IDT Carmel - A story and a question...
Date: Tue, 11/11/2008 - 21:05
So the election is over and my wife and I have started getting used to not ignoring the telephone between the hours of 6:00 PM and 8:30 PM again. So, when the telephone rang tonight from an 866 number - a collections agency was my last expectation.
I feel like I should apologize to someone for going absolutely bat-**it on the two guys on the end of the telephone - but I've never dealt with any call more moronic than the one I experienced tonight and, of course, I had *no clue* who IDT Carmel was until after they hung up on me and I went to look them up.
The call went something like this:
At this point I've *finally* realized this going no where fast. I suspect a significant portion of what I said was expletive laced and I know for a fact that neither of the two guys on the other end of the phone (both were trying to talk now) could get more then two words out without me talking over them. I was telling them never to call back again if they couldn't even tell me what they were calling for. Told them to put whatever it was in writing and mail it - but don't call back.
Finally the call ended with:
New IDT Guy: We'll try back tomorrow.
*Click*
He hung up on me.
I have to say I was pretty blown away. Of course, after I researched the name and found out who these guys were it began to make at least a little bit of sense to me. And my "Don't [expletive deleted]'ing call back here when you can't even tell me what you are calling for." - probably sounded pretty stupid to them.
Now... my question(s)...
After I found out who these guys were I made sure (boy this was an embarrassing thing to ask) that my wife couldn't think of anything they could be calling about. Nope.
Checked my credit report. Good (upper 700s). Wife checked hers. Good there too (upper 700s). Nothing outstanding.
Neither of us can possibly imagine what these guys called for. And due to that, and that alone, I wonder if it makes sense to ever even acknowledge exists to these guys. Tonight I've read some real horror stories about these guys. I have no idea how much of it is accurate. Wouldn't someone, somewhere have sent a letter? We haven't moved around a whole lot in the past 16 years we've been married.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks for listening.
When they call back, take the call. Admit to being 'her husband'
When they call back, take the call. Admit to being 'her husband' (
sorry...) Get the details of the account from the caller. You want this information:
Name of the original creditor
Balance on the account
Date of last activity [last charge or payment made]
Caller's name [it likely won't be his real name, but it doesn't hurt to try].
Mailing address of IDT Carmel
If he gives you more info, take it. If he threatens, blusters, etc., Just Hang Up. Give him no information at all. He's calling you, remember? If he wants a SS number, don't give it. Make him give you what he has, then you can verify it for identification.
When you've got the info above, just politely hang up. You have nothing to gain and everything to lose if you let the call drag on. If you want to post the info you get here [with personal identifying information removed, of course!], we can advise you on your options.
Once you have the info, you'll want to send a demand for validation of the account. There are several templates for validation letters on this site, but I'm rather partial to this one. Send it out ASAP, certified mail, return receipt requested, and remember to include the attachment. By law, they have to cease collection activity until they get the info from the original creditor and provide it to you.
