John P. Frye; the inside story from a former employee.
Date: Wed, 07/01/2009 - 12:17
I am a former employee of both the Law Offices of John P. Frye and Atlantic Credit and Finance. I've seen a lot of incorrect information as to the internals of the two companies; so I thought I'd outline some of the basics as to how each operate.
Atlantic Credit and Finance is little more than a shell company. Aside from the Medical collections (which as I heard last, isn't doing so well) the company has no collectors at all. This wasn't always the case, however, once ACF started to work with JPF, higher returns were being made using the name "Law Office" in a phone call/writing. Right now, ACF simply buys the debt, then transfers collection duties to JPF. All accounts are still owned by ACF; JPF does not retain ownership of any accounts.
ACF was indeed started by Kelly and Richard Woolwine as a basement operation. Richard left a high paying job to start with Kelly. Once upon a time, Kelly would actually collect him self and up until 2006 or so, would get on the phone once in a while. On a more personal note, the guy is kind of creepy and smug, but very kind when it comes down to it. Richard is mostly reserved and never really talks to, well, anyone. He's the real financial brains behind everything and is much more "business" like.
JPF collections is structured like this; collectors are put into teams of 8-10 agents, with a supervisor watching over them making sure they aren't saying anything too rash, are saying the right things, and so on. These supervisors are then grouped into groups of 3-4 and report to a Floor Manager. The Floor Managers are actually few in numbers; Nickole Beistel, Bob White, Heather Pedigo, and 1 or 2 others that escape me at the moment. The aforementioned three are actually the elder FM's; they have been with ACF/JPF since the beginning or close to it.
The FM's then report to a single man; this man is the decision maker when it comes to how low an account will settle, what to do in unique situations, advice, ideas, and so on. He is the man that runs the day to day collections and handles the entire office as a whole from the collections side. For all intents and purposes, this man is the boss, the chief, the chuck of the office. His name is Steve Getz. He started out as a collector and quickly moved up the ranks. With his almost super-star looks and olive skin that most the ladies in the office swoon over, he oversees the office with an iron fist. Well no, not really iron. The secret behind this man, and really all of the collectors, supervisors, and floor managers is this; they are mostly all uneducated. Bob White is the only non-executive person in charge (except maybe 1 or 2 supervisors) that has a college degree/formal education. This is their weak point. You can run circles around them by simply using high-order arguments or using extensive knowledge of finance to pretty much get your way.
Steve Getz plays a pivotal role in JPF. When a debt settlement is below a certain margarin (normally 50%), he must literally sign off on it on one of the "settlement books" around the office. If a debt collector/supervisor settles a debt without getting this book signed, there is hell to pay. Collectors them selfs have little-to-no leeway in the amount a debtor can settle for, supervisors have a bit more, FM's even more, and so on. Steve Getz also comes up with collection strategies, dialer schedule (I'll get to this shortly), internal office politics/dicipline, and other things. Steve Getz must still answer to Kelly and Richard; but outside of that, everyone must answer to John or one of the other attorneys. If one of the in-office attorneys speak, everyone listens. Period. There are actually multiple attorneys in-office, but I will not name them as they are quite respectable and are not sleezy/scum. (Yes yes, I know, all lawyers are scum, and so on. Once you get to know one on a personal level, you sort of start to understand where they are coming from though)
At times, a team will be put on an automated outgoing dialer system. For a period of 45 minutes to an hour, the collectors on a team will sit in front of their computers while the computer dials phone numbers on an internal list. Once the computer thinks a human is on the line, it will connect the collector to the line and away they go. This automated dialer is actually regulated by several laws; there is a limit as to how many open lines you can have at a given time versus how many collectors you have available.
Most other website/forum posts list people like Chris Perdue or Alicia Reedy as someone important; they're not. Christ Perdue is head of QA. He is actually a real hard ass and does not tolerate people breaking the law/violating the FDCPA. If he so much as overhears a collector/supervisor saying something they aren't supposed to; they had better start looking for another job. Alicia Reedy is just an administrative assistant (a secretary), that's all. She isn't Kelly's "personal assistant" or anything of the likes. Just a normal secretary, though arguably, she is the "head" secretary.
John P. Frye him self is actually very kind. He does not tolerate people violating the FDCPA and absolutely does not condone it at all. He is very protective of his bar license and does his best to make sure that no one violates any laws. However, what ends up happening is Steve Getz and the FM's bend/break the rules without him knowing in order to see a higher return. In a way, I sort of feel sorry for him. He has a dishonest management team handling debt collections for him, and he is (for the most part) unaware how the managers/Steve Getz bad mouth him daily. John will never get on the phone with a debtor, period. Don't even bother or try. He will, however, talk to another lawyer. Do not lie and say you are a lawyer just to talk to him; not only is it illegal, it's stupid and insanely risky.
