The answer to the question on everyone's mind.

Thanks Ari,Im a retail manager,so I know of what you speak.The hours are long,and very few weekends off.We dont deal with people who owe us money,but when an employee calls a manager for a customer,we know that most of the time,its to get chewed out.Sometimes its hard to go by the motto,"The customer is always right"But I do enjoy the nice customers,and luckly there are alot more of them.

I used to work full-time in retail as well. Home Depot to be exact, and man oh man did that job tap me out. I was there for a year, and the full "flexible" schedule, condescending managers, and rude demanding customers had me in a severe depression throughout that year. I was so miserable, it was taking it's toll on my first year of marriage! We were just starting out in a little apartment, he worked seven days a week, and my work was so physically strenuous that I would come home too tired to do any housework and he'd get upset. I'm not knocking retail managers in general, because my direct supervisor was a very good man, but some of the other ones wouldn't lift a finger if I was around, knowing full well that I depended on my job just to make ends meet, and they'd hang that over my head. Other higher-up managers often talked to me like I was stupid. I worked so hard and really nobody appreciated it. The store manager was the kind of guy who responded to brown-nosing, he treated me like I was stupid as well. Even the HR manager was a jerk, his people skills were atrocious, he would act as if he couldn't possibly be bothered if you approached him with a question or concern. I would never go back to retail again, it's completely degrading. Good luck, it look like you hold up pretty well!

Thanks Ari for the insight. :D

Just for the sake of humanity, I wish to know if we debtors should suffer because of the improper schedules of the collectors. They pledge to do the fair things dictated in the legal books, but come out totally as a bunch of pain. Are we supposed to bear their restlessness or pressurized brains filling quotas?

Collectors must be having some conscious inside them and they know it very well that they should not treat those consumers badly that are at least willing to pay their debts. Being hit by hard times only, they can't pay it at one single go, but the amount will be paid in full. Lack of personal life agitates any person in other avenues. It is understood but collectors don't learn from their previous mistakes. They think it's fun to abuse people who is nervous and clueless. This is not the purpose for which they joined this industry. But their actions almost spoil the name of this industry.

I can understand that some debtors are equally to be blamed for not paying their bills in time and making the collectors do a strict job. But at least there should be a difference between who is paying and who is not!!!! Ari, if we can differentiate you from others in the industry, why can't other collectors use their brains to get the true facts.

I've worked as a medical transcriptionist for 30 years. I have 30 years of medical knowledge. The industry has gone from being paid by the hour in a hospital to being paid by the line by some big corporation.

In the last few years because of corporate greed and outsourcing to India, our pay has gone down, down, down. Everyone's pay gets cut at least once a year and they disguise it, making it sound great, like we're getting a production incentive, but in fact its just working harder to make the same amount of money while they cut us somewhere else or raise the quota we need to keep our benefits like health insurance. They also send the easy dictation to India and we in the US get stuck with the hard dictators and its hard to go fast on them and make any money. Most all of the companies are like this anymore. You usually have to work at least two jobs to make ends meet if you're single. On the up side, I do get to work at home.

[quote=Ari]Now that you know who your audience is, don't take it personally when they behave like jerks.[/quote]

Same to you Ari. Think of a person who also works very hard, might have some disabled members in family. Suppose he has managed a job somehow. Now collectors are calling him 6 times a day for the same account. They are calling the disabled family member also. Top of that, they are trying to speak to his employer. You never know, the boss could be unkind enough and the boy might have to get a heavy download just because collectors are calling at work.

Somehow he as managed the boss, ugh???another call. Would you be rational and formal to the caller yet? Then you are a saint, I must say.

There you guys go, it's the original topic is meant as an explanation and not an excuse. No collector has you all figured out just by the numbers on your account! Furthermore, I always choose to walk softly if I ever have to call a debtor at work, after all I know perfectly well that they don't have time for this at work! I don't take out my grievances as a collector on some unsuspecting kid who didn't read between the lines on the credit card app! Most of them are just scared, as for people who are newly singel and have all these kids to support as well as debts to pay. I'd rather develop an ulcer waiting for tehm and explaining it to my no-nonsense boss, than give the poor sap another one!

