Gatestone & Co. is a third-party collection agency based in Phoenix, AZ. Gatestone has received consumer complaints alleging serious violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), including using illegal communication tactics and improper sharing of information. If you have been contacted by Gatestone, make sure you understand your rights before responding.
The harassing company pays our fees.
They’re legit. According to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), Gatestone was originally incorporated in Delaware in 1995, then started in Phoenix, AZ in August 2003. The BBB established Gatestone’s profile page about 2 months later, in October 2003. Gatestone is listed as a collection agency that uses the alternate business names CC Corporation, Collectcorp Corporation, Collection Corp, and Gatestone & Co., International, Inc. The BBB has posted an Alert warning consumers about Gatestone’s collection practices. Buzzfile estimates Gatestone’s annual revenue at $19.9 million and the size of its staff at 175 people.
Gatestone’s website does not tell site visitors anything about its business practices. The home page consists of a “Make a Payment” link, a “Careers” link, and, in smaller print at the page’s footer, a link to a page that contains state- and federally mandated legal disclosures.
The “Make a Payment” link allows site visitors who have received written correspondence from Gatestone to log into the payment portal using a reference number. The “Careers” link leads to a page with a brief description of Gatestone as “a company that specializes in accounts receivable management and business process outsourcing solutions.” There are additional tabs with information about “Training & Growth” and “Path to Success.” As of October 2017, there are no positions available.
Who are we? We are Lemberg Law, a Consumer Law Firm
Lemberg Law is a consumer law firm helping victims of collection harassment and abuse. We are ranked A+ by the BBB. We’ve helped more than 15,000 consumers stop harassment and recover money from debt collectors. Harassed? Abused? Misled by a collector? Call our Helpline today! There is no charge unless we win.
As of October 2017, the BBB has given Gatestone a rating of C+. The BBB has posted an alert indicating Gatestone has demonstrated a pattern of behavior in which consumers are unaware of debts prior to contact, and in which Gatestone uses “intimidating tactics to obtain personal information.” The BBB has closed 29 complaints against Gatestone in the past three years, with 10 closed in the past twelve months. Complaints are evenly split between problems with billing and collections and problems with customer service. In addition, since April 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has received 30 complaints about Gatestone. Justia lists at least 5 cases of civil litigation naming Gatestone as a defendant.
Absolutely. Here are some Sample Cases against Gatestone & Co.
The following Alert is posted on the BBB profile page for Gatestone & Co.:
“According to information in BBB files, this company has a pattern of complaints involving billing/ collection and customer service issues. Gatestone & Co. is a collection company that contacts consumers regarding debt. Complainants allege they are unaware of the debt prior to contact from the business, and the business may use intimidating tactics to obtain personal information. Complaints note after receiving the debt notice consumers request verification and the business may deny the request. Additionally, consumers allege phone calls at their place of employment. At this time, Gatestone & Co is responding to BBB complaints.”
In October 2017, a complainant indicated that he had begun receiving calls from Gatestone. He reported having received 3 to 4 calls in a three-day period. The complainant returned the calls and asked why they were calling, “and each time the employee would not give…any information unless he verified his mailing address.” The complainant indicated that he would “not give out any of his information just because someone asks.” Furthermore, the complainant “finally told one of the employees on 10-03-17 to stop calling…if they would not tell him why they were calling.” Subsequently, the complainant received a letter from Gatestone. The complainant again contacted them to discuss why they were contacting him, but “they would not provide him with any info.” The complainant concluded that, “unless this business tells me what this concerns I don’t want to have any more contact”; that if he is “contacted again he will file a police report”; and that “everyone that he has dealt with at this business is rude and unprofessional!!”
In response, Gatestone indicated that “in all occasions, our agents followed our internal policies and procedures”; that the “verification process is mandatory to make sure we have the correct person on the line”; and that because the complainant “did not want to confirm his mailing address to verify his identity… their agents did not disclose any details about this matter.” The account was subsequently closed after “a balance adjustment for $27.07” and the complainant was notified that he “will no longer receive communications from” Gatestone, and that “further questions or concerns” can be addressed to AT&T directly.
Gatestone & Co.
455 N 3rd St., Ste. 260
Phoenix, AZ 85004-3937
Telephone: (800) 900-4238
Website: http://gatestoneco.com/
Federal laws protect you. The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA) regulates the behavior of collection agencies by prohibiting actions such as the use of abusive or threatening language; harassment; or the use of false or misleading information to collect a debt. The FCRA regulates how collection agencies and creditors report delinquent debts to credit reporting agencies. Additional consumer protection laws include the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA).
But here’s the rub: If you want to enforce your rights, or recover money for violations — you need to sue. These laws provide individuals like you with a means to seek monetary damages in court. For example, the FDCPA allows consumers who have been violated to recover damages of up to $1,000, plus attorney fees and court costs.
