Tips from a debt collector for maintaining your sanity despite debt collection calls to a wrong number.
First of all, if you are dealing with incessant wrong number calls I feel for you.
I really do.
Tell the debt collection company calling you that they have the wrong number.
I'd suggest to anyone that is dealing with incessant wrong number calls to keep in mind that it is debtors that plague other people with unwanted phone calls, and not debt collection agencies.
Did you read that right?
Yes.
Debtors plague other people with unwanted phone calls, and not debt collection agencies.
People that don't pay their bills purposefully pawn the problem off on other people. Debtors give friends and relatives numbers to creditors. Junior debtors give away contact information for their father with the same name – or vice versa. Debtors check phone books and report the numbers and addresses of people with the same name. Debtors get rid of old phone numbers every other month and new subscribers get stuck with their leavings. Debtors tell debt collectors they have the wrong numbers and cause debt collectors to go searching for other possibilities. Some debtors have absolutely no qualms reporting fictional information on their credit applications.
Though debt collectors do search for individuals according to their name or last known address, smart collectors won't waste their time and energy on long shots. We do not throw darts at phone books.
If you are getting calls for a stranger, then chances are they used to have your telephone number and reported it as their on the application for the credit card that is now in collections.
If you are getting calls for a friend or relative, then chances are the debt collector got your number from the debtor.
So tell debt collection agencies that we have the wrong number, and ask politely that we remove your number.
It should be as simple as that.
Reliable employees at debt collection agencies recognize that being paid on commission means that the more quickly they get wrong numbers out of the database, the better chance they have of making higher commissions. Smart debt collectors want to be calling the right numbers and appreciate when people tell them they have the wrong number. Unfortunately, in the real world, there are some unreliable collectors. I sincerely hope you don’t get one of them on the line when you are reporting a wrong number ... because they waste my time too.
When you report a wrong number, ask the debt collector's name and agency. Politely explain that you want your number removed, and you are keeping records. Ask if there will be any residual calls until the number is cleared out of the company database. If the debt collector isn’t willing to answer these questions and you suspect you got one of the nitwits with an IQ that ranges around room temperature, you can always call right back and make sure the number was removed. You can also request a manager.
If you know the debtor’s new number, pass it on.
It is surprising that the vast majority of people protect debtors. Most people will not share their debtor friend/relative’s new contact information.
I always think, and sometimes say: Why not? They gave me yours.
Years ago a friend of mine gave my phone number as a contact to one of their creditors. When that bill went delinquent, rather than put up with the calls I gave the creditor my friend’s home telephone number, their cell phone number, their work number, their parent’s number, the number to the bar they hang out on Friday nights, and any other possible means I could think of to contact my friend. That person never ever gave out my number again because they learned they can’t hide behind me. And, they didn’t even get mad at me.
Report the wrong number as quickly as possible.
Believe it or not, some people that receive wrong number calls wait a long time before alerting debt collection agencies that they have a wrong number.
If you are one of the people that waits months or even years to tell a company to stop calling you, then I'm probably not the first person to notice that you are not as bright as Alaska in December.
I'm not sorry if that offends you because if you let a company call you fifty or more times, then you allowing yourself to be inconvenienced. You are contributing to the nuisancy of a deadbeat debtor.
What to do when a computer calls you.
From my experience, computers flabbergast a lot of people and automated phone calls are the worse use of a computer because they'd be annoying with a computer's help. The most important key to dealing with computerized collection calls is that you have to talk to a human being to get a number removed. If my company allowed for automated number removal, it wouldn’t take long before every home with a three-year-old would be removed from the database.
What to do when you’re in debt and dealing with creditors calling.
The truth is a huge percentage of wrong number reports are made by the debtor themselves. For those of you dealing with the collection calls because you owe money, the number one most effective way of dealing with collection calls is to set up a payment plan to pay your bills.
First of all, if you are dealing with incessant wrong number calls I feel for you.
I really do.
Tell the debt collection company calling you that they have the wrong number.
I'd suggest to anyone that is dealing with incessant wrong number calls to keep in mind that it is debtors that plague other people with unwanted phone calls, and not debt collection agencies.
Did you read that right?
Yes.
Debtors plague other people with unwanted phone calls, and not debt collection agencies.
People that don't pay their bills purposefully pawn the problem off on other people. Debtors give friends and relatives numbers to creditors. Junior debtors give away contact information for their father with the same name – or vice versa. Debtors check phone books and report the numbers and addresses of people with the same name. Debtors get rid of old phone numbers every other month and new subscribers get stuck with their leavings. Debtors tell debt collectors they have the wrong numbers and cause debt collectors to go searching for other possibilities. Some debtors have absolutely no qualms reporting fictional information on their credit applications.
Though debt collectors do search for individuals according to their name or last known address, smart collectors won't waste their time and energy on long shots. We do not throw darts at phone books.
If you are getting calls for a stranger, then chances are they used to have your telephone number and reported it as their on the application for the credit card that is now in collections.
If you are getting calls for a friend or relative, then chances are the debt collector got your number from the debtor.
So tell debt collection agencies that we have the wrong number, and ask politely that we remove your number.
It should be as simple as that.
Reliable employees at debt collection agencies recognize that being paid on commission means that the more quickly they get wrong numbers out of the database, the better chance they have of making higher commissions. Smart debt collectors want to be calling the right numbers and appreciate when people tell them they have the wrong number. Unfortunately, in the real world, there are some unreliable collectors. I sincerely hope you don’t get one of them on the line when you are reporting a wrong number ... because they waste my time too.
When you report a wrong number, ask the debt collector's name and agency. Politely explain that you want your number removed, and you are keeping records. Ask if there will be any residual calls until the number is cleared out of the company database. If the debt collector isn’t willing to answer these questions and you suspect you got one of the nitwits with an IQ that ranges around room temperature, you can always call right back and make sure the number was removed. You can also request a manager.
If you know the debtor’s new number, pass it on.
It is surprising that the vast majority of people protect debtors. Most people will not share their debtor friend/relative’s new contact information.
I always think, and sometimes say: Why not? They gave me yours.
Years ago a friend of mine gave my phone number as a contact to one of their creditors. When that bill went delinquent, rather than put up with the calls I gave the creditor my friend’s home telephone number, their cell phone number, their work number, their parent’s number, the number to the bar they hang out on Friday nights, and any other possible means I could think of to contact my friend. That person never ever gave out my number again because they learned they can’t hide behind me. And, they didn’t even get mad at me.
Report the wrong number as quickly as possible.
Believe it or not, some people that receive wrong number calls wait a long time before alerting debt collection agencies that they have a wrong number.
If you are one of the people that waits months or even years to tell a company to stop calling you, then I'm probably not the first person to notice that you are not as bright as Alaska in December.
I'm not sorry if that offends you because if you let a company call you fifty or more times, then you allowing yourself to be inconvenienced. You are contributing to the nuisancy of a deadbeat debtor.
What to do when a computer calls you.
From my experience, computers flabbergast a lot of people and automated phone calls are the worse use of a computer because they'd be annoying with a computer's help. The most important key to dealing with computerized collection calls is that you have to talk to a human being to get a number removed. If my company allowed for automated number removal, it wouldn’t take long before every home with a three-year-old would be removed from the database.
What to do when you’re in debt and dealing with creditors calling.
The truth is a huge percentage of wrong number reports are made by the debtor themselves. For those of you dealing with the collection calls because you owe money, the number one most effective way of dealing with collection calls is to set up a payment plan to pay your bills.
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