Unbelievably Rude Collection Call........:(

[FinanceDude]

On Good Friday, no less. I am at work, and I get a call from DW. She tells me some guy called about one of my late sister's debts. I am still getting a few calls, because some of her debts have been resold to collection companies, so I just give them info and they go away.

However, this "dude" accuses DW of "lying to his face", "making up stories", and that I am "breaking the law." DW freaks out and hangs up on him, and he calls back and throws some more stuff at her. She calls me all frantic, so I get the number and call them. Wow, that guy was a piece of work. Here's a few snippets from him:

"Listen here, smart guy, I KNOW you're playing games with me"

"If you're going to ask me a question, I'm NOT going to answer it"......

"Someone in your immediate family is trying to make us look bad, and you're breaking the law".........

"Time for you to "smarten up"..........

" According to OUR information, someone, probably you, opened a credit card in your sister's name and has been charging things and making payments, etc"........

WTF??

I asked for a manager, and he wouldn't get me his supervisor. Finally I got a supervisor after some more namecalling. The supervisor turned out to be a nice guy and I think things are settled now. But wow, what an a--hole the 1st guy was........

 

[W2R]

That is awful. I had a few like that right after my divorce, when I was in debt up to my eyeballs. They are NO fun and would call at all hours of the night, too, and really upset me. But I actually owed the money (well, my ex was supposed to pay it but you know how that goes), so they were at least justified in calling me had the calls been civil and at a reasonable hour. In your situation they had no justification. You would think they could at least respect the privacy of the bereaved.

 

[donheff]

I can't believe they gave you a phone number to call back. That kind of behavior is illegal. If you Google the topic you can probably find a place to report the SOB's to.

 

[virginia]

And I may be wrong, but am just guessing that the supervisor knows EXACTLY what the collector is doing.....that's probably how he made it to supervisor.

 

[FinanceDude]

Turns out they're based in Buffalo,New York...........

Funny, since I sent the death certificate, and requested that I be the only contact for this debt, my phone is strangely silent...........

Maybe the "how do we know your sister's dead, you're probably lying to us" collection guy is onto his next mark.........

 

[CCdaCE]

The classic good cop, bad cop routine. I'd just hang up after tellin' `em I won't be spoken to in such a way.

-CC

 

[SecondCor521]

That is awful. I had a few like that right after my divorce, when I was in debt up to my eyeballs. They are NO fun and would call at all hours of the night, too, and really upset me. But I actually owed the money (well, my ex was supposed to pay it but you know how that goes), so they were at least justified in calling me had the calls been civil and at a reasonable hour. In your situation they had no justification. You would think they could at least respect the privacy of the bereaved.

I know that was a while ago, but for those reading this thread now, there is the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collections Practices Act) which prohibits debt collectors from calling at unreasonable times, which IIRC is anytime after 9pm or before 8am.

It also is against that law, from what I understand, to allege lawbreaking activity, so FinanceDude, you may have a federal infraction that could net you some money in a lawsuit if you're inclined to pursue those kinds of things.

2Cor521

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

sorry that happened to you. you'd think your grief would be grief enough. have i mentioned an air horn?

 

[FIREd]

Something similar happened to my wife. Last year, we started receiving phone calls (the "blocked call" kind) from a collector looking for someone with a first and last name vaguely resembling my wife's but all the other informations (including middle name, address, DOB...) did not match. On their first call, I was courteous (despite their rude attitude) and told them they had the wrong person and not to call back. They kept calling either very early in the morning or very late at night for a few weeks, and they kept asking me the same stupid questions. I kept telling them the same thing: sorry wrong person. So one day I asked them to tell me exactly who I was talking to, what company they worked for and what their business address was so I could send them a certified letter asking them to stop calling. They told me it was none of my business (!!!!), refused to answer any question and hung up. That made me furious. Then the next day, a lady with a sweet voice called pretending to be one of my wife's long lost high school friend. Thinking it was legit, I gave her my wife work number. Turned out it was the collector. She accused my wife of lying and started threatening her (we will call your employer to tell them about the situation, blah blah blah...). Once again, she refused to give us any information on her identity or her business. But this time I got so mad I tracked that %#$&* down. I tracked her phone number, tried to use the reverse yellow pages but that got me nowhere. However, after a few hours of investigation on the internet and a few phone calls, I found where she was hidding. I got her name, address, phone number, the name of her company. So I called her up, and let just say I settled the score with her. She never called back. I hate those scumbags.

