GoddessDustyGold
Posts: 2822
Joined: 4/11/2004
From: Arizona
Status: offline
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: Zensee
What are they calling about anyway?
Z.
Frankly, I would like to have more details on that side of the story also. It could make a difference in the advice you receive or the resources to which you are pointed.
I noted that you mentioned in one of the posts that they are calling constantly and that you (or your mother?) do not owe them any money. I am going to take a leap here and guess that this is some sort of collection attempt, valid or not.
I used to work in high end collections for many years, but also years ago, so I will try to give you some info on that.
If it is a collection matter, they are not leaving messages because as soon as they do, they are not allowed, under the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act), to call back for 3 days. I am surprised to hear that you hung on on one caller and he immediately called back. S/he would get by with that based on the fact that they were refused an opportunity to speak with the party they were actually trying to reach. Generally speaking, in the early part of a collection (30 - 90 days) you are getting calls from little more than automatons who are trained to connect via a random dialer system and ask for settlement to bring an account current. They are not dialing the numbers at all. They are reps who have been trained in the lowest, and considered the easiest, end of the collection spectrum. The call connects, the account screen pops up, and that rep is the next one in line to try to get the money! If they do not leave a company identification and a phone number for a return call, whether directly with a third party or on an answering machine, they are not obligated to honor the 3 day call back rule. I am also jumping to this possibility since the callers are rude to you and refuse to disclose any information and also ask to speak to your mother. They are not allowed, by law, to disclose anything to any third party other than a name and a number for a call back and that it is a "personal business matter". The same rules apply to phoen messages left on voice mails or answering machines.
If the above is the case, then I would suggest that you be very polite, or your mother, (just bite your tongue to get the info you need). If your mother wants you to be on the phone with her, she can authorize that, and you can assist her in keeping the conversation productive and extracting the information you need. Get account numbers, circumstances of the matter (product, amount owed, date of purchase, last payment received, payment plan, etc.), name of representative, location of representative and any employee ID number as well as a specific department name. WRITE IT ALL DOWN AND REPEAT THE INFORMATION BACK TO CHECK UNDERSTANDING AND VERIFY THAT YOU HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED. You should also write down the date and itme of the conversation. If the company is legitimate, they should have no problem with this. If they refuse, make a note of the refusal. You should always have the name of the party to whom you are speaking before you even begin getting into the "polite" conversation. Get an address where you can mail a letter. If you mail a lettter stating "no calls at work or home" they have to honor it and not call you. They are now stuck with the good old US Mail system. If this is a fraudulent effort to collect money you do not owe, you must get the information necessary to contact the Attorney General of your State. Find out what you need and take the time to fill out the necessary complaint. They will handle it from there and you will also have a record of the harrassment. If you are sending a letter to the company with a provided address, keep a copy of the letter, and also send it "Certified/Return Receipt Requested". Someone has to sign for the letter and you have a paper trail. It means taking an extra few minutes at the post office and paying a few extra dollars (Maybe $5), but it is worth it. (How much time and energy are you already spending taking or trying to ignore these calls?) Also, as an FYI, you are seeing different numbers, because large compaies like Gateway have many lines, and it just depends on which line is picking up the next ramdomly dialed number in the system.
In matters of collection, the National or State "Do Not Call" lists are not applicable. They are only meant to stop junk solicitation calls, and don't work well for that anyway. I am just a sick as everyone else (and I have a blocked number and am on the "Do Not Call" list!) of receiving calls that are often prerecorded solicitations. They are hard to stop.
If they are calling to solicit for business, then you have a simpler case for harrassment. Again, you would keep records and then go to your State Attorney General to put the official wheels in motion. As to recording a call, you need to check your personal state laws. In Az we do not have to inform the other party. Only one person needs to be aware that the call is being recorded and that person is usually the one doing the recording. So it is fine here. If it is not, then you do need to immediately disclose that you are recording the call. They might hang up. But it doesn't stop them from calling again an hour later. So log these efforts on your part.
Basically, it does you little good to scream and cuss and refuse to talk to them. It is always better to be sweetly polite for the time needed to extract the information you need, and then go in for the kill. And it could be that someone else has falsely used your mother's information to purchase something fraudulantly, which is now in default. I have been offered computers by Gateway for a monthly or weekly payment plan (it is ridiculous) but they do go after people with easy qualifying plans and a seductive sales pitch. You need to find out what is going on here.
I haven't worked in the collection field for some time, and I handled the higher end pending charge-offs and frauds. But we were seriously bound by laws regarding this. I am sure the same or very similar laws are still in place, and you should take advantage of the protection.
Good luck!
< Message edited by GoddessDustyGold -- 2/16/2008 10:17:12 PM >
_____________________________
Dusty
They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety
B Franklin
Don't blame Me ~ I didn't vote for either of them
The Hidden Kingdom
|
RE: STOP CALLING ME!!!!!!!! - 
Profile
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread