Damn Debt Collectors

Jells2dot0 · October 2014

Some chick named Stacy Bradley gave someone my phone number and then decided not to pay her bill. So, now the debt collectors are repeatedly calling me, interrupting my shows and naps. Of course, they don't believe me when I say I'm not her. I've had the same phone number since 2005, so not sure if she just randomly chose some numbers or the vendor wrote it down incorrectly.

Confession- I was secretly hoping they were looking for DH's ex. She has a ton of creditors after her and DH just happened to leave his cell phone home. I would have gladly looked up her phone number and provided it to the collector.

KatieinBkln · October 2014

That is so odd. I wonder what a person could even DO about that? They're never going to get their money if they keep calling you. I wonder if there is some kind of harrassment/no call list you could go to to have them back off?

holyguacamole79 · October 2014

"Do not answer the phone, it's Derek Smeath!"

beethery · October 2014

We get calls at the office from debt collection agencies offering their services. Some of them are so fucking professional when I deal with them that I legitimately wish we were owed money so that I could work with them. Others, however...

I work with my parents. We have a family business. This one motherfucker kept calling the office because he wanted us to use his services, and he was a fucking asshole every time. He was a ginormous douche to the point where HE CALLED ME A BITCH as he was hanging up the phone after I told him, "No, we have no need for the use of a collection agency right now, thank you!" when he'd been a raging twat for the duration of the call.

The next time he called, I told him he could go fuck himself and I will report him if he keeps calling to harass us to use a service we don't fucking need. As soon as I saw his number come up on the caller ID, I'd hang up on him.

I moved to GA for a while. Business ended up having a customer with an account that needed to go into collections. What do my parents do? THEY TELL THE DOUCHEBAG TO COLLECT.

Would you believe that he wasn't successful? What a fucking concept!

KatWAG · October 2014

Same thing happens to me. When H and I got married I got a new phone number when I was added to his plan. A few weeks later I started getting calls from debt collectors and some woman named Patricia's patients. For the first year I nicely told everyone wrong number. Then after a year I finally asked who they were trying to reach. Thanks to google, turns out she is a chiropactor a few towns over with bad patient care and spending habits. Those debt collectors would get sassy with me. I wonder if they ever got there money.

I was so tempted to call her office and let her know she owed a ton of money and had patients who were trying to reach her.

princessleia22 · October 2014

I believe that if they are told they have the wrong number, they legally are supposed to back off or you can sue them for harassment. Unfortunately, many collection agencies don't care one bit about legal collection methods or laws. Next time they call I'd ask them for their mailing address so you can have your lawyer mail them a cease and desist letter, in preparation for your harassment lawsuit, since you have already stated to them that they have the wrong number and should not being calling you anymore. Just stating that may be enough to make them stop.

A few years ago, I had been laid off work and got behind on a credit card. They repeatedly called my mother, since I had stopped answering my phone when they called. I didn't want to deal with them since I had no income and therefore had no way to pay them anything at that time. Mom wasn't on the credit card account but was a bank account I had through the same bank. But since she wasn't on the card in question, they had no right to repeatedly call her. Legally they are allowed to contact family once to obtain your correct contact info... once she confirmed that they had the right phone number, any further contact was harassment and could result in a lawsuit for them. They never called her again after I mentioned that to them.

If they are calling on your cell phone, save them to a "don't answer" contact (mine is titled "Ignore") and set it up with a better/less annoying ringer. You can actually download a silent ringtone, so your phone won't make any noise at all when numbers saved in "Ignore" call you. Or you may be able to set it to vibrate only or like something quiet pings. Then anytime one of them calls, just save that phone number into that contact. They usually will call from same number. My "ignore" contact has several saved phone numbers, from collections, political groups, charities that repeatedly call looking for money because I donated once... whoever I don't care to speak to. Even if you keep it on an audible ringer, as long as its different than your normal one, you know not to bother digging in your purse or running across the house to answer it when you hear that particular ringtone. That saves a lot of hassle. And I've found that after enough failed attempts to get an answer, they usually give up.

beethery · October 2014

Princess Leia is correct about the Ignore contact number, also if you have an iphone you can block the number directly from your phone.

OOH also, on you can set things to go straight to voicemail. It is a fabulous feature.

