First and foremost, the purpose of this review is not to bash GC Services because at the end of the day, it is what it is. I too had a terrible experience with their customer service window in the BH Courthouse. With that said, my gut feeling is that nobody is happy when their $25 fix it ticket balloons into a $1000 fee for failure to appear in court. We all are clearly angry by such an egregious fee, which I am sure is taken out extensively on the reps who are probably being paid minimally to deal with a lot of frustration. I get it.
However, the 1-star rating is not solely related to expectedly poor customer service. The 1-star is primarily due to the erroneously damaging/costly advice that is given by their reps. I made numerous calls to their call center and as I stated above, went to their window. Here were the two options I was given:
1) Pay the fee, prevent your license from being suspended, and forfeit your right to an appearance in court. Payment = guilt. I was dealing with this in late September 2015 and the first available court date was December per GCS. (Side not: This $1000 penalty apparently came into effect sometime after April 2015 - prior to, there was roughly a $50-100 extension fee that could be paid. Apparently either people were paying but still not coming to court. I called every lawyer in town about this. There is nothing an attorney could do for me - they have no preferential ins to get your court date moved up or to squash the ticket with a call. Again, do you due diligence).
2) Have your license suspended and wait for a court date. This was something that just wasn't an option for me.
Not willing to risk digging myself into a further ditch, I opted to pay the fee and vowed to never be so ignorant again as to make the same mistake. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got about the whole process. $1000 fee could really sink someone financially, especially in an economy when many are living pay check to pay check. I know I really worked very hard to recoup that $1000, which was akin to taking that cash and literally flushing it down the toilet. It was that senseless. I decided I had nothing to lose at that point. Here's what I did/recommend (disclaimer - this is based on my experience and situation...if you have serious violations you should probably consult multiple attorneys, do your research, and then create an plan)
1) Evaluate your situation and get all your supporting documents together. If you did in fact rectify the fix it ticket or it was erroneous, make sure you have make copies of the originals.
2) Pay or don't pay, but either way you still can go to court in LA depending on your situation. As I said, I paid, but then wrote a letter to the courthouse attaching my proof of registration, etc. People actually do read these letters which is good to know. I took accountability, said that I paid the $1000 in good faith, accept I may have forfeited my right to court, but would appreciate the chance to be granted an opportunity to present my case in front of a judge.
3) I got a reply via mail about 2 weeks later with a court date in early November. I was told by GC Services as well as a couple of attorneys I consulted that the first court date were early December. Because I mailed in my evidence with the letter perhaps things were more cut & dry. Either way, I got my day in court earlier than told/expected.
4) I appeared, the Judge called me first, I approached the bench, and was told I would receive the $1000 back less the $25 court fee. Total time in court: 15 minutes.
5) Just a few days ago, I received my check from the courts which really helped financially.
I hope this helps anyone in a similar bind. With GC Services or any other "customer service call center" (for lack of a better word), always DO YOUR HOMEWORK and don't take their word blindly. It's on you. Bottom line is the rep for GC Services does not care one way or the other. It's not her $1000 on the line, I doubt he/she gets paid handsomely to deal with irate customers, and they will say whatever it takes to get rid of you/collect the fee.
Frankly, I wouldn't waste my breath to even write this lengthy review b/c I don't see how anyone would give them anything but a 1 star. But, if this helps someone save $1000 bucks or provides some hope to someone who feels there is none in this situation, it was worth the effort. Good luck, stay calm, keep your composure, and let's all make sure we check our mail/don't make the same stupid mistakes again!!!!! read more