Well, unfortunately...collectors are not the only ones with busy schedules, long hours, and managers breathing down their backs. I am about to graduate from nursing school, and I will tell you this. A lot of nurses are overworked, floors are understaffed, and they have deadlines to meet...meds to give on time, etc. Each nurse has appx 5-7 patients each, which may not seem like a lot, but it is. And if they decide the job is too hard, the hours, are too long, or they don't like the manager....they still can't treat the patient like crap....they will end up in court. You get what I am saying? Not trying to be rude...just trying to say if they have too much on their plate, they need to move on and not take it out on others.

Of course I get what you're saying! I'm not blind to the rigors of everyday life for erveryone throughout all walks of life, but has no one wondered why collectors are usually such pricks?

Ari,
I work on overlimit accounts at a major credit card company(not mentioning the name because I am not sure I am allowed to) and I know what you are saying. A lot of cardmembers are not in the position to pay and a lot of my co-workers are callous to that. Not me. I have been there myself and before I started working at the company, I never dreamed that anything could be worked out with a creditor. I feel that 99 percent of the folks I call on a daily basis genuinely WANT to pay but either cant or don't think we'll work with them. I am trying to send some instant karma to the folks I talk to everyday. I figure being open and friendly and trying to work towards a solution with them is what its all about. Wish everyone would do that and then the "us" vs "THEM" mentality could disappear. Thats my hope in a perfect world:)

Mine too! There are too many standards out there and too much thinking in absolutes. It just doesn't work that way.

It is nice to see that at least SOME collectors have a heart!

I was in a car accident almost a year ago, and am still under medical care. My foot, ankle and leg was broken in the accident, and the accident was not my fault. I will hopefully be released from medical care next month, and at that time will be beginning settlement procedings.

My surgery bill was over $10,000. And this does not include the hospital bill, x-rays, MRI's, etc. And working a sales position in which I depend on commission, I am not in any position to pay more than the bills I already have.

When the collection calls started coming, I am happy to say that the lady I am dealing with is wonderful! (Since all of my bills are coming from the same hospital, they all went to one collector.) She did not get rude with me, or demand payment. She simply asked for my attorney's number, and took my estimated date of medical release and said she'd talk to me in March, and we'd go from there.

I know not all of you are bad! But I will be glad to never hear from a collector again. :)

I know, I know. From my own personal experience years ago, I know how lousy it feels to have strangers call you on past due bills, especially when you can't pay and have a valid reason, they take on a rather invasive scolding tone. Memories tend to remian vivid in my mind, I just can't help but to walk softly.

And that's probably why you don't have the "collector's personality"! :) You have been there, and know how we feel.

If I had $10,00 just laying around, I'd be happy to pay it..But I don't! :)

I'll always know how you feel! Alway! Sometimes I just want to pay someone's debt myself when they tell me the reason they can't pay is because they're sinking every dollar earned into trying to save a sick child! Some of them start to cry and I feel just dastardly! How can anyone tell someone who is on the verge of burying someone dear to them that unless ther balance is paid, the original creditor will sue for the balance in civil court and NOT absolutely hate themselves at the moment?

Ari and others, you have explained alot but really these people have to be given mean pills with their coffee and danish in the morning! Is it because they are lied to by some of the debtors that they don't believe anyone they call is being truthful ?
I was making monthly payments on my account and that wasn't good enough for them. They called me at work. Now it just so happens that we were going through a reorganization and I had been moved to a new office. I could not access my phone messages as it had the code of the guy who was in that office before me. (You need a personal code to get your messages. The bosses do not have the code. It is for your personal privacy and the confidentiality of your clients.) So my messages were forwarded to my new phone from my old phone but I could not get them. The guy was on vacation so no one could do anything till he got back.
At that time I got a barrage of messages with snippy adjectives and horrid tone of voice from the most obnoxious collection man about how I had changed phone numbers to avoid him. I had absolutely no say in this matter !
Don't these agents live in the real world ?
He told me (in a live phone conversation) to go to the bank NOW and send out a money order. I told him I could not just leave my workplace at 2:00 pm (the time it was)! I told him if I walked out of my job, I would be fired and then there would be no salary for me to make payments with !
WTF is wrong with these people ?

Everything is wrong with that scenario. If I had to diagnose this, that little weasel is probably on the verge of getting fired himself for not making goal and has an even nastier collections manager breathing down his neck. When I slogged through my old junk debt job, my boss could go from being jovial to being an absolutely rude, insolent, condesceding $hithead and when he was like that and he was hovering over my desk, it took every ounce of fortitude not to get up, give the middle-finger salute, and storm out the door bellowing "I quit!" as loudly as possible. If I didn't need the paycheck so badly that is exactly what I would have done. I hated that job and that ramshackle, frigid office with an almost religious passion. I have to admit, I also hated the "bad" debtors who immediately resorted to dispensing the worst profanity and hanging up. I never harassed anyone! Throughout my entire tenure in that hellhole, the only one being harassed was me!

