I have been in the collection industry for over 14 years. I am not working to help people that are unfortunately thrown into the mess of collections. I have worked for most of the major agencies in the country and have owned my own. If you need any help contact me at: email deleted. I know all the ins and outs of these companies.
SameBox Response from "paulmergel":

sorry no personal or solicitory emails.

I want my money now! What if you don't have it? Then you can't pay yet. What's the worst that can happen? They sue you, they get a judgment, you still don't have the money, they still have to wait.

But be careful who you trust for advice. Only you know whether you truly owe the money, and if you do owe it then it's quite likely that judgment will be against you - the system works pretty well. If you send what you can, they will take the money and the balance will go down.

I do not recommend paying someone else to counsel you. You can end up paying someone 40% to cut your debts in half, then you've paid 90% and your credit is worse because it took you 5 years instead of 3. And you could probably negotiate 60-80% on your own!

Not to mention the fact that some of the debt "settlement" companies themselves are out of business. Look up "Hess Kennedy" - the Florida Bar put them out of business because they were taking your money and keeping it! And recently a Texas company with a name like Debt Freedom Relief or Freedom Debt Relief or something actually went BK (now THAT's ironic!) and those who had thousands on deposit will be lucky to get hundreds of it back.

At least if you pay your creditor directly you know your balance will go down. Keep copies of all canceled checks in case you have to prove it later.

Zwicker and Associates is the most amazing jerks that I have ever found in the world. They feel they are above the law. I am going to find out. I don't think they are. I think they can be beat at their own game.

Zwicker and Associates is the most amazing jerks that I have ever found in the world. They feel they are above the law. I am going to find out. I don't think they are. I think they can be beat at their own game.

Beware of this "Law Firm" (they like to call this collection agency this to give themselves credibility) this is nothing more than a low class intimidating and mostly a fraudulent company. Unfortunately they are a very borderline law firm (this is where our legal system starts to go down the drain).This is a highly abusive company that employs not only the lowest of harassing and intimidating practices but also the lowest quality of people. What all of you do not know is that during company training, all collection agents are taught every possible intimidating practice possible. Their main goal is to collect even if you do not owe anything. Yes! Believe it of not, they get high bonuses only for collecting money. And because consumers are usually unaware of their rights, it could take years if you are lucky to recover overpaid accounts or to clarify and resolve the problem. Also they are instructed NOT to clear and notify all credit bureaus of settlements under ANY circumstance.
One example is this man call Joseph Bradley (resident of Pelham NH, and I think he is in St Petersburg Fla. now) from the Andover MA agency. This individual, the most despicable “thing” (I will be offending the human race of I call him a man) used the most corrupted tactics you can imagine. Personally he stated that his favorite pastime was to harass elderly people to see if he could get them to die of a hearth attack during one of his countless calls. He used to get credit records and extremely confidential information of anyone who crossed his path to scam them for money. In front of hundred of people he used to joke how much fun was to make people miserable and the power he had screwing up people even if everything he was demanding was a lie. The funny thing is that companies like this hired a man who was convicted of stealing phones from Verizon while he was a low end salesman and selling them in E-Bay furthermore he took confidential information from the same clients and to sell to scam artist so they could open fraudulent accounts. This man has been fired from every job he has for being an a..hole and a scammer. Zwicker and Associates knew all of this and commented this is the kind of collector they need. Can you believe!! If this company calls you hire an attorney immediately and put a stop to their practices. One more advice, tell the scum collector ion the phone that you are recording the conversation and DO SO! You see how his song changes immediately.

I've read several messages on this board. I feel bad for any one that has had to deal with this agency on the collection side. but the people you should pity are the people that work there. I spent a year at the Hebron Ky office, it was utter hell. As a recent college graduate with several degree, I had bills to pay of my own. I found the market wasn't looking for degrees but experience, which I lacked. So I started to work there, some references to their training program are wrong. I was never taught in training how to brow beat money out of people. the training is mainly going through their computer system and learning how to use it. They treat their employees with no respect, most people that work there are good people, many hated it there and couldn't get a way out, they had families to feed and bills to pay as well. Do not hate them all. Yes there are people there that are horrible and deserve the title of hateful, but not everyone. I am no longer there because luckily I did manage to get out, but I'll tell you one thing I'll know what to do if the day would come that I recieved a call from them.

zwicker,

please share - how would you handle them? i'm at the end of my rope. i'm so stressed out, my hair is falling out.

i need all the help i can get.

