Do bill collectors find their jobs to be depressing?

Question

I got a call from a bill collector a few years ago when one of my credit card payments was a week late. I never had a late payment before so I was grateful that he reminded me to pay before it went past the 30 day mark and went on my credit report. It totally slipped my mind. I told him that I was glad he called and that I appreciated his help in getting me to pay my bill promptly. He was totally taken aback and said, "Wow. Nobody has ever thanked me for calling before." It made me think that their job must be depressing. After all, they are working to earn a paycheck like the rest of us, but their days are spent delivering bad news to people. I imagine they deal with irate and defensive people all the time.

Answer 1

I manage a finance company. I absolutely love my job and I am not depressed. Most of the time when I speak to people with respect I get that back in return. Occasionally (like yesterday LOL) you get some real "treats". Yes, I hear story after story, excuse after excuse; however, the bill still needs to be paid.

I have some pretty lenient policies on receiving payments, if customers are making minimal payments but still past due, we normally do not bother them too much. Because of that reason, I think it's easier to collect on our accounts.

Answer 2

The ones who do not get depressed are the ones who are able to departmentalize their lives. They are one person when they walk into the office and another when they leave. They build defense mechanisms to not take their work home with them. If they can't do this, they don't usually last very long.

Answer 3

Just as you said " they never get a good response" only cussing and gripping and arguing or people hanging up.
It would have to be depressing, I wouldn't want that kind of job.
They have to be patient people, Or they would get very hateful and say bad things too. poor people, kinda feel sorry for them after you think about it. They have to have a job too and it is just a job to gt paid as any job.

Answer 4

I suspect that most people who are late, are late on purpose. They would not be so pleasant to talk to, especially with some of the "entitlement" attitudes.