OMG! Collection Agencies calling AGAIN!

[Mermaid02]

We went through this last summer- collection agencies calling about some guy with the same name, but different middle initial as my husband. I politely told the woman that she had the wrong person and to please take our # out of their database- she said she would give the supervisor the information but it would be hard to take the # out because there actually was someone here by that name. Um no, there isn't, wrong middle intitial! We are going to have to change our # and go unlisted, I am so sick of this! We did an internet search and there are more than 50 people in the state with my dh's first name and last name- why won't they call one of them?

Anyone else gone through something similar?

 

[browneyes]

It sounds to me like you're being harrassed. I'd mention that word to them to see if that might make them stop calling you.

 

[Chattyaholic]

I can sympathize, my DH and a guy in another town close to us share the same name, different middle names though, and we've had several calls for this other guy from business/companies. One time it was an insurance company calling about a wrecked vehicle, this was the first time anyone had called so I was really confused and just told them they must have the wrong person because we didn't even own the type of vehicle they were talking about. And we've had others, most recently a rental center calling about lapse in payment. They didn't have the guy's phone number so said they called us first, hoping it was the right one. Geez, I would think when you get furniture or something from one of those rental places they make sure they have your address and phone number!! The first time they called I just told them they had the wrong person, and that there was another guy with the same first/last names in the other town so they said they were sorry they bothered us. No problem. They called AGAIN about a week later and I was a bit nasty with them, but I get so tired of getting calls about this guy and his bad credit. Now, anytime my husband buys/charges anything, he always uses his middle name. Hope you get your problems worked out soon, I know how annoying it can be.

 

[Rajah]

I can sympathize, too. The one summer I was in an apartment in my college town, I kept getting collection calls for someone with the same name -- even same middle initial. But different person. I eventually solved that problem by moving back to the dorm.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

uuugh yes.

We once were assigned a phone number that had previously belonged to a guy with a real penchent for not paying his bills.
After 6 months of trying to convince every collection agency in the country that I wasn't hiding this guy in our spare bedroom, I threw myself upon the mercy of the phone company and asked for a new phone number.

They were actually quite understanding and they didn't charge me any fees.

 

[olena]

We went through this a couple of years ago. Some deadbeat had the same name as DH. No agency ever got snippy or nasty with us. They'd have been borrowing trouble if they had. For a while we got calls from Citibank, Discover, etc. Motnhs later, the debts had been bought by collection agencies and they started calling.

 

[DonnaS]

Fortunately, we don't have a common last name. Unfortunately, MIL had a habit of not paying bills and listing DH as a reference. You know... one of those references that they don't bother calling before hand, but only after the fact?

Actually her habit is more along the lines of "biting off more than she can chew." Oh look my unemployment or public assistance is $50 more than my rent, I'll go spend it on a gym membership sort of thing.

When they call they try and guilt DH into paying the bills.

Hello? I don't think so. Not for a gym membership. Who cares if it ruins her credit. If they'd checked her credit, it was already ruined...

UGH!

 

[ktulu]

My step dad's name is Frank Foster. One time my parents bank had him listed as dead. He was standing in the bank asking the employee if he looked dead to her.

 

[JoNo]

I've had a lot of collection agencies call my house before I signed up on that do not call list..... Always my name, with a different middle initial. I asked them why they kept calling me and they said they had a database of about 65 other "jon *********'s" in their system, and they were calling every one of them!

 

[Disneymoon04]

I can somewhat relate. Our # got listed in the phone book under a local Mortgage companies name so we get about 100 calls a day with pissed off people asking to speak to the president *sigh*

 

[Loubon]

I actually work for the largest commercial agency in the country so maybe this will help. The part about harrassment talks to the FDCPA (fair debt collections practices act) enacted during the Carter admin. It is designed to protect consumers against harassing efforts made to collect a debt. In this case that is really not the case because you do not owe the money. So.....

I would either :

1.) Ask for the agency supervisor and have your phone number (not the name) removed. The can't remove the name (even with a different initial) but they can remove the number and note not to call your number.
2.) Call the company who they are collecting on behalf of. Unless the agency has purchased the debt (not very common) the company who contracts them is ultimately responsible and usually much more customer service oriented.

You have to realize that collectors hear every story in the book so while you may be frustrated and while they sometimes take it to an extreme, if they listened to every story at face value no money would ever be collected. Believe me I have heard it all and I am not even a collector!

If you want to PM me more info like the agency name etc. I may be able to give you more advice.

 

[Regina]

A neighbor/friend of our's moved. Several months afterwards, I got a call from a collection agency asking me how to contact them! How do you like that? They can call your neighbors to try to find you. I gave them an earful regarding my opinion of their business ethics. They couldn't have cared less.

