Complaint Review: National Consumer Resource Council NCRC NCRC Inc. - Coconut Creek Florida

My credit, prior to the fall of 2001, was always perfect. I had taken on too much credit card debt during college, but I always made my payments on time. However, my balances were increasing, the companies would not lower my interest rate, and I worried that Id never pay them off. About this time I saw the wonderful commercial by Consumer Credit Counseling Services, claiming that their program was the answer to all my prayers, as well as my long-term financial health. So I bit. I submitted an application to CCCS, and instead of contacting me themselves, they passed my application onto a marketing firm called AM Services. I was contacted by a salesman who made the program sound wonderful and painless. I was not even made aware that I was being sold the services of a different agency. He claimed the credit card companies would be glad to jump on board, that they would forgive any late payments during the transition period, and that they would lower or obliterate my interest. I signed on with all five of my credit cards. The salesman also instructed me not to contact the credit card companies during this process, or to speak with them when they called me. When I made my first payment of $373.00 to AM Services in August of 2001, not a single credit card payment was past due. I assumed that I would send them the money, and that they would distribute the agreed upon payments to my creditors in a timely fashion. Makes sense, right? This did not happen. I found out later that I misunderstood the terms, that the first payment was kept by AM Services (a non-profit firm) for processing fees. By the time I realized the deception, a round of 30-day lates had appeared on my credit. The next month, a paperwork error on their part kept my checking account from being deducted on time. It took them three weeks to correct the error and debit my account. In a week the next payment came due, but they did not deduct it either. When I called to inquire, they told me that they needed my permission to debit my account twice in so short a period. So that payment arrived late also. When they finally possessed the money, sitting on three months worth of payments, it still took them several weeks to get the payments to my creditors. Over this two month period, I had logged at least a dozen calls to the customer service department at AM Services (or, National Consumer Resource Council: apparently they go by both names) with various complaints and requests regarding the amount of time it was taking. In answer to one of these calls, a representative offered to send a No-Fault Letter to my creditors, explaining that the error was theirs. When I called back to check up, the original Rep was not available and the new one informed me that no such letter had been sent, or would be. Just sit back and wait, she advised me, in three months theyll bring your accounts current and it will be like this never happened. It still wasnt over. In January of 2002, five months after I began dealings with NCRC, they called to inform me that JC Penneys had rejected their original offer to consolidate because they offered too small of a monthly payment. I would need to call JC Penneys and make the counter-offer myself, because Penneys refused to take any more calls from NCRC. It was not until February that all creditors were on board. These people lie! They use their non-profit status to masquerade as a social service, when the truth is that they advertise a service that they cannot and do not provide. They are deceptive, rude, inept, and badly organized. Please beware!! Melody Athens, Georgia
U.S.A.