Malcolm S Gerald & Associates

These idiots tried to get me to verify my social, home address and other personal information over the phone without even knowing what the call was regarding. It must be a SCAM!

Seriously, called tonight wanting me to give SSN or DOB over the phone! Kidding right??? Nope. Offered attorney’s name & number would not take it unless I provided sensitive private information over the phone. Caller said I can’t continue this call without that information. So I said okay bye. I will be following up with every agency that will listen to me. Not the proper way to conduct business in this day & age of identity theft.

While I have been dealing with Malcom S Gerald and Associates to resolve a financial issue they are completely unprofessional and rude. They continuously call after letting them know the hours to which you are available, and when I have tried to tell them that I cannot be reached during my working hours I was yelled at and told that I would not receive a settlement now. I was willing to work with them to resolve the issue not create a larger one. If anyone has any conflicts with harassment with this company or any other collection agency be aware of CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau), and how you can use it to file complaints and it be resolved through a federal standard rather than through the company itself.

I installed a land line at home about 3 months ago, against my better judgment. My parents are staying with me from abroad it seemed like the sensible thing to do. I’m current on my bills and I don’t give out the home phone number to anyone, since I don’t even use it myself. M S GERALD from 312−922−6500 is calling and hanging up. I still have to talk to a real person. When I call the number back, I hear the chirp of a fax line.
Date Time To/​From Phone Number Name
7÷10÷2013 08:55 AM From 312−922−6500 M S GERALD
7÷9÷2013 10:12 AM From 312−922−6500 M S GERALD
7÷6÷2013 08:28 AM From 312−922−6500 M S GERALD
7÷3÷2013 11:52 AM From 312−922−6500 M S GERALD
7÷1÷2013 10:04 AM From 312−922−6500 M S GERALD
6÷28÷2013 09:24 AM From 312−922−6500 M S GERALD
They get one star for annoyance, and if I could give them less, I would.
I’m keeping records and have filed a report with the CFPB, pointing them to this Unilocal thread with all the other similarly stellar assessments of Malcolm S Gerald.
EDIT: I got a message back from the CFPB with a reply from the business, saying they removed my number from their list (and I believe they have), and that their listed number is working (It wasn’t when I tried calling, but I’ll take their word for it). Kudos to them for responding to the CFPB request. For that, I am upping my review to TWO stars.

I have received numerous calls for Emily T. Smith on a number that I have owned for 7 years. After repeated requests to remove me from their list, they claim they do not have a list and request my number yet continue to call at inappropriate hours of the evening. Answering staff is rude and incredibly unprofessional and when I dial the given extension, a message says «now connecting you to (obvious indiscernible jibberish).» I encourage others to witness firsthand this disgusting harassment by calling the number 1−800−265−3796 ext. 329. I can only ascertain the non-​validity of this company based on the countless complaints during a simple Google search of this company. I have contacted my local Better Business Bureau to carry out any appropriate action necessary to cease these ridiculous calls. Mr. Gerald and his «associates» should be absolutely ashamed of their debt collection practices.

People, you need to file a complaint with the FTC. The form is online and pretty easy. They need more than a couple before anything will be done. This kind of scum practices is why these laws were made.

I had a similar experience as the previous reviewer. This company is extremely unprofessional, rude, and most likely unethical.
I had a medical bill go to collections 4 years ago in 2008 due to some family financial troubles and miscommunication between family members (at the time I was unemployed, family said they would pay for it, they didnt, and it went to collections). However, the collection was PAID OFF in 2008 and the issue still comes up when I apply for credit cards even though the creditors recognize that I paid off that collection.
After receiving the first call a couple of days ago, I politely informed them (albeit sternly) that the debt had been paid off 4 years ago and requested that they email me proof of non-​payment. The caller brought her manager on the line who took down my information and promised to send it over. Today I got a call from an incompetant call rep who knew about yesterdays call but completely ignored the fact that I was waiting on THEM for more information, and then took 15 minutes have me repeat every letter of the address while interrupting me for each letter. When I explained the situation and advised them to look for my father’s name (who eventually paid off the deliquency, as I was a dependent at the time), the rep said to me «So you were 19 – 20 at the time right? Well I was about 22 – 23 and it was always MY responsibility to pay off my debts, so you shouldnt depend on your parents and its YOUR responsibility to make the payments» … EXCUSE ME? Who the f*** do you think you are? That was the essence of my response. To which he quickly back-​tracked
Not only can these people NOT take down a correct address or send an email, but they are rude and unprofessional (not to mention STUPID… How is insulting me going to inspire me to pay you a debt that I have already paid?)
To anyone who has to deal with these scammers, I advise you to fight these people because there is something VERY wrong with their business practices.

