[kalevala316]

Myself,
just how long have your worked there? Did anyone ever give you training on how to collect a debt and stay within the guidelines? Your answer above says No training, No guidelines. Being polite and having a good attitude towards people comes free and reaps generous rewards.
Just a tip

[jj]

Myself, two items pertaining to washington Law 1) although your firm may be a law firm in utah, you are not licensed in Washington and until you are you are acting as a debt collection firm. Now washington state law does require that collection agencies be licensed in washington state to collect from washington residents. While the law does provide some exemptions for law firms collecting their own debts, if you were sued in washington you would have to prove whe=ther or not your principle business is law or debt collection. Additionally, by filing a complaint with either the AG or Department of licensing, an investigation can be done to determine your principal line of business with respect to licensure requirements.

Not withstanding Washington Law, the fdcpa does apply to you during the course of your debt collection activities.

I just received a call from them today. They are wanting to collect 350$ from a 25$ check my 18 y/o daughter wrote 6 months ago. She would gladly pay a bad check fee but, she could never come up with that much now. Can they do that?

[roxette]

CC, ask the company to give you the break down of the $350 charged so far. A $25 totaling up to $350 over a period of six months sounds strange. It can't be possible. Ask the company to validate your debt. If they can't, send a copy of your letter requesting the info to the credit bureau. They will conduct an investigation and get the account verified.

Regards
Roxette

Use the word "lawfirm" very loosely here aren't we? And what ever happened to "valerie"? Gone, just like in real life, LOL. Don't give these people the one thing they need in order to do what they do successfully, the time of day! Just don't do it.

I don't care who they work for, in the scheme of things it really means NOTHING... Don't let them treat you or talk to you like it does... And if you let them.. Then they will try to get away with anything..

If you need help, get in touch with me off the board, and I will deal with them for you..

[jj]

call the business the check was written to and see if you can pay them directly

Kepp in mind that the checks this law firm gets are already over 90 to 300 days old! As a business owner, if people can get away with taking merchandise out of my store without paying for it, I go out of biz! Or at least I have to raise my prices to compensate. Letting a check go bad that long is basically shoplifting - is it not?

Call the Utah Bar Association, Bennett and Deloney are legitimate. I love working for this firm, and if you don't pay your bills you will be facing a potential lawsuit. I work on the prelitigation floor and it is real.

I own a collection agency. The post dated March 30,2006 @ 10:51p.m. is obviously from a bill collector. Bill collectors like this give the industry a bad name and are exactly the type that run a short life in the business and move on. In this case I don't think the person involved needs a lesson from a punk bill collector about how to balance their checkbook and the comment "just stop bouncing checks" and you wouldn't have to worry about it, is rude and uncalled for. I've found after 20 years in this business that collectors with this type attitude usually will end up out of the buisness due to multiple regulatory complaints and the agency they work for ends up in hot water as well. Probably some unproductive and unsuccessfull bill collector surfing the web at work on the companies dime. I'll bet he lives in an apartment and doesn't even have a check book.

They are a collection angency, however they do work for thier clients,I wish you luck with this however I think it may be tricky they are sneekie son's of B's.I used to work for them and I may even be wrong they lie so much that you don't ever know if they are telling the truth or not. as far as trainning goes yes they do provide it and you have to pass a fdcpa test, however they push thier collectors so hard that they have to go so close to the line meny go over it I know that none none of the collectors thier are bad people however when some 80yr old lady or guy wrights a check for 250.00$ and then has a say 40.00$ NSF fee depending on you'r state and you call say a month later because the check went to collections and was never paid now it went to B&D,and she say's I cannot pay it that is theft and not a bill and she also knew that getting SSI she would not be able to pay in the first place that makes it hard to be nice.and if not should be able to demand the money in full Immd. and you should have to pay it wrighting bad check's can become a feloney.The reason I say don't pay them Is because of the Attorney's they are shisty and I belive that everyone that is still thier desevers better exception's of the Attorney's they need to learn how us as they may say,peeons feel.

It's easy to say, 'Just don't write bad checks.' The reality is, sometimes there are circumstances that are out of one's control (identity theft, bank error, etc etc) which can cause mishaps on a person's account, resulting in bounced checks. That's why collection agencies and law firms who act as debt collectors are around. Necessary 'evil' and whatnot.