KatWAG · October 2014

princessleia22 said:

I believe that if they are told they have the wrong number, they legally are supposed to back off or you can sue them for harassment. Unfortunately, many collection agencies don't care one bit about legal collection methods or laws. Next time they call I'd ask them for their mailing address so you can have your lawyer mail them a cease and desist letter, in preparation for your harassment lawsuit, since you have already stated to them that they have the wrong number and should not being calling you anymore. Just stating that may be enough to make them stop.

A few years ago, I had been laid off work and got behind on a credit card. They repeatedly called my mother, since I had stopped answering my phone when they called. I didn't want to deal with them since I had no income and therefore had no way to pay them anything at that time. Mom wasn't on the credit card account but was a bank account I had through the same bank. But since she wasn't on the card in question, they had no right to repeatedly call her. Legally they are allowed to contact family once to obtain your correct contact info... once she confirmed that they had the right phone number, any further contact was harassment and could result in a lawsuit for them. They never called her again after I mentioned that to them.

If they are calling on your cell phone, save them to a "don't answer" contact (mine is titled "Ignore") and set it up with a better/less annoying ringer. You can actually download a silent ringtone, so your phone won't make any noise at all when numbers saved in "Ignore" call you. Or you may be able to set it to vibrate only or like something quiet pings. Then anytime one of them calls, just save that phone number into that contact. They usually will call from same number. My "ignore" contact has several saved phone numbers, from collections, political groups, charities that repeatedly call looking for money because I donated once... whoever I don't care to speak to. Even if you keep it on an audible ringer, as long as its different than your normal one, you know not to bother digging in your purse or running across the house to answer it when you hear that particular ringtone. That saves a lot of hassle. And I've found that after enough failed attempts to get an answer, they usually give up.

MIND BLOWN. Didnt know such a thing existed.

Jells2dot0 · October 2014

KatWAG said:

princessleia22 said:

I believe that if they are told they have the wrong number, they legally are supposed to back off or you can sue them for harassment. Unfortunately, many collection agencies don't care one bit about legal collection methods or laws. Next time they call I'd ask them for their mailing address so you can have your lawyer mail them a cease and desist letter, in preparation for your harassment lawsuit, since you have already stated to them that they have the wrong number and should not being calling you anymore. Just stating that may be enough to make them stop.

A few years ago, I had been laid off work and got behind on a credit card. They repeatedly called my mother, since I had stopped answering my phone when they called. I didn't want to deal with them since I had no income and therefore had no way to pay them anything at that time. Mom wasn't on the credit card account but was a bank account I had through the same bank. But since she wasn't on the card in question, they had no right to repeatedly call her. Legally they are allowed to contact family once to obtain your correct contact info... once she confirmed that they had the right phone number, any further contact was harassment and could result in a lawsuit for them. They never called her again after I mentioned that to them.

If they are calling on your cell phone, save them to a "don't answer" contact (mine is titled "Ignore") and set it up with a better/less annoying ringer. You can actually download a silent ringtone, so your phone won't make any noise at all when numbers saved in "Ignore" call you. Or you may be able to set it to vibrate only or like something quiet pings. Then anytime one of them calls, just save that phone number into that contact. They usually will call from same number. My "ignore" contact has several saved phone numbers, from collections, political groups, charities that repeatedly call looking for money because I donated once... whoever I don't care to speak to. Even if you keep it on an audible ringer, as long as its different than your normal one, you know not to bother digging in your purse or running across the house to answer it when you hear that particular ringtone. That saves a lot of hassle. And I've found that after enough failed attempts to get an answer, they usually give up.

MIND BLOWN. Didnt know such a thing existed.

I did not know about this either! However, another mind blowing fact is that I still have a land line and they are calling on that. So, it won't help me.

I got the point across today that I'm not Stacy, so hopefully they will back off. If not, I'll call our lawyer. I don't need any outside stress from anyone attempting to collect on a bill that isn't mine. I have enough of my own medical bills as it is.

goldchocobo.defunct635829490514903826 · October 2014

Ugh, you guys too huh? We've had a couple of those.

FI's cell used to have a debt collection agency call all the time. His cell number was some guy's old number and I guess he knows how annoying harassing phone calls can be so he ditched the number. Lucky FI! He gets the occasional call now but they have since stopped pretty much. It took years!

