Client Review on GC Services, LP

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Advice: NEVER EVER EVER use this company to schedule your court date!! Go directly to the court and do it!! GC Services will use the court date as leverage to try to get you to pay outrageous amounts and will NOT help you in ANY WAY try to resolve things with the court. They are ONLY out to get as much money from you as possible!Here is my experience: I got sent to collections over a fix-it ticket payment that wasn't sent correctly after we moved. From a $25 original fine up to $847 and my license got suspended because I never received the letters. This company told me that I could either set a court date to dispute the ticket (I didn't want to dispute the original ticket, just try to get the fine lowered) OR they could set a court date for me. BUT if they set a court date it would be at least 6 weeks away and I couldn't get my license back until after the court date. If I paid the amount in full, or set up a payment plan, I could get my license back immediately. Could I pay the fine AND set a court date to try to get the fine reduced? NO. Could I go on the payment plan and set a court date to try to get the fine reduced? NO. Either accept the outrageous amount to get my license released OR give up driving for possibly 2 months while I waited to talk to the court. AND they wouldn't allow me to check to see how soon I could get a court date, the supposedly "had to enter payment declined" in order to even check court dates. I asked for a detail of where the fine amount came from, and they said it had been at $847 since I had originally failed to appear for the fix-it ticket (a lie). I asked what number it was to call the court directly. They gave me a phone number was GC SERVICES! After getting the same run-around with the second person, I insisted on talking to a manager. The manager tried to give me the same story - dispute the ticket and set a court date (possibly months in the future) or accept the fine as it was and get my license released. I asked him what the line items for the amount were (since I am entitled to know in order to confirm the debt amount). HE said when "they got it", it was at $547 and when it goes to them it gets another $300 added. He stated further that the amounts were all set by law and there wasn't anything I could do about it. I said "So, if I get arrested for a crime, I can usually make bail and get out prior to going to court, without having to plead guilty, and you are telling me that a traffic ticket I have no alternatives?? I don't believe you!" ONLY AT THAT POINT did he say, "well, you could go down to the courthouse and talk to someone there and see if they can do anything. There isn't anything we can do here." I do believe he was telling the truth there, for this type of government fine collections, but it shouldn't have taken over an hour and three people and screaming over the phone to be told that was an option. So I went to the courthouse just before lunch, they got me in to see the judge THAT AFTERNOON, I explained what happened to the judge and had EVERYTHING dismissed expect the original fix-it ticket. The judge even didn't charge me the dismissal fees. My advice: don't even deal with this company if you can possibly help it. Go back to the original company you have the debt with and try to get somewhere with them. You will be extremely lucky to get anywhere with GC Services. They are a typical CA, with all the nasty tricks and lies and will screw you over any chance they get.