he started speaking in Spanish. This is not even my debt, when I got my # a few months back, I get tons of collection calls for the person who use to have the #. I've called the phone company, what else can I do?
2007-09-20 04:01:59 · 8 answers · asked by A 5 in Business & Finance ➔ Credit
It sounds like you have 2 problems...you are getting calls about a debt that isn't yours...and when you try to communicate this to the people who are calling they can't understand you.
As I see it you have 2 options...change your phone number or block the call. I have a feature on my phone that I dial *60 and it is called call screening. I hit the number 2 and enter the phone number of the person I do not wish to recieve phone calls from...you put in the area code, and phone number, no leading 1. Once you put the number in it asks you to push 1 to turn the service on. Now I no longer recieve any calls from those I do not wish to hear from. This service is free with my phone system, I cannot guarantee it is free with all.
The only other thing I can think you can do is to call the number and keep repeating NO HABLA ESPANIOL (I don't speak spanish). Maybe this will get you to an english speaking person.
2007-09-20 04:24:54 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I see that we have a couple new collection agents here...I've been away for a bit. While refreshing that they are at least trying to help people out, their answers are mostly incorrect and unhelpful.
So first a refresher course....complaining to the FTC, Attorney General, BBB, CIA, or FBI will do you no good. They very rarely assist individuals with collect agency problems. Only when they get enough complaints will they even consider any action. All your complaint will do is end up in a filing cabinet.
And I can't stand any advice telling you to change your phone number?!?! I used to work for the phone company, and the joke was we had a department that was doing all the abusive calling in order to get you to change your number (and pay us $10 each time as a service charge). Why on earth would you go though such an expense and inconvenience because some idiot collection agency can't get their records straight.
So would you like some useful advice from an experienced "collection agent killer"?
1) Do you have the address of this agency or do you know who they are? You have their phone number, that should be enough. Start go visiting a site called http://whocalled.us and see if you can find it in their database.
If not, file a police report, then file a complaint with the phone company for harrassing phone calls.
2) These collection agencies use an auto-dialer to call. Once you pick up the phone it is supposed to connect you to a live person within 2 seconds. It's very, very important that they do this.......it's the law!
Congress passed a law preventing this (see below) and you can take action against these people. File a simple lawsuit, collect $1000. If you are lazy, there are a lot of lawyers taking these cases on a contingency basis.
3) Call them from a different phone number then the one they called you on. They use caller ID, and your info immediately pops up on their screen. From there, keep a log, take names, and demand that they stop calling. Get their address and follow it up with a letter. If the calls continue...yup, another lawsuit, another $1000.
Sometimes I wish I had your problem....I have a lot of fun with these idiots!
2007-09-21 16:38:43 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
This is a very easy problem to fix. I work in the collection industry and I am very familiar with your problem.
First, stay on the line and wait and a real person should come on the line eventually. If not you will hear a recorded message with a number to call.
Believe me the bill collectors calling you dont really want to bother you. However, they did get wrong information somewhere along the way and that is not your fault The resources they use to locate people they refer to as the debtors often varies. They often do use 411 or an online phone directory but normally when they conduct their searches aka skip tracing they use services like lexis nexis or credit bureau files which contain more accurate information. They will ask you to verify personal information like your address or the last four digits of your ss# is because they cannot openly disclose or discuss the matter with a third party...That is illegal and they can get into trouble.
Now to stop the calls for good all you really have to do is tell verify that your address does not match or the last four of your ss# does not match. (note this is not a security risk because they are only asking for you to give a yes or no answer. For example, if your the last four of your social is not 1234 and you say no and you think about it you did not give any personal info. If it is 1234 you then they most likely already have the information and you might want to talk about discussing the matter with them because you are the involved party.
If the information does not match and you are not the person they are looking for tell them to stop calling and legally they have to. If not file a complaint with your attorney general they are in violation of the FDCPA and you can sue them and win. Might be a good idea to record future coversations or at least tell them you are recording the call.
Even if you are the person they are looking for and it has been verified by you legally they can call you at your home number. However, if you send a formal cease letter in writing then legally that have to stop calling regardless.
In addition they are never allowed to knowingly contact you on a cellphone. thats an fdcpa violation as well.
They cannot call you at work or anywhere other than home after you have given a verbal cease.
Hope this helps
2007-09-20 12:01:59 · answer #3 · answered by Kareem H 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Will the phone company give you another number? It might be a pain to change your number now but that would get rid of those calls. They may die down after a while but when the debt is sold to another collection agency, the calls will start over again.
2007-09-20 11:11:31 · answer #4 · answered by bdancer222 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Your number is being dialed automatically by a computer at the collection company. It waits until you answer and then transfers you to the collection person. Next time you get a call just wait a few seconds and then you should hear the person say "hello." Now you're ready to talk to them.
2007-09-20 11:17:19 · answer #5 · answered by Flywheel 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Go to the Federal Trade Commission website (www.ftc.gov) and look up Consumer information on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Under this law, you have the right to tell a debt collection agency (someone collecting a debt for someone else) that it is NOT to contact you again and that you will deal only with the creditor itself. You should do this in writing. You should also order a copy of your credit report to make sure this debt is not listed on it. The credit collector is subject to penalties if it ignores your letter.
2007-09-20 11:24:08 · answer #6 · answered by AnOrdinaryGuy 5 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Get the fax or mailing information for the collection agencies, as well as the account number for the debt they are trying to collect and send them a letter demanding that they stop calling your number. If they continue, you can sue them in small claims court for the maximum amount awardable in your jurisdiction.
2007-09-20 11:11:45 · answer #7 · answered by Cappo359 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
when they call ask to speak to a manager or someone who speaks english and explain to them that you are not that person!
or see how many details they give you about that human then report that company for relaeasing personal information..
2007-09-20 11:14:03 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