FI also received a call on our land line looking for the neighbour that used to live in the apartment beside us, as she owed money but decided to take off to cuba instead with her newborn child (allegedly). To this day we have no idea how debt collectors for a neighbour we never spoke to got our land line number. They haven't called since.

My coworker got repeated calls from the church of Scientology for years because someone gave her number to them. She had to change her number to get them to stop. Scientologists, turns out, are very persistent.

theartistformerlyknownas · October 2014

I used to get calls from a doctor's office (and Friend of the Court) for some chick named Jennifer. I'd tell them they had the wrong number, and they'd ask for the right number. I don't fucking know, I don't know Jennifer! "Well I can't delete your number without replacing it with another number." Um wut? I'm never going to be Jennifer!!

OliveOilsMom · October 2014

I used to get calls all the time for a couple. I would just tell the debt collectors that this was a new number and I don't know who those people are. There was only 1 person who I think didn't believe me, but I still didn't get repeated calls from them. The worse was I kept getting automated calls from DirectTV. I finally waited on hold one day just to get them to stop calling me. After the first year I had the phone number, the calls decreased to about 1 per year now.

lovesclimbing · October 2014

My parents have been having something similar happening. Being election season (with a hotly contested senate seat), they repeatedly get calls for me. At least one a day. My mom tells them over and over again I don't live there any more, and haven't for several years, but they won't stop calling.

[Deleted User] · October 2014

loro929 · October 2014

Unfortunately, there are some debt collectors that have really take things too far and I think its about time there was something anything done in regards to oversight for their really questionable collection methods.

I watched a documentary recently on CC debt in the US and the methods that some companies take to recuperate their funds. It was so horrific that in some extreme cases it led to suicide. Regardless of the fact that some people might owe money that they cannot pay back for whatever reason, to harass people so incessantly is really terrible.

raissyrais · October 2014

Am I the only one wondering how much money is owed?...hehe

loro929 · October 2014

@raissyrais I think it really varies. Sometimes even smaller-type unpaid bills get sent to collections not because of the amount but because of automated processes in accts. receivable (i.e. the system sees Account X that has not been current for X months/years and it gets sent directly regardless of what it is).

PS. in case anyone was curious about the documentary, I just looked up what the name was. It is called Maxed Out and I watched it on Netflix.

futuremrsr2015 · October 2014

We kept getting calls on our landline for FI and of course they would never even tell me who they were for privacy reasons so I couldn't even give him a proper message. I googled the number one day and saw it was collections, he called them back immediatley they asked is this First/Last name?yes, with so and so birth date? Nope. The calls stopped about a week later (but they did say it could take about a week for the system to properly update).

ShellD13 · October 2014

H's ex wife and sister share the same first name and their SS's are only different by the last 2 or 3 digits....their credit reports have gotten mixed up more times than DH can count.

Ex wife also has a spending problem and lots of collection calls - because of the similarities between her name and former SIL's names a lot of the calls end up going to my MIL who after trying to tell the debt collectors the difference (middle name/correct SSN for each) is more than happy to provide them with EX DIL's cell phone number.

But if the calls persist you can also threaten to report them to the Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau in reference to their violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. It generally scares them enough just to say it but to be safe you can always type a quick letter stating the same with an actual CC; to the FTC and BBB.

novella1186 · October 2014

Within a one-week span I had a super drunk lady call me from jail in Florida thinking I was her friend named Tiffany (nope, I'm not Tiffany) and saying she was in a "real bad spot." Then a debt collector called me looking for a dude named Andra Ringo (seriously that was his name). Then a parole officer called me looking for some guy who was in some serious trouble and "looking at felony charges." He thought I was lying when I said I'd never even heard of that guy. I felt like I was in the twilight zone or something. Or some underground crime ring posted my number on their official website and said "use this as your official fake number when you're in trouble."

Jells2dot0 · October 2014

So far, no calls yet. They started promptly at 8am yesterday and it's 8:09 here.

I went onto the Civil Court website to see if Ms. Bradley had any pending judgments against her. Turns out shen and her husband just had a default judgment entered against them in August for ~$4K by a community association. The year prior, her wages were garnished by a local healthcare company for about the same amount.

princessofgenovia · October 2014

Not a debt collector but I had someone call my work phone wanting to sell some crap I don't want or need. She started off "Hi I'm Jane with blah blah company, how are you doing today?" so I sad very nicely "Hi Jane, I'm going to go ahead and stop you right now, this is a work phone number and I need you to place me on your do not call list, thank you" and she goes "Fuck you cunt" and hangs up. What the fuck?! I WAS NICE!!!

