NCO - What part of "I can't receive calls at work" don't they get?

[bal_ny]

As instructed by my lawyer, the first time NCO called me at work (on Tuesday) I told them that I'm not allowed to take personal calls at work and that they cannot call me here again.

They just left a voice mail on my work line Don't they have to stop now that I've told them I can't accept their calls?

[EveryDayAdam]

NCO was pretty bad about me getting calls from them at work. I told them explicitly to not contact me at work...and the guy agreed not to. It wasn't until he tried calling me again at home a couple days later and I didn't answer the phone that he started calling me at work again and said to me "I wasn't able to reach you at home, so I am calling you at work".

I told him "So you just admitted to me that you knew you weren't supposed to call me at work, but you decided to call me there anyway, in violation of the FDCPA. You should know that this call is recorded by our phone system, and i'm the IT guy here so I have access to those recordings."

Boy did THAT get him off the phone REAL quick.

He did call me a couple times more after that at home, never at work anymore, and I talked to him a few times...I'd ask for an address to send payments to, and i'd get that. He'd ask how much of a payment, and I would tell him that I wasn't sure how much I could send at the moment since I don't have my financial information readily accessible at the moment "i'd say i'm on my cell phone in my car or something." and then never send a payment...string him along...we'd have long conversations...I was careful not to reveal anything like where I bank or that kind of stuff. Always talking in hypotheticals, etc. Make him think he had a shot...It was fun

Then about 3 weeks after I started getting calls from him, my lawyer finally filed and gave me my case number. It was a real pleasure to call him up...I said "I have some great news I want to share with you that will end our conversations positively, once and for all." Little did he know that by positive, I meant for me and not him!

When I finally told him that I filed BK, he sounded a bit miffed... said something along the lines of "why did you act like you were going to send a payment if you were just going to file..." then he moved on and asked for my case number and attorney's information.

It was glorious!

[justplaintired]

I answered all calls at home once they started in with calls on cell and at work. I figured if I did that it would keep them from calling work. Seemed to work fine. After awhile, I gave our attorney's name and number that worked wonders! They stopped calling all together! Sill haven't filed, but, filing C7 and an attorney answering the calls has ended that nightmare of calls all day and half the night!

[danaf]

awesome story Adam! Thanks for sharing.

I just passed the 4 month mark of not paying. All the phones have been very quiet for the last few days, huge change. Have no idea what's going on.

[EveryDayAdam]

awesome story Adam! Thanks for sharing.

I just passed the 4 month mark of not paying. All the phones have been very quiet for the last few days, huge change. Have no idea what's going on.

Usually when the phones go quiet, that means that the account is in the process of changing hands again. Expect calls from a whole new collection agency

[bal_ny]

I love that story, Adam. I think I'm going to borrow your idea and do the same when I file next week

[Cassiopeia]

The worst ones to call me at work even after I asked them to stop was Home Depot and Dell Computers. What a nightmare.

I never did anything about recording calls or reporting them as at that point I was at the end of my rope and just about to file BK. Once I did, and it was LITERALLY filed (not before), the calls stopped.

Oh just thinking about the trauma of that period of time in my life gives me chills. It was awful.

[ichb]

Have you guys had the experience where someone leaves a message on your answering machine something like "This is a call for John Doe, if you are not John Doe hang up and delete this message, by continuing to listen you acknowledge that you are John Doe. My name is Blah from ABC collections and this is an attempt to collect a debt, any information obtained will be used for that purpose. We can substantially lower your balance but you must call now."

And then, we got several calls from Citibank yesterday but it was an auto dialer and when you pick up they put you on hold.... still on hold....still on hold... and then a message comes on that says there is nobody available to talk to you now we will attempt to call later. It's actually kind of funny.

[bal_ny]

They just called again.

I let him go through his "this is an attempt to collect a debt and the call may be recorded..." speech, then said (in my most cheerful voice) "Oh good! Because I'm recording on this end too! I'd like to remind you that when you called here the FIRST time, I told you that I cannot receive personal calls at work. Yet here you are, calling me for the third time since receiving that information."

I was assured it wouldn't happen again. We'll see.

[Cassiopeia]

They just called again.

I let him go through his "this is an attempt to collect a debt and the call may be recorded..." speech, then said (in my most cheerful voice) "Oh good! Because I'm recording on this end too! I'd like to remind you that when you called here the FIRST time, I told you that I cannot receive personal calls at work. Yet here you are, calling me for the third time since receiving that information."
I was assured it wouldn't happen again. We'll see.

Oh I LOVE that little speech you gave them........good job! Wished I had thought of it. ROTFL!

[EveryDayAdam]

They just called again.

I let him go through his "this is an attempt to collect a debt and the call may be recorded..." speech, then said (in my most cheerful voice) "Oh good! Because I'm recording on this end too! I'd like to remind you that when you called here the FIRST time, I told you that I cannot receive personal calls at work. Yet here you are, calling me for the third time since receiving that information."

I was assured it wouldn't happen again. We'll see.

hehe...if you want to get REALLY creative, go to radio shack and get a phone recorder...they aren't too expensive...maybe $25. Record a conversation...make sure you explicitly tell him to not call you at work.

Then...when you get off the phone, queue it up to the recording and put it by your phone and just wait for him to call again.

When he does, play it back for him. Be sure to mention to him that you are recording this conversation too. You can then say, you are now in willful violation of the FDCPA.

Then you get to listen to him stumble over himself... "er, umn, uh, sorry, it uh won't er uh happen umn again!"

If you can record it all, then it's an ever bigger bonus! Take it on down to a lawyer and file a suit for an easy $1000 :-D

Believe me, If you pursue it and follow through, debt collectors will pay off all your debts by the time you're through

They may try and get hostile towards you as soon as you mention that you are recording...along the lines of "it's against the law for you to record" or some other such nonsense. If they are calling across state lines, then there is absolutely no need to inform them that you are recording, since the federal laws (which allow one party recording) take precedence.

I did record all my calls with them, and have played a few of them back. It was worth the entertainment value alone. At first they seem so demanding and "top dog" attitudes...then when you actually start playing back their own voice to them, they get all apologetic and "it'll never happen again" and "we're so sorry" and blah blah blah. It was great

[jason0618]

I had a couple call me at work when my whole mess started, I advised them not to call my work, and it continued for a couple more days, me telling them "I told you, I can't receive phone calls at work" and them saying "Oh, I'm sorry, we don't have record of you saying that... Then one day I was discussnig it with a co-worker, and he gave me great advice. Next time they called, I said "You DO realize I've asked you not to call, three times, and I work for the sheriff's office, right? These lines are recorded, and very easy for me to pull the recordings..." Havent' had a call since, from any of them.

[southernbelle]

Ask for a name and fax number so that you can fax a request to them for more immediate action. It will give them proof you requested them to stop and you can mail the hard copy after that. I was going to try that, but filed before I could use it.

I love the sheriff's office story though. That's great.

[sisterfunkhaus]

I answered all calls at home once they started in with calls on cell and at work. I figured if I did that it would keep them from calling work. Seemed to work fine. After awhile, I gave our attorney's name and number that worked wonders! They stopped calling all together! Sill haven't filed, but, filing C7 and an attorney answering the calls has ended that nightmare of calls all day and half the night!

The more you answer the calls and talk with them, the more they will bother you. I only talked to one creditor, then never again. The calls really thinned out after a while. Almost 2 years later, we have filed bk with little to no calls in the 6 months preceeding.

My personal philosophy is not to talk to them unless you really can and intend on paying them. Being nice and trying to work with them will get you no where except abuse and heartache.