5703972001

Just for clarity's sake, USCB is a collection agency.  I have found the following links about them, including some information implying that they may have behaved badly, and may be involved in the purchase and collection of junk debt.  I would be interested in any posts which can shed light on these possibilities.  So far, no real smoking guns, but perhaps a hint of smoke hanging in the air.

<http://www.brinkmanandalter.com/lawyer-attorney-1936880.html>
<http://www.callercomplaints.com/SearchResult.aspx?Phone=570-876-6309>

FWIW, there B+ BBB rating (31 Complaints) is here: <http://www.bbb.org/washington-dc-eastern-pa/b ... ld-pa-235965907>

The following corporate records were found:

Name    Name Type
USCB CORPORATION    Current Name
Business Corporation - Domestic - Information
Entity Number:    3202733
Status:    Active
Entity Creation Date:    3/1/2004
State of Business.:    PA
Registered Office Address:    101 HARRISON STREET

ARCHBALD PA 18403-
Lackawanna
Mailing Address:    No Address
Officers
Name:    NOREEN JOHNSON
Title:    President
Address:    101 HARRISON STREET
ARCHBALD PA 18403-35

---

Name    Name Type
USCB Business Services LLC    Current Name
Limited Liability Company - Domestic - Information
Entity Number:    4064322
Status:    Active
Entity Creation Date:    10/24/2011
State of Business.:    PA
Registered Office Address:    101 Harrison Street
Archbald PA 18403
Lackawanna
Mailing Address:    No Address


---

Name    Name Type
USCB BUSINESS SERVICES    Current Name
Fictitious Names - Domestic - Information
Entity Number:    3248062
Status:    Active
Entity Creation Date:    9/8/2004 3:59:25 PM
Principal Place of Business:    101 HARRISON ST

ARCHBALD PA 18403-
Mailing Address:    No Address
Owner Information
Owner(s) for:    USCB BUSINESS SERVICES
Owners
Name:    USCB CORPORATION
Mailing Address:    [Address Not Available]

----

They is also some indication that they may have a business relationship with some sort of correspondence school of dubious merit, so if anyone can address that concern, it might be helpful.

I did note this, "3:12-cv-00561-SC - Miller v. USCB, Inc. (status conference)" from <http://www.cand.uscourts.gov/CEO/cfd.aspx?7111> but could not find any additional info as this is a court calendar item scheduled for a future date.  I will try to keep an eye on it, and will share more as I can.

So, at this point, in favor of USCB we have them posting here.  Against them, we have the lack of candor about who they are in the posts, which could be seen as an effort to use 800notes as an extension of their collection efforts.  And a couple of web links which may give us pause.

Thre are a number of other threads which MAY be associated with USCB, but there appears to be a USCBInc. located in California, which may be a different company.  This makes it a little hard to know which threads are relavant.  To learn more go to <www.startpage.com> and enter the following search string: "host:800notes.com uscb"

I am afraid their claims of unfairness and protests that they are just a legitimate business may be beginning to fray slightly around the edges, but time will tell.  Regardless of their legitimacy or lack thereof, the rules are the same.

As always, before engaging in contact with any collection agency:

Know the law: <http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpajump.shtm>

And keep this in mind -

Be wary of time barred (SOL/Statute of Limitations) debt.  Paying it may actually harm your credit rating.
Likewise for debts discharged in bankruptcy, debts of others, or debts which are invalid for other reasons (lie accounting errors, disputes, etc.).

Also, watch out for FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) violations: <http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcra.htm>

Never pay a collection agency without the following:

Validation Letter proving that you owe the money and that they have the right to collect it.

Settlement Letter stating what is to be paid, and that this will settle the debt in full without recourse.

When paying them:

Never give them your account number for any financial instrument, checking, savings, debit card, or credit card.

Never send them a personal check.

Never do a "check by phone".

Always pay with a postal money order (USPS - purchased at your post office).

