Rude collection rep

Sounds like you have this issue under control...but IF in the future
you encounter debt collectors by phone hang up...my opinion is to then
send a limited cease and desist letter (do a Google) and only deal
with them in writing...it's their m.o. to use abuse don't let it get
to you...best wishes...

Just so everyone knows I received an apology by the time everyone on
here starting throwing out different scenarios. I am done. This
actually feels like I am in high school and I just don't have time
anymore. It's not fun nor entertaining. For those of you who had some
beneficial things to say as far as rules and regs I thank you. For
those of you who had negative or asinine things to say all I can say
is that is your opinion and I am glad that we are not related. My
sister did nothing wrong. She wasn't hiding nor was she purposely
trying to negate in her responsibilities. Things happen and priorities
must be set. Paying your rent on time I believe is more important than
paying a Target bill. We all have different opinions on different
things and this is one of them. I do believe that some of these post
were a bit juvenile as if some were having a bad day and needed
someone to pick on.If you don't have anything nice to say then just
don't say it. I don't appreciate being called a liar which is what
some of these post did...indirectly. One can call it what they may but
I am going to call it as I see it. So all of you who were so concerned
although my sisters irk me I love them and this particular situation
was not her fault. Bill collectors can call here every day for all I
care however, i I happen to answer the phone they will be required to
exhibit some of the courtesy they were trained to use. The issue was
never that they called rather the manner in which they acted when they
called.

So on that note you'll have a good day. Enjoy the discussion and
bantering back and forth. You'll seem to be having fun and who am I to
rai n on you'll parade.

Oh and by the way for those oof you who were so worried abouther being
a deadbeat rest assured she has finally situated herself and now has a
bit of extra money that she will be utilizing to get her bills under
control. Just wanted to let the individuals who cared so much about
her know. Wouldn't want you'll to lose sleep.

Ciao

I have had similar situations happen to me. My sister in law and I
have almost the exact same name. Middle and last are exactly the same
and our first is one letter off. I get her collections calls all the
time. The reason I get her collections calls is because our credit
has "merged" if you will and I have to constantly keep on the agencies
butts to keep our reports serparated!

The only thing that has worked for me is to tell them the first time,
she does not live here. The second time I tell them that she does not
live here and they are no longer welcome to call my house. If they
call a third time I tell them that they will be contacted by the
police if the phone harassment doesn't stop. They usually don't call
again. Occasionally I'll get a real persistant booger who just won't
stop and I speak to a supervisor.

As far as the rudeness goes... It is NEVER acceptable to call
someone's house and say "Let me speak to (so and so)." When you call
someone's house you politely inquire if they are home. Or you ask if
you may speak with them. It was extremely rude of her to ask that
way. I have received many calls for my SIL and NEVER have they been
rude to me like that. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar
and these agencies know that if they come off as nice and willing to
work with someone (at first atleast) they are more likey to receive
their money. My step mom works in management for a collection firm
and this is their policy because time and testing different methods of
collection have shown that this works.

With that said, yes you should be upset with the agency... you should
also be upset with your sister. Her inability to pay her bill is what
caused this problem. SHE should call Target and inform them that they
have the wrong telephone number for her and give them the correct one.
While she is on the phone with them she should make a payment. Or
you could simply give them her number. They would greatly appreciate
that and quit calling you.

Having worked in the Credit industry in the past, virtually ALL credit
aplications ask for the name/telephone number/address of the closest
relative not living with you. I would venture a guess that is why they
called YOUR house, they for whatever reason were not able to get in
touch with her at her own house. Has she changed her number? or was
her phone disconnected? But you should not be angry with the Target
collection agent for calling your house, you SHOULD be angry with your
sister for putting YOUR telephone number on her application for
credit, because guaranteed, that is how they got your number!!

Also, many many collection firms use automatic telephone dialers, they
work from a list, and automatically dial the number, once the phone
starts ringing, then the account information "pops" onto the CSR's
computer, so there is a chance, most likely if you answered the phone
quickly, that the automated dialer had not even "routed" (for lack of
a better word) to the CSR when you answered, explaining the silence
when you said hello the first time.

