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

[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]

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

[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.

[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.

[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.