After you pay them:

Keep these records for the rest of your life.  Paid debt has a way of being re-sold to other collection agencies, and you need to be able to prove it was paid.


I don't want USCB saying we have been unfair, but we do look closely at those who come here claiming they are unjustly accused.  My personal rating for these guys is: APPROACH WITH CAUTION, and be prepared to insist on proper legal process (as always).

Jennifer,

They are not a scam.  They are a collection agency, properly incorporated in the state of PA.  I cannot vouch for or against their business practices.  But you are in error calling them a scam (other invectives MIGHT apply ;) .

As for your unlisted private number, I don't think you realize how easily and quickly such information propagates.  Odds are that someone you gave your number too (almost any and everyone you have given it to) has passed it on to a data collection firm, credit bureau, etc.,.  CAs buy information from these companies in order to track you down and attempt to pester you into paying.

Those of us who actually manage to keep such information confidential must work very hard at it, and have alternative options available for those situations where a phone number is required (banks, etc.,.)

24 hours eh?  It's been two weeks.  You keep calling.  I tell you the same thing over and over.  I do not know anyone named sorensen.  I am not sorensen, I've never known a sorensen.  I have had the same number for over 10 years.  STOP calling me you idiots!

Replying to myself here.  OK, I've got it now.  I received a call again a few minutes ago.  I called back.  I told the "agent"  that I'd called previously and each time I'm told that they do not have  my number in the system.  This time the agent said let me try again.  She said oh...I've found it.  We're looking for ........... in regard to some paper work I have in my office.  OH PLEASE!  I said, I know you are a collection agency and you have the wrong people.  We owe NO money to anyone.  We are old and have no debt anywhere.  We do not use credit cards or credit.  What is your address, she asked.  Against my better judgement I gave it to her.  Oh, she said we're looking for someone Alabama.  How stupid can I be?  Obviously what they do is just call every number with the last name they are seeking and we do their detective work for them.  We all call back!  By the process of elimination they "get their man."  Not illegal but certainly unethical.  A tiny bit of detective work would tell you that mine is a land line not in Alabama.  A tiny bit of detective work would tell you that my area code is not in Alabama.  If you have someone who hasn't paid a legitimate debt, you would have their SSN and middle name.  

You upset people when you call them, especially people like us who have NO DEBT TO ANYONE.  DO YOUR HOMEWORK.  STOP CALLING EVERYONE WITH THE SAME LAST NAME.  If you were my employees, I'd fire you immediately.

Lone Stranger,

Thank you for responding as you have and coming forward with some researched information.  I truly appreciate it.

Yes, USCB Corporation is a collection agency.  I would have come forward with that information in the beginning but wanted to be careful about disclosing the nature of the call due to privacy concerns of your posters.  It was not an attempt to conceal or hide anything as I figured a simple Google search of our name would give anyone the information they needed.  

I am not trying to use 800notes to further any collection efforts.  I'm only trying to help people who have an issue resolve it.  I do not want to gain anything from this except to try and satisfy anyone who has a problem with us and learn how we can prevent it from happening again.  As I've said in a few posts, people can simply request not to be called anymore.  If we are calling a wrong number people just need to calmly explain that we have it wrong and we will correct the record.  Yes, we may ask if you know the person or something similar but we don't just pull any phone number out of the air like some would suggest so we do want to see where we went wrong.  If there was a magic solution to knowing wrong numbers or knowing someone doesn't want to be called before hand we would use it.  It would make life much much easier.  

We do not purchase junk debt as you have indicated we may.  We do not purchase debt at all.  95% of all our work comes straight from the original creditor use still owns the debt.  The remaining 5% comes from a few debt buyers that we work for but that paper comes only months after chargeoff and would hardly be clasified as junk debt.

We are not associated with USCB Inc. who is located in CA.  We just happen to have a similar name but there is no ties between us.

