CFPB Consumer Complaint Profile

Merchants' Credit Guide Company

716 CFPB complaints trace a pattern in how this company responds when customers push back on credit, billing, or collection problems.

Data updated 2026-08-14

716
Total complaints
Above average
24
Last 12 months
99.7%
Timely response
Top decile
35
States affected

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The verdict

Merchants' Credit Guide Company ranks #408 of 3,843 financial companies by CFPB complaint volume, with 716 complaints on record. It posts a 99.7% on-time response rate, the 76th percentile among companies with 100+ complaints.

#408
of 3,843 companies by volume
99.7%
on time (76th pctile)
Debt collection
most-complained product
35
states with complaints
B
PlainCredit Trust Score
72/100
Merchants' Credit Guide Company · 3 of 3 dimensions reported

Based on this company's own CFPB response record -- timely response, dispute rate, and relief rate, each benchmarked against every tracked company with 10+ complaints. Not a measure of product quality, pricing, or company size.

Timely Response B+ 99.7%
Share of complaints answered within the CFPB response window
Dispute Rate D 17.4%
Share of responses the consumer disputed (lower is better)
Relief Rate A+ 26.0%
Share of complaints closed with monetary or non-monetary relief

Merchants' Credit Guide Company vs. all companies by on-time response rate

Every company with 100+ CFPB complaints on file (1,335 total)

99.7% Top 24% higher than 76% of 1,335 companies

companies with 100+ CFPB complaints, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more companies. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Consumer Complaint Database · 2026-08-14

What changed

CFPB Consumer Complaint Database 2024 to 2025 complete years

  • Annual CFPB complaint volume moved from 66 in 2024 to 28 in 2025 (2024 → 2025).

See the full year-over-year release diff

Merchants' Credit Guide Company timely response rate 99.7%
Industry benchmark

Percent of CFPB complaints answered within the regulator's expected window. Industry benchmark sits at 95%.

Reading this profile

Complaints by Product

Debt collection - Medical debt 375
Debt collection - I do not know 130
Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports - Credit reporting 83
Debt collection - Medical 40
Debt collection - Other debt 31
Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports - Credit reporting 23
Debt collection - Credit card debt 12
Debt collection - Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.) 11
Debt collection - Private student loan debt 5
Debt collection - Non-federal student loan 2

Top Issues

1.Attempts to collect debt not owed 253
2.Written notification about debt 185
3.Incorrect information on your report 50
4.False statements or representation 44
5.Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem 35
6.Cont'd attempts collect debt not owed 34
7.Communication tactics 33
8.Took or threatened to take negative or legal action 31
9.Disclosure verification of debt 19
10.Improper use of your report 17

Complaints by Year

Year Complaints
2013 5
2014 4
2015 13
2016 27
2017 58
2018 78
2019 54
2020 80
2021 126
2022 97
2023 73
2024 66
2025 28
2026year in progress 7

Complaints by State (Top 15)

Illinois 456
Texas 75
Ohio 23
Michigan 18
Florida 17
Indiana 15
California 14
Arizona 11
Kentucky 11
Georgia 8
North Carolina 7
New Jersey 6
Tennessee 5
Alabama 5
Washington 4

Company Responses

Closed with explanation 530
Closed with non-monetary relief 186

What the CFPB Complaint Record Shows for Merchants' Credit Guide Company

The CFPB Consumer Complaint Database has logged 716 complaints against Merchants' Credit Guide Company overall, with 24 of those filed in the trailing 12 months. Reports have come from consumers in 35 states and territories, making this a multi-regional complaint footprint. "Debt collection" tops the product-level breakdown by a clear margin, marking it as the area of greatest consumer friction. Inside that category, "Attempts to collect debt not owed" comes up most often - worth a look for anyone trying to spot the company's recurring pain point.

CFPB-forwarded complaints against Merchants' Credit Guide Company draw a 99.7% reply rate inside the Bureau's 15-day window. That clears the industry benchmark, pointing to intake and escalation processes that are working as intended. The company's response carried a 17.4% formal-dispute rate on resolved cases, indicating how frequently the initial fix fell short. Resolved complaints closed with monetary or non-monetary relief for the consumer at a 26% rate.

How to read complaint counts

Complaint counts alone do not tell the full story: larger institutions with more customers will naturally generate more complaints in absolute terms. The more informative signals are the direction of the yearly trend shown above, the state-level concentration, and the ratio of monetary-relief closures to closed-without-relief outcomes. Together, these fields provide context for reading the published CFPB record; they do not establish wrongdoing or resolve an individual dispute.

Educational data summary, not financial or legal advice. Individual complaint outcomes vary. Consumers should consult a qualified attorney or financial advisor for guidance on a specific dispute.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many CFPB complaints does Merchants' Credit Guide Company have?

716 complaints have been filed against Merchants' Credit Guide Company with the CFPB overall - 24 of them in the past year.

Does Merchants' Credit Guide Company respond to complaints on time?

CFPB complaints against Merchants' Credit Guide Company draw a 99.7% timely-response rate inside the expected window. That puts it among the more responsive companies in the CFPB dataset.

What product generates the most complaints for Merchants' Credit Guide Company?

"Debt collection" draws more CFPB complaints against Merchants' Credit Guide Company than any other product - see the full breakdown above.

What is the most common complaint issue with Merchants' Credit Guide Company?

The most common issue reported by consumers about Merchants' Credit Guide Company is "Attempts to collect debt not owed." All complaint issues are listed above with their counts.

How do I file a complaint against Merchants' Credit Guide Company?

You can file a complaint against Merchants' Credit Guide Company directly with the CFPB at consumerfinance.gov/complaint. The CFPB will forward your complaint to the company and work to get you a response, typically within 15 days.

In how many states have consumers complained about Merchants' Credit Guide Company?

Merchants' Credit Guide Company has drawn CFPB complaints from 35 states and territories. That figure covers the 50 states, DC, Puerto Rico, and smaller CFPB-tracked jurisdictions (Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, military postal codes), so it can run higher than the 52 states/territories with a dedicated page on this site.

Nationwide companies with similar complaint volume or dispute rates

Two CFPB peer sets for Merchants' Credit Guide Company: nearest financial companies by total complaint volume and by the share of complaints consumers mark as disputed. These are cross-firm neighborhoods, not the product-category list below.

Similar dispute rates

Nearest companies by share of complaints marked disputed (17.4% here).

Also handles Debt collection

Other companies with the same primary CFPB product category on file.

Source: CFPB Consumer Complaint Database Data through March 2026