Merchants' Credit Guide Company (MCG) is a family-owned Chicago collection agency founded in 1896. Most of its clients are healthcare providers, so a letter from it usually concerns a medical bill, though it also collects for retailers and municipalities.
- Type
- Collection agency
- Also known as
- Merchants' Credit Guide Company; Merchants' Credit Guide Co.; MCG Collect; MCG
- Headquarters
- Chicago, IL
- Collects
- medical bills, retail accounts, municipal accounts
- Phone numbers it lists
- (888) 249-4134, (888) 698-5568
- Website
- mcgcollect.com
104 debt collection complaints were sent to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau about Merchants' Credit Guide Company from November 13, 2023 to November 12, 2026. A complaint is a consumer's account, not a finding that the company broke the law. Read the complaints in the CFPB database.
Who Is Merchants' Credit Guide?
Merchants' Credit Guide Company, which uses the name MCG Collect, says it was founded in 1896 by Hervey H. Dorr in Chicago's financial district and that it is still located there, at 53 W. Jackson. Its history page describes MCG as a family-owned and operated business. The company's consumer page calls it "a debt resolution and collections company" and states that it is a debt collector.
Consumers who receive a letter can reach MCG's customer service line at (888) 249-4134. Its main number is (888) 698-5568, and its consumer mailing address is P.O. Box 4630, Carol Stream, Illinois. The site directs online payments to a separate payment portal. Before you pay, confirm that the portal address matches the one printed on MCG's own site.
Why Merchants' Credit Guide May Be Contacting You
MCG's history page says that more than 80% of its clients are in the healthcare sector. Its healthcare services cover early-out billing, pre-collection, contingency collection, and a service it calls retroCAID. It also offers retail and municipal collection services. So the most likely reasons to hear from MCG are:
- a hospital or physician balance, sometimes during an early-out billing stage before the account is formally placed for collection; or
- an unpaid account with a store or a local government.
MCG's consumer page says that, depending on the creditor, it may be able to offer a payment plan or a reduced balance.
How to Check a Debt Merchants' Credit Guide Says You Owe
- Use the validation notice required by 15 U.S.C. § 1692g and 12 C.F.R. § 1006.34 to identify the provider or business and see how the balance was calculated.
- Dispute in writing within the validation period if the bill is wrong, already paid, or should have been billed to insurance or Medicaid. MCG must stop collecting until it verifies.
- Ask for the provider's itemized bill. A Texas hospital or other licensed health care facility may not pursue collection until it has sent one; see Texas SB 490.
- Check that the provider still owns the account and that your insurer's payments were credited.
- Mind the time limit. In Texas, the general deadline to sue on a debt is four years (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.004), and debt buyers cannot sue on a time-barred consumer debt (Tex. Fin. Code § 392.307). Other states, including Illinois, set their own periods.
What Merchants' Credit Guide Can and Can't Do
An agency that collects for hospitals, retailers and municipalities is a "debt collector" under 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6) when it collects consumer debts.
- It may not discuss your medical bill with anyone other than you, your spouse or your lawyer, apart from limited location requests (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(b), (d)).
- It may not report a debt to a credit bureau before contacting you about it (12 C.F.R. § 1006.30(a)). See also the credit bureaus' medical debt reporting changes.
- A settlement or payment plan should be put in writing before you pay.
- Seven or more calls in seven days about one debt is presumed to be harassment (12 C.F.R. § 1006.14(b)(2)).
We did not find a CFPB enforcement action against Merchants' Credit Guide. Contact our FDCPA attorneys if you have concerns about a collector's conduct.
We Sue Debt Collectors That Break the FDCPA
Texas Debt Law files Fair Debt Collection Practices Act lawsuits against debt collectors in federal court for consumers in Texas, California, Illinois, Georgia and Colorado. If Merchants' Credit Guide or anyone collecting for it harassed you, misstated what you owe, threatened action it could not take, or told others about your debt, you may have a claim. A court can order a collector that violated the FDCPA to pay your actual damages, up to $1,000 in additional statutory damages, and your attorney's fees and costs (15 U.S.C. § 1692k(a)). An FDCPA claim generally must be filed within one year of the violation (§ 1692k(d)), so keep your letters, call logs, voicemails and screenshots, and talk to us early. Texas residents may also have claims under the Texas Debt Collection Act. Learn more from our FDCPA attorneys.
Free FDCPA Case Review(214) 851-2250
Or start your free case evaluation online. No lawyer can promise a result; every claim depends on its facts and proof.
Sources
- Merchants' Credit Guide (MCG Collect): home page
- Merchants' Credit Guide: History
- Merchants' Credit Guide: consumer page
- CFPB enforcement actions search
- CFPB Consumer Complaint Database: Merchants' Credit Guide Company, debt collection
This profile is general information compiled from public sources, not legal advice, and it does not state or imply that Merchants' Credit Guide has violated any law. Company details change; tell us if something here is out of date.