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From: Nomen Nescio on 20 Feb 2007 20:00
I am receiving non-stop calls from a debt collector. The calls are coming
from a company called "Portfolio Recovery Associates" (the number in the
caller-id reverses to them in a Google search). The calls are all automated
recorded calls. They don't identify who they are or who they want to talk
to. All they say is to call them back and it's for debt collection
purposes. Here is the actual text of the message they leave on the
answering machine:

"Please return my call at 1-800-860-0644 at your earliest convenience.
Again, the number is 1-800-860-0644. This communication will be with a
debt collector in an attempt to collect a debt. Any information obtained
will be used for that purpose."

I started getting these calls almost immediately 6 years ago when I moved
and got this new telephone number. Back then the debt collector calls were
being placed by live people. They would leave threatening messages on my
answering machine for somebody I never heard of. Finally I answered one of
the calls and told the guy the person he wanted to speak to wasn't
available at this number. The calls stopped for three years. But now I
suspect the debt was sold to this "Portfolio Recovery Associates" and
they're going after the guy based on the only info they have, which is a
very old telephone number which is now assigned to me. As a safety check,
I've run my credit reports and even scanned for my name on the county
superior court case info website, just to make sure something funny isn't
happening with my credit or I'm getting sued. Everything comes up clean, I
don't owe anybody money.

Why the debt collector wouldn't first try to verify the validity of a 6
year old telephone number before placing over 35 automated calls to such a
number, but such is not the case. There needs to be a law and protection
against such abuse. Is there anybody I can report these calls to? I've
scanned other forums and this seems to be a growing problem, nobody has any
real solution. If anything, I'm hoping that this post will shine a bad
light on a collection company that doesn't seem to care they are bothering
people with what constitutes crank calls.

Here's some more info on the company. Now I know it's a total lie!

"If a collector is unable to establish contact with a consumer based on

information received, the collector must undertake skip tracing procedures
to

develop important account information. Skip tracing is the process of

developing new phone, address, job or asset information on a consumer, or

verifying the accuracy of such information. Each collector does his or her


own skip tracing using a number of computer applications available at his
or

her workstation, as well as a series of automated skip tracing procedures

implemented by the Company on a regular basis."

Obviously they don't do any of this, they just call the same old number for
months at a time, sometimes 3 times a day, 10 times a week, there is zero
attempt at "skip tracing." And look how much these guys make!

Steven D. Fredrickson > Co-Founder, Chairman of the Board, President, Chief
Executive Officer
Officer Since: 03/1996
Age: 46
Total Annual Compensation Fiscal Year Total $1,003,400

Kevin P. Stevenson > Co-Founder, Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice
President, Chief Administrative Officer, Treasurer
Age: 41
Total Annual Compensation Fiscal Year Total $673,400

Judith S. Scott > Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Secretary
Age: 60
Total Annual Compensation Fiscal Year Total $293,400

Craig A. Grube > Executive Vice President-Acquisitions
Age: 45
Total Annual Compensation Fiscal Year Total $673,400

From: Geoff Miller on 21 Feb 2007 11:38


[calls from debt collectors]

> Finally I answered one of the calls and told the guy the
> person he wanted to speak to wasn't available at this
> number.


I had a similar experience years ago, after moving and being
assigned a new phone number. I came home from work one day to
find a message on my answering machine in an officious-sounding
woman's voice asking for someone I'd never heard of.

She left a callback number, and so hoping to nip the situation in
the bud and avoid an endless series of these messages (she wasn't
the first person who'd called asking for this guy), I called her
back to let her know that the phone number she'd called had been
reassigned.

When I said who I was and summarized the situation, the tone of
the woman's voice completely changed. She became threatening,
almost belligerent, and all but accused me of either actually
being the person she was trying to reach, or answering the phone
at his behest. Then she tried to intimidate me by saying that
this was a "government matter." Yeah, right, lady. And you can
plant a big, wet, sloppy one right square on my left asscheek.



Geoff

--
"In the history of the nation, there has never been a political
party so ridiculous as today's Democrats. It's as if all the
brain-damaged people in America got together and formed a voting
bloc." -- Ann Coulter
From: Nomen Nescio on 21 Feb 2007 14:00
On Wed, 21 Feb 2007 16:38:51 -0000, geoffm(a)lava.net (Geoff Miller) wrote:

>When I said who I was and summarized the situation, the tone of
>the woman's voice completely changed. She became threatening,
>almost belligerent, and all but accused me of either actually
>being the person she was trying to reach, or answering the phone
>at his behest. Then she tried to intimidate me by saying that
>this was a "government matter."

Against my better judgment but to get the calls to stop, I called them
back. Here's how the conversation went:

Me: "Hi, you've been leaving automated messages on my answering machine
since last year. Who do you want to speak to?"

Them: "You of course. Please tell us your name and telephone number so I
can bring up your account on our computer."

Me: I give her my telephone number but refuse to give her my name.

Them: "If you don't give me your name I can't help you and the automated
calls will continue. Only when you give me your name can I verify the data
in our records."

Me: "You don't need my name. I am asking you again, who is it that you
want to talk to?"

Them: "You jews are all alike, you think you can take other people's money
and then you don't have to repay. If you don't pay the amount you owe we
will take this matter to the next level. What is your social security
number?"

I hang up on her. See, they aren't human or even civilized. She wouldn't
tell me who she was trying to collect the debt from and then she uses an
anti-semitic word. Again, they are calling the wrong number but are
unwilling to find out the correct number and location of the person they
are trying to locate. So much for their "skip tracing" procedures.

From: Gary Walker on 21 Feb 2007 15:04

"Nomen Nescio" <nobody(a)dizum.com> wrote in message
news:59f7378b5ac35df96b559f338ed661e3(a)dizum.com...
> On Wed, 21 Feb 2007 16:38:51 -0000, geoffm(a)lava.net (Geoff Miller) wrote:
>
>>When I said who I was and summarized the situation, the tone of
>>the woman's voice completely changed. She became threatening,
>>almost belligerent, and all but accused me of either actually
>>being the person she was trying to reach, or answering the phone
>>at his behest. Then she tried to intimidate me by saying that
>>this was a "government matter."
>
> Against my better judgment but to get the calls to stop, I called them
> back. Here's how the conversation went:
>
> Me: "Hi, you've been leaving automated messages on my answering machine
> since last year. Who do you want to speak to?"
>
> Them: "You of course. Please tell us your name and telephone number so I
> can bring up your account on our computer."
>
> Me: I give her my telephone number but refuse to give her my name.
>
> Them: "If you don't give me your name I can't help you and the automated
> calls will continue. Only when you give me your name can I verify the data
> in our records."
>
> Me: "You don't need my name. I am asking you again, who is it that you
> want to talk to?"
>
> Them: "You jews are all alike, you think you can take other people's
> money
> and then you don't have to repay. If you don't pay the amount you owe we
> will take this matter to the next level. What is your social security
> number?"
>




That's rich.... Just what information makes them believe
you are Jewish? Is the person they're tracking Jewish?




> I hang up on her. See, they aren't human or even civilized. She wouldn't
> tell me who she was trying to collect the debt from and then she uses an
> anti-semitic word. Again, they are calling the wