I've come across this thread by accident, and I've been thoroughly entertained. Hey David Schwimmer, I've especially enjoyed your posts. I use to work there up until 3 years ago. I've put in a fair amount of time there too (not saying how much, but I do have a BCR logo pullover windbreaker). Depending on where you were stationed it used to be a very profitable place to work. Of course every time I seem to fall into a group that's like that either the client pulled the business or I was transfer else where (much like how you were).

Anyway its sounds like a lot of people here complain simply about getting collection calls. I can tell you exactly how these calls go. They know a call is from a collection agency, yet they won't ID themselves. Then they asked a million questions, which the collector will only answer so many (being very nonspecific to prevent 3rd party disclosure). The person who answers the phone, wither it's the debtor or just a family member, will be evasive themselves and become extremely difficult and rude. If it is the debtor and they finally ID themselves the tone is set and they start yelling, cursing, and calling the collector names. The collector precipitates, then the debtor throws out one last belligerent insult and hangs up.

Word of advice: Don't expect to get anywhere yelling and screaming, and more often than not if act professional and use a professional tonality in your voice the collector will reciprocate that (although I admit that are collectors out there where that will never be the case). And if you really don't want calls send or fax them a cease and desist letter. Put it attention to one of there VPs David Winters. He's been with that company for over 10 years.

Now with those who are getting EBay letters that sounds like shoddy record keeping by EBay. Or they never verified the info in the first place, so whoever originally typed it in was making it up. How can you hold BCR accountable for accounts EBay places with them? It's obviously EBay's fault. You can find EBay's contact info in this thread:
fatwallet.com/t/24/370363/
Courtesy of fatwallet.com, a great website.

And let me add something for those who say they never had AT&T wireless accounts (and I'm sure this goes for Cingular too). When I worked there we received a huge drop of business from AT&T Wireless, only they didn't tell us that drop was from a rinky dink cell phone company they bought out called L.A. cellular. I eventually figured it out from the debtors I called. So if you are getting a letter and you never opened an account with AT&T then it's probably a company they bought out. I know there are exceptions, but from my extensive cell phone collection experience the debtor usually knows that it's probably a cell phone company they used to have service with that was bought out, or they know it's for the phone they cosigned for their cousin, nephew, friend, or whoever. They know who lives at the billing address. Almost always with the right kind of probing the truth will come out. The rare exceptions usually do not hesitate in filing a police report (fraud report) to protect themselves.

Just a couple more final thoughts. Like it are not, the more irritating and rude you are with a third party, especially a relative who lives elsewhere or a neighbor (you can only legally do this if you don't have a good contact #), the more likely the call will be returned and therefore more likely the debt will get paid. Its just human nature. Also if you think BCR is bad, just wait till you (if ever) get a call from Academy Collections!!! You'll be yearning for the "customer service style" approach of BCR!

Link made inactive as per forum rules-Vikas

To ex BCR bill collector,

You might have BCR logo pullover windbreaker, but some letters send BCR does not contain your company logo even and letters are not printed on company letter-head, as complained by ‘InertiacticESP'.

Also people had problem in understanding your foreign accent. Few instances show that your company did not respond properly.

It is right that you are not accountable for the mistake done by the original creditor. But if the same problem is being reported for quite a long time, why don't you discuss it with your management and try to fix the problem?

Moreover, if you are a lawful debt collector then how can you continue collecting bills despite of knowing that the accounts are wrongly placed with you? No one is going to entertain your calls if he does not owe. I request your attention Mr. David Winter to solve this problem.

Thanks to this site.

regarding a cingular bill bcr will not give me their address so I can send the money in the mail. nor will they send me any info on what I owe them in the mail Are the for real

I have to send a check to BCR for an account that I had with AT&T but I don't know the address.
Is it possible to get it and any phone number to check if this is the same office?

