harassing phone calls
Date: Sat, 02/09/2008 - 20:05
Submitted by melissa_t_smith
on
Sat, 02/09/2008 - 20:05
Total Replies: 7
hi melissa-- did I read that correctly?? Four times every HO
hi melissa--
did I read that correctly?? Four times every HOUR? If they are calling you four times every hour, that is WAY too excessive.
Here is a simple way to handle this--send them a letter that we call a cease-and-desist letter. Basically, you are telling them in this letter that they are no longer allowed to contact you at all by telephone, either at work, your residence, or at any other number. Any correspondence that they wish to communicate to you must be done either by mail or by contacting the creditor hotline with ACCI. I would write something like this:
Quote:
ABC credit card company account # ______ date To whom it may concern: In reference to the above account, you are hereby notified that you are no longer allowed to contact me by telephone. This includes, but is not limited to, computer dialers, calls at my residence, place of employment, or cell phone. Any further communication regarding this account must be either sent to me by mail at my address of residence, or you must contact American Credit Counselors Inc. at their creditor hotline number (insert number here). Your company has been calling me, both at my place of employment and at my home, an average of four times per hour, daily. I have repeatedly explained that this account is involved in the above-mentioned debt consolidation program, yet you refuse to take notice. As you should be aware, calling me four times per hour throughout the day is most definitely not reasonable, and under the law is excessive. Should the calls continue, I will have no choice but to file suit against your company for harassment and to file complaint with the attorney general's office in both my state and the state your company operates from. Your full cooperation in this matter is expected and required by law. |
Remember to send it certified mail, return receipt requested. That way, you can keep a copy of the letter and the USPS will send you a green card that proves when they received the letter. If they get the letter, for example, on the 13th, and the calls continue after that, you will then have all the proof you need to file the complaints. By law, if you tell them to stop calling you they must do so.
Thanks you for the advice. I will send them a letter asap. Now I
Thanks you for the advice. I will send them a letter asap. Now I just hope ACCI gets everything situated so I don't have to deal with the creditors anymore. I'm only about a month behind on my credit card so I really think they are being ridiculous in calling me all day long AND repeatedly calling the office I work at. I don't actually work in the office (I'm an on-call employee so I'm home most of the time)and the secretary told them that and they still called the office about 5 times the other day.
so, how many times per day are they actually calling?
so, how many times per day are they actually calling?
Yikes
I wasn't aware you could C&D and original creditor. Good information to know.
What credit card company is this? I had heard the sub-prime ones were the worse. Seems like they start calling the day after the your payment was due, if you happened to miss it. Just so they can give you a "friendly" reminder.
I absolutely know what you mean, though, by an OC calling repeatedly throughout the day. When my medical problems started in September of 2006, I had to take 3 months short term disability. While I was waiting for the paperwork to be approved and the pay to kick in (took about 2 months. no big rush, right?) of course I got behind on my bills. One OC actually filled up my voice mail, to capacity, with calls asking when my payment was coming. No joke. My supervisor called me at home and told me it was full and could I check it. I don't know how many calls there actually were, but only one was work related. The rest were form the OC credit card. I called them and told them what was going on and could they please stop calling my job and filling up the voice mail and was told they would continue to do it until I sent in a payment. I said "whatever" but I'm out of work, and your waisting your time by continuing to call me at work. They were, of course, calling at home too.
And you make a good point on the time of the calls too. I had one CA call me at 8:59 one night. I guess that 1 minute was technically legal according to the fdcpa, but it sure irritated me.
harassing phone calls
Quote:
What credit card company is this? I had heard the sub-prime ones were the worse. |
Right you are. I was out on STD several years ago, and, drawing only 60% of my salary, got behind on my credit card bills. I wrote to all of them, explaining my situation. Most of them were understanding, but Cross Country Bank didn't want to hear it. They bombarded me with phone calls, e-mails and nasty letters, demanding payment. And, when I tried to work out a payment plan with one of their collectors over the phone, she began yelling at me. "Ma'm, pleaselower your voice", I requested calmly. When she refused and wouldn't allow me to get another word in edgewise, I hung up on her. I had no sooner gotten out the Yellow pages to look for a Bankruptcy Attorney, when she called again. This time I unplugged the phone from the wall. Enough was
enough. "They can go ahead and do what they have to do, and I'll do the same", I told myself as I returned to the Yellow Pages. "I don't need
this crap". I not only found and made an appointment with a Bankruptcy Attorney, but also had my phone changed to an unlisted number. Less than five days later, I received a "demand" letter from their so-called "legal" department. It was signed by some guy, claiming to be an "attorney" (yeah, right!). I fed it through my shredder. They had made their decision, and I had made mine: As they had chosen not to work with me (and that was their right), and I had to make a choice between paying my mortgage, utility bills, food, insurance and co-pays on my doctor visits, guess who won?
In summary, Cross Country Bank's behavior throughout this entire ordeal was uncalled for.
I mean, what purpose does harassing, yelling, screaming, threatening, intimidating, humiliating and calling a distressed (and sick) debtor TEN times a day accomplish?: NOTHING. Since then, I've made a solemn promise to myself not to EVER subject myself to this kind of abuse by a creditor again...and I've kept that promise.
Quote:
I had one CA call me at 8:59 one night. I guess that 1 minute was technically legal according to the fdcpa, but it sure irritated me. |
I would have been irritated, too! :evil:
I don't know exactly how often they are calling because it's kin
I don't know exactly how often they are calling because it's kinda hard to look through my phone log, but they did call me this morning 3 times between 10am-11am. I had 14 calls from them yesterday according to my call log. They seem to call in intervals. Like they call a lot on the mornings... and then a lot in the evenings.
The creditor is Chase. I think it's really ridiculous that they are calling me this much because of being one month behind on payment. Plus, they KNOW they are going to get paid because I'm working with a debt consolidation progam, which they acknowledged but still INSIST on speaking to me directly about it. I've just been rejecting their phone calls (which they never leave messages, by the way)because I know they want me to make a payment over the phone which I'm not going to do.
I know it's a pain, but... You should go ahead and dig through t
I know it's a pain, but... You should go ahead and dig through those phone logs to document time/date/frequency/interval of the calls. You may wind up needing that information later, and it would save you a major headache to have it compiled and waiting if needed.
