Self-Suck: Not my debt, don't call me about it.

[Mystic]

Don't get too pissed at him. Bill collectors have other ways of getting your phone number than asking the debtor.

All in all, I think that you handled the call well, and the collector could have been a lot more sucky.

I'm pretty much over it... this guy has done a lot to piss me off this past year but I'm very forgiving it would seem considering his mistakes and laziness have cost me thousands in the past couple months... that's a rant for another thread though.

In other news, I got Google Voice now so I'll be able to have a number to give to people for this type of thing in the future.

[Raveni]

I'm still a little pissed about this. I don't like people I don't know having my number to begin with because of A: My line of work, and B: Because I don't like people I don't know calling me. I'm more than a little pissed that my friend gave out my mobile number to anyone, but on the same note, he's not all that much of a thinker. :|

I pride myself on having the same mobile number for several years where others have switched out after 2 years or so. I would hate to have to get a new one and have everyone update.

Don't get too pissed at him. Bill collectors have other ways of getting your phone number than asking the debtor.

All in all, I think that you handled the call well, and the collector could have been a lot more sucky.

[EricKei]

re: places "verifying" info: NEVER give out your info. Ask them to read what info they have to you verbatim. Correct it if you feel the need, but, if they're asking you for your social or your card# something when *they* called *you*?...Scam Alert. Tell them to never call back, or just hang up.

Mystic, does the name of this company start with an A? I think I may have dealt with them,

If the second word in their name begins with I...Yeah, I think I have dealt with them, too. Seriously bad rep. They've since passed off the debt to some other place that gave up dealing with me (read: threatening to sue someone who's unemployed, has no assets and has repeatedly offered to prove same), who then pushed it off to Who Knows a whole week later. They don't seem to comprehend that, yes, I would LOVE to pay this off -- or do a special balloon payment to kill the interest -- or settle it for 1/3 of the value...But that doesn't change the fact that I'm on Unemployment and food stamps. Yeesh. Only way I'm getting the dough is if I win the lottery or something...which I don't play ~_~ Relatives who would be willing to help, cannot afford to; those who can afford it, wouldn't be willing.

For those in the know -- how long are they required to keep recorded sessions? They've been calling on my cell phone much of this year (it has been my only number since January, much cheaper), and, in June or so, they called me -- on my cell -- while I was at work trying to deliver pizzas, at Dinnertime. I told them as much and she actually harangued me and stayed on the line to get words in edgewise when I stopped to drop off orders (I refused to respond to anything she said while the car was moving, and TOLD HER THIS). I was never able to get in "this is a cell/don't call me on it" without getting hung up on/yelled over, EVER, with them. If the recording still exists, it alone could nail them to the wall. Even if not, I can get the call time records from cellphoneprovider and compare them with the time records of where I was (briefly) working at the time...

Though, some people are really dense even if they hear my name on the voicemail, they'll keep calling anyway hoping next time, it's someone else.

I've got one better -- I get a call once or twice a month that hangs up halfway thru the first ring, too fast for Caller ID to kick in, no VM, no nuthin. I guess they're just pinging to see if the number is live.

I've also now collected nearly TEN different numbers for the fake credit card "This is account services" scammers. They hang up the second they hear me try to tell them to stop calling, natch. Once, I did play along and asked them what CC company they're with, or when the card was from. I then informed them that I deactivated my last credit card in the year *two thousand*... They couldn't really respond to that. And yet, the morons call me back 2-3 times a week x.x

Being as how I am currently a bill collector (please don't light me up for that)

No worries, we don't hate the player, just the game ^_^ You're just doing your job like the rest of us.

[PepperElf]

i'd suggest lying to them and telling them... "I dont have the money but I'll call you back" or some other way to get them to confess their phone number.

but only if you want to

[Dreamstalker]

One of the 'creditors' is a cable company that the caretaker living in my grandparents' house had TV/internet through and he himself went AWOL after grandma's death (I managed to track down a current address, but mom never did anything with it). That one was discharged...against the lawyer's advice, as he had told the company to 'bring it on' (mom's name was nowhere on the bill and the service was actually in the caretaker's name).

As for the current calls, whoever it is has gamed Caller ID to read only 'unavailable' and there's never anybody on the other end, so we don't really have anything solid to go after. *69 on the last one resulted in a fast busy signal.

[PepperElf]

My mom got scammed by this when my grandmother died even after both I and the estate lawyer told her not to pay anything, he had already told them to GFT. I hate to think of how much they got her for before she decided to (had no choice) file bankruptcy. One of them has now apparently found my number, even though the bankruptcy was discharged months ago.

If they're going after you now can you get the law on them?... perhaps win back your grandmother's money even?

[Dreamstalker]

That's interesting, because a new trick collections agencies are using is to refuse to talk to the person unless their confirm their personal details. I've had a couple of collectors do this.

On the flip side, why should I need to confirm that I'm not who they're looking for (they won't talk to me anyway)?

I have a friend whose parents recently passed away, and I had to remind her that she doesn't owe her parents creditors a red cent of her own money (the estate is a different matter).

My mom got scammed by this when my grandmother died even after both I and the estate lawyer told her not to pay anything, he had already told them to GFT. I hate to think of how much they got her for before she decided to (had no choice) file bankruptcy. One of them has now apparently found my number, even though the bankruptcy was discharged months ago.

This one was a P, but I think I know who you're talking about.