Carla GG,

Their contact address is listed here, please check it-

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com...nrecovery.html

You can also check for their contact details with bbb.org

I am a manager at the largest collection agency (NOT BCR)in the USA. The collection practices used by BCR are in voilation if the FDPCA laws. BCR has contacted me after 9pm at night, I called them and spoke to someone in there office after being on hold for 45 mins, then right after i hung up with them , another rep from there office called me regarding this account with AT&T and you can not understand the reps when they do call you. I have asked the reps if they had training on fdcpa and 2 of them stated they had never heard of FDCPA. I have disputed my account with AT&T for a year do to incorrect billing errors on ther side but can not seem to get them to fix this either. I have sent a cease and desist letter to BCR in hopes that they will violate this so i can turn the case over to an attorney to stop the harassment of 5-10 calls per day on my phone. And I had the same problem when I asked for there address they refused to give it to me too. I am very glad I do not work for them...

i am a day sleeper that has a real job to go to at night. you and your company persist in herrasing me and refuse to give any information so that i can send a cease and desist letter so here it is cease and desist or i will let my lawyer in on your shady practice and have you dealt with. Thank you and dont ever call me again. The person you are looking for no longer lives here. Need i say more

BCR's website (http://www.bureauofcollection.com/) has an online payment function which redirects you to (https://secure.universalsystems.net/payments/)

Neither domain name has a valid SSL certificate. That means your personal information will be broadcast loud and clear to any would-be hackers looking for a meal-ticket, ie, your credit card #, your personal identity, etc. If you don't believe me, please see these links to the WHOIS information as well:

(http://www.whois.sc/bureauofcollection.com)
(http://www.whois.sc/universalsystems.net)

Read the first few lines of both pages, you will notice this: "SSL Cert: No valid SSL on this Host, Get Secure"

Hope this helps.

Guest,

Send them cease and desist letter explaining the fact. Send it CMRRR. If they do not stop calling you after receiving the letter, file your complaint with FTC, BBB.

Hope this helps.

I have to agree that this company does not seem like an honest outfit. In a call today, for someone I don't know and who has not had this phone number for at least several years, if ever, they seemed very shady and unprofessional.

Two representatives were on the phone in succession, and they did not want to provide their names, the name of the company, the address, or any other information. They did eventually say that it was a call to collect a debt with AT&T Wireless, even though I am not the person they are trying to reach. (Isn't that illegal? I did nothing to suggest or imply I was the person they were supposedly calling.) They kept demanding my name (as if it's any of their business) and I have little doubt they would have asked more intrusive questions, and added me to their fake-billing schemes, had I given them any personal information. They were incredibly rude also, apparently believing they have a right to call complete strangers and demand their names. Sorry, if you call me, you don't get to quiz me. Apparently these people were brought up in a barn and never learned proper phone manners.

InnocentBystander,

The same story is being repeated again. I'm really very sorry to know your problem. How can they do this type of mistakes? Moreover they neglect what people say to them.

Send them a C&D letter, CMRRR. State clearly that you are not the person they are looking for, so they stop all kind of communication with you.

They should honor your request. If you find any breach of this, you can report against them with FTC, BBB and so on.

Go through this entire thread. Read what Ex BCR Collector has said here. It might help you also.

Stanley,

"How can they do this type of mistakes? Moreover they neglect what people say to them." You've got me. If they were really trying to reach people about debts they thought were legitimate, surely they wouldn't want to spend time and money bothering unrelated strangers. This isn't the first time I've gotten a wrong-number call from a debt collector, but it is the first time I've found their behavior so odd and downright suspicious that I was moved to look up and post about the company in question.

I did read ex BCR bill collector's post. Unfortunately his suggestions mostly seem based on an assumption that the caller has the right number, and/or that the person reached is the right person and owes the money. I can see how a person from that industry would get jaded, and might need such assumptions to get through the day, but the resulting suggestions are not really applicable for me. Probably useful to others though.

In my case, I don't even know the person BCR was trying to reach. I had already told them there was no one by that name here, and that they had a wrong number, and asked them nicely to please not call again since I can't help them. They called again anyway. At this point, it was clear that being polite and giving them what information I had did no good. So I took a different approach with their last call.

It used to be that when I got these, I would politely state that there was no "Bob Smith" here, and they had called the wrong number. I got endless repeat calls from the same companies. Finally one evening I decided to stay on the phone with one of the worst offenders and return some of the irritation they'd given me -- with faultless politeness of course. That worked better than being "nice" ever did -- they were furious by the time they hung up, and abruptly stopped calling, after weeks of daily calls. I've concluded that, after the first call, briefly telling these people it's a wrong number only encourages them. I now try to keep repeat offenders on the phone as long as possible, and of course I never give them any information about myself. Most resist giving out even their company's name and address -- you'd be surprised how many minutes that question alone can use up. The ones who stay on the phone the longest invariably start huffing and puffing that I'm "rude" for not giving out my personal information to whatever strangers happen to call and demand it. Lemons to lemonade: I get entertained, and they don't call back.