That's pretty much it on the collections side. There is an entire back office/support office that has nothing to do with collections; HR, IT, account management, etc. All of the people back there are good people, just trying to make it by.
A few other notes:
JPF will (and must) accept any payment you send, and they must credit it to your account. They do not have to accept your payment under terms however, and may still return an account to ACF for lawsuit.
ACF *does* sue people for debts at times.
Collectors must use real names; there are no aliases at JPF. (Doug Hibbs really is his name, :P)
I left in April of 2008, so some of my information might be slightly out of date. However, for the most part everything should be spot on. I will be around answering questions as they come and as I have time. I have since moved to the west coast and am busy, but I'll take the time I can to answer any questions.
SouSou
Small Follow-up
I'd also like to point out that if anyone says they are in some sort of position of authority outside of what I outlined; they aren't. There are collectors, supervisors, floor managers, then Steve. That's it. Exceptions to this include the inbound team (they handle all incoming calls that aren't being collected on by another collector) however even they are simply collectors that answer to Steve. There are no other official titles or people of authority, no matter what you are told on the phone.
Though some of your points are accurate.....several are not. You
Though some of your points are accurate.....several are not. You'd think that if someone was going to take the time to write a lengthy article about a place they worked for over a year prior, they'd also take the time to fact check. Just sayin....
I would like to point out that the above author of this blog was
I would like to point out that the above author of this blog was a collector and nothing more so whatever they think they knew is assumed and nothing more. Atlantic Credit and Finance and The Law Office of John P Frye are completely seperate legal entities and conduct themselves as such. Both companies contain outstanding employees that conduct themselves to the highest standards expected and follow the FDCPA to the letter. The above author does not have any idea what goes on in the running of those two companies and only knows what she assumes happened.
Dude- John Frye is a scam collector that does not like to follow
Dude- John Frye is a scam collector that does not like to follow FCDPA, plain and simple. They are no more outstanding employees that conduct themselves to the highest standards than Ol Beezlebub himself. Spout your lies to someone who cares!
First of all "scum656" you must care because you went out of you
First of all "scum656" you must care because you went out of your way to respond to my comment. Second of all unless you know each and every individual employee of The Law Office of John P. Frye and how they conduct themselves on a daily basis do not equate them to the devil. I can only assume that you are young and angry by addressing me as "Dude" but that's ok. I have the utmost respect for Mr. Frye and all he has done and I think he is an extremely proffesional and respectable attorney. In all honesty the Law Office of John P. Frye and Atlantic Credit and Finance are in the business of collecting defaulted debt and the people that owe that debt will of course not like them because they are trying to get them to pay that debt back. But to put it in respect "scum656" if you pay your bills on time you dont have anything to worry about do you.
If if John Frye followed the rules he wouldnt have anyone making
If if John Frye followed the rules he wouldnt have anyone making comments on his business, would they?? If he was so legit, no one would make complaints about him, would they?? If he and his employees followed federal law then maybe people would pay their bills when he calls, wouldnt they?? If he and his employees would treat people in financial trouble like human beings then they wouldnt have to worry about people making comments about his business, would they?? If John was not so worried about what others thought about him then WHY are you on here trying to defend him?? That says A LOT about his business and employees, doesnt it?? If he is honest and legal then no one would be here warning others about him and his "business" and YOU would NOT be here defending him if there is a legit business running there. Hmmm, defensive much are we??
Anoon it clearly doesnt matter what I say to any of you because
Anoon it clearly doesnt matter what I say to any of you because no one that is on this blog trashing The Law Office of John P Frye will ever believe it is anything other than what you say. You all have freedom of speech and you may say and think as you wish. And in regards to you saying that I am defensive about what people are on here saying yes I am. It bothers me when people are trying to tear down someone that doesnt deserve it. You may all be angry because a bill collector is calling you and you may all think that the person calling you wasnt polite or whatever the case may be but that doesnt mean that an entire company of really good people are trash as you make them sound. Mr. Frye is a good man and he makes sure that anyone calling on behalf of him follows the FDCPA to the letter wether you think so or not my friend. I understand that some people have hard times and cant pay their bills but I also know some people open accounts and never even intend on paying it back. So once again I reiterate that though people may be having hard times if you would just make the effort to pay your bills and communicate with whatever company is calling you wouldnt have to worry about it and you wouldnt be on here angry making slanderous comments would you. This is the last comment I will make and you all can do as you wish and if you are having hard times I hope they get better soon.
All I want to know is why they INSIST on have my checking accoun
All I want to know is why they INSIST on have my checking account information. Why can't we make a payment arrangement without them having access to my checking account.
DO NOT give any collector banking info EVER!! Tell them its by m
DO NOT give any collector banking info EVER!! Tell them its by money order or prepaid debit card ONLY. THEY CAN NOT force you to give out banking info!! Once they get your banking info kiss the account goodbye, they will empty it out!