I have had a guy who has been contacting me from a collection agency. I haven't answered or returned any of his calls. Today, he left a message at 8 am saying.... "Good Morning, this is Jim Miller with VMI Award Revocation Center." (yes, REVOCATION is what he said) "I hope I have the right house here, I'm trying to reach you in reference to a drawing you entered for a 2003 Chevy Tahoe. If you could please give me a call back here toll free: 1-888-XXX-XXXX Extension XX, I look forward to hearing from you" I didn't call him back obviously because I recognized his voice. What should I do? What are my rights?
Step One - save that gold plated me$$age. Step Two - head down to Radio Shack and buy a recorder. Step Three - check your state to see if it one party or two party consent for taping. Step Four - call him back and let him hang himself with a very short noose. 10) The use of any false representation or deceptive means to collect or attempt to collect any debt or to obtain information concerning a consumer.
Wow. They'll do ANYTHING to harass you and try to get their money. Ridiculous. Why do creditors and CA's get angry with you, mislead you, or play games when trying to collect a debt? Doesn't that make the debtor NOT want to pay, or less likely to pay and put up with that mess? Jeez.
Why not post the full number here so we can call and get more information about this company. I have gotten several calls like that and they were not collectors, but someone trying to sell me a timeshare.
Okay - but its an 800 number! I cant imagine a better way to put deal with this than to have several hundred calls from "curious" creditnet members inquring about how to win the truck. The rep will more than likley get the idea and will not likley be trying that tactic again! Michael
Re: Re: Misleading Tactics... Watch out for ANI though... Automatic Number Identification ... like caller ID but you can't *69 it... NOW though, I work for a CA (yeah yeah it sucks I know, I'm a good guy though trust me) and MY caller id comes up as 000-000-0000 *EVEN* on ANI, and OH MY look at that I have a 15 minute break coming up in an hour and one of my hobbies is doing voices (not to try and fool debtors but because I want to go into animation voiceovers) so I could probably call at least 20 times in 15 minutes and have 20 different voices ready for him... hehehe just give me the #!
So it's an 800 number. All that means is HE pays for the call. If I get the idea it's a collection agnecy I'll play with them and ask why he called me when they can't find an account of mine. I can keep the idiot on the phone for a half hour talking to someone who doesn't owe him a dime. Guess what - if 15 other people do the same thing they guy spends his whole day on the phone and hasn't collected a dime from anyone. How do you get to a Bll Collector? Starve him to death by preventing him from getting commissions. C'mon people - let's help each other in ways that really help.
Re: Re: Misleading Tactics... Yes I understand that an 800# is toll free, the point of my post was to say that it is possible for him to get YOUR number that YOU are calling from, and if enough people bug him, he might write them down and call from a payphone at all hours of the morning using a calling card or something like that... you gotta watch out for that man, never know what a collector will do to get back at you, trust me I work with them day in and day out.
Re: Re: Re: Misleading Tactics... OH, PLEASE.... let him try that. I don't owe him a dime and he's getting back at me? Damn, I'm running out of creditors to sue for FDCPA and FCRA violations and I could sure use a few more. I'm an ex-bill collector, so with me he's met his match.
Re: Re: Re: Misleading Tactics... LOL we bill collectors (past and present) know all the tricks and how to turn the tables if necessary, yes? I wasn't speaking of you in particular I guess, just trying to offer a warning... Guess I forgot that this is creditnet and people know all about how bill collectors can be... just trying to make sure people knew what they were possibly opening themselves up for... I'd still like to call the 800# from here though, just in case he has ANI. I'd love to see his face when 000-000-0000 comes up
Re: Re: Re: Misleading Tactics... Give me the number.. I have a secure line at work...really secure.. I'll setup my computer to call that number and extension every 10 minutes asking him to call a bogus number so that he can pickup the keys to his truck.
Do NOT post that 800 number here! No matter what, you never know how this might affect you or your possible situation/case that you are building. All it takes is 1 Troll on this board to get that number and contact that CA and alert them! Most likely, that 800 number rolls into an ACD system (Auto. Call Distribution) and there are probably a bank of collection reps sitting there and calls are directect to the first available rep, so hundres of people calling it will do no good. About ANI, that's just a technical acronym for a telephone number - Automatic Numbering Identification - it has nothing to do with caller ID, etc .... Common laypeople say "phone number" and telephone techs say "ANI" ... But ... some businesses, if they pay extra for the service, (esp. used with ISDN and T1 services) can ask for "Deliver ANI" which means the calling phone number will be deliverd to the Business. Usually when calling an 800 number, called id doesn't work, but with "Deliver ANI" it could. It is usually used to detect the ANI, see what part of the Country calll is made from, then direct calls to specific Operators that handle that region through the use of the ACD system. But, their phone system can be setup to actually display the ANI as well... So, beware when you call in, and don't post the 800 number, it would do no good for us all to call in. FedUp2003.
Re: Re: Misleading Tactics... I don't know if that's good advice or not, but my instincts say it isn't for the following reasons: 1: So what if they know my phone number - it won't help them any since I don't owe them anything. 2: So what if they send me to a different CA rep than the one who called. I don't care WHICH one I tie up on unproductive work. Heck, I'd LIKE to tie them ALL up. 3: So what if 1000 people call them - they can't block every incoming call. That would be counterproductive. 4: It is common knowledge that these boards are monitored, at least by some Creditors and CA's, since there have been posts over a long period of time where people have identified CA's, OC's and CRA's by name and have gotten communications from outside these boards from those CA's and CRA's stating "we know what you have posted..." So what. The 1st Amendment still applies and I can post whatever I want. If they don't like it, truth is an absolute defense to a defamation suit, and if they want to sue me for exercising my 1st Amendment rights I will countersue them for Abuse of Process. 5: I am a firm believer in aggressively rat-fu*#ing bill collectors in any legal way I can. As far as I am concerned, bill collectors are social miscreants who couldn't make it in a more respectable line of work - like pimping. They deserve whatever they get. 6: There have been many posts where CA's refused to give out their name or address so the poster gave their phone number and I was able to post the missing information. 7: If the CRA's and Creditors are in a conspiracy to make sure that any violation of their contracts WE commit haunts us for the full 7 years (or 10 years in the event of a CH7 BK) then I believe it is our DUTY to hold them to both the spirit and the letter of the law, and I for one will not hesitate to sue a CRA or a creditor for even the slightest violation of FCRA or FDCPA or FCBA. At this moment I have 5 suits pending and over a dozen Intent to Sue letters outstanding. I have already collected more in settlements and judgements from my ex-creditors than I ever owed them.
FYI, I was just stating, that by everyone calling the 800 number if it gets posted, is that they may very well have the means to collect and store those numbers. They may be able to trace it back and determine or prove that tactics are being employed to tie up their phone lines, and they can SUE for that. Just like those DOS viruses that ties up a companies web server, a business can sue a person(s) for tying up their phone lines for no other purpose than to harrass them. I'm not trying to protect the CA's, I hate them with a passion, but do what you want. I was only trying to warn and protect CNetter's.
