CitiBank has not accepted a proposal from that agency to reduce your payments, interest, and remove you from collections. This is the case 99% of the time and when that happends the collection agency will tell you “we do not work with 3rd party agencies” and demand payment, or settlement, in full. They do have that right because they are representing a creditor you are in default with. As for having a “Summons to take you to court”. BS. Just another scare tactic by some of that agencies “best collectors” to make you pay. Good Luck. Hope this helps and remember Be Smart, Not Angry!
Side note - Agencies DO performe a service and not all are bad. By locating, and collecting, on bad debt agencies help to keep fees down for the others in good standing. The late, overlimit, and membership fees are all direct decendents of bad debt and they will continue to increase along with that bad debt. Someone has to pay to get the bills collected. EVERYONE, Kelli, will go through a finaical hardship in life. There is no way around that. It may not be on the same level as most of us (I.E - Poor rich guy lost 30K in the stock market and now cant get that boat) but they will suffer some sort of hardship whatever thier financial class. For us regular folks, hang in there. Just like you got there you will get out. Dont get Angry, get Smart. Do not overspend, skip the luxieries if you have to. Make sure what matters is what is taken care of, you, your family and most of all your kids! In a few years, look back on your expierience and change your path so it never happends again but most of all share it with others to help them avoid these dealings. Teach your kids finances along with sex education, and drugs, and they to will be better off!!!!
Comment by Be Smart, Not Angry! — Fri, Mar 14th, 2008 @ 11:53 am
Excellent remarks, and thank you for the background info on how agencies and credit card companies out-source. As a paralegal, I have worked in collections for 10 years and had more clients work with me (and pay their bills) because I listened to them, treated them with respect and helped resolve their situations. 99% of folks in debt want to pay. I can assure all of you out there that no judge in this country can make you pay any amount that you truly cannot afford. I have seen debts resolved in court at $25.00 a month (for years) or even deferred for 6 months because the debtor just did not have the funds to pay at all. Interest and all the other outrageous fees stop. (I think legally they can charge 10% a year, but most do not impose it). Also, no one goes to jail over civil suits - which is all debt complaints are. (The only exception is if you ignore a summons to appear in court and then you usually pay $100 or some nominal fee to get out, which goes to the Plaintiff and is applied to your debt). You can’t get blood from a turnip - I don’t care what garden you grow in.
On a personal note I, too, am now in the UCB loop. I’ve maintained a 740 credit rating my entire life. I’ve had 2 jobs since I was 21. Stayed with both over 15 years. Only left because I moved out of state. Am still friends with both employers. My brother committed suicide - and I had to leave my job because I was the only employee so I could go home. My mother had a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized. I finished cleaning up my brother’s remains after the paramedics left. They did the best they could but brain matter was still on the ceiling and walls. I closed out my IRA’s and other retirement funds to live on and pay my creditors until I could come back home. My creditors were sympathetic and compassionate - except Citibank and Discover. Even after years and years of a perfect payment history. Now, UCB is after me. Guess what? Sue me. I dare you to take me to court and I dare you to challenge my integrity and those here who are taking a very smart step in finding out just what you’re all about. Education is knowledge and knowledge is power. You boast of your “bonuses” at other people’s expenses - it is blood money, if you ask me. How do you sleep at night? You have my word - UCB and other agencies like you - that I will research and take advantage of every single legal avenue that is afforded to me on how I can stop people like you in your tracks. With all that is happening in the sub-prime mortgage scams, do you really think the federal government is going to let everyone lose everything and fill YOUR pockets? I do not think so. There will be laws passed and you third party creatures will be shut down . . .
To the Good People out there - write your congressmen and women and tell your stories - keep journals with dates, times, details and send it - handwritten - to every legal person, agency, website, blog, newspaper, and radio station that you can think of. The actions of UCB and Citibank are repulsive.
I am paying back my Citibank loan at $350 a month. It’ll be 2 years before it is paid in full. Now, tell me to my face (not my father’s ex-girlfriend) that I am guilty of bank fraud. Go ahead, call my employers, my clergy, my community members and harass them. The more you call, the bigger my CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT is going to be against you, including slander. You want to challenge MY integrity? I dare you!
Comment by Dee Dee — Sun, Mar 30th, 2008 @ 7:02 pm
me again…NOW GC ltd partnership is calling. I guess UCB gave up and passed my account along. They are getting nasty, too. Since I had my home phone cutoff, no one can call me there so I bet that’s really pissing them off. I did manage to get one of my accounts resolved and the card company settled for a decent amount. A couple more to go and I’ll be done with this. Before I went with this debt settlement thing, I went online and changed my contact information to my work number so no one around my house would hear any nasty messages or receive any calls, because I have friends running in and out and it’s none of their business. I don’t mind if they call me at work because I’m the only one that answers and most of the time I don’t answer my phone anyway. The debt settlement company said that before they can negotiate with these ppl that my account with them will have to build back up some so they’ll have something to negotiate WITH. My next question about this process is, when it’s over, just how messed up is my credit going to be? Does anyone have any experience in that area?
Comment by KayLee — Thu, Apr 24th, 2008 @ 5:09 pm
I too am receiving threats from Michele at UCB. She has contacted my 75 year old ill mother, who has just had major surgery, and has told her that she should pay or my children will be visiting me in JAIL! and will have no parents..
I just filed a complaint to the FTC as well. DOES THIS HELP AT ALL?
Do they really do anything?