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Sergei Lemberg is an attorney focusing on consumer law, class actions related to automotive issues, and personal injury litigation. With nearly two decades of experience, his areas of practice include Lemon Law (vehicle defects), Debt Collection Harassment, TCPA (illegal robocalls and texts), Fair Credit Reporting Act, Overtime claims, Personal Injury cases, and Class Actions. He has consistently been recognized as the nation's "most active consumer attorney." In 2020, Mr. Lemberg represented Noah Duguid before the United States Supreme Court in the landmark case Duguid v. Facebook. He is also the author of "Defanging Debt Collectors," a guide that empowers consumers to fight back against debt collectors and prevail, as well as "Lemon Law 101: The Laws That Lemon Dealers Don't Want You to Know."
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Why won’t the CIBC give me this letter explaining the bank clerk/employees error so I can submit this to the Visa people, Line of Credit people and whomever I couldn’t pay due to lack of money and her errors.
They were the ones who advised me to ask for this explanatory letter because this whole thing affected my credit rating. Now this Gatestone is also calling me at all hours for an unpaid CC.
Gatesstone is an aggresive and very ignorant collections comonay that I have been dealing with nw for over six months. They are trying to collect on a paid CC debt and will not accept it has been paid no matter what I do. It seems to be a call center setup in Eurasia somehwer becasue every “agent” I have spoken to has the same accent. They are extremely rude and even though they say they record calls I doubt it because they have sworn multiple times and have harrased me nonstop. This company should be sued into the ground and forced to be dismantled for how they treat people.
Gatestone is contacting me about a debt that was discharged in Chapter 7 over 18 months ago.
I have the same horrible experience. A weird phone number starting with 877 keeps calling me everyday until I am so annoyed, and picked it up for a few times but no one is speaking on the other side. Finally today this morning, I picked it up and a lady was asking me for my address without telling me anything else. Dude, you need to let me know what it is first, then I can verify if it is safe to continue the call, especially now days there are so many scam calls. But no more information from them. It is just so offensive and so rude like I owned them a million. But literally no debt as I can remember, since I always paid bills off to maintain my credit score.
I kept getting calls from a number with no one on the other end (which is typically a clever scam call that charges you when you dial the number back as 1-800 and 1-900 numbers can have legal connection fees) so I never dialed the number back. After weeks of them leaving empty voicemails I got curious and dialed back. “Gatestone & Co” was the answering voicemail machine. I don’t owe anything. My next step is notifying the city police here to do something if they can. I’m going to check my next phone bill to see if there was a connection fee for my callback first. That way I can tell the police if I’m dealing with a legit collection agency or a scam. Is this site also a elaborate diversion ???? who knows, I don’t trust any of it Haha
I have been getting calls from Gatestone starting at 730 am and through the day. They call and then just sit breathing into the phone! Then I get calls from a computer saying to wait for the next available person and then they hang up! I have called them back and asked who it is they are calling as I don’t owe anyone. I was told that’s a privacy issue ???? when I say that it is them calling me they say they can’t tell me anything and that I should talk to the person calling. Like really? They just sit there breathing into the phone they never say or answer me when I talk. Today I found out that the person they are looking for is not me but someone that even has a different name but they still won’t stop calling so I am disconnecting my phone.
I am with a different collection agency. I have been with them for two months. Everything is on the up and up. Today I received a phone call from gateway about my account they wanted my social and I said no due to the fact that someone else has my account. I was transferred to a supervisor and again wouldn’t tell me anything about why they were calling but wanted the last four of my social. I told her no. I needed to know why she was calling. Said to me that if I would keep quiet she would tell me. Very rude. I hung up. Then called the agency that has my account and was told that anything regarding my account would come from them.
I received a letter from this company dated 08-22-18. They were attempting to collect $59.91 from a closed AT&T account. Ironically the bill for that was issued on 07-27-18 by AT&T as the final bill, & mailed on 08-13-18. I was very baffled why this was all occurring. I spoke with 1 of their people, & then faxed all information to prove it had been paid. AT&T had cashed the check on 08-17-18. All done. On 10-24-18 another unknown call had been placed on my 28yoa daughters phone, & a message was finally left. It was Gatestone stating they were attempting to collect a bill for $59.91. I called them the morning of 10-25-18 to get this cleared up, not so easy. I spoke with 2 people who were not helpful & rude. Final answer was I need to send in the information again. I can play the game, I have all the proper documents, as I am in the line of work that on occasion, I am calling our customers looking for payments. Rudeness never gets you anywhere. You don’t treat every case as if they are in the wrong. Somebody on their end is wrong, but refused to understand.