I have a common last name, and for about three years I was bombarded with collection calls for other individuals with my last name and first initial. I finally changed my phone listing from my initials to my nickname and have had only collection call since.
I am an elderly retiree. I have no car loan or mortgage. I pay all my bills on time, and I don't carry balances on my credit cards.
No debt collector has ever admitted to me that they got my number out of the phone but, but that's what they're doing.
I would like to see every debt collector tell the individual they are calling the source of their information.
I now have a long list of people with debts in collection. Since I'm not a debt collector, I don't believe that I have a legal obligation not to reveal their names. I do, however, believe that I have a moral obligation not to do so.
Please find a way to keep debt collectors from harassing innocent people.
Thank you.
Corrections: Only one collection call since I changed my phone listing.
No debt collector has ever admitted to me that they got my number out of the phone book.
I had one debt collector in particular who called me a liar when I told him I wasn't the person he was looking for. This was after he violated the FDCPA by calling me at 7:00 on a
Saturday morning. I called them back immediately and spoke with a supervisor who said she'd take me off their hit list. I asked her if she got my number out of the phone book. She claimed that they had not. A few months later, they started in on me again. Obviously they still considered me a liar. I sent them a cease-communication letter with a copy to my state's Attorney General, who has been wonderful in all this.
At that point, I started sending out letters every time I received a collection call, and, other than the one, none ever called me again. But, honestly, why should I have to put up with this sort of thing? At one point I was receiving daily calls from one collector or another.
I can name names, and I have a thick file folder full of copies of my letters and responses to my Attorney General.
It has been a wild ride, and I sure hope it's over. I'm approaching the one-year anniversary of my most recent collection call.
I just wish they wouldn't use the phone book as their primary research tool.
Thank you for providing me this forum.
I am an experienced recipient of collection calls. As I have explained in another post here, I live in a fairly large metro area, and whenever anyone with my very common last name and first initial skips town without paying his/her bills, I'm the one who gets the calls from the debt collectors.
Here are some of my thoughts on these calls, and I have received dozens:
I know that a call about "an important business matter," is a call about a debt. I have received many of these kinds of calls.
Whenever a debt collector calls me and leaves a message without a name, it doesn't take me very long to figure out that the call is from a debt collector. If the debt collector calls and leaves a name, that debt collector is revealing to me, an unrelated third party, that the individual has a debt in collection. I consider this to be a violation of the spirit of the FDCPA if not the letter. Whenever a debt collector calls me, I am burdened with the knowledge that I now know the name of someone else who has a debt in collection.
I've gotten any number of the calls described in #4 telling me not to listen if I'm not the named individual. The big problem with that is that, one again, the name of a debtor is being revealed to me, and then there's the added dilemma of the fact that now my phone number has been programmed into a debt collector's robo dialer. When that happens, the calls continue to come. I always disobey the instructions and listen to the message. I then call the debt collector to report a case of mistaken identity. It's the only way to stop the calls.
In all the collection calls I have gotten over the years, I have received only one message with the "mini-Miranda" warning. When I called the debt collector to report another case of mistaken identity I was connected with an individual in a call center in India. After I told the woman she had the wrong person, I thanked her for the "mini-Miranda" and she hung up on me.
I don't have any answers, just lots of experience. I hope someone finds this information useful.
There was another debt collector that went after me a second time. First they placed me on their hit list trying to get me to pay the debt of a man with my last name and first initial. I told them that they were contacting the wrong person. Then, several months later, they went after me again, this time looking for a woman with my last name and first initial. After the second round, I send them a cease-communication letter, and they haven't called me again.
Why can't we bring back the olden days? I have been a "victim" of debt collectors run amok for over 35 years. Back in the day, a debt was assigned to one collector who would pursue me relentlessly for a debt that belonged to someone else.
Nowadays with the robo-dialers the collection call is assigned to the "next available operator." Why not just go back to the days when only one collector was responsible for making the contact?
Mr. Dan,
I bet YOU never had your phone number programmed into a robo-dialer? I can assure you that it's lots of fun.
Costs too much to do manual dialing? Too bad.
Dan,
I don't really care if manual dialing costs you more money. You obviously have never been subjected to dozens of misdirected robo calls from debt collectors.
To the Moderator,
I do not think that answering 97% of the calls from an automated dialer within two seconds is a solution to my problem.
I would like for Mr. Dan to explain exactly what the safeguards of using a robo dialer are.