I didn't know what to do at first, but I ultimately decided to call my friend to let her know that we were called. I assumed that I wasn't the only one who they called and thought she'd like to know what was going on.

It broke my heart. I could tell that she was embarassed.

Maybe they've heard all the stories, but they had a heck of a nerve contacting me simply because I live next to the previous home of the person they were trying to find.

 

[Mskanga]

We had different people call my house asking for Adam, I always told them wrong number, my dh picked up the phone one day and they were asking for Adam, he told them wrong number and the guy said stop lying, we know it's you . He got an earful from my dh.
The next day I got another phone call , the lady said Adam had just given them that phone number a month before, I called the phone company to find out Adam did have that phone number....3 years before! , they changed the number at no cost to us.
Then I got my cell phones, I had them for 24 hours and I get collection agencies calls for another female, one of them told me that if I wasn't that person , why didn't I give them my full name? I told them to call verizon and verify that I just got that phone! When I called Verizon , they told me they only recycle phone numbers for 90 days.

 

[Mermaid02]

The Lady I spoke to today was nice enough, but it's so frustrating! Why is it up to ME to prove I am NOT married to that OTHER guy? They have lost track of him and it's not our fault. I told them to call City Hall because when my dh went to pick up his concealed weapons permit this other guy apparently had applied for one too...... DH overheard one lady say to another, "No that's John M. Knight..... not W."

I'm hoping I can convince dh we should change our # and go unlisted. I'm so sick of this

 

[mickey4ver]

I kept getting voice mail beeps on my cell phone for a Deb someone or other to call immediately some bank about a loan...hello....my voice mail says this is Sam, doesn't sound anything like Deb to me...well anyway, they kept leaving automated messages and it bugged the crap out of me, so I called the return 800 number and spoke to a rep who said they couldn't even find the cell phone number in their records..huh???? or match it to any account. The calls did stop though and the rep was quite sympathetic and apologized about it, but I'm with Mermaid, it is sooooo annoying and it takes a lot of wherewithall to get it stopped sometimes.

 

[Tinkbell]

My friend went through this as well, but worse. Somehow, part of this lady's credit report went on my friend's report (They shared the same middle name and almost had the exact same SS#). She didn't realize it until she was turned down for a credit card and received a copy of her credit report. Luckily, it was cleared up. Pretty scary though.

 

[Loubon]

Originally posted by dvcreg
Maybe they've heard all the stories, but they had a heck of a nerve contacting me simply because I live next to the previous home of the person they were trying to find.

Regina, let me restate that I work in the commercial end not consumer. We deal with businesses. I was only trying to help by shedding a little light on the other side of the equation. Consumer agencies are notorious for these tactics and I would not condone unethical behavior regardless of whether it helps their results.

As for your situation, that is called skip tracing. Much info is available enabling people to call next doors to try to find or skip trace the individual. Usually more reputable places will say they are UPS or something like that and that they "have a package to deliver, do you have a new address?" It is tacky for them to say they are an agency because you're right, it is embarrassing. Our people will not even leave a message with that type of detail at a business because it is just poor protocol.

 

[Regina]

With all due respect loubon, I found the situation that I was placed in to be reprehensible. This was a friend who lived next door to me for a number of years, and she is an absolute sweetheart. That she was in financial difficulty was something that I did not need to know, and I was furious to be put into this position.

Quite honestly, I don't see where it's very ethical to claim to be from UPS either.

You may work for the most upstanding collection agency in the world, but it doesn't change the fact that there are agencies out there that are doing "whatever it takes."

I think it's very sad that these other folks had to go through the inconvenience of getting their phone numbers changed because of being unjustly harassed by these people.

 

[ScarletIndigo]

You've got my sympathy and understanding!

DF and I had an office together for a short while, and the entire time we used that space (and the assigned phone number) we got non-stop collection calls for some girl who'd had that phone number previously. Well after a few months we decided to work from our home, and when we moved we got a new phone number. Somehow the collection agencies found out about it and started calling us at the NEW number, asking for the same girl. Not only that, but ANOTHER girl who'd had our new number previously was ALSO being hunted by collection agencies. And on top of that, some OTHER lady is getting calls here constantly regarding home mortgages and loans. So now we have three sets of telemarketers and collection agencies harassing us non-stop, and we can't change our phone number because it's printed on all our business cards and it's the only number our clients have to reach us at. THANK GOODNESS for Caller ID and the new "Do Not Call" registry -- maybe I'll finally stop fearing the ringing of the phone!