 

[tryan]

... Tell them "This call is being recorded" ... should keep them at least civil. Probably helps that I don't answer the phone untill they leave a message into the recorder.

Never tangle with a pig .... you'll both get dirty and the pig will enjoy it.

 

[Moemg]

I received calls after my son's death about a bill he had . I told them he had died and their answer was "Sure they all say that " after sending them the death certificate they stopped . Last week a debt collector called us for a debt one of my So 's sons wives had run up . They called everybody related to the son and his wife .

 

[Gumby]

..

 

[FinanceDude]

Thanks a TON for all the replies. I thought I was through dealing with all these folks a year ago. Apparently, her debt has been resold a couple times to different collection agencies over the past 18 months.

Now that they have the death certificate, they are backing off. If they would have given me a reasonably pleasant business call and politely asked for it, they would have had it already......

 

[packrat44]

On Good Friday, no less. I am at work, and I get a call from DW. She tells me some guy called about one of my late sister's debts. I am still getting a few calls, because some of her debts have been resold to collection companies, so I just give them info and they go away.

However, this "dude" accuses DW of "lying to his face", "making up stories", and that I am "breaking the law." DW freaks out and hangs up on him, and he calls back and throws some more stuff at her. She calls me all frantic, so I get the number and call them. Wow, that guy was a piece of work. Here's a few snippets from him:

"Listen here, smart guy, I KNOW you're playing games with me"

"If you're going to ask me a question, I'm NOT going to answer it"......

"Someone in your immediate family is trying to make us look bad, and you're breaking the law".........

"Time for you to "smarten up"..........

" According to OUR information, someone, probably you, opened a credit card in your sister's name and has been charging things and making payments, etc"........

WTF??

I asked for a manager, and he wouldn't get me his supervisor. Finally I got a supervisor after some more namecalling. The supervisor turned out to be a nice guy and I think things are settled now. But wow, what an a--hole the 1st guy was........

Had a similar situation happen about 20 years ago. DW kept getting harassing phone with heavy threats from a Crockett Bank in CA. When I would get home after one of these calls she was always a total wreck. After a period of time I actually received one of these calls from a collection agency where the agent went through all the threats including taking me to court. After he was done ranting I took his name, name of the company, phone number, address, etc. Then informed him I was not the person he was looking for but that I would be happy to see their company and Crockett Bank in court. I then informed him to have their company rep and the one from Crockett Bank bring their check books with them to court as I intended to base a large portion of my retirement funding off a settlement from them. The fellow then apologized and neither my DW or I heard from either company again. A short time later I found there was another person with my same name (first, middle, and last) and of all things he lived on the same street I do, only about 1.5 miles away.

 

[Orchidflower]

I had one of those years ago, and refuse to talk to any of them now. I just use the caller i.d. and screen...or turn the phone down low and let them call and call and call and call. If it is a friend, I check the caller i.d. and call back. EZ...and I don't have to tolerate their abusive techniques--and they are abusive to the max--unnecessarily so, I think.

 

[Tandemlovers]

Prior to enrolling on the do not call registry, we had to deal with a similar situation, only it involved a telemarketer who would call and ask for my husband at all hours.

At first, I would explain he was not available, and ask them to take us off their call list. They would always say they'd stop calling, but the phone would be ringing a few days later.

To get them to stop, I did the following: after asking for my husband, I would sweetly say, "sure, hold on a moment," and put the phone down and walk away. I would leave them hanging and go about my business.

They soon stopped calling.