From my perspective as a frequent recipient of robo calls from debt collectors, the problem is a lack of ownership and impersonality of the collection agency when the debt is not assigned to one collector to handle.
Years ago when a collector would call me, it would always be the same person. Now it is not.
Assign the debt to one collector who would then take full responsibility for making all contacts with the alleged debtor. This could even include acquisition of location information.
Jim,
I have been a frequent target of debt collectors and their phone calls for several years. The reason, clearly, is because I have a common last name. I do not have any debts.
First, once a debt collector starts calling me, it is extremely difficult to get rid of them. One outfit called me a liar and kept calling. Another went after me for two different people.
Second, yes, a barrage of collection calls can be harmful. Dealing with debt collectors on a daily basis has taken its toll on my physical and mental health. (I'm an old lady.) It has also made me paranoid about my own finances.
I would like to see the CFPB address the issue of their "phishing" expeditions , i.e., trolling the phone listings and calling anyone with a similar name. I was listed by my initials, but with a common last name, I was getting daily calls from debt collectors until I switched my listing to a nickname. There are many comments on this site from people having the same problem, so it's obviously a common practice.
For some strange reason, the folks in the phone centers, react badly when I ask them to explain how my phone number ended up being programmed into their robo dialer. The usual response has been to hang up on me.
I would also like to see the CFPB address the issue of repeated calls to the wrong person. If I'm not the person of interest on the first call, then I won't be on any subsequent calls.
In my experience with debt collectors, I have reached the conclusion that their are two reasons for repeatedly calling me: 1. The people in the call centers are trained not to take No for an answer. 2. By calling me repeatedly the debt collector is trying to wear me down and get me to pay a debt that isn't mine just to get them to stop calling.
paythefiddler,
It's not just innocent family members that debt collectors go after, it's also perfect strangers. I have a common last name, no debts, and have been the target of many debt collectors. All of the deadbeats have had my common last name and first initial.
Once a debt collector has me on their hit list, they don't stop calling until I sent them a cease-communication letter. They want me to pay the debt to get them to stop.
I would like to see strict regulation of the so-called "skip-trace" vendors. These are the companies that debt collectors and others hire to provide them with contact information. From my own personal experience (common last name, many debt collectors after me), I can say that I believe that I'm at the mercy of these vendors. They gather all sorts of information about people without verifying any of it, as far as I can tell.
One debt collector told my state's Attorney General that they hired one of these vendors who provided my phone number as a valid contact for someone with my last name and first initial. This person was a stranger to me, but the debt collector wanted me to pay the debt.
I think that these vendors should be strictly regulated and use a research tool other then the phone book to gather their information. They should not be able to provide "valid" information unless it really is valid.
I have an amusing story to share about an experience I had with a debt collection agency one afternoon. I had to spend quite a bit of time dealing with their repeated calls. Of course, they weren't looking for me but rather for someone with my very common last name and first initial.
I had many calls from them one day. Apparently, their telephone representatives were trained to hang up if they received any response other than, "How do I pay?" They'd hang up on me before I could complete a sentence. That particular day, either by accident or through malice (I suspect the latter.), they had their robo dialer programmed to call back immediately.
The representative would hang up on me and before I could step away from the phone, the robo dialer would call me back and I'd be speaking with another representative who would hang up on me. After many such calls and hang-ups, I was finally able to get a representative to stay on the line with me long enough for me to explain that they were calling the wrong person. After that the calls stopped.
As I think back on this experience, I find it quite comical, but I didn't at the time. I did file complaints with the FTC and my state's Attorney General.
Some of us find ourselves on the receiving end of daily (or more frequent) robo calls because we have common last names. And I do think that the debt collectors who have called me would very much like me to pay the debt even though it isn't mine.
In my own vast experience as a recipient of misdirected collection calls, I believe that all the telephone representatives with whom I have spoken think that if they've called me in error, it's my fault, not theirs.
cathysceebs
1
I have a common last name, and for about three years I was bombarded with collection calls for other individuals with my last name and first initial. I finally changed my phone listing from my initials to my nickname and have had only collection call since. I am an elderly retiree. I have no car loan or mortgage. I pay all my bills on time, and I don't carry balances on my credit cards. No debt collector has ever admitted to me that they got my number out of the phone but, but that's what they're doing. I would like to see every debt collector tell the individual they are calling the source of their information. I now have a long list of people with debts in collection. Since I'm not a debt collector, I don't believe that I have a legal obligation not to reveal their names. I do, however, believe that I have a moral obligation not to do so. Please find a way to keep debt collectors from harassing innocent people. Thank you.
