I thought I would ignore the calls..

[geye]

Do you think if I start giving out my cell phone to those that call, that they'll quit calling the home phone?
I found a wonderful thing on my cell yesterday, after Citi started calling every hour the entire weekend. I can store the number and assign it "mute" as a ring tone so my other calls still ring through normally

[ssmdem]

They'll keep calling that home phone too. They're going to call whatever numbers they have. They have my home and my cell and asked my husband the other day if we had any other contact numbers. Uh yeh, like we're going to give you another number to ring 4-5 times a day. I did the same thing with the numbers on my cell phone with the mute -- but one of them (pretty sure it's Chase) is also calling from an UNAVAILABLE number, and it's impossible to mute that.

[Bell30656]

The easiest way to decrease the number of calls is to just answer the phone. The collectors will ring your phone every 15 minutes all day if you are avoiding them. They will call every number they have for you. Some collectors will do a reverse address search on 411.com and call your neighbors in an attempt to locate you. They will call anyone you've listed as a reference. If you live in a small town they will call people with the same surname as you.

Simply pick up the phone when it is ringing, confirm you are the party they are seeking and then tell them that you will not discuss financial information over the phone. Then follow that with a "Have a nice day.". With a click thereafter.

I say this from experience. Nothing surprised me more than a neighbor at a cookout mentioning that Susie from NCO called his house ton leave a message for me. Susie got a return phone call but I don't think she wanted the call she got. After that and a couple voice mails left for me at work I quickly became very unfriendly with collection agents and never avoided the calls.

[geye]

Thought about doing that, but when the last time the lady was rude to me and claimed I was over 30 days past due (at 8 days past my very first missed payment) and said she would be escalating the issue if I didn't make a payment right that minute, I hung up and decided to let them call the world. Since they're going to call back even if I answer, at least I can not be lied to.

[JoJoCal19]

What I did was add a line to my cell phone family plan at $10 a month. Every single creditor I have changed the phone number about a year ago to this line. The phone sits on my office floor on vibrate I actually had done this because I decided my primary cell phone number would only be for friends and family so for the past year or so Ive been using that number for any creditors. Now that Im in the boat where Ive come late on a few bills I dont have to worry about my cell phone. And of course no house phone so no issues there.

[Bell30656]

Notice she said that she was going to escalate the issue but nothing specific? That is because the FDCPA says that they can't threaten any actions that they do not plan to take. Escalate the issue means nothing. That means tomorrow they'll give the case to Bertha... She's the meanest collector around. Or they'll toss it on the highest stack and get back to it next week.

My favorite caller is the one that tells me that this debt MUST be paid by 5:00 PM today. I get all excited and ask what happens at 5:01??? Do you turn into a pumpkin? Can you call me back at 4:59 so we can count it down together??

Do you know what happens at 5:00? The debt collector punches out on the time clock and heads for home. Nothing else. Debt Collectors are trained to seize control of the conversation. They can't stand a debtor that won't play along. Someone that is not scared of their promises to decimate your credit report.

The worst any of these people can due is file a suit against you. If you already have one foot in the bankruptcy court and the other on a banana peel what is a suit going to change? It takes a long time from filing to judgment and costs the creditor legal/filing fees that they only get back if they collect from you.
Biggest Point: DON'T BE AFRAID OF THESE WEASELS ON THE TELEPHONE.

[scrapiron53]

I get calls all day long, at first it was every hour on the hour, now 3 months later it's about every 3 hours. I don't answer them. I am waiting for a letter so I can write one back with a cease and desist calling and note the Fair Credit Collections Act. I am holding out until October to file because of the 6 month look back. My income is off 40% from a year ago. The creditors don't care and have no mercy. my nerves are wearing thin. It hasn't went to collections yet but I imagine that as soon as it does I have about 3 months before they file a lawsuit. C'mon October, get here so I can file.

[Bell30656]

I don't know abbot your court system but ours is quite backed up. I was served Nov 2007, Feb 2008 and Nov 2009 on lawsuits. I filed Dec 2009. At time of filing none of the cases had made it to judgment yet.

They only call every three hours because you don't answer. The collection agent knows you are there. That's why he/she calls back. Answer the call, verify it's you then tell them goodbye and hang up. Piece until the next day. Some times even longer. They can't make you speak to them.

Don't hide from the world just because you owe some money. Be assertive and in control.

[nickifan]

[QUOTE=Bell30656;424172]Notice she said that she was going to escalate the issue but nothing specific? That is because the FDCPA says that they can't threaten any actions that they do not plan to take.

AH...SO IS THAT WHY THERE ARE ALL THE "MAY" BE DONE LANGUAGE IN MY FED EX LETTER?

My favorite caller is the one that tells me that this debt MUST be paid by 5:00 PM today. I get all excited and ask what happens at 5:01??? Do you turn into a pumpkin? Can you call me back at 4:59 so we can count it down together??
.[/SIZE]

This is hysterical. I love it. I've had some messages on VM that I "must" call back by 7 p.m. (mine are more generous or don't get paid overtime, I guess.)
I can't imagine clients respond well to such commands rather than "please call." Although Wells Fargo Financial (to whom I only owed about $400 when this all started, one of the lowest amounts) calls so regularly you'd think it was 40,000. Their callers are very polite though and say lots of "please calls" <G>. But I don't.
I understand Bell's point -- early on I talked to everyone at least a few times so they know I'm "me." But at this stage I don't want to say ANYTHING until I can tell them I have an attorney. I can't imagine setting up a "rapport" such as he (?) described about chatting about the Braves or whatever. I know -- mainly from reading here -- that THEY DON'T CARE about anything except WHEN AM I MAKING PAYMENT??? So why even pretend to have chit-chat?
So when I'm tired of hearing the phone ring, I unplug it.