thanks,
desperate

So, I owe a lot of $$ to Amex - $40K. I am in sales, and was doing quite well until the market fell out. My paycheck has been cut in half. I was unable to make the monthly payments of approx. $900/month. Amex did not want to talk to me because my account was still current. So, I missed two payments and was sent to Amex Collections. Mel Smith was my agent, and was pretty nice. Within the second call she agreed to accept $28,000. I said I don't have that, and would do what I can. 401K hardship loan was only $2500 max. She suggested home equity loan, which I applied for and got $21,000 - made a settlement offer for $21,500. They never called me back - my last call was to her to let her know the loan had closed, and the $$ was in my account. I then left 3 messages over two weeks - no call backs. Then, out of the blue I get a call from Z&A saying that Amex has retained them, and that they want $41K. I said what happened to the $28K, and he (Brad Davis) said that now I need to talk to them - if I call Amex, they will refer me back to Z&A. I am confused - Amex never told me that my offer was rejected - Z&A did?! Any advice?

Declare BK - or have a lien on your house

First of all, most of the people are uneducated in reference to how ANY debt collection Co. works. If someone files BANKRUPTCY they are FREE & CLEAR of all creditors as long as they reporta all of their creditors if they have more than a few. I filed 10 yrs. ago, reestablished myself & now know not to let friends use my credit card...a hard lesson learned after i was trying to help a friend out.( which of course i dont speak to any longer)

However, I now own a 400,000 home & my credit is in very excellent standing. Creditors only want your money to collect debt. What about the millions of dollars given to Bank of America...why do they get a break but the average American Citizen cant? Not fair but our country has laws and it's not 3 years & they CANT collect after 3 years...dont listen to this BS. You will have not have a good credit rating for a while but you can start getting credit by purchasing a car but plan on paying a higher interest rate , 10%. You will get credit card applications in the mail but avoid them, only have 1 credit card. Remember every one makes mistakes but learn from them is the key. Dont repeat them!

If you do get into trouble again you can file Bankruptcy every 10 years. It will cost a few hundred dollars. If you chose to repay your debt, even if you do, you will have a settled but still NEGATIVE for 7 years on you credit report. Check to make sure after this time they have to take it off. If they dont keep writing to the 3 credit bureaus.

Also, creditors lie because once your account goes into collections it's already on your credit as CHARGED OFF! They say they will put you on hold while they speak to whoever your credit card is with but this is a lie....ASK them who they spoke to & they will say...we cant give out that information...of course they cant because it's a lie.

I actually worked for a collection agency in NJ and they have just anyone off the streets
read off sheets of BS. AMAZING how this country works but just like them, get smart, educate yourselves or speak to an attorney, there are plenty that will consult for free, look in the phone book.

GOOD LUCK to ALL

They can get judgements but cant take your house unless you sell it. File Bankruptcy & clear yourself because even if you repay this debt, it will always show negative on a credit report for seven years. It's the same as a CHARGE OFF! The credit card companies claim this as a loss & sell these accounts to idiots like zwicker...who claims to be a law firm but they are not...just another name to look good on their letterhead to SCARE people.

CREDITORS buy your account for cheap, that collection company has it for 2 months , then
zwicker gets it, all the same thing. Always request information in writing, even if it's a settlement, have them send you information & NEVER EVER give any information over the phone as to social security number, or BAnk accounts especially.....NEVER!!!!!

Get a different account at a differnt bank if your going to pay anyone. BE SMART!

Everyone goes through hard times & those who dont are not human.

True, we get 70% of the total debt collected on an outgoing call.
If someone calls us, an incoming call , only 40 percent is given to the account manager,
as we are told to state. An average debt is about 30,000.

When one files bankruptcy are they required to declare/list ALL of their credit cards......even if they are not behind on some?

i am having trouble with zwicker also. this lady will not let me talk. i offered an amount to pay off which is NOT the 80% they want. i also offered to pay a certain amount ea. month until i can pay more later... will not except. she keeps telling me they will garnish my wages or take me to court. i cannot pay what they want at this time. YES, they will get their money sometime. is there anything else someone can do to make these people understand you can only pay a certain amount?

i just got a call from zwicker saying that legal action will be taking in 2 days unless i come up with the money that i dont have. i was paying my amex cards on time, got a 743 credit score but my job cut back on the commission pay which in turn made it where i cant afford the min bal. so before the debt collectors begin with harassment i thought i would join CCCS and let them help. what do you think?

after researching for the past few hours i have found quite a few things to do in dealing with zwicker. one: join a consumer credit counseling svs. two: speak with debt attorney (the first consultation is free) third: you could file chapter 13 not 7 and that will give you between 3 and 5 years to pay made arrangements with the creditors. four: send a certified cease and decease ltr.