This is partly a response to my "tips" post and mostly a technique post. First off, I'd like to touch on the college thing. Honestly, yes: I work in an area with a couple nearby colleges and my job pays 80% tuition to accredited public universities. My scholarship pays for about one semester, so my out-of-pocket college expenses, after the reimbursement, is around a couple hundred dollars per year. So, obviously, many college aged adults are attracted to the business. Ok, I work 30 hours a week. I get paid roughly $10.50 an hour. I'll be honest: I am a very successful collector... as in... there are about sixty people in my department (two month delinquincies) and I am typically found in the top five. My base paychecks (every two weeks) are usually around $520. Depending on bonuses, I can get up to a $1000 check. That is nice money for a 19 year old... not to mention daily contests such as "free lunch for the person who gets the most checks over the phone in the next hour" Anyway... let's talk technique. I fight for checks over the phone, which every collector does. The last statistic I saw @ work showed that about 70% of the people who tell me a payment is in the mail ending up lying. Geez... Seven out of ten people are lying to me when they tell me they have mailed a payment. Obviously I'm going to fight for the check over the phone. And, obviously, most people are going to tell me what I want to hear to get off the phone. "Oh, I just put a check in the mail for $100 on Monday." First off, I ask them what check number they used. Also, where I work, I have a nice indicator showing how many times they have "lied" to us about payments in the mail. I follow up with "Sir or Ma'am, I need to know what check number your used" or "Sir or Ma'am, you've told us three or four times now that you've mailed a payment and we never got it. We NEED to do a check over the phone because this is starting to reflect negatively with the bank." This post is really long already, sorry =( When people say "Hey, I'm going to be mailing $150 in three days" .. I almost always get them to do a post-dated check over the phone, unless they are in Mass, of course. And then people have about four or five main reasons why they don't like to do post-dated checks or payments over the phone. "I don't trust anyone with my checking info" "I've been burned before" "Whenver I set one up ya'll keep pulling money out" etc etc Here is what I say, "Sir, do you trust your own bank" ... "Well... of course I do" .. "Sir, let me explain a post-dated check and why my process is different from the others. When we do a check over the phone, it is like mailing a check to us but we do all the leg work. I'm going to print up a check just like how you would write one, I'm going to send it to YOUR bank, and they will post the money to us." ... That usually sells them, but there are other negotiations as well. Ah well, any thoughts, questions?
Good info, here is my thoughts on this: the post-dated check thing, at least 4 times, yes 4 times...I post-dated checks for CA's in my past. each time, they posted the damn things as soon as they got them and other things that I was to pay bounced! arg. banks dont even look at the dates, its all automated and the CA's know it. The CA's also know that the people they are doing this to are flat broke to begin with, so they don't worry about being sued or anything because someone who has to postdate a check most likely cannot afford a lawyer anyway. I havent had the misfortune of having a CA debit my account without my authorization or anything, but I've read it happens. its money orders or cashiers checks..that is all im sending for the settlements I'm working on.
I also have heard about CA problems with immediate check posting. I know that our system never has a problem with post dated checks... well, I can't say never because I haven't seen every account in the world, but I know for a fact that I successfully posted 260ish checks in the month of September without a hitch, most of them post dated.
You are correct. However, in this case, he works for an original creditor as an in house collector and thus is not subject to the FDCPA.
That's not exactly what it says: 2) The acceptance by a debt collector from any person of a check or other payment instrument postdated by more than five days unless such person is notified in writing of the debt collector's intent to deposit such check or instrument not more than ten nor less than three business days prior to such deposit. He mentioned 3 days above, or more than 3 days. (3) The solicitation by a debt collector of any postdated check or other postdated payment instrument for the purpose of threatening or instituting criminal prosecution. (4) Depositing or threatening to deposit any postdated check or other postdated payment instrument prior to the date on such check or instrument. Number 4 though seems to be a problem, but not with CCollector. Sassy
Collector, Beware, Pennsylvania has strict compliance laws regarding post dated checks and what is required. I have a question....When you are collecting debt's from people in different state's then your own, do you have a copy of that state's laws before you contact the debtor and try and collect? I ask this because I have been contacted in the past from out of state collectors who have no clue about the laws in my state as far as them trying to collect on their debt. My state's laws are much more strict then the FDCPA. Thanks! Tac
Why are you on here explaining this to us? Did someone ask this guy about his collection "techniques"?