View this comment in the discussion thread
cathysceebs
2
Corrections: Only one collection call since I changed my phone listing. No debt collector has ever admitted to me that they got my number out of the phone book.
View this comment in the discussion thread
cathysceebs
3
I had one debt collector in particular who called me a liar when I told him I wasn't the person he was looking for. This was after he violated the FDCPA by calling me at 7:00 on a Saturday morning. I called them back immediately and spoke with a supervisor who said she'd take me off their hit list. I asked her if she got my number out of the phone book. She claimed that they had not. A few months later, they started in on me again. Obviously they still considered me a liar. I sent them a cease-communication letter with a copy to my state's Attorney General, who has been wonderful in all this. At that point, I started sending out letters every time I received a collection call, and, other than the one, none ever called me again. But, honestly, why should I have to put up with this sort of thing? At one point I was receiving daily calls from one collector or another. I can name names, and I have a thick file folder full of copies of my letters and responses to my Attorney General. It has been a wild ride, and I sure hope it's over. I'm approaching the one-year anniversary of my most recent collection call. I just wish they wouldn't use the phone book as their primary research tool. Thank you for providing me this forum.
View this comment in the discussion thread
cathysceebs
4I am an experienced recipient of collection calls. As I have explained in another post here, I live in a fairly large metro area, and whenever anyone with my very common last name and first initial skips town without paying his/her bills, I'm the one who gets the calls from the debt collectors. Here are some of my thoughts on these calls, and I have received dozens: I know that a call about "an important business matter," is a call about a debt. I have received many of these kinds of calls. Whenever a debt collector calls me and leaves a message without a name, it doesn't take me very long to figure out that the call is from a debt collector. If the debt collector calls and leaves a name, that debt collector is revealing to me, an unrelated third party, that the individual has a debt in collection. I consider this to be a violation of the spirit of the FDCPA if not the letter. Whenever a debt collector calls me, I am burdened with the knowledge that I now know the name of someone else who has a debt in collection. I've gotten any number of the calls described in #4 telling me not to listen if I'm not the named individual. The big problem with that is that, one again, the name of a debtor is being revealed to me, and then there's the added dilemma of the fact that now my phone number has been programmed into a debt collector's robo dialer. When that happens, the calls continue to come. I always disobey the instructions and listen to the message. I then call the debt collector to report a case of mistaken identity. It's the only way to stop the calls. In all the collection calls I have gotten over the years, I have received only one message with the "mini-Miranda" warning. When I called the debt collector to report another case of mistaken identity I was connected with an individual in a call center in India. After I told the woman she had the wrong person, I thanked her for the "mini-Miranda" and she hung up on me. I don't have any answers, just lots of experience. I hope someone finds this information useful.
View this comment in the discussion thread
cathysceebs
5
There was another debt collector that went after me a second time. First they placed me on their hit list trying to get me to pay the debt of a man with my last name and first initial. I told them that they were contacting the wrong person. Then, several months later, they went after me again, this time looking for a woman with my last name and first initial. After the second round, I send them a cease-communication letter, and they haven't called me again.
View this comment in the discussion thread
cathysceebs
6
Why can't we bring back the olden days? I have been a "victim" of debt collectors run amok for over 35 years. Back in the day, a debt was assigned to one collector who would pursue me relentlessly for a debt that belonged to someone else. Nowadays with the robo-dialers the collection call is assigned to the "next available operator." Why not just go back to the days when only one collector was responsible for making the contact?
View this comment in the discussion thread
cathysceebs
7
Why not just assign the debt to one collector who would use his/her very own fingers on the buttons to place the collection call?
View this comment in the discussion thread
cathysceebs
8
Mr. Dan, I bet YOU never had your phone number programmed into a robo-dialer? I can assure you that it's lots of fun. Costs too much to do manual dialing? Too bad.
View this comment in the discussion thread
cathysceebs
9
Dan, I don't really care if manual dialing costs you more money. You obviously have never been subjected to dozens of misdirected robo calls from debt collectors.
