I'm not a telemarketer!

[Misanthropical]

I am a bill collector, so telling me to stop calling and take you off our list is not going to work.

When I tell you where I'm calling from, you should know it's a company you owe money to, so telling me you're not interested and hanging up is not going to work either.

I'm going to need proof if you claim the person I'm calling for is dead. Yes, really.

I'm going to have a hard time believing that the person I'm calling for can afford to be out of the country till the summer time, if they can't seem to afford their bill.

I'm also going to have a hard time believing the person only speaks some obscure language.

If you try to berate me for being a telemarketer I will remind you again that I'm a bill collector. Yes, I do like my job, thanks for asking.

Here is real novel way to get me to stop calling. Are you ready? It's a BIG SECRET! Are you sure you can handle it? Okay....the way to get me to stop calling is...PAY YOUR BILL!

[GolfCart34]

Here is real novel way to get me to stop calling. Are you ready? It's a BIG SECRET! Are you sure you can handle it? Okay....the way to get me to stop calling is...PAY YOUR BILL!

Hahahaha! That's beautiful! And yet, so true. Why can't more people understand this bold concept?

[Boozy]

I am a bill collector, so telling me to stop calling and take you off our list is not going to work.

Oh that's rich.

"After much consideration, I have made the decision to NOT pay this bill, so kindly take me off your list. Thank you!"

Really? They think this is going to work?

[Auto]

the calls i've gotten from bill collectors have never been for me. they're always looking for someone who has zero connection to me beyond maybe once living at my address before i moved in. or having had my telephone number. or in one case, being a neighbor. (caller wanted me to go next door and ask them to come over so the collector could speak to them on MY phone. yeah, right.)

bill collectors are assholes.

yeah, people should pay they bills. but bill collectors shouldn't use threats and tell lies to get folks to pay up -- which is how they talked to me.

they're as bad as the deadbeats they're chasing down.

[Misanthropical]

I don't threaten anyone, ask them to get their neighbor or lie to them. That would get me fired so fast my head would spin.

We have very strict rules on what we can and can not do. I'm not about to break any of those rules, since the consequences are very harsh.

If you tell us we have the wrong number, we have to send the file out of the system to have someone find the right number.

I'm sorry that you dealt with the scum suckers who don't do their job within the bounds of the law.

I have dealt with those type too, they were never calling for me, but for a woman who had our phone number years ago. They would call up to five times a day. I finally had to talk to supervisor to get it to stop.

[BookstoreEscapee]

so telling me you're not interested and hanging up is not going to work either.

But it's true...or else you wouldn't need to be calling them...

bill collectors are assholes.

Correction: Some bill collectors are assholes.


When I first moved into my apartment in PA I started getting calls for some guy who I assume had the number before me. I assume it was a collector of some sort, since they always left messages on my machine asking this guy to call them back as soon as possible, but never gave any details as to why or what they wanted. They always called when I was at work and by the time I got the message it was too late to call back. I finally got a chance to call back after a couple weeks and half a dozen messages, told them the guy was not at that number, and they stopped calling. So, proof that not all bill collectors are aggressive, law-skirting jerks.

[Chrono180]

the calls i've gotten from bill collectors have never been for me. they're always looking for someone who has zero connection to me beyond maybe once living at my address before i moved in. or having had my telephone number.

I used to have this problem, only on my CELL phone. Apparently in some cases the numbers are reassigned and I would get all matter of junk that was meant for the person who had the number before me. Bill collection, mortgage scams, even personal phone calls. Since I put my cell on the national Do-Not-Call list it helped with some of the spam but for the most part I had to keep my cell turned off 90% of the time for six months to get the calls to stop.

[TheSnakeLady]

the calls i've gotten from bill collectors have never been for me. they're always looking for someone who has zero connection to me beyond maybe once living at my address before i moved in. or having had my telephone number. or in one case, being a neighbor. (caller wanted me to go next door and ask them to come over so the collector could speak to them on MY phone. yeah, right.)

When I was a kid, the phonebook hand four people with the same exact name as my dad, and two with the same middle initial. Apparently one of these dopplegangers was an absolute deadbeat, and the bill collectors would occasionally get the wrong number for John D. Smith (not his real name) and harass my dad instead.

I knew a lady who did bill collections once (she was always doing odd jobs and was a friend of my mom's). Interesting story about that... At one point, some guy crashed into her car but didn't have insurance, and got away without being caught (she never saw his face). At the time, my mom was working in the office of a construction company, and the guy was a worker at the same company. I don't remember the details, but all three persons met up at some point (I think the lady was stopping by to have lunch with my mom and the guy was clocking out or something). The guy found out she was a bill collector and said something on the order of "Hah... She can't be THAT good at it. She never did find me after I crashed her car." My mom replied, "Actually, she is that good. She just did."

