Hi all, Wish I'd found this site 18 months ago, I think I'd be done with all of this by now... I've pulled all three copies of my credit report and I've been reading reading reading the board - feeling a little overwhelmed and need some guidance about where to start. I think the 2 items that are currently hurting my report the most are: 1. CO from 1/03 (for 12 CENTS!!). I wrote Citgo/Citibank and told them of their screw-up. Rec'd letter from Citibank that they are contacting CRAs to have account deleted. Any follow up req'd on my part at this point or just wait and see? 2. CA reporting since 04/02: I don't know who they are, it says "CUSTOMER HAS NOW LOCATED CONSUMER" but I've not been contacted by them in the year that they've been reporting this to the CRAs. DOLA is 12/96 so scheduled to fall off in December but I'm po'd that they are reporting this collection, yet making NO ATTEMPT to actually collect. I'm assuming I should send a validation letter? I've other items to address, but I think that these two are paramount due to their recentness? Thanks all, ~teebee~
Wow, I've never seen a charge off for 12 cents before. The credit reports I see only report to the nearest dollar. The second one...the first step I'd take is to find out what it is. You CAN just call and ask. If it's an honest mistake, say if someone else's debt got onto your report, it could be cleared up with a minimum of fuss.
Never call a CA. They have machines that "grab" your number, and they will start calling you. They also lie. Generally only when their lips are moving. Send a validation letter, once the green card is back, dispute with the CRA's.
On the first one did Citibank send you a letter that it was a mistake? On the second one have you disputed as not mine?
Re: Re: Overwhelmed Newbie Citibank didn't exactly say it was a mistake but said "An update was sent to the three major credit bureas instructing them to have the above reference account deleted from your credit report... If in the future you find that a bureau has not corrected your history, please provide that bureau with a copy of this letter." It was a series of mistakes: I thought I paid final bill, then moved, never rec'd actual final bill. Saw it was a charge off 6 yrs later, paid $40, as was told to me to be my balance. Expected to see account deleted 5 months later, pulled report in 01/03 and account was not deleted, was not even showing as a paid charge off but showed $0 balance - called to ask WTF??? Apparently the balance had been $40.12 and since I'd paid, but not the entire amount, it was reaged... They apologized, said they'd take care of it - 12 cents would be written off, account would be delete. Pull reports again in 3/03 - STILL there, but now showing as a brand new charge off in 1/03 - instead of simply writing it off w/ no harm done to me, it was submitted as a 12 cent charge off... I wrote letter, explained situation, got the letter I mentioned. Hopefully end of story on that account. As for calling the CA... right... Mycroft, I've dealt w/ CAs plenty. And, in my experience, nothing is ever "cleared up with a minimum of fuss" when dealing with a CA. On this one, I did dispute it w/ the CRAs prior to finding this board. No response yet. Should I just wait and see what I get from CRAs? ~teebee~
Re: Re: Overwhelmed Newbie Most of the time the best way to get what you want really is to just ask for it nicely. It's astonishing how many customer service reps and even bill collectors become willing to bend over backwards to help that one person who is nice and just wants a little help. They deal with difficult people all day long, to them the nice person is a godsend. If you assume an adversarial relationship from the start, that's what you will get. You will have to fight for everything. If you start with the nice tactics first, you can always shift to the not-nice tactics later. It's much harder to try the nice approach after you've already created an adversarial relationship. Yes, many collection agencies use caller ID to trap incoming phone numbers. If this is a concern to you, you can always use *67 (dialed before your outgoing call, blocks caller ID) or just make that first call from a public phone.
Re: Re: Re: Overwhelmed Newbie That's right. Actually it's called "ANI" (automatic number identification), so being careful is important. Unfortunately, while *67 works with ordinary consumer "Caller ID" devices, that will not block most commercial ANI equipment. Unfortunately there are no federal statutes regulating such applications either. So, if you're going to call, I'd prefer the second suggestion just offered -- use a pay phone. On the other hand, if it was me, I wouldn't call at all in favor of written correspondence. Even an alleged 12 cent debt can accrue additional handling fees if the CA is unscrupulous as so many are. Doc
Re: Re: Re: Overwhelmed Newbie Right, well - I think they might view a nice person as a godsend because they view a nice person as a sucker waiting to get screwed... just my experience. Additionally, I prefer having an exact record of what is said - I've had all kinds of promises and assurances made to me over the phone that somehow never materialized... Thanks, though.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Overwhelmed Newbie When I was a bill collector, we had that. *67 would still block it, though. It would come up "ANI = UNKNOWN" I suppose technology must have advanced since then, it's been a few years.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Overwhelmed Newbie wow, I hope you're not that cynical in every aspect of your life. Keep in mind that the person on the other end of that phone is a human being just like you. They have friends, family, and children just like you. Think about your own job. How do you react to people that approach you with hostility? Are you more or less likely to help them? As I said before, if you first try nice and it doesn't work, you still have the other options to fall back on. If you start out with an adversarial approach, it's then very hard to go to nice.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Overwhelmed Newbie I agree on being nice from the start but I think the best advice is not contact a CA by phone period.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Overwhelmed Newbie Sure the other person on the other end may have a family and friends and what not, but this is BUSINESS. Period. They really don't care about our family and neither should we care about their personal lives and how they "feel" throughout the day. There's a big difference between "being nice" and being professional. When dealing with CA's and OC's be professional. This means not being rude, but not kissing ass either.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Overwhelmed Newbie Just business, eh? People say "business" when they want to justify something unethical. I don't normally lie, but this is business. I'm normally nice, but this is business. Somehow we have gotten the idea that business releases us from the bonds of civility and morality. I disagree. Life isn't "Dallas" and businessmen are not J.R. Ewing. There is nothing in a business relationship that precludes curtesy, decency and morality. Being nice isn't "kissing ass." Being nice is beng nice, nothing more, nothing less. There is nothing unprofessional about being nice. Frankly, if being nice helps you get what you want, then being nice is a sound business decision.