GC Services is notoriously known throughout the debt-collection industry. They’re arguably one of the biggest collection agencies in the world. They’re often the mouthpiece or middleman for companies in many different industries such as retail, traffic, and automotive. But, they’re most known for collecting student loans. Once one of these companies has spent a while trying to collect a debt from you, they might hire a third-party, such as GC Services, in order to pursue their debts for them. But, it’s important to understand the history of this company and the things that they have been accused of in the past.
GC Services currently has over 8,500 employees all across the United States and the Philippines. The company is based in Houston, Texas, but it also outsources much of their business overseas. They deal with both first-party and third-party debts. This means that they’ll often deal with debtors that have a delinquent account and those who have a defaulted account as well. They allegedly have 60 years of business experience and call themselves, “the largest business process outsourcing providers in the U.S.” But, even though this company boasts many successes, their name has been a hot topic in the news because of their FDCPA (or, Fair Debt Collections Practices Act) violations.
If you aren’t too familiar with the FDCPA, it contains rules and guidelines that debt collectors have to abide by. They’re designed to protect you as a borrower and keep you away from harassment and abuse.
Recently, GC Services has become a hot new topic because of a hefty $700,000 fine to settle a lawsuit that alleged that the company was engaging in illegal and invasive debt collection practices. The company did not confirm or deny any wrongdoing, but it did agree to pay the fine to the FTC. The lawsuit mentions that GC Services repeatedly called third parties (family, neighbors, etc. of the borrower) even after being told that they have the wrong person. The lawsuit even alleges that GC Services said that they would stop calling them and falsely take steps in order to remove the third party’s phone number. Under the FDCPA, debt collection agencies are only supposed to call third parties once.
Also, the lawsuit alleges that GC Services revealed consumer debts in voicemail. Another person, who wasn’t the consumer, ended up hearing these voicemails. That again is in violation of the FDCPA. In the lawsuit, the debt collection company proclaimed that collected approximately $1.4 billion in gross collections from consumers in 2014. Also, the lawsuit stated that in that same year they had gross revenues of approximately $133 million.
This company also deals with a variety of customer complaints. According to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), there have been 111 closed customer complaints over the past three years. 25 of those complaints have been closed over the past twelve months. There are also currently 13 customer reviews on the company’s BBB profile, aggregating into a score of one star. On the other hand, the company currently has an A rating with the BBB. The percentage of consumers that have a problem with GC Services tends to make their voices heard in any way that they can. GC Services has an often bad reputation with the consumers they deal with, but they still maintain a high level of success in the industry.
Dealing With Harassment
If you’re currently dealing with a debt collection company such as GC Services, then it’s important to know your rights as a borrower. The FDCPA was put into place in order to protect borrowers from the predator like behaviors that debt collectors often exhibited, like GC Services, in order to collect the debts.
If you’re experiencing any of these abusive behaviors from debt collectors, you should seek help:
– Receiving calls at work
– Receiving late night or early morning calls
– Receiving multiple calls per week
– Collectors are threatening you with violence
– Collectors are proclaiming that you owe more than you think
– Use of obscene or explicit language
When a debt collector exhibits any of these behaviors, it means that they are breaking the law. There are steps that you should partake in order to have the best chance of proving your case if need be. First, it’s best to contact the debt collection agency (whether verbally or in writing) to stop contacting you. By law, they should abide by your request. If they haven’t stopped contacting you, it’s best to record all of the illegal behavior. This ensures that you’ll have the information to backup your claims. Next, you can send complaints many different ways including the Federal Trade Commission and to your state’s attorney. Representatives from these camps will be able to give you all the information you need in order to make the next step in your case. You don’t deserve to be treated unfairly by debt collection agencies like GC Services. Knowing your options as a borrower will ensure that you’re treated with dignity and respect.