Probably the same scuzzballs under a different name; I've found three that the morons that are hounding me use (the address is the same for all of them though). It's like the spam/scam sites; one gets reported enough times, they close down and open up shop a few days later under a new name.

[Sapphire Silk]

I'm not sure what exactly the situation is, but according to my mom, Rick says that this company is NOT contacting him about anything.....we're the ones who are getting the automated calls and letters. (Mom has given them his cell phone number several times before)

That seems very strange, but then again, I supposed I shouldn't be surprised at anything management does

Wow, these are all such horrible stories. I feel sincerely lucky with my situation now. My fiance is a victim of identity theft and I've had to clear up his credit report for him. In all our experience with it we only got a few phone calls that stopped immediately when we told them to and they weren't nasty. Then I wrote them all letters explaining the situation and they requested verification. After I sent that they left us alone and took everything off the credit report. It was time consuming, but dang I feel lucky now.

You're very lucky. I've known victims of identity theft who've had problems for YEARS. Some creditors will refuse to believe the victim. Sometimes the bad debt gets sold and a new collections agency will try to collect on it. The government has been trying to craft regulations to help ID theft victims, but it's been a slow process.

Keep an eye on your credit report. Some of those charges might reappear.

[notlovinit]

Wow, these are all such horrible stories. I feel sincerely lucky with my situation now. My fiance is a victim of identity theft and I've had to clear up his credit report for him. In all our experience with it we only got a few phone calls that stopped immediately when we told them to and they weren't nasty. Then I wrote them all letters explaining the situation and they requested verification. After I sent that they left us alone and took everything off the credit report. It was time consuming, but dang I feel lucky now.

[Argus]

Being as how I am currently a bill collector (please don't light me up for that) you are correct in that that action is illegal as all hell... we are NOT allowed to give ANY information on the debt (or even that there IS a debt) to ANYONE except the person who owes it (or their spouse in some states). It's collectors like that that make collectors like me (who works for a bank that tries to be decent to people who owe money) look bad... nail them to the wall!

So, when I told a collector from company A that their debtor must be someone else with the same first name and last name (my local white pages alone have a dozen), they should not have read off the debtor's SSN for verification?

[KellyHabersham]

Standard skip trace practice. Rick must have really gone under the radar, and defaulted on his student loan to boot.

I'm not sure what exactly the situation is, but according to my mom, Rick says that this company is NOT contacting him about anything.....we're the ones who are getting the automated calls and letters. (Mom has given them his cell phone number several times before)

[Pixilated]

A few years ago, I came home from work one day and found a message from a collections agency on my answering machine. It was for my neighbor across the street. These people knew my name and address and said that I should go tell my neighbor to contact them about paying her overdue bill. I hit the delete button. I didn't figure it was any of my business and the neighbor and I weren't on speaking terms/

Is that even legal? In any case I agree with the person on this thread whose reply would be along the lines of "That's why your company pays you. Your company doesn't pay me; I'm not your errand person so why don't you earn your salary and go tell them yourself?"

My phone is too old for caller display but even if I had it, I wouldn't bother calling a number if they didn't leave a message.

[CalyCoRose]

I got a weird phone call a couple of weeks ago, and now I'm thinking it was from a collections agency.

BG: Hubs was out doing something or other and he forgot his cell phone so I was answering all phone calls that day. Also, hubs had told me the day before that one of our neighbors 2 doors down from us had ended up in the hospital and his wife was worried (for some reason I thought they were brother & sister.

So I answer a call and some woman is on the other end. At first I thought hubs had gotten into a car accident or something. But then she asked if i knew Devon* and Celeste*. I was like: "Who?" Then she asked if I lived at [home address] and I said "yes" and that Devon and Celeste lived 2 doors down at [other house address]. I said I knew of the house, but I didn't know the people's names. (I really don't ... I'm horrible with names). I said I can't help you and hung up.

Come to find out their names are Devon and Celeste. I felt like an idiot, but hey, I was honest. Hubs thought it might have been a Private Investigator (we get those a lot around here as they are hired by Government and Government contractors to do background checks for the Government & companies. Though, come to think of it, she never did identify herself).




*Not their real names.

[Ryooshi]

My first dealing with collections is why I'll never deal with a certain cable/Internet company. I had bought a condo in the same building that I had been renting in and kept my phone number. Within a month I was getting calls looking for someone I didn't know, but they confirmed the address " so you must know him!". Well, no. I just moved in. Three months and four calls before I told them that they would not reach him here and they just guaranteed that I would never use their services.

[PepperElf]

An hour later I got a very angry call from JP. "Don't you ever talk to my grandmother again!"

Nothing like being upbraided by your grandma over your sex addictions.

Being as how I am currently a bill collector (please don't light me up for that)

Not every story about collections is bad exactly.

I had a call from a collections agent earlier this year. I was upset but not at him for calling... I was just upset that my land lord made *no* attempt to contact me over it directly, despite having been given my new address (it was over the condition of the apartment after I left which was... well my fault there - so I was also upset at myself too). So, I talked to Mr. Collections agent, was told that I would get a hundred bucks off the amount if I paid in 72 hours.

He was polite and professional throughout the entire discussion. He was a bit firm but not so firm as to be a jerk. And, from the stories here I knew many agents have to deal with a lot of flack from people who don't feel they should pay their bills. I think I surprised him though... I told him I'd call him back the next day to make payment (had to put some $ in the bank) and ... actually called him back and paid the bill.

I'm betting however that not all of his calls ended so easily.