I don't think he'll find it here. I think if I was contacted by a collector, I'd never do a check over the telephone. I probably wouldn't send one through the mail, either. Then again, I never pay anything out over the telephone unless I was the one that initiated the telephone call. So I'd end up saying "The check is not in the mail, the check will not be in the mail, the check will not be over the telephone. Send me a bill, and at my discretion, I may decide to send you a money order or certified check." Because I don't really need to lie to get someone off of the telephone. Hanging up is not only perfectly honest, it's even quicker than lying. -ingenue
... "Well, actually, I don't trust my own bank, and they're not even working on commission." ... "You don't need to explain a post-dated check to me, I am already familiar with the process and its common abuses. It's my personal policy not to expose myself to that level of risk. Besides, I wouldn't want you to waste your breath." -ingenue
Re: My personal collection techniqu CCollector, what in the world is the purpose of this post? Are you trying to teach people here how to be a debt collector? Are you attempting to humanize the "other side" of the creditor-consumer relationship -- and, if so, for what reason praytell? Is breeze correct in saying that you're simply looking for universal approval? If that's the case, why do you feel you need such approval from this audience? I must say that your behavior provokes for more questions than it provides answers. Do tell. Inquiring minds, etc. Doc
Re: My personal collection techniqu His conscience is eating at him and he needs to clear it. I feel sorry for him, 19, needs money for college, basically innocent until he gets caught up in the web of deceit and dark-heartness of Satan um I mean Collection services.
Re: My personal collection techniqu To answer the inquiring minds =) No, I don't seek approval. Yes, I was trying to explain my side of the phone just a bit. If I were seeking approval for being a bill collector, I obviously wouldn't be visiting this board. Anyway, yes, we are trained in state laws. However, it may not be in depth as you think: Our job is to get payments over the phone, because as I have mentioned in previous posts, we keep stats on how many people lie to us over the phone. So, we push for check drafts over the phone. Furthermore, we push for check drafts dated today or tomorrow because it takes 48 hours for us to stop a check draft. With that in mind, we are trained in the laws surrounding check drafts. Here are the basic state-to-state laws that I keep in mind while collecting: Mass: This state sucks. We cannot do a post-dated check draft over the phone and we can't talk to the spouse. However, there is a way around the post-dated check draft: If a person in Mass tells me they want me to pull $200 out of their checking account a week from now, I will not submit a PDCD (post-dated check draft), I will simply write it on a form, and process it the same day they want the the check to come out. So basically I just "hold" the check for them rather than post dating it.. I do it all the time in Mass. Iowa: Can't talk to the spouse until the account is over 30 days past due. Illinois: Can't talk to spouse. Texas: Must identify you and your company right away. If setting up an arrangement, you must follow the arrangement plan originally setup. (For example, if I do $75 a month for six months, I can't call back during the third month and say 'Hey, I need $80 a month now') so it is not a biggy. Those are the only states I worry about. We have a sheet at our desk that details each state's laws, but those are the biggys that I can think of right now. I know in New Hampshire I can't use an alias and in Vermont gay marriage is legal so I can legally talk to a gay spouse. Stuff like that hasn't happened the entire time I've worked anyway. The only reason I could see a collector using an alias would be to help them with getting someone on the phone... "Hi, this is Osama, I need to talk to CardHolder." Noone is going to get on the phone because more than likely they don't know someone with that name. However, if you use an alias such as Chris, Mike, John, Bob... Sarah, Kelly, Ashley, etc... common names, you can trick certain customers on the phone. It is sad but a little funny at the same time when I say "Hey, this is Jason, I need to talk to Mike." And then the person on the phone says something like "Ohhhh, Jason!! Congratulations with the baby." and keeps talking for a couple minutes... and then I'm just like "Thanks so much... hey, I need to talk to Mike real quick." They usually know something is up when I can't answer how much my baby weighs, lol. So, have I personally broken the FDCPA? Yes, a few times, on accident. Almost always in Mass because I'll find myself talking to the spouse or doing a post dated check... once I realize I'm talking to the spouse I apologize and get off the phone as quickly as possible. People on this forum are mostly informed... but the general public is not. During my six hour shift, I normally talk to about six card holders an hour... that is almost 40 people each day, 200 a week, roughly 800 a month. I talk to upwards of 800 people a month and I have never had any litigations on my accounts or anything like that... even though I am sure I have slipped up on legalities occasionally.
Re: My personal collection techniqu Osama is a collector too? That must be how he's financing his operations. Thanks for the heads up.
Re: My personal collection techniqu Well how do you feel about people like me? I no longer have to deal with collection agencies after graduation and paying everyone, but when I did I used speaker phone and made a game of it. I would be very nice and polite and act like you just might get me to send you something. I would even ask for stuff like free movie rental coupons. Sometime the collector would figure out I was just screwing with him and laugh and hang up but most of the time I could keep them on the phone for quite a while. I never yelled or cursed at a collector (they did a few times :/) because it wasnt the 19 year old I didn't like, it was the company. At least hes out there working and not living on his parents. I have a serious question for you, I no longer have a land line, being that my cell phone is free. Do you have any special provisions for calling someone on thier cell phone? I know I dont receive calls from solicitors on my cell and the 1 or 2 times I did I just said this is my cell phone and they would hang up. -=Derfel=-
Re: My personal collection techniqu So, if you call for MR John Doe, and you are speaking to a female, how long does it take you to realize you speaking to a spouse and not the debtor for whom you called?