As for you brinkmanandalter.com link...I'm not aware of those attorney's but it is a common practice that comsumer attorneys that target collection agencies often have advertisements stating all those illegal and unethical things.  We do not and will never act like that.

The BBB rating and 31 complaints is correct.  FYI, those 31 complaints came from the servicing of a 10's of thousands of accounts and were mostly complaintes that should have been directed to the creditor.  We resolved all of them and strive for the best rating we can get.  From what I can tell a B+ rating for a collection agency who isn't a BBB member is pretty decent.  

USCB is a small family owned and family run company.  We live simple lives and take time to appreciate family, friends, and coworkers.  We try to hire decent, honest, hard working people to do a very difficult job.  No one likes collection agencies.  No one likes collection calls.  We do a difficult job in a fair and compasionate manner.  We do things by the book and treat everyone with dignity and respect.  We train our employees that we are here to help consumers find ways to pay their debts.  We have had some bumps in the road over the years but nothing major or intentional and we've always learned from our mistakes.  

Again, thanks for your response.  It's good to know that someone actually pays attention.  My goal in responding to people here is and will remain the same.  If you have an issue, we want to resolve it.  We want correct any problems and try to prevent them from reoccuring.

Yes this is a collection company. They have been calling me because I mistakenly signed up for an online course. I cancelled my course in the allowed 24 hour span and recieved comfirmation of cancellation. I have provided copies of the cancellation to USCB. They tell me I need to deal with the "original creditor" the school. I have contacted the school and they told me it was sent to collection by mistake and that they have recalled the account from USCB 5 months ago. I have told USCB this repeatedly and mailed them copies of this paperwork via certified mail, return reciept requested and I am basically called a liar. I actually have an appointment with an attorney tomorrow and will return to give you an update as to what they say. If this is truly a reputable company, they would have handed the debt back to the school as uncollectible. Oh, I also have in writing that I owe this school nothing, that my balance is zero and it is dated last week. Even the school is disturbed by what the collection company is doing. Like I informed the school when I asked for this letter, if I have to go to court, I will have no choice but to involve them as well. The school sent me the letter so I believe they are ready to assist me. Wish me luck!

Now I'm going to take legal action.  I went over this 4 times with these complete and total idiots.  We apparently have the same last name as some deadbeat from Alabama.  Neither my husband nor I have any debt of any kind nor have we ever been to, or lived in Alabama.  These idiots just called my number again after explaining this to them clearly.  I just got off the phone with an attorney who informed me that I now have actionable status.  Here we go.  I'll keep you informed.

Mary,

We'd like to get to the bottom of why you were called again.  If there is a problem we want to fix it.  If possible please call in and ask for Ron.  Tell them you have to speak with him regarding a phone number problem.  He will be able to look at everything and figure out what exactly happened.

Mary,

We'd like to get to the bottom of why you were called again.  If there is a problem we want to fix it.  If possible please call in and ask for Ron.  Tell them you have to speak with him regarding a phone number problem.  He will be able to look at everything and figure out what exactly happened.

Tina,

I'd like to look at your account and help you.  It sounds like we may have already sent it back to the school being that someone instructed you to call the school.  I'm not sure and can't tell what happened from here but I would like to better understand what exactly happened.  If you call in and ask for Renee Williams regarding a cancellation problem that the school claims to have recalled she will look at everything and resolve the problem.

George, the call may not necessarily be pertaining to you.  It may be that someone used you as a reference when they applied for credit and the company is contacting you in order to get to the originating person who took out the loan.

No thanks...you're blocked

This number has been calling & calling. If they would leave a message with a little info about who they are calling for, then I would gladly call them, but until then, it's not going to happen.  I know this does not have anything to do with me owing anybody a debt that was sent to collections, so I'm thinking it may be for a family member and to me it's pretty shi!!y for them to be hounding us for something that doesn't pertain to us!!!! If it's about this certain family member, I have know idea where this person is, haven't in about 5 years, but have received numerous calls from others looking for them.