MANAGER JEFF SIMONSEN BELITTLES EMPLOYEE IN FRONT OF STAFF!!/THEY ALLOW EMPLOYEES TO SELL BOOTLEG DVDS AND «LOOSE» CIGARETTES TO BE SOLD ON PREMISES! I recently worked for Malcolm s. Gerald and if you think debtors are treated bad, get this one: I am an experienced collector. I was trained for 2 days, then put on the floor. Mike Lorenzen, my manager did nothing but rudely criticize my work. The final straw was that I told a lady she had plenty of time to get copies of a bill from the client.(not unfair, right?). He said that was demeaning. Jeff came by to see what was up. I said the debtor wanted copy/​billing. He said just tell her she had plenty of time for that. When I expressed that they need to get their facts straight instead of demeaning me when I’ve only been there 2 days, he said loudly so all my coworkers could hear (in so many words, not verbatim): you can’t talk that way to us on the floor, if you don’t like the way we do things, you can take a walk! I went in to talk with Perry Krillis, the director, to express my disdain of this intolerable embarrassing matter, and he said what he thought I wanted to hear to prevent me from leaving. It’s also the only company I’ve ever worked at full time that doesn’t offer an am and pm break. He said breaks were previously abused and that he has an office full of kids working for him. I said I see no kids, he said many are 18 – 19 years old. Why should I have to be treated like a child because they can’t hire a mature staff? I needless to say left very upset, because I finally got a job that I thought would be permanent only to be again unemployed. This company goes overboard with kindness for the debtor and following the FDCPA. They don’t, however send initial letters to most debtors to verify the account is in their office. But I think it’s somewhat crap. I’ve read many complaints, and you have to consider that not paying a bill due to irresponsible financing isn’t the creditor’s fault. When accounts are charged off, it hurts the economy. Granted credit card companies pray on these natural human deficiencies, but me? I have no credit! I either save up, use layaway or do without. We never know what life has in store, and to put oneself in 100’s or 1000’s of dollars in debt is just plain dumb! Yes this company sucks. Summary: 1. they treated me, who isn’t in debt, worse than the people who basically stole money by not making any effort at all to repay the money (many accounts have been with several agencies before being placed here), thus contributing to the bad economy we’re in. 2. Have an immature untrustworthy staff, thus mistreating those like me who ARE mature and responsible. 3 THE CLINCHER: They allow the sale of bootleg DVDs and loose cigarettes to be sold on the premises! Give me a break, it’s an office, not the street or ghetto!

I bought a new phone and new phone number, the latter of which I infer belonged to someone with financial difficulties. Malcolm S Gerald & Associates contacted once during a business meeting.
I didn’t recognize the number, called back and asked an operator to remove me from the list. The secretary took down my number and advised me I would be removed within a 24 hour period. I had worked as a telefundraiser and customer service representative, and knew most automated systems prevent the same number from coming up more than once every few days. Key word: most. I received another call from Gerald and Associates while speaking with a business associate barely three hours after the first call.
Persistence impresses me in most professional settings, but the company was disrupting my ability to do business. I knew the customer service department hadn’t programmed their computer and called back smiling with gritted teeth.
I spoke to the same secretary. She said my number was removed from the system, but nevertheless iwould take 24 hours before I would stop receiving calls. I asked her how many more phone calls I would receive, which she said there was no way of knowing. Their computer decides that 24 hours in advanced…
The secretary offered to let me speak with a supervisor… and transferred to someone’s voicemail. I called back – annoyed at this point – , explained she had misdirected my call and asked to speak with a manager.
The supervisor – James, I think – told me he absolutely could not stop the calls, restated my number had been removed from the list and recommended I ignore the number if I was phoned again. Again, I was told there was no way of knowing how many calls I would get.
I attempted to explain to him that I had previous experience with these systems, and knew there were ways to circumvent the system or add a note not to call the person.
The manager interrupted me three words in and proceeded to speak over me. Once he had finished, I asked to speak to «his supervisor.» James pulled a classic, but misdirected, customer service lined and told me «I am the manager.»
That elicits a chuckle from me most of the time, but I had worded my question to avoid such a response. I had meetings the rest of the afternoon and couldn’t afford a barrage of collection calls interrupting my day.
I asked to speak with the owner or whoever he reported to, to which he responded «I will not do that.» In past customer service calls, I’ve spoken to Vice Presidents of Marketing by asking to speak with superiors until I had the right person to address my concerns.
The manager interrupted me spoke increasingly louder to the point that I had to raise my voice to be heard. He asked, «Do you want to talk to me or are you going to holler at me?»
I explained to him I could write about this on Unilocal,City Search and business review outlets on the internet if his rude behavior persisted.
After he settled down a bit, I explained I can’t keep my phone on silent the rest of the day, to which he responded, «If you have a decent phone you can hit a button and send the calls to voicemail.» I’m not spending the rest of the day with my hand in my pocket waiting to re-​direct the calls either.
I only give out my phone number to select few business and personal associates of level mind and good judgement to prevent unnecessary interruptions. That way, if I receive a call during a meeting, I know to excuse myself because the unanticipated matter requires immediate attention.
The manager became hostile; I uttered words best kept out of the reading range of children and hung up incensed.
I hope the system administrator of the financial service reads this review and adjusts their automated software appropriately.