Comment by JB — Wed, Jul 9th, 2008 @ 6:19 pm
Anyone looking to get involved in a class action against UCB. Please contact me at foxbkkpg at hotmail dot com. Thet are pracricing illeagal collectios proceedures & I have a GREAT attorney who is willing to take on the case.
Comment by Laura — Tue, Sep 16th, 2008 @ 7:41 pm
ok…lol practicing & collections…sorry ’bout the errors!
Comment by Laura — Tue, Sep 16th, 2008 @ 7:43 pm
I understand many are upset, and there really is no call for the harrassing phone calls, this makes the situations worse. What I don’t understand about this or any other “collector” is; do they not comprehend what the economy is like right now. Look around, most Ohioans, and Americans are out of work because of poor company management. People who are out of work or who have been out of work are still out out of work because the job market STINKS, especially in Ohio. It does not help to have a college degree either, I possess one and believe I’ve been turned down because of it. Even unemployment is at an all time high in America. Why do companies keep going overseas, just to retun the product to America CHEAP.
Why do American companies pay employees $30 - $50 dollars an hour then turn around and wander why the average American can’t afford to buy the product.
My point is this; maybe we need to ask these questions, why did UCB get my account in the first place, what company sent it there , and why. It happened to me I had surgery because I wasn’t able to work with migraines and Meniere’s symptoms. The surgery definately helped but my insurance company told me not to pay anything until I received an Explanation of Benefits (EOB). Little did I know the Dr. office contacted UCB before my insurance company sent me the EOB.
Since this time the one person from UCB that has passion for how people are suffering in this economy is Grace. Grace has never raised her voice and she never harrasses. It’s almost as if she has been in my shoes and she hasn’t forgotten.
I’m not defending some of UCB’s tactics, but I will defend Grace, because she does her job very well and has compassion for peole in a HARSH economy.
Comment by Bill — Sat, Dec 13th, 2008 @ 12:32 pm
Wow! it amazes me how shallow i.e KELLI can be when she has never been in the position of having a baby a month and a half early and have good insurance. and then say you lose your job and are then faced with feeding your kids or paying a debt collection person like you who uses low tactics to make some one feel lower. Well kelli carma is a bitch, and oh it will come back to you ten fold!! wich i could see it when it does
Comment by amie — Wed, Mar 25th, 2009 @ 12:15 pm
If all they wanted was payment, I wouldn’t be harrassed every day by phone calls threatening to garnish my wages. I don’t have a checking account, informed them of that, and I send in money orders, but because I haven’t secured with them checking account informations i’m being threatened daily, good luck assholes, you selfish pieces of crap. When someone is making every effort and you people are never satisfied it just sickens me to know that you scare enough people and steale enough money, to keep in buisness
Comment by Sandy — Wed, Apr 15th, 2009 @ 9:41 am
I just gave UCB a call at 419 866 1804, and was sent to a company called “aps med bill”, they told me that their manager (a man named ed) was in a meeting. I gave them my callback number, we’ll see if they return the call.
Comment by mikey — Wed, Apr 15th, 2009 @ 10:32 am
I have no problem with collection companies doing what they are contracted to do so long as they obey the law and act as decent human beings. HOWEVER, some of the collectors at UCB are violating fair debt collection laws and need to be punished to the full extent of the law.
The company gives the name of the owner of UCB as one Harold “Sam” Rickard:
looks like his HOME address and phone number MAY OR MAY NOT be:
4608 Queensberry Ct
Toledo, OH 43623-2987
(419) 382-7706
Comment by Johnny — Mon, Sep 14th, 2009 @ 8:05 pm
I to have a a run in with ucb I have a medical bill totalling 1,487.00 in my mind I dont think that is really a high amount and tried to work out a payment plan woth them. Heres where it gets unteresting when I first called ucb I spoke with a reperesentative and tried to work out a payment plan he told me my bill was about to be sent out to an attorney and for garnishment of course like anyone else I got scared and set-up a payment (WHICH HE REQUESTED OF 747.00) for the first check and the balance on the other check. I started thinking to myself gosh why did I do that this amount is to high and no way I can afford this plus pay my other bills I have I called them back and spoke with his manager and she lowered it I asked her can I send in 100.00 a month she said we can’t do that we can only accept one-third so I agreed to send them 495.00 for the first check and 200.00 a month until its paid off. W ell here’s where it gets worse I lost my checkbook called my bank and called ucb they switched me back to the manager wow did she do a total one eighty on me she said I was lying I was irresponsible they would start with court order proceedings and garnishment I told her you don’t scare me and stop with the threats to make a long story short heres what I recommend you do (IT MIGHT WORK IN SOME CASES BUT NOT ALL CASES) I called the hospital told them about te company what they were planning to do she called ucb and the hospital even sent me a financial assistant form to see if I quqlify for them to pay it off in full. I advice you do not send ucb any money if you send the original company you owe payments they cannot turn it down and they have to apply it to your bill. Deal with the original company instaed of them its the best advice.
Comment by Cassie — Tue, Nov 3rd, 2009 @ 6:37 am
sorry about some of the spelling I was typing fast lol
Comment by Cassie — Tue, Nov 3rd, 2009 @ 6:38 am
I keep getting calls for someone that I don’t even know. They call about every 4-5 days for this couple. I’ve explained to them over and over that I’ve had this number for 3 years and don’t know who these people are. I’ve asked them to remove my number from their system, but yet they still keep calling. Any suggestions?
Comment by Keith — Wed, Jun 2nd, 2010 @ 9:07 am