Ari,
I want to thank you for coming here to enlighten us and perhaps shed some light on the humanity of collection agents. I honestly believe that you are here to make peace and help people to understand an unpleasant process. I have nothing but the sincerest admiration for your efforts and think you deserve some sort of humanitarian award. I say this because for every person like you there are 1000 that are the exact opposite and use unscrupulous tactics to try and collect a debt, verified or not.
I can appreciate your bad days, bad bosses, bad schedules, and just bottom of the barrel slime you deal with on a day to day basis. I am not saying everyone is slime, but a few are.
Now this may seem cold, but as debtors/consumers/paying customers that you choose to contact by phone, we really don't have to hear about or tolerate it. We can simply say to you not to call us and put an end to the whole thing. Now this is my thought only but I would rather be in a courtroom pleading my case to a judge, I know I will be treated fairly, legally, and with dignity. Records are also very well kept so nothing gets lost or stolen where I am paying the same debt multiple times to scammers. This also works in the collection agency's favor as some of these "sad stories" can be verified plus you will get a legal and binding verdict.
Illegal psychological intimidation by your peers has really done a great deal to make a lot of consumers bitter to dealing with you and that is why laws are in place to prevent such dealings.
I wish everyone the best in their endeavors and to thank Ari, she has good advice.

Why,Why would somebody want to be a Collection Agent??? I don't understand!!! I am sure they are not paid well,unless of course they live in India.

I can certainly appreciate where you coem from Jimbeem, and thank you for this compliment!

RW, not all collections are bad, I did enjoy my job in student loans because helping people out of the money pit and putting educational funding back into circulation gave me a sense of purpose. A sense of purpose is one reason, provided it is for a noble cause such as education. I found absolutely no purpose in that junk debt hellhole, I thing the only reason one might want to be a junk debt collector is for the pure sadistic pleasure of being an **** to people.

[color=Red]****Adult term removed - Jason[/color]

Jimbeam:

You sound like a very intelligent person. Why don't you register with the forums and start accruing points? I think you'd make a very valuable contribution!

Personally I think it is a control thing. These were the kids that were probably taunted in school.

I guess I'm fortunate. I only work two late days out of the week and the rest is 8-4 hours. Optional weekends. I love the company I work for. I follow the rules and most of everyone does around me too.

I get treated like dirt after saying hello. I have people pick up the phone before I even say hello and start to scream profane words at me. Most people who act like that are angry at the situation they are in so it's easy to take it out on a disembodied voice. It's usualy when I add little personal touches into my talk off that people calm down and really start working out the situation.

Many people do needs to get talked into paying their bills. I try and make it easy for them. I follow the law and the rules of our client and explain the consequences to them. I explain that this is effecting their credit report, the faster it's reported paid or settled the better. I also explain if someone can streach for a month or two it will be better than a long term payment arrangement and why that is so. I explain that if we dont have arrangements on file that we will continue to call. There are many many situations and each one needs to be treated differently. I treat each call like it's a call that it going to pay their bill and act accordingly. I am a believer of the golden rule but I can't say that I am always calm cool and reserved when dealing with all debtors. There have been more than a few who have made me lose it. But I can say that with 100% certainty I have never broken the law.

All collectors aren't the spawns of Satan. I would say just under half are. Most collectors I know react out of situations from a bad mood just one or two debtors have put them it and unfortunatly is taken out of the rest of their calls for the day.

I can see both sides of the coin.

FYI, as collectors, you and me are cut from the same cloth. You philosophy towards the approach matched mine exactly. I also read your story and how it all began for you. I think one more thing we have in common is that having been in debt ourselves, we see a little bit of our old selves in these debtors and it inspires an open mind.

I wish I had dealt with collectors like you two in the past. People probably get so hateful before you can say hello because they assume you are going to be like the rest. And that isn't your fault, but unfortunately it is because of all the bad collectors you get to feel their anger.

Exactly! They paint us all in a corner! This is one case where one rotten apple can spoil the whole bunch.