I say that same like to telemarketers who call me all the time, they usually just thank me for my time and say they'll place me on their do not call list. Some let me know it might take up to thirty days to take effect because of their system, and I'm like yeah that's cool I've worked in a call center I know you don't really have a ton of power.

I almost called back to ask for a manager but then realized it wasn't worth all the effort and I'm just hoping that call was recorded for training purposes because Jane needs to be trained to react better to being told no cause she's gonna get told no in her line of work a lot.

raissyrais · October 2014

Jells2dot0 said:

So far, no calls yet. They started promptly at 8am yesterday and it's 8:09 here.

I went onto the Civil Court website to see if Ms. Bradley had any pending judgments against her. Turns out shen and her husband just had a default judgment entered against them in August for ~$4K by a community association. The year prior, her wages were garnished by a local healthcare company for about the same amount.

Oh boy. Doesn't sound too good.

Jells2dot0 · October 2014

raissyrais said:

Jells2dot0 said:

So far, no calls yet. They started promptly at 8am yesterday and it's 8:09 here.

I went onto the Civil Court website to see if Ms. Bradley had any pending judgments against her. Turns out shen and her husband just had a default judgment entered against them in August for ~$4K by a community association. The year prior, her wages were garnished by a local healthcare company for about the same amount.

Oh boy. Doesn't sound too good.

Oh, that's nothing compared to DH's ex. We got a few phone calls from that mess, too, but understandably, they were trying to go through family first. She had three judgments against her, one for $12K, one for $40K, and another that we never found out what the total was. I'm assuming at least $10K. So, Stacey has it easy! LOL

[Deleted User] · October 2014

Did not read this entire thread but just wanted to weigh in. My job is actually doing collections for a local credit union. I collect our in house CC, our auto loans (repossessions), deal with our bankruptcies and also our mortgages (foreclosures). While my job is slightly different than the typical debt collection cold-caller, I promise that not all of us are mean or unprofessional! I typically get the same reaction each time I tell someone what I do for work. Its never positive. But I am ( or like to think that I am), really nice to our members here especially if they have fallen on hard times! I actually enjoy my job for the most part ! OH, and I will ALWAYS remove a phone number from our system if I am told it is the wrong number.

[Deleted User] · October 2014

I did have paragraphs!!!!

princessleia22 · October 2014

Michaelacha said:

Did not read this entire thread but just wanted to weigh in. My job is actually doing collections for a local credit union. I collect our in house CC, our auto loans (repossessions), deal with our bankruptcies and also our mortgages (foreclosures). While my job is slightly different than the typical debt collection cold-caller, I promise that not all of us are mean or unprofessional! I typically get the same reaction each time I tell someone what I do for work. Its never positive. But I am ( or like to think that I am), really nice to our members here especially if they have fallen on hard times! I actually enjoy my job for the most part ! OH, and I will ALWAYS remove a phone number from our system if I am told it is the wrong number.

After my lay off, the debt collector from my credit union was really nice and sincerely tried to be helpful. Of course, there's not much that can be done with I am 2 months behind on bills, have no money and no income. And if I did have any money, keeping a roof over my head and eating was higher priority than paying a credit card bill. But, he was super understanding and very kind, at a time I really needed it. And when I did start working again, they were the first one I wanted to start paying back. I knew that they were pleasant to work with and I actually felt bad for falling behind on my debt to someone/someplace that was so nice to me.

So, I know that not all collectors are bad or use hurtful tactics. And I try to be pleasant when I have had to deal with any collectors or any customer service people (as long as they aren't nasty), because you are just doing your job. Most of the decisions are out of your control, so there's no need to take it out on you. As long as you show me respect too... if you get nasty with me though, I'll go off big time.

Jells2dot0 · October 2014

Good news- so far, no phone calls today! Maybe I finally got through to them that I'm no Stacey. A simple Google search of my phone number would clearly show that no one with the name Stacey Bradley lives here.

IrishPirate60 · October 2014

I've had the same number since 1986. Starting about 1990, I'd get calls from someone trying to collect a debt from "Stephanie O'D." I'm an S-name, but not Stephanie. The calls were automated and always included, "If this is not Stephanie, please press XX to be removed from our calling list." Some calls were a real person... Seventeen years later, I FINALLY was able to talk some sense into a real person. No, there's no Stephanie here. Never has been. No I did not change my name from that to avoid creditors. Arghhh.

