Universal Fidelity employed both of my sons. Two years ago, one of them was fired for inadequate work performance. They placed him on an account with uncollectable debts that had already circulated through several other debt collection companies. A year later they admitted no employee had succeeded on the account and they had given the account up and 'apologized'. He was re-employed.

Universal Fidelity gives their employees bonuses for surpassing company expectations. At the beginning of last month, both sons were due significant bonus checks. Universal Fidelity fired my other son, saying he had used profanity on a collection call. This sounds like a sound reason, until the fact is taken into account that the caller had hung up on him, and my son was basically using profanity to a dead line, which was being monitored. Even though he had already earned his bonus from the last month, Universal Fidelity withheld the bonus because they made up a 'convenient' rule that if you are not employed when it is time for the bonus checks to be written, you don't get it. However, they magnaminously sent messages to him that he should reapply in 'a couple months' and they would rehire him.

My other son was doing very well on his accounts. He expressed fear that he (likewise) would be fired because the company owed him almost $ 3,000 in bonus money for the month of July, and he had openly expressed his dissatisfaction about the scam perpetrated against his brother the prior month. Sure enough, he was fired today. Universal Fidelity just pocketed his money. How convenient and timely. He had collected more money than any other collector in the agency. He had just received a commendation from Texas headquarters that month for exemplary performance in the collection of defaulted student loans.

If you don't collect enough money, you're fired! If you collect too much, you're fired because Universal Fidelity has invented a handy rule to confiscate your money if you earn too much, retroactive to the time you earned it! This is definitely a RIP OFF and morally and ethically wrong. Can anyone offer advice on how to deal with this?

Becky
Marysville, Ohio 43040, Ohio
U.S.A.

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You can file a complaint with your state Employment office, http://ohio.gov/working/ See the Employee Rights section.

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__________________
FRAUD: RECOGNIZE IT. REPORT IT. STOP IT.
Rip-off companies - FTC.
Phone harassment by Debt Collectors - FCC.
Banking issues, like ACH problems - OCC.

Look!

I am aware of many of Universal Fidelity's illegal practices. If you are worried about being sued then know this. UFLP does not have the right to sue unless they have permission from the creditor. Only a handful of their creditors give them the right to sue on their behalf. UFLP will probably not sue if the amount owed is less than $5,000. The amount in legal fees will outweight the amount of the debt. Therefore, it would not be advantageous for them to pursue litigation. Yes, they will most likely threaten you with litigation, but that will violate the FDCPA if the creditor has no intent to sue. At this point, I suggest you record their threats of litigation becuase your rights would have been violated.

Get an Attorney! UFLP would most likely settle out of court with you because they do not want to get their insurance company involved. So, if the amount you settle on is less than $20,000 then most likely they will settle with you around $10,000 or $11,000.

You have to beat these guys at their own game....Record the messages or conversations you have with these guys.

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Oddly enough i worked there then, and the first son had been warned.. several times about his phone conduct. it was horrible to say the least. bordering on racist. he used up all his chances he had to be released before someone sued. The latter son-he cam in and did well the first month and was paid his bonus...after that he had beat up everyone who wld be intimidated into paying that he cld- he wldnt work with anyone and just wanted them to magically come up wit the thousand they owed. he then started to just take the whol thing as a joke. and he deserved to be fired. If you dont beleive me...ask Cyrus. he continued to succeeed and work there.

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i have no idea of what the person is saying however, the usage of the line
"we will take further action" or variances of this line is VERY subjective. it could mean.. we will just continue to call. but can be construed as a legal threat. such as by a person who owes a debt and is scared of someone taking legal action.

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Universal Fidelity is a terrible collection company. They will not send the payment they take from your account to the original creditor and they will give you excuse after excuse as to why the money hasn't been transferred. It would better for you to make an arrangement with the original creditor to send them the money directly otherwise you'll be waiting around for two months, constantly calling to find out where your money is and why your account hasn't been paid off.

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