The Nerve of some people... Harrasing Me over x-ray bill while I'm packing to Evac!

2angelsinheaven

Loves making dreams come true!
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Jun 10, 2003
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OMG, the nerve of some people. Excuse me while I vent for a moment! :headache:

I get a call yesterday from this company called MFA or something Collections while standing in line for my Grandparent's medicine in the crazied Walgreens. She tells me she is calling about an X-Ray bill I owe, about $100.00 I think. I tell her very nicely BTW that I am very busy preparing for the Hurricane (she knows about it she tells me, she lives in Tampa), and that I would call them ASAP on Monday to talk about this but I just couldn't right now. She says I'm sorry and it's ok to call then, I ask her to note my account since they are calling my cell and I don't want to waste minutes on this.

Fast Forward two hours later, I get ANOTHER call, different lady, same place. I tell her the same thing as before, still calm and still nice. I let her know that as of this point in time I don't know what I can do since I am evacuating tomorrow and need to get a lot done. I'm sorry but X-ray bills are the last thing on my mind. She tells me she will note this and not call again till next week.

Well needless to say as I'm sure you can tell from my topic title these people have called 10x's since. Five of which I answered between boarding up my house, chasing down the cat to board her and our dogs, packing, making insurance lists, trying to find supplies, etc. I've been called in Walmart, at the gas station, while I'm trying to sleep, etc. I've been nice everytime, except this afternoon, I told the lady that we are very close to the predicted landfall and I'm VERY busy, can't this wait till Monday?!?! Please don't call me again till then. She agreed and AGAIN agreed to note my account.

Fast Forward 10 minutes ago, Ring Ring... who do you think it is. My god don't these people get the point? I go off this time, I in a loud and stern voice tell this guy named Apo or whatever that I'm evacuating, packing, etc PLEASE do not call me AGAIN. He then says to me, we don't have your # in our system, to which I reply, well you sure must, you've called it 20 times! He then finds it, explains to me that because I've not promised to make payment or left a CC # they will keep calling, I tell him it's the last thing I'm paying right now. He says to me well he pretty much doesn't care, he needs a commitment, I tell him I'm not comiting to this not knowing wether or not I'll have a house to come home to Sunday. He laughs, tells me Whatever, and then tells me well he will be calling again, to this I tell him to have a nice *$*$*$* day and hung up. Oh my nerves are shot, needed to vent. Sorry..lol! ::yes::

I wish there was something I could do, maybe send the Hurricane over his house and his house only! :teeth:
 
Wouldn't it just be worth taking a few minutes to agree to a payment plan?
 
:eek: Really!

But I think I would have finally just given them the stupid credit card # at that point & let them have the $100 (whether it was really owed or not). Just to have one less stresser in my life at the time.

Good luck & stay safe.

I'm worried sick about MIL who is STAYING in Edgewater DIRECTLY ON THE INDIAN RIVER. :confused: (No plywood or shutters.....but they sandbagged!) :eek: :(
 
I'm with Pam, why not just take a minute to make a payment agreement? I mean, you just typed out a lengthy post here about it, so you obviously have some time...why not just call them back and deal with it so you have less to worry about?

All you have to say is, I will agree to pay $X per month (whatever you can afford) here is my checking acct imformation, I authorize you to take the first payment on Sep 8th (or whenever)...it's really that simple. They are used to dealing with deadbeats, give them something...anything, and they will leave you alone. It will take 5 minutes of your time.
 

Well I don't know about everyone else here, but I wouldn't have an extra $100 to just pay them. I mean she's got her home, food, shelter and oh her life to worry about. This can totally wait till Monday and I would report them for harassing you. There are laws about what creditors can and can not do.

By the way--Be Safe !!!

Kimba
 
Well I don't know about everyone else here, but I wouldn't have an extra $100 to just pay them. I mean she's got her home, food, shelter and oh her life to worry about. This can totally wait till Monday and I would report them for harassing you. There are laws about what creditors can and can not do.
But, if you refuse to even make an agreement (doesn't have to be anywhere near the full amount), they can and will continue to call.
 
Clark Howard has some good advice on his website. I don't have the address, but just put in Clark HOward.

Write them a letter and tell them not to call you again. Then they can't and that's the law. They can sue you, but they won't for $100.

Where are you evacuating from?
 
Are you seriously suggesting she blow off a creditor and possibly ruin her credit for a $100 debt instead of taking 5 minutes to commit herself to small monthly payments? :rolleyes:
 
Hey, if they call again....tell them you are going to report them to the FTC for harassing you after you have asked them to not call back. Then, after all this hurricane stuff is over, send them a letter telling them not to contact you any more as you will be dealing with the original creditor (the place that turned this over to the collections). Send it certified return receipt requested. They have to stop calling or you can report them to the FTC.

And, I agree. When you're dealing with a hurricane, who the h*ll cares about paying a lousy x-ray bill. Some companies priorities are all screwed up.
 
And, I agree. When you're dealing with a hurricane, who the h*ll cares about paying a lousy x-ray bill. Some companies priorities are all screwed up.
If there is no time to make an agreement over the phone, why is there time to vent here about it?
 
Why didn't you arrange to pay your bill when you were on the phone with them? I agree with poohandwendy...you obviously have time to type in a very long post here, yet no time to arrange a payment plan? :confused:
 
Why don't you just pay the bill? If they are calling you and asking you for the money then it sounds like you have owed them. This just didn't happen yesterday did it? I'm sorry but if you have time to post you certainly had time to give the bill collector your cc info. Must not be evacuating too quickly.:rolleyes:
 
This can totally wait till Monday and I would report them for harassing you. There are laws about what creditors can and can not do.

according to the FTC, the creditor has to be notified that they are not allowed to contact her by phone. In fact, by telling them that they can call her back MOnday, she is doing just the opposite and they are breaking no laws.

I agree that credit collection agencies can be incredibly nasty.
 
The first mistake was giving them your cell phone number.

If you guys would really read her post it sounded like she was out running around and they called her while she was out.
I can't imagine the stress Florida residents are going thru trying to get prepared for a hurricane and a really bad one at that. By the time she finished running around they were probably closed and no way am I going to be out in public and give out private information.
She also told them she didn't want to waste her cell phone minutes and that she would call on Monday. IMO that was good enough for now.
 
Originally posted by bumcat


If you guys would really read her post it sounded like she was out running around and they called her while she was out.

She said they also called while she was home doing stuff. How long does it take to say "I'll pay $10/month"?
 
If you guys would really read her post it sounded like she was out running around and they called her while she was out.

I did really read her post. She said they called while she was out and while she was at home. They called while she was sleeping.

Nobody has ever claimed Credit Collection Agencies are nice. In fact, they can be incredibly nasty. But the fact remains that by the time a bill reaches them it usually at least 90 past due and they want their money.
 
We had a guy at work that use to do collections and boy was he mean, LOL.
 
Hey, I totally understand being stressed out over the hurricane, but seriously, if they have your cel phone number, you don't want them continuing to call and call and call. And you don't want something like $100 medical debt getting int he way of your credit rating. It is much easier to just take a small amount of time and talk to them, give them a commitment of a small amount monthly and they will not bother you.
 
You make a good point Poohandwendy:

If they keep calling on the cell they could run up the phone bill in no time!
 












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