collection calls on a paid account (yes long post)

[bubbleprincessmom]

Dell computers is at it again!!! As you may know they outsource their work to India. Well on June 4th I made a 100 payment to them(this after making a $400 payment the month before) and got a confirmation number. I did go rounds with the guy in India when I asked him about the Soldier and Sailor relief act and wanted to make sure that the orders would NOT be routed to India ( I have a problem with military info ending up in the wrong hands thank you very much) well he got all pissy with me and we ended up hanging up. Since than I keep getting collection calls, last Friday when I gave the guy the confirm number and told him not to call me again and hung up on him he kept my phone line open for over 15 minutes!!!!!! I came home from a weekend away to find my machine FULL of calls from dell. than this morning I get a call again from India and I told him the same thing I have a confim number and don't call me he starts SCREAMING at me that he doesn't care if I have a confirmation number it doesn't show on his computer (same thing the guy last week said until he went to a "different" screen than he found it) and he must speak to my husband...welll NO you can't speak to him he's DEPLOYED!! well he should have told us!!! HELLO!!!???? Since when does a US Army soldier have to tell you anything!!!!!!! He was still screaming at me when I hung up the phone!!! The operators in Texas have been great though they don't like it either since they get all kinds of calls complaining about India but when they try and transfer me I get routed back to India!!! I am about to call the media!! my little bubbleprincess makes for good copy!! Yes my daddy (insert sad brown eyes) is training for Iraq and wont be home for almost two years and these mean people keep calling my mommy and making her cry!!
I don't think dell wants THAT to happen! Okay vent somewhat over

 

[CindysGusGus]

oh wow! Im sorry that happened to you. I have this fight with providian. I always pay online. They still will call. I will tell them it was paid 3 or 4 days ago. I get (in strong accent) Oh, im sorry I didnt scroll down. UGH...thanks. Hope it gets better.

 

[tonyswife]

Outsourcing these custimer service jobs might seem like a good idea on the surface to these big companies. However, they are going to have to balance the outrage of their customers and the possibility of losing their base against lower overhead.

I'm sorry you're going through this. Call the police if they keep harrassing you. Dell could get in trouble, this sort of harrassment is criminal.

 

[SetzKitten]

We also had a problem with Dell. They kept billing us a late fee on a $0 balance account. It was obnoxious trying to deal with them, and yes, we were sent to India, too. Never, ever, ever will I buy another Dell product. Their customer service is the worst.

 

[C.Ann]

Is there some way that your telephone company could block calls originating from India? Just a thought..

If not, I think I would consider contacting your Attorney Generals office - I believe this is harassment..

 

[Teejay32]

I would call Dell customer service right away, and ask for the name of the company they're contracting with to collect on your account. Why?
"Because I'm going to report them to the FTC."

For what? "All kinds of violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act."

Are you the account holder? "No, my husband is, but I'm paying it and I'm getting calls daily.

We'll need to speak to your husband. "Well that's not possible, as he's been deployed...."

Here's an info sheet, http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/fdc.htm, which you may not need if the people at Dell have any sense.