All that being said, I was just trying to explain some of your points
in your letter, from a former "insiders" point of view, and i really
do not think that ANYONE whether calling for collection purposes, or
just to discuss the weather should be rude and they really should
verify with whom they are speaking with before becoming beligerant!!

I myself kept getting calls for the prior owner of my telephone
number, and one person actually told me she thought I was lying when I
said I was not him, and did not know him, when i offered to fax her a
copy of my license and a current utility bill, was the only time she
stopped calling and harrassing me!!

Good luck, and sorry you need to be harrassed about your sisters
overdue bills, but like I said, perhaps you should have a nice long
talk with her about putting your telephone number on applications
without your permission.

NEWS FLASH! Pay your bills on time and.... oh never mind.

Oh, wow, Target employees are rude enough in the store, I can only
imagine how nasty their collection dept gets. What you should do is
what I do to telemarketers: have as much fun with them as you can.
Tell them she moved to Antarctica to study migratory patterns of
penguins. Tell them she joined a cult at the airport and hasn't been
seen since. Tell them only one of your personalities, a 7-year-old
Russian countess, knows where she is, but only communicates through
interpretive dance. The possibilities are endless.

If you want to get serious, I believe if you send a letter declaring
they may no longer contact you, they have to comply. But where's the
fun in that?

Ok, here's a plan:

I assume you have caller ID and an answering machine. Let you machine
answer the calls from Target so that you won't have to go through all
this emotional stuff. You can call them back when you feel calmer, or
convey the messages to your sister, or even just plain ignore them.
They can't collect from you something your sister owes.

Keep in mind that they may call you three or four times a day
(depending on how much money they invest in their staff), and they may
try to "strong-arm" you. I have yet to cross paths with a "nice" debt
collector.

If I remember right, they can't call you before 8AM or after 9PM. One
good trick is to stop paying your phone bill for a couple of months.
The phone company will disconnect your phone. When these yahoos call,
they will get the "disconnected" recording. Then, a couple of weeks
later, if you don't mind paying the $20-40 reconnection fee, reconnect
your phone. The skip-tracers, or whoever, will have to re-investigate
your entire background. By then, they will either start calling you
again, or they will find out where your sister actually is and start
calling her. Either way, you should get at least a three weeks to a
month of peace and quiet.

All bill collectors are rude. That's how they got their jobs!

If you wouldn't tolerate people you know speaking to you that way,
what's stopping you from hanging up on these clowns? You have NO
obligation to speak with them and if they tell you ANYTHING about your
sister's account or it's status, they have just violated the Fair
Credit laws.

If you are that bothered by the calls, get yourself a Caller ID phone
(you can pick up a cheap one for $10-$20) and have the service added
to your phone. OR have your number changed and unlisted. Problem
solved.

But at the end of the day, the person you really ought to be upset
with is your sister. Tell her deadbeat butt to pay up because you're
tired of being harassed by her bill collectors because she racks up
bills she can't/won't pay.

Before anyone else post anything I would like to state for the record
that my sister's bill is not the issue here. It has nothing to do with
me. What does have to do with me is that they called my home.
Secondly, my sister didn't give out the number. She has mail coming
here and skip tracers the behind the scene people who work at
collection agency did their job and were able to get a number that
matched the address.

Just thought that I would give you more infor before someone post
something STUOID!!!

For one, she is not her sister, so she has no obligation or reason to
pay her sister's debt as some people suggested she do just to stop the
calls.
I had a nice lengthy run with a collections company who tried to
collect on an account that was current and forwarded to this 'partner'
company by mistake. I received calls morning, noon, and night and on
weekends. They are ruthless. When I told them it was a mistake the guy
told me repeatedly that I should settle anyways because then I would
not have to pay the full amount and could save money, regardless of
the fact that it was mistakenly sent to collections. Usually the reps
are calling from a private line outside of the company phone system
when they are really nasty. The best thing to do is let them know you
are recording the call as soon as they speak.
In Michigan it is legal to record without consent if you are one of
the 2 parties involved in the conversation and not a third party
listening in. When you tell them you are recording they will refuse to
talk and they will usually say they do not consent, but basically it
stops them from talking if your state has the same law. Plus you can
say anything you want to them so I say unload and get all of your
aggression out and have fun at the same time. I went through my
fantasy football lineup and asked the guy's advice one time and kept
him on the phone for about 20 minutes on a Saturday morning.
Other than that, they pretty much will call regardless. Caller ID is
cheap.

umm how about ur sister pays up the $$ and no more calls? wow what a
smart idea. FYI-if you don't have the money.. don't use the card. WoW
what another great idea!