My call from you showed up as being from Jermyn, PA. Not knowing anyone there or being familiar with the phone number, I didn't answer. Because we get scamming calls weekly, not just from companies like yours but those who are trying to steal identities, etc. Your company did not bother to leave a message making me even more suspicious of you. And we do not owe anyone or any business money and have no outstanding debts, but we get calls through the years from companies like yours who haven't really done their homework and just start calling anyone on the internet or whitepages.com that has a name that matches ours. Even though you and others like you are legitimate companies, you are still considered harassing phone calls to me. I used to have to collect debts too by phone, but we did our homework and there's even more opportunity for that with computers than there was when I was doing this type of work. We're fed up with getting collection calls that do not belong to us, or calls wanting to know if we know someone mentioned by name that shares a same name or last name as ours. If you'd done your homework, you'd know that you're dialing a wrong number.

I feel compelled to post one more time.  Because of my common last name, I've received about a dozen debt collection calls over the last 6 years.  Each time, it is clearly not me or my husband but each time I suffer the stress of a possible erroneous debt affecting me.  If you think for a moment that these companies only want to collect from the debtor you are sorely mistaken.  Here is the link to an article that appeared in the Los Angeles times about 18 months ago.  

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/19/business/la-fi-perfin-20101219

These companies often buy junk debt and don't really care who pays it as long as they get their money.  The stress and anxiety they cause to those who receive erroneous calls is irrelevant to them.  If they did their homework they would easily reduce or eliminate erroneous calls but they have no reason to.  It's easier to have a computer dial everyone with the same last name, then sit back and wait for the "suckers" to call back.  I find these tactics despicable.  Send letters with all relevant information.  If you have our phone numbers, you have our addresses.  If you don't, you're really bad at  your job.  When those of us who receive numerous erroneous calls have the written information in front of us, we can easily choose to ignore it.  We can't do that with phone calls that are furtive and frightening.  Grow up.  You want to buy junk debt and go after people, more power to you but you do not have the right to involve those of us who pay our bills and carry no debt in your slimy process.

Very well said Mary...I completely agree with you about these companies and their dispicable tactics with trying to collect. I'm so sick of these different companies calling my home when I know it's not a debt that pertains to me that they are calling about.

Good article. Thanks for sharing.

Scam, they are a collection agency for a scam online schools like Ashworth. Sorry that you have to protect your scam so hard.

I have received calls from this number 570-397-2001 within the past week. My number is an unlisted one and since I do not appreciate anyone calling me unless I have given the number to them, I NEVER pick up the phone and do not have an answering machine. (Not have an answering machine helps – because after a few weeks these unwanted calls STOP. No fun when no one picks up.) There isn't any reason for a collection agency etc to call - as no one in my household has any credit card debt etc. I'm sure that if celebrities or people in high government were receiving these calls on a daily basis real action would be taken. Instead we are told to provide our number to the Do Not Call List. People guess what? The Do Not Call List sells your number and address to list companies! (As does your gas and heating company. Heck even the post office is offering to deliver junk mail from businesses to you.) We are told here in NY that our government is trying to put a stop to it. BS! Even our government uses our private numbers to contact us asking for votes!! It sure doesn't help matters if people pick up the phone when these companies call. It just takes a few people being duped into taking out whatever these companies are scamming or answering their stupid survey for them to continue. Unfortunately most of the problem is there are too many lonely people out there eager to speak to anyone that calls them. That is what these companies are counting on – so STOP PICKING UP THE PHONE!

Reply to Thomas above, your answer is 100% correct & dead-on! I only do one thing different. I have all area codes, except the one I live in, disconnect. So for the scammer's it's a hangup call.I find that just having the phone ring w/no answer just makes them call back at other times. Plus, with a hangup call the call was connected/completed. So if the caller pays for calls....well, they pay!