View this comment in the discussion thread
cathysceebs
10
To the Moderator, I do not think that answering 97% of the calls from an automated dialer within two seconds is a solution to my problem. I would like for Mr. Dan to explain exactly what the safeguards of using a robo dialer are. From my perspective as a frequent recipient of robo calls from debt collectors, the problem is a lack of ownership and impersonality of the collection agency when the debt is not assigned to one collector to handle. Years ago when a collector would call me, it would always be the same person. Now it is not. Assign the debt to one collector who would then take full responsibility for making all contacts with the alleged debtor. This could even include acquisition of location information.
View this comment in the discussion thread
cathysceebs
11
Jim, I have been a frequent target of debt collectors and their phone calls for several years. The reason, clearly, is because I have a common last name. I do not have any debts. First, once a debt collector starts calling me, it is extremely difficult to get rid of them. One outfit called me a liar and kept calling. Another went after me for two different people. Second, yes, a barrage of collection calls can be harmful. Dealing with debt collectors on a daily basis has taken its toll on my physical and mental health. (I'm an old lady.) It has also made me paranoid about my own finances.
View this comment in the discussion thread
cathysceebs
12
I would like to see the CFPB address the issue of their "phishing" expeditions , i.e., trolling the phone listings and calling anyone with a similar name. I was listed by my initials, but with a common last name, I was getting daily calls from debt collectors until I switched my listing to a nickname. There are many comments on this site from people having the same problem, so it's obviously a common practice. For some strange reason, the folks in the phone centers, react badly when I ask them to explain how my phone number ended up being programmed into their robo dialer. The usual response has been to hang up on me. I would also like to see the CFPB address the issue of repeated calls to the wrong person. If I'm not the person of interest on the first call, then I won't be on any subsequent calls. In my experience with debt collectors, I have reached the conclusion that their are two reasons for repeatedly calling me: 1. The people in the call centers are trained not to take No for an answer. 2. By calling me repeatedly the debt collector is trying to wear me down and get me to pay a debt that isn't mine just to get them to stop calling.
View this comment in the discussion thread
cathysceebs
13
paythefiddler, It's not just innocent family members that debt collectors go after, it's also perfect strangers. I have a common last name, no debts, and have been the target of many debt collectors. All of the deadbeats have had my common last name and first initial. Once a debt collector has me on their hit list, they don't stop calling until I sent them a cease-communication letter. They want me to pay the debt to get them to stop.
View this comment in the discussion thread
cathysceebs
14
I would like to see strict regulation of the so-called "skip-trace" vendors. These are the companies that debt collectors and others hire to provide them with contact information. From my own personal experience (common last name, many debt collectors after me), I can say that I believe that I'm at the mercy of these vendors. They gather all sorts of information about people without verifying any of it, as far as I can tell. One debt collector told my state's Attorney General that they hired one of these vendors who provided my phone number as a valid contact for someone with my last name and first initial. This person was a stranger to me, but the debt collector wanted me to pay the debt. I think that these vendors should be strictly regulated and use a research tool other then the phone book to gather their information. They should not be able to provide "valid" information unless it really is valid.
View this comment in the discussion thread
cathysceebs
15
I have an amusing story to share about an experience I had with a debt collection agency one afternoon. I had to spend quite a bit of time dealing with their repeated calls. Of course, they weren't looking for me but rather for someone with my very common last name and first initial. I had many calls from them one day. Apparently, their telephone representatives were trained to hang up if they received any response other than, "How do I pay?" They'd hang up on me before I could complete a sentence. That particular day, either by accident or through malice (I suspect the latter.), they had their robo dialer programmed to call back immediately. The representative would hang up on me and before I could step away from the phone, the robo dialer would call me back and I'd be speaking with another representative who would hang up on me. After many such calls and hang-ups, I was finally able to get a representative to stay on the line with me long enough for me to explain that they were calling the wrong person. After that the calls stopped. As I think back on this experience, I find it quite comical, but I didn't at the time. I did file complaints with the FTC and my state's Attorney General.
View this comment in the discussion thread
cathysceebs
16
Some of us find ourselves on the receiving end of daily (or more frequent) robo calls because we have common last names. And I do think that the debt collectors who have called me would very much like me to pay the debt even though it isn't mine.
View this comment in the discussion thread
cathysceebs
17
In my own vast experience as a recipient of misdirected collection calls, I believe that all the telephone representatives with whom I have spoken think that if they've called me in error, it's my fault, not theirs.
View this comment in the discussion thread