CFPB Consumer Complaint Profile
Retail Merchants Associates
What the consumer complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reveal about how this company handles credit, billing and collection disputes.
Data updated 2026-08-14
- 174
- Total complaints
- Mid-range
- 33
- Last 12 months
- 89.7%
- Timely response
- Bottom quartile
- 11
- States affected
The verdict
Retail Merchants Associates ranks #1018 of 3,843 financial companies by CFPB complaint volume. For answering complaints on time it stands at the 18th percentile in the 100+ complaint peer group.
- Debt collection
- most-complained product
- LA
- state with the most complaints
Raw complaint volume, not a rate: larger institutions naturally draw more CFPB complaints because they serve more customers, and a complaint is a consumer-filed record, not a proven finding of wrongdoing.
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.
Retail Merchants Associates vs. all companies by on-time response rate
Every company with 100+ CFPB complaints on file (1,335 total)
89.7% Among the lowest higher than 18% 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 10 in 2024 to 28 in 2025 (2024 → 2025).
Reading this profile
Source: CFPB Consumer Complaint Database
Complaints by Product
Top Issues
Complaints by Year
| Year | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 2013 | 1 |
| 2014 | 4 |
| 2015 | 4 |
| 2016 | 5 |
| 2017 | 8 |
| 2018 | 9 |
| 2019 | 9 |
| 2020 | 18 |
| 2021 | 8 |
| 2022 | 26 |
| 2023 | 32 |
| 2024 | 10 |
| 2025 | 28 |
| 2026year in progress | 12 |
Complaints by State (Top 15)
Company Responses
What the CFPB Complaint Record Shows for Retail Merchants Associates
Retail Merchants Associates draws a geographically concentrated spread of CFPB complaints, filed by consumers in many parts of the country. "Debt collection" tops the product-level breakdown by a clear margin, marking it as the area of greatest consumer friction. Within that category, the most frequently cited specific issue is "Attempts to collect debt not owed" - a useful starting point for anyone trying to understand what goes wrong most often in the company's consumer interactions.
Within the Bureau's 15-day response window, the timely-response measure shows how often forwarded complaints get a reply. This company's rate falls short of the 95% benchmark, a gap that tends to track with more disputes downstream. A formal dispute means the consumer contested the company's response after a case was resolved, a rough measure of how often the first resolution missed the mark. Relief means the case closed with monetary or non-monetary help for the consumer. Both rates sit in the score card above.
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.
Nationwide companies with similar complaint volume or dispute rates
Two CFPB peer sets for Retail Merchants Associates: 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 (21.4% here).
Also handles Debt collection
Other companies with the same primary CFPB product category on file.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many CFPB complaints does Retail Merchants Associates have?
Retail Merchants Associates has 174 total consumer complaints filed with the CFPB, with 33 filed in the last 12 months.
Does Retail Merchants Associates respond to complaints on time?
Retail Merchants Associates's CFPB timely-response rate is 89.7%.
What product generates the most complaints for Retail Merchants Associates?
"Debt collection" draws more CFPB complaints against Retail Merchants Associates than any other product - see the full breakdown above.
What is the most common complaint issue with Retail Merchants Associates?
The most common issue reported by consumers about Retail Merchants Associates is "Attempts to collect debt not owed." All complaint issues are listed above with their counts.
How do I file a complaint against Retail Merchants Associates?
You can file a complaint against Retail Merchants Associates 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 Retail Merchants Associates?
Consumers in 11 states and territories have filed complaints about Retail Merchants Associates with the CFPB. This count includes the 50 states, DC, Puerto Rico, and smaller CFPB-tracked jurisdictions such as Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and military postal codes (APO/FPO), which is why it can exceed the 52 states and territories that have a dedicated state page on this site.