Hi everybody ! I don't know if this is exactly the right place but I have a question. I am older than most of you, I am in early retirement, in my mid-fifties. My husband and I had some debts but we made agreements with the credit card companies and paid off whatever percentage they asked of us and the debts showed as paid and balance cancelled on our records. It took a few years but we did it.
What I fret over is a collection agency picking up one of these and trying to get the balance from us now or something like that. I have heard so many stories in life and read so many stories on this site about that happening.
These paid debts still appear on our credit report as it hasn't been 7 years yet. Therefore, I am so frightened to request a copy of our credit history !
We have moved to another state in retirement, so we would have to provide new info. I would rather not let them know where we are. We do not need credit to purchase anything. We have vehicles and a bank account and a debit card linked to the account. We own our home; no mortgage. We receive our pensions and will get Social Security when we age into our 60's.
Our credit report is compromised by incorrect info some company or bureau put there so that's fine with me. Some people with a similar name and location were confused with us. Probably because they can't find us or find out much about us. We have very little that is traceable.
I feel that this is why we are not being harassed by collections like alot of people. I did receive one mailing (in the former state) from that Asset Acceptance Agency about 2 years ago and I wroted them back and told them it was paid three years ago.They never called or sent me anything else.
I'd like to know the experts comments on our situation. Thank you.

Roadwarrior, I am a debt collector because I like to eat more than sandwiches and I like to provide for my kids. It took me well over a year to get a job because I spent well over 10 years as a homemaker. I am extremely greatful to the company that took a chance on me and gave me employment.

Hi Ari ! You give some kinda good advice !
Here's my story of woe. I'm basically healthy and believe I live under God's care and I have been blessed in many ways. But, as we all know, things happen. My spouse and I got behind in credit card payments due to both of us losing our jobs due to down-sizing. So we went on a plan where we paid them all a fixed amount each month when I was let go. Then, when she was laid off, we couldn't keep up on those payments. We managed to get other jobs and went back on a new payment schedule with all of the companies. We cashed in some accounts we had put away for our "golden years" but you do what you gotta do. We did pay every one of those cards off, like happy and hiding, but a percentage, not the whole amount. We were told that was their agreement and the remainder was written off. It showed as "paid and charged off " on our credit report.
Three years later, we also had moved to another state, and we had a message on our machine when we came home from work." This is an URGENT message ! I am XXX XXXXXX, Attorney, today's date is XXXX XX 2006. This is a courtesy call. We have been searching for the wherabouts of XXXXX XXXXXX and XXXXXXX XXXXXX in regards to making contact. This is the final time to contact both of you. The deadline for your return call to XXX-XXX-XXXX ext XXXX is 8 PM EST. I regret to inform you as of 8 PM in reference to this case with our office, you will be served with a subpoena to appear in the XXXXXXXX County Clerk's Office in Court . The subpoena is to be served at work, home, or to your nearest relation." CLICK !
We had never heard of this office, received any mail or calls in the 3 years that passed, or were aware that we owed anyone anything !
The number was an untraceable 866 toll-free number.
We called, very upset, before 8 PM, and got a message that he was in meetings till 9 PM, press 0 and an associate will help you. Pressed 0 and a message said to leave a message !
Well this is so extremely urgent that he didn't call back till the following Tuesday. He said it was Discover Card and they had purchased it in March 2005 and had been scouring the world looking for us! He asked how many times we had moved in the last 5 years. ONCE ! Once in the last 25 years !
He said we owed $23,183.00. No way ! We owed $10,000 to Discover and paid a percentage of that as we agreed with Discover. Three years ago.
I just continued to deny it. He said someone would call me back. A woman called back and started negotiating payment. I refused to pay something I did not owe any longer. I called Discover between the two calls and they said they had no information on our account, it had been "closed out " in 2004.
As her numbers got lower and lower, I still said I did not owe any amount and would not pay. She told me to hold and transferred me to "the Auditor", Mr. XXXXXXXX, I told him the same thing.
That was almost a year ago. No subpoena, no more calls. What do you guys think of this ?

I think it was junk debt purchasing, same deal with happy and hiding. Funny you should mention Discover card, because the ex-employment Protocol Recovery Service purchased Discover's junk accounts for pennies on the dollar! If both of you, Happy and Hiding and Ukrainian Lithuanian, still have your settlement agreements on those old accounts, you have nothing to worry about from those junk agencies.

Ukrainian Lithuanian, funny you should also mention your heritage! I have the very same heritage on my mom's side!