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Overwhelmed Newbie I think you're inferring a level of cynicism and hostility from me that I certainly did not intend. I don't think I'm cynical or hostile at all - but merely realistic based on past experiences w/ CAs. And I completely agree that commencing any sort of communication with hostility or an adversarial demeanor will not accomplish anything but further hostility and frustration. I'm merely disagreeing with the notion that I can simply call up the CA, have a friendly little chat about the situation, and resolve the problem "with a minimum of fuss." Maybe you would consider it cynical that I prefer to have a written record of the communications with a CA to protect my interests - but I consider it wise and prudent. And I think communicating in writing ensures a level of accountability and professionalism that a telephone call does not - for both the CA and myself. One's financial life can be a highly charged and emotional subject - by writing a letter rather than making a phone call, I'm actually ensuring that I do maintain a courteous and professional attitude. And what exactly is it about a letter that implies hostility to you? Certainly I can be nice in a letter can't I? I'll readily admit that my feelings towards CAs are negative - because my experiences with them have been negative. Being: lied to, yelled at, insulted, cussed out, and called names has definitely left me with a bad taste in my mouth, wouldn't it you? I don't have a problem being nice, but often being nice is translated into being naive, which I am not. There is nothing about being nice that precludes one from being firm, standing one's ground, and protecting oneself from being taken advantage of, that, too, is business. That said, I came to the board asking for procedural advice, more or less, which I rec'd from jlyn and PsychDoc early on in the thread. I think you've taken the thread in a direction that had relatively little to do with my original post, which is fine... But, actually, I get the impression that you are the adversarial personality here...
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Overwhelmed Newbie Okay. My procedural advice is to always try the easiest solutions first, but it seems that because of the way you feel, for you writing the letter is the easiest solution. Go for it. As far as what direction I may have taken the thread...conversations do tend to stray. I hope you havn't taken anything I said to anyone else as a reflection on you. It wasn't meant that way.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Overwhelmed Newbie So, you are saying that being professional is when people want to be unethical or immoral? That's what I get from this. Being professional doesn't mean that you aren't nice, you just dont' get walked over. Tee Bee shouldn't get walked over and should treat this issue in a professional, business like manner. Gee, go back to MSN with your bad advice.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Overwhelmed Newbie Not in the least - I've taken everything you've said in this forum, to me or anyone else, as a reflection on you.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Overwhe If a collector were to call me which they have in the recent past due to this old student loan I got to contend with and a book deal gone sour with Prentiss Hall, I've had a couple of occasions to deal with collectors recently. Both of them called me a few times, maybe 2 or 3 or so apiece. I always started off nice with them. Never really had any problems with them. Its really a matter of establishing who is going to control the course of the call right from the start. Of course, they think they are going to control the course of the call but its really no problem at all to get that silly idea out of their heads in most cases. It always has to go like this each and every time they call. They start off giving me some first name and that is always the wake up call because normally I don't know anybody by that first name whatever it might be and I don't recognize the voice. So I will immediately ask for their last name. After that we are just automatically off into their answering the other 17 questions until we get down to the last question which is "What is your Social Security number? Well, I've never had one give me that yet and I really didn't think they would but what the heck. We got to get to the end of it somehow, don't we? So when they refuse to give me that then I ask, "Ok. Now then what can I beat you out of?" They will usually start off saying they called to see about collecting on whatever and I tell them that if they want to discuss that they need to put it in writing and send it to me by U.S. Mail and just hang up. Nothing else needs to be said other than that anyway. I've had them call back immediately and I'll start the same old 18 questions all over again. They will immediately see where this is going and break in and tell me they aren't going to go through that nonsense again. (Nonsense is it? I don't think so!!! . Anyway, then I'll ask them what it is they want this time. Basically they will say that its for the same reason they called the first time. And then I ask them exactly what part of "send it by U.S. Mail" it is that they didn't understand. In that case I tell them that I didn't get it and if I had got it I would have answered it. I'll always tell them they has best send it again just to be sure and then I'll hang up again. Sometimes in the past I've had it break out into screaming matches but I'm pretty good at screaming too. So well scream back and forth for a while and then I'll holler "Hey! Wait a minute!" Gotta tell you something. That usually gets their attention and then I ask them if they were aware that all calls to this number are monitored and recorded for quality control purposes. That usually gets rid of them. Some times they will get stupid enough to tell me I can't do that. That's when they learn that if they don't want to be recorded and monitored they might not want to call back anymore. Then its hanging up time again. But the whole point is that I am going to control the conversation, not them. After all, its my telephone isn't it? I pay the bills on the durn thing and I'm going to control what goes on, not them. When they call my home they are guests in my home however they got into it and they best damned well learn that real quick and remember it forever. They don't like that they just don't need to call.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Overwhe Thanks, Bill, that makes sense. However, this creditor has never contacted me - by mail or telephone. In this case, would you recommend that I make that first contact them by telephone? Personally, I just feel more comfortable doing so in writing, but I'd like to hear your opinion. And, as I look over my credit reports, I've noticed that they've no address or phone listed - any suggestions for finding this information?