I did this with BCR, and I doubt I'll hear from them again.

So, to the bill collectors who are convinced that any person who won't identify themselves is secretly the person you're looking for, or is covering for them -- nope, sorry, but keep that delusion if you like. You'll get one polite statement from me that there is no Bob Smith here, then I won't help you anymore. If you call again, knowing you're calling an innocent bystander, well... given what I've read about your industry I figure I'm doing a good deed by wasting as much of your time as possible. If you're raging at me for not following your script, that's at least a few innocent victims of identity theft, billing errors, or name mixups you're not bothering. And I've got another great story for my friends. Thanks!

Ok, I know that I owe an old bill with Cingular. Problem is, Cingular gave me 30 days to decide if I wanted a cell phone I was interested in. After two weeks it was quite clear that I could not us this phone in my rural area. I contacted them to cancel the order (after 30 days I would be responsible for thier contract fees of over 200.00). I thought this was completely cancelled and sent the phone back. Next thing you know they say they didn't get the phone until 33 days from the date the service started. They stick me with the bill.Next thing I know this BCR is calling my home multiple times a week sometimes two times a day. I send them a letter and also send the same one with detail on the debt they are attemtping to collect to Cingular. No one bothered to look into this as it clearly was an error from Cingulars receiving department. They obviously didn't report receiveing the phone back in a timely manner. No one has even tried to help me to resolve this. They are RIGHT and that's it. BCR just gets these debts and harrasses until someone changes their number of finally pays. I have begged both of these companies to look into this. Nothing has been done. Obviously they sees dollar signs in thier future and can care less what they do to hard working people who are honest and debt free. I have never had a collections issue in my 41 years! I have 4 teenagers who I have to support and these people just want money and don't seem to care that it isn't even owed!
I may have been off cue but I had to vent about this. BEWARE! When you think you are doing right in life, and you are responsible, you can still be scammed.

This issue should be brought under attention of Attorney General at this stage. This company does not seem to be cooperative to consumers. What if someone wish to cancel the contract on the 30th day? It is quite sure that the papers will not be returned within 30 days. In that case the consumer pays for the service that he/she never received! This cannot be allowed.

Please contact Consumer Protection Office or FTC and see what they recommend at this stage. Keep us posted.

I'm an attorney in Virginia, and got one of those bogus AT&T Wireless bills for a cellphone I never had. I complained about it, but eventually decided I'd go ahead and send AT&T the $49 - easier than a letter writing campaign.

The long and short of it is BCR began calling, and sent a demand letter. I sent them a denial of claim and demand for verification pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which BCR ignored. I logged the calls and did "call trace" (*57 or 1157) on most of the calls.

After a few months of that, I filed suit against BCR in a Va. Circuit Court for around $275,000.00 - the statutory damages is up to $1,000 per violation of the fdcpa (15 U.S.C. section 1692 et seq.). Even though the FDCPA is a federal statute, you can file suit in any "court of competent jurisdiction".

I'd like to find out more from people familiar with BCR and their affiliates, about their business practices, officers, etc., particularly from former employees willing to sign an affidavit or be deposed (wherever you live, of course). I can't force anyone outside of Va. to testify, but I'd like to get as much information as I can.

As a general BTW, note that for legal purposes, calling someone on the telephone is just words in the air unless the call is recorded under specially controlled circumstances with the consent of all concerned (and that's too hard for most folks). Recording a call without the other person's consent is a felony in a half a dozen or more states (remember Linda Tripp in Maryland?). So write letters. You have 30 days to tell the debt collector you deny the debt and demand verification. I'll send anyone a free copy of my standard letter by email. If you send a demand for verification letter, they're supposed to stop calling (BCR obviously ignores this law), and to take no further action to collect unless and until they send you the documentation that verifies (1) that there is a valid debt and (2) that you're the debtor.

Email deleted as per forum rules-Vikas

virginia, as an attorney woud you be interested in spearheading class action suits against bad collectiona gencies and payday lenders if so reply here or pm me