On another note, one of my former sisters-in-law had the same name as my sister. SIL claimed she was my sister when she got arrested. SIL spent some time in prison after that.

lovesclimbing · October 2014

princessofgenovia said:

Not a debt collector but I had someone call my work phone wanting to sell some crap I don't want or need. She started off "Hi I'm Jane with blah blah company, how are you doing today?" so I sad very nicely "Hi Jane, I'm going to go ahead and stop you right now, this is a work phone number and I need you to place me on your do not call list, thank you" and she goes "Fuck you cunt" and hangs up. What the fuck?! I WAS NICE!!!

I say that same like to telemarketers who call me all the time, they usually just thank me for my time and say they'll place me on their do not call list. Some let me know it might take up to thirty days to take effect because of their system, and I'm like yeah that's cool I've worked in a call center I know you don't really have a ton of power.

I almost called back to ask for a manager but then realized it wasn't worth all the effort and I'm just hoping that call was recorded for training purposes because Jane needs to be trained to react better to being told no cause she's gonna get told no in her line of work a lot.

Wow!! I can't believe she said that!!

I had a call asking me to take part in a survey. I said no, thanks, not interested. she said something along the lines of, "this is important, it's government, blah blah." I said, "I'm sorry I don't have time." She said "this is very important and involves finding out statistics something-or-other bout kids and illness." (Yes, I realize I'm not using quotes correctly since I'm putting in stuff she didn't actually say. No, I don't care right now.) Anyways, I finally said yes, and answered two questions and that was it (didn't have any kids so didn't have to do all the questions) but I wish I'd just hung up on her after saying no the second time.

This is why my H doesn't answer calls from numbers he doesn't recognize. But, I'm a reporter. Although I don't give my cell phone out to many work contacts and rarely use it for work calls outside of talking to co-workers, I do occasionally find it necessary to give it to sources. So sometimes I'm waiting on a call from a source or it just might be a hot news tip, so I pretty much always answer even if I don't know the number.

Chipmunk415 · October 2014

I've some good ones...gather round, grab the popcorn, and pour some margaritas.

I got a new phone plan with DH (then BF) almost 2 years ago, with a completely different carrier from who I had. It was obvious within a week that I had a recycled number. I was routinely getting calls from someone asking for (name changed) "Melissa Small" or her husband, "Rick Small.."

Some of these folks got irate that the number was no longer the Small's. It appears they fell on their luck, and had given up the cell phone number first. They later had to give up their satellite dish, and DirectTV bugged me for 3 months about wanting the equipment before figuring things out. Other collecters were very nasty about how I had to go and find this person for them. Umm, no. I also got calls from their daughter's school about her absences, not enough lunch money, etc. The receptionist at the school got very very pissy with me over changing the contact information, but finally an Assistant Principal got on the line and we were able to straighten out that, despite the mother's handwriting to the contrary, this was not a valid contact number (yes, this continued into the next school year). The most awkward conversation was an early morning call I received (same area code as my parents, so I thought something had happened and a neighbor was calling on their behalf to tell me to come home). It turned out to be from Mrs. Small's brother, who had no idea she'd changed her number, but wanted her to know he was almost into town on his way to visit.

On top of legitimate collectors, there are scam artists out there. One of the worst is a company that calls with an automated message and number to call back. They claim you have a debt with someone or some entity, normally AIG. These guys are verified as scammers on Snopes, and potential victims are directed to contact their state's attny generals office to report it to consumer fraud.

I am repeatedly getting calls from these guys for someone I don't know and who does not appear to exist or have ever had my phone line. Here's where I let Evil Chipmunk out for a break and some play time- these scammers are calling my direct office phone line. As in, my official business phone.

How is this fun for Evil Chipmunk?

I work at my state's attny general's office. I'm literally one floor away from the consumer protection division. So Evil Chipmunk calls them back, gets the person's name, direct line, supervisor's name, and alleged debt owed information, before telling them where exactly they are calling.

Surprisingly, the scam calls have dropped off as of late, but they do tend to curse out Evil Chipmunk, who laughs at them.

Final story will be in another post, this one is long enough

Damn Debt Collectors

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