[Javarod]

I think some of the problems are how the bill collectors act, I had one leave me a message stating that if I knew what was good for me I'd call him back. I've also been outright called a liar for telling them they have a wrong number (news flash, just because the number is on that record, if you've never spoken to them on it, they might've lied). Generally I don't like bill collectors, they typically either lie or try to be manipulative, ifn I'd see some professionalism now and then, I might better trust them. Oh, and I really hate the companies that are too cheap to use real people, I have one that ifn I answer I get an electronic message asking me to please hold for the next available operator, and ifn it gets my voicemail, it leaves nothing more than a phone number, when it doesn't screw up and get part of that cut off.

[powerboy]

I think some of the problems are how the bill collectors act, I had one leave me a message stating that if I knew what was good for me I'd call him back. I've also been outright called a liar for telling them they have a wrong number (news flash, just because the number is on that record, if you've never spoken to them on it, they might've lied). Generally I don't like bill collectors, they typically either lie or try to be manipulative, if I'd see some professionalism now and then, I might better trust them. Oh, and I really hate the companies that are too cheap to use real people, I have one that if I answer I get an electronic message asking me to please hold for the next available operator, and if it gets my voice mail, it leaves nothing more than a phone number, when it doesn't screw up and get part of that cut off.

Same here. I had some, being completely rude to me, just because I didn't answer. I once had been called a lier, when I had told them they had the wrong number

[Tito]

Here is real novel way to get me to stop calling. Are you ready? It's a BIG SECRET! Are you sure you can handle it? Okay....the way to get me to stop calling is...PAY YOUR BILL!

Amen to that! One thing that I DO NOT miss from my cable company call center days are calls from irate people when their cable was shut off for not paying their bill. Hello!!!! You have to pay for your service! it is not something we give you for free because we just love you so much!!!!

[Gerrinson]

I can't stand bill collection calls. Not that any ever call for me personally, as I am fiscally responsible.

But, when my old roommate and I first moved into the house, we got a new number. One that had belonged to some sort of Christian deadbeat. I know his religion because he made many many pledges to Christian charities in the area and then never paid. Guess who they called?

Over the course of a YEAR AND A HALF, we took an average of 7 collection calls per DAY for this guy (well, once we started counting after the first couple months.) And these were scummy bill collectors, too.

They would swear, threaten, tell us that "your credit will be ruined too, if you don't put him on the phone!" and so forth. The one guy even said he'd call the police and have us arrested because he knew it wasn't the wrong number. And, of course, the lovely lady that called every day and told us either put him on the phone or, if it's a wrong number, then YOU pay it so we'll stop calling. Ummmm, no. When we asked for a supervisor, they'd all just hang up on us. We finally wised up and started asking for the contact information for their legal departments so our attorney could begin court proceedings against them for harassment.

The calls finally dwindled off, only to start up again come fundraiser season. Then all the charities would call and, when informed it was a wrong number, they'd tell us how much Jesus wanted us to give them money. It's funny, but I don't remember that part of the Bible.

Bleh, anyway, needless to say, I can't stand bill collectors (present company excepted, Misanthropical!)

[Sylvia727]

When I was 17, I started getting bill collectors calling me. Around here, a minor child needs a parent to cosign, but they didn't have a cosigner for me. I didn't ring up the debt, it was impossible for me to have a credit card, and I didn't know anything more about it! That didn't stop the jackasses who called me a liar and asked me to prove I was underage. I told them that if their company was stupid enough to loan money to a child, then they deserved to lose it, and hung up. I guess they did the research themselves, because eventually the calls stopped and my credit is fine.

On the other hand, when my parents got divorced, there were some very nice collectors who were very willing to help my mom harrass her ex, and very appreciative when she told them where to find the car they wanted to repo.

[Ayleah]

Third party bill collectors seem to be the worst, which is odd because they have SO many rules and regulations they are required by law to follow. I can only assume that these are small businesses that have no problem being sued, and reincorporating into another entity.

I happen to work in collections for (insert car company) Financial Services, which is first party collections. We have certain rules we do not have to follow, because we own the debt, but we choose to follow them. I suppose that my company doesn't even want the hint of accusation about unsavory business practices, and that's a good thing. I would like to think that most first party debt collectors with major brand names are very careful about how they go about their business, because a customer can sue in a minute if they are actually subjected to the kind of abuse that people associate so frequently with this position.

Yes, will will tell you that if you don't pay your 3 month past due bill today, we WILL send out the repo man, that's not a threat, and it can't possibly come as a surprise. So....

PAY YOUR BILL, (the OP let the secret out!) and we will never have to call you
Or at least, if you can't pay the bill, call us first to discuss the case with us. You'd be surprised to know that in some cases, we can actually work WITH you to help the situation (if it's legit, and not "I didn't have any money because I spent my last paycheck on drinking". No joke, I got that one last week).

[smileyeagle1021]

Oh I get collection calls all the time, my old roommate was a bit of a deadbeat, never worked and was up to his eyeballs in debt. I eventually kicked him out because he never paid rent. Most collecters will apologize and remove me from the list when I say he no longer lives here (for the record he moved into a church run shelter). Some of them though will say they will not remove me from the list until I provide them with his current number... well hell if I know... hey if I had it i'd give it to you because he owes me money too if you'd like to take care of that for me.