[Jedi Mistress Ari]

Hi everyone,

Looks like we're all here to weed out the good, the bad, and the ugly, and know for sure how high to raise our guard when the phone rings. This is a database forum of as many collection agencies as we can think of that we are familiar with. The agency that gave me my knowledge of student loan debt, the fdcpa, and helping debtors in Collection Company of America, also known as Collecto, Inc. They are the American baby-company of EOS over in Germany.

CCA prides itself in strict adherence to federal law, and rightfully so. I was very proud to have worked there. I was even more proud of working on the Department of Education contract.

What CCA trains each new collector to do is abide the FDCPA to the letter, build rapport with each borrower in a friendly and businesslike manner, gather information in order to better understand their situation and be able to help them, and work as a team with the rest of the collections staff. I honestly can't remember having a bad day there.

CCA is very professional, studious, and upbeat. Many smiling faces. It's important to have a positive attitude because being positive helps borrowers feel more at ease talking to the collectors there. In fact, people who displayed cynicism, negativity, or wariness didn't last. The main key is to establish trust and build rapport with the borrowers, or how else are they going to trust in this crazy world?

So from May 2005 to November 2005, I loved my job, my managers, my coworkers, and my borrowers. I had some borrowers get so comfortable with me that they'd open up about their families, the things they love, and two who stick out in my memory who completely won me over by talking about their cats! Fond memories.

Fast forward to December 2005, I got hired at Protocol Recovery Service expecting the same thing. You all know what happened after that. More on them in another thread....

[TMD]

So, may I ask why you left CCA?

The difference in CCA and other companies is that they probably treated their employees good, that makes a big difference and sets the tone for the whole environment. Sometimes if you work around negative people long enough, you risk the chance of becoming negative yourself. So, it is good you left Protocol.

[Jedi Mistress Ari]

TMD,

My husbadn got his new job down here on the Gulf Coast, and since there are no CCA satellites on the Gulf Coast, I couldn't transfer! I was sad to have to go and tehy were all sad to see me go. I was told by the Contract manager that if I ever move back up North, their doors are always open to me. There was even some small talk about opening up a CCA satellite in Pensacola just to keep me in the company! I miss tehm terribly, but I'm still in touch with many of my old coworkers.
Oh god Protocol was such a drag! I knew it would eventually drain the life out of me!

[whtlion]

hey ARI
just a thought but did you offer them the posibilty from working from your home for them? even at a paycut. alot of companies are going in that direction.
you may even talk to them about being and independent contractor?
though be warned if they do accept that you will be responsible for your own medical insurence as well as your end of year taxes.or work on commission?
though i think you would be more talented in the CSR industry.as you appear to have that kind of personality.


again just a thought.

good luck

rob

p.s do you really want to work for a CCA?

[Jedi Mistress Ari]

I appreciate that and will consider it.

[Mary]

Hi Ari,

I appreciate that you shared a story of a GOOD collection agency. You rarely hear of them, so it's nice to know that they are out there somewhere

~Mary

[Jedi Mistress Ari]

Yes, they are wonderful and they are a model to all agencies out there. Every agency should be like CCA!

[stanley]

I have just gone through the two threads created by you Ari. I must say they are in sharp contrast. They strongly support the point that the members of this forum have been trying to establish for a long time – there are good collection agencies and bad ones. Our fight is against those who violate laws and harass people.

We always want that more good people (like you ) join this industry, so that collection threats are minimized and we receive a touch of cooperation too.

I think their system should be more advanced. Still they are having some bugs in their system and that is the reason behind repetitive calls sometimes. What experience I have gathered after observing this forum, even though one collection rep deletes your name from the database of one unit, it still remain in the system and continue appearing at some other places.

Ari, since you were in the student loan collection sector, can I ask you to look at this thread? One elderly lady and her son are being harassed by some collection reps. Please give your views at this-

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com...ditcorp-2.html

[Jedi Mistress Ari]

It is done, Stanley. Check out my response on the thread. I think it's fair to say that no two debts are alike, same with the people. A collector should not get all frenzied by the prospect of a bonus check that they inadvertently break the law. He or she will make a jackass of themself and get no bonus check. My advice to all collectors is nevr put a price on your dignity.

THE CCA YOU WORKED AT HAS CHANGED. TOO MANY PHONY PEOPLE, I WOULDNT RECOMMEND ANYONE TO WORK THERE. THE MANAGERS FIRE PEOPLE JUST TO MAKE A POINT, AND I THINK CCAS COLLECTIONS ETHICS NEED TO BE INVESTIGATED. IT IS A ROUGH PLACE. NOT A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH.

[paulmergel]

being as the original post was from 2006.we are aware of that.