There seems to be this common misconception that all debt collectors are greedy, ruthless, bottom-feeders who are on par with hustlers and drug-dealers. Sorry, not true. I am a debt collector myself, and I actually enjoy my job (to an extent). No, I'm not a sadist. I've actually gotten compliments from many debtors on how professional and helpful I have been. I've also gotten complaints that I'm mean and uncaring - I don't know a collector who hasn't gotten those, however. On the phones, we have to be tough because, believe it or not, we deal with a lot of crap all day long (who doesn't?). Some people get cynical, and I know that shows on how they handle situations that arise on calls. I've heard my coworkers say things that I would never say, ever... even if it does not violate fdcpa. But I digress...

In my experience, a great many people want to get rid of the constant anxiety that comes with owing a debt. Problems begin to crop up because the collector and the debtor often have different agendas. Most people I talk to don't end up paying, so you have to understand we are constantly dealing with debtors who say they will pay, then don't. Like I said, we deal with lots of crap. That's irritating, but anyways... the few that become extremely angry or upset with me on the phone are often those who feel entitled to something, or are frustrated by a poor financial situation (or sometimes both). I don't mean to make a generalization - it's simply what I've observed in the time I've been a debt collector. And then there are people who just refuse to pay, that make a habit of bouncing checks like it's free money or something. You can call me scum (or any other derogatory term... I've heard them all at this point) all you want, but I pay ALL my bills ON TIME. It's the bonafide criminals who make collections a difficult and demanding job, which in turn makes the collectors more demanding of the debtor in the first place.

Some tips for the every-day debtor...
- Keep it clean. When you start swearing and yelling, I simply chuckle nowadays. Or I flip off my phone (you can't see it, so what do you care?) More importantly, you catch more bees with honey, right?
- Check your records if you doubt you owe the debt. Don't scream at me for a half an hour instead. That's just childish.
- Don't repeat yourself non-stop. I heard you the first time, thanks.
- It's not telemarketing. Don't simply tell me to put you on our do-not-call list. We don't have one.
- Please don't chit-chat... yes, the weather is fine here, but let's keep the conversation relevant to the matter at hand.
- Pretty much just be professional. When you're off your head, nothing gets accomplished.

Perhaps what I've said doesn't help anyone's specific situations, but I'm tired of seeing all these complaints injected with ignorant comments on debt collectors... thought I'd get my side out there.

I'm always interested to read when someone is so myopic as to assume that most people would just randomly and thoughtlessly bounce checks. Who would DO this on purpose. Most likely the person who passes the bad check does so a)unwittingly or b)is always right on the edge of being able to survive financially because of underemployment or some other situation. Apart from your random inability to understand a situation that would cause a person to write an NSF check, Mr. Myself above is not exactly Einstein on the concept of the Attorney General's role in pursuing abuses. Yes, if this firm is charging extortive fees, you bet your donkey there will be more than "it's against the law to write a bad check." Ask the West Virginians who sued the crap out of this firm. Too bad there weren't some healthy punitive damages thrown into that ruling. As I always note, it's pathetic in this country that we lock up the poor for robbing the rich, but we let the rich rewrite the laws so they can rob the poor. Oh, and it's "you," not "u" moron. And this. <--- this is a period. Try using one once in a while.

There are a lot of stupid laws. upping a check to 400 or 500 from 25 or 30 is one of them. Just call the phone number on the stupid check to see if they even knew it had bounced. Oops! Sorry. GOOD people like "myself?" don't ever make mistakes like that, just us low lifes. OK, that sounded bitter. But seriously, B & D have a really bad rap which I believe is well founded and maybe a little more trumped up than they deserve. I personally have had a bad experience with their employees and policies. We'll see how it all works out.

These guys are a law firm. They even added some offices in the mountain west states for suing unpaid debts, and forward accounts to other attorneys in other states for suing. It appears that they sue hundreds of accounts monthly.

Bennett, DeLoney ... legite? On paper, yes. They are after me for writing a check to a store I've never been in, on an account that I have never had, and with a Bank with whom I've never had association, and, they don't even know my accurate name. They quoted as "proof" that they sent me written demand letters because they know my address. Duh, it's listed in the phone book. They have stated they "need" my signature. My State Attorney General's office says "don't!" So, just "say no" to these unethical people.

My son stole razors and condoms as a joke from Wal Mart and they are wanting $150.00 from us as parents for the minor, yet he is being tried as an adult. These people claim that this is a settlement offer in order to settle all potential claims that Wal Mart has against him. That the $150.00 will settle the whole issue?
He was arrested and is being tried as an adult at 17 years of age and these people claim that as parents we owe them $150.00. What debt are they collecting? Everything was returned that night before he spent a night in jail for the first time in his life. They claim to be working for Wal Mart themselves out of Utah. This is Texas.