Debt collectors-- who are these people anyway?
Who are these people anyway? They viciously harass you and call you bad names. They embarrass you beyond belief by leaving detailed messages with your neighbors and at your workplace. In some cases, they have been known to stalk you!
Debt collection agencies are hired by your creditors to do their dirty work. If they get you to pay, the debt collector usually gets a percentage of what you owe, plus added fees. Some debt collection agencies buy your debt from the creditor for a low fee, maybe as little as 4 to 5 cents on the dollar and attempt to collect double and sometimes triple what you owe on your original debt by attaching high penalties, interest and other processing fees.
Basically, debt collectors make a living trying to scare and intimidate you into paying your bills. They don't care that your finances are in limbo because you have recently divorced or that your employer informed you in the eleventh hour that you were being laid-off. All debt collectors care about is that they will get a slice of the pie—if you pay.
Debt collectors convince themselves that you are a deadbeat, sitting on a stack of cash and refusing to pay. By painting a negative mental picture of you in their mind, they feel justified harassing you into paying a delinquent bill. Most debt collectors are just downright mean, nasty, heartless individuals who make a living scaring "the pants off" of people who are simply broke and trying to survive. They unleash their full fury on anyone who attempts to educate the public about them and their sleazy tricks. An educated public is a constant threat to their livelihood and of course they must protect that at all costs.
One lady reported that after she vehemently tried to explain to an unrelenting debt collector that she was recently divorced, underemployed and didn't have the money to pay the $12,000 credit card bill her ex-husband left her, the debt collector replied, "Look, fat lady, it's obvious that you could stand to skip a few meals. Just send me your food bill for one week to wipe out this debt!" The lady was horrified—not so much by his remarks because she was accustomed to the debt collector being rude to her on the phone—but by his comment regarding her size. How did he know she was overweight? Had he been stalking her? Probably not. Just like Uncle Normie, he probably knew that huge numbers of Americans are overweight and took a chance that this lady was too.
Debt collectors use many tactics to research you, especially if you owe a large debt. Remember, their livelihood depends on how many people they can get to pay overdue bills—the bigger the debt, the bigger their payoff. Debt collectors working on commissions are always harder to deal with at the beginning of the month but when it comes down to the end of the month they are willing to do most anything to meet their quotas and thereby qualify for their commission checks which are always the largest part of their salary. Somewhat like waitresses in a restaurant, they make a very low wage and must rely on commission checks to meet their bills.
Despite what debt collectors believe, most people are not faced with buying a ticket to Tahiti versus paying their credit card bill. People who are broke find themselves faced with real-life problems like putting food on the table versus paying a credit card bill!
Keep in mind that debt collectors are no different than you are. As the saying goes, "they put their pants on one leg at a time." They cannot physically harm you and the mental abuse they throw at you can be easily avoided. All you have to do is learn the law so that you know when you are being abused by these scumbags and how to meet their challenges.
The key to avoid being harassed to death on the phone is to remember that just like telemarketers, they work from a script and if you distract them they will not know what to do and so will not only make many mistakes but will also fail to collect. Never let them get control of a phone conversation. Never call a debt collector no matter how many messages they might leave on your answering machine.
Today, thousands of people are being harassed on the phone, at work and even sued by scumbag debt collectors like our "Cartman" aka "concerned citizen" aka "Uncle Normie" aka ad infinitium, ad nauseum and often for debts they do not even owe.
Debt collection agencies are hired by your creditors to do their dirty work. If they get you to pay, the debt collector usually gets a percentage of what you owe, plus added fees. Some debt collection agencies buy your debt from the creditor for a low fee, maybe as little as 4 to 5 cents on the dollar and attempt to collect double and sometimes triple what you owe on your original debt by attaching high penalties, interest and other processing fees.
Basically, debt collectors make a living trying to scare and intimidate you into paying your bills. They don't care that your finances are in limbo because you have recently divorced or that your employer informed you in the eleventh hour that you were being laid-off. All debt collectors care about is that they will get a slice of the pie—if you pay.
Debt collectors convince themselves that you are a deadbeat, sitting on a stack of cash and refusing to pay. By painting a negative mental picture of you in their mind, they feel justified harassing you into paying a delinquent bill. Most debt collectors are just downright mean, nasty, heartless individuals who make a living scaring "the pants off" of people who are simply broke and trying to survive. They unleash their full fury on anyone who attempts to educate the public about them and their sleazy tricks. An educated public is a constant threat to their livelihood and of course they must protect that at all costs.
One lady reported that after she vehemently tried to explain to an unrelenting debt collector that she was recently divorced, underemployed and didn't have the money to pay the $12,000 credit card bill her ex-husband left her, the debt collector replied, "Look, fat lady, it's obvious that you could stand to skip a few meals. Just send me your food bill for one week to wipe out this debt!" The lady was horrified—not so much by his remarks because she was accustomed to the debt collector being rude to her on the phone—but by his comment regarding her size. How did he know she was overweight? Had he been stalking her? Probably not. Just like Uncle Normie, he probably knew that huge numbers of Americans are overweight and took a chance that this lady was too.
Debt collectors use many tactics to research you, especially if you owe a large debt. Remember, their livelihood depends on how many people they can get to pay overdue bills—the bigger the debt, the bigger their payoff. Debt collectors working on commissions are always harder to deal with at the beginning of the month but when it comes down to the end of the month they are willing to do most anything to meet their quotas and thereby qualify for their commission checks which are always the largest part of their salary. Somewhat like waitresses in a restaurant, they make a very low wage and must rely on commission checks to meet their bills.
Despite what debt collectors believe, most people are not faced with buying a ticket to Tahiti versus paying their credit card bill. People who are broke find themselves faced with real-life problems like putting food on the table versus paying a credit card bill!
Keep in mind that debt collectors are no different than you are. As the saying goes, "they put their pants on one leg at a time." They cannot physically harm you and the mental abuse they throw at you can be easily avoided. All you have to do is learn the law so that you know when you are being abused by these scumbags and how to meet their challenges.
The key to avoid being harassed to death on the phone is to remember that just like telemarketers, they work from a script and if you distract them they will not know what to do and so will not only make many mistakes but will also fail to collect. Never let them get control of a phone conversation. Never call a debt collector no matter how many messages they might leave on your answering machine.
Today, thousands of people are being harassed on the phone, at work and even sued by scumbag debt collectors like our "Cartman" aka "concerned citizen" aka "Uncle Normie" aka ad infinitium, ad nauseum and often for debts they do not even owe.
posted by Creditwrench at 12:58 AM
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