So your sister happens to owe Target some money. What the big whoop?
It's no emergency in your house.But you demand to be greeted. Why is
that? I'm assuming Sister lives with you and you gave her permission
to use your phone number (I'm guessing because she does not have a
line of her own?)

Newsflash!!! Retrain your sister to pay her bills consistantly and on
time. Problem Solved.

I'd seriously consider re writing this letter if you expect any kind
of response.

Wait a minute. Did this rep say they were calling for Target? Usually
when you get a call from a collection office that means they have
already charged off the account and have sold it to a collection
agency and they no longer have anything to do with it.

Did this lady say she was called FROM Target or FOR Target? Because if
she was calling FOR Target then its a pretty good bet she doesnt work
FOR Target but for a seperate collections agency and this complaint
will fall on deaf ears.

Oh! So many news flashes!!! Breaking news!!!! I feel like I am
watching Fox News. LOL!

However, here is a few news flashes for you.

NEWS FLASH! You should learn how to answer the phone before you judge
how someone makes a phone call.

NEWS FLASH! It is perfectly acceptable for someone to ask for someone
they way this person did.

NEWS FLASH! If I was your mother and you hung up on me that would be
the last time you heard from me. This alone shows how greatly
disrespectful you are. If you would treat your own mother that way
imagine how much worse you are with people you dont know.

NEWS FLASH! Your phone manners are greatly lacking.


That said...NEWS FLASH! Tell your sister to pay her bills and then you
wont have any problems.

And finally...NEWS FLASH! Simply telling the person "She doesnt live
here, I dont know where she is or how to get in touch with her and
please do not call here again. Thank you and good bye." would have
been a MUCH better way to handle the situation.

It's a violation of the FDCPA for a secondary creditor (i.e. a
collection agency--the one who bought the debt or has been hired to
collect it for another entity) to reveal any information about the
debt to a third party. Such information includes the name of the
collection agency, the fact that a debt exisits or the name of the
debtor. Third parties include sisters, spouses, friends and so on.

While generic rudeness isn't a violation of the federal code,
identifying oneself as a debt collector to anyone but the debtor is.
So, a debt collector can't call and say "Hi, I'm Candy from XYZ
collection agency and I need to talk to your sister." That's why the
woman, rude though she is, cannot give you the information you would
like. Federal law trumps phone etiquette.

Debt collector's no no boundaries! They are rude, crude, and
obnoxious! They don't care if you aren't the person they want, they
will walk all over you to get to that person. That will not change -
EVER! Tell your sister not to give out your number if she plans on
being overdue in the future.

What phone number did you sister give to Target when she opened the
account? If it was your number, then they have every right to try to
contact her at that number. If not, then they are in violation of the
FDCRA (or something like that). It says they cannot call a relative
that does not live with the person who owes the money. If your sister
lives with you or used your phone number to open the account, they are
within their rights to call your number.

What does "proceeds to fix her lips" mean? The caller was probably
using some kind of auto dialer which is why you had to repeat your
hello twice. Telemarketers use these also. I hate them. I say hello
once and hang up. Sometimes I even say "here's how it works, I say
hello, you say hello, if you don't, I hang up"

Tell your sister to pay her bill. She really does not want it to go
to an outside collection agency. That's when the really nasty stuff
begins.

I can't say as I'm sympathetic simply because your sister does owe the
money.

However, I used to get calls from collecters on both my cell phone and
my home phone. (for different people, none of which I knew) Most of
the time once I told the collecter that I was not the person they were
trying to contact and didn't know that person, they would say ok and
hang up. I would continue to get at least 1 call a day though. Then
I received this call from a man who blew up when I told him that I
didn't know the person he was trying to reach. He said that it didn't
matter, they would just keep calling and keep calling until I paid. I
hung up on him and received 2 more phone calls that day from the same
company. They finally stopped calling when I got a nice woman on the
other end that was a manager. I threatened a law suit and she
understood.

Collecters are generally rude and demanding. Many of these collection
agencies depend upon debts being paid off by either the person owing
the debt or a person tired of being badgered who would rather pay off
the debt than be continually bothered. They will "buy" debt from
companies such as Target, and will continue to badger you until it is
paid.

Pay the debt or have your sister pay the debt. That is the only way
out of this situation and is the right thing to do in this case.

Tell your sister to PAY HER BILLS, or at least attempt to work out
something with the company, and to stop fraudulently placing your
phone number as a contact.
There is no law that says anyone has to be polite to a deadbeat who
is, obviously, avoiding collection calls.
Your sister's a grown up... perhaps she should do just that, grow up
and stop using her family to hide from her creditors.

Collectors are limited as to what they say when they call for someone.


First of all, you make the point that the phone is registered in your
name - that is not the problem of the collector, that is the problem
of your sister using it as a contact number.

Secondly, unless they are speaking directly with the debtor, most
collectors are not allowed to disclose the company they are calling
from and why they are calling. All they can say is "Please have her
call *name* at her earliest convenience."

I love people who get offended when they get calls because they (or
family members who have given their number) haven't paid their bill.
Why on earth would you feel that it's okay to not pay what you owe?
Or get offended when the company calls you to ask for that money?

I do collection calls for a pre-paid phone service, and if the bill
isn't paid 3 days after the due date, the phone is shut off. People
will call in screaming and yelling, and we are just to tell them "If
your phone is that important to you, then you need to make paying your
bill on time a priority."

We will grant extensions if requested, but most people don't call in
to let us know they'll be late, or answer the phone when we try to
make a courtesy call to set up a payment arrangement.

Seriously, that alone made my day.

But I would imagine that collection representatives are specifically
instructed not to give whoever picks up the phone a whole lot of
opportunity to deny that the debtor is there. Meaning not asking
questions like "Is she there?" and not giving you a lot of time to
think. Yes, they're annoying. For several months a collector was
convinced that I was hiding someone who owed somebody money in my
apartment. I'd never heard of the lady.

By the time a bill collector has started calling the relatives, I
think that politeness is probably going to be a little strained. But
if this is the first time they called your place, I agree that they
should at least pretend to start with the assumption that of course
you believe your sister should be paying her bills.

You seem to have had other experiences with other debt collectors (as
do I, so I'm not inferring that your credit is anything but perfect),
and as you haven't described those experiences it's hard to figure out
how to take your second paragraph. If you know of debt collectors who
have broken the law I hope that you reported them.

If she does, then, although the phone rep may have been a bit abrupt,
that is the way of collection agencies. No offense to anyone out
there who may work collections, but the ones I've known have been
abrupt and slightly rude. That's what happens when you (or in this
case, your sister) owe someone money.

If your sister does NOT live there, you can tell that to Target so
that they can remove you as a point of contact for her. They'll ask
if you know her new number; if you don't, and insist you have no way
of contacting her, they HAVE to take you off their call list. And if
they continue to call, you can take it up with the FCC, and they'll
send a cease-and-desist letter to Target. I know the FCC thikng
works, because this summer, I was getting harassed by a creditor
trying to reach my ex-husband (I haven't seen him in over 6 years, and
have since remarried, but the collections rep was from India and it
was like talking to a brick wall). The FCC took care of the whole
thing, and the calls stopped.

One does not "lose it" polietly....this just doesn't happen. Some of
us think it is "rude and arrogant" not to pay your bills on time. I'm
sure whatever your sister bought and target and didn't pay for wasn't
an emergency, unless they provide medical care at your local target.
You should be made at your sister for not paying her bills and using
your phone number.....that would bug the crap out of me.

Big deal.

Collections agencies don't concern themselves with customer service.
Their job is to get the money owed to the company that hired them. I
doubt Target will have a problem with their phone etiquette - they
want the money your sister owes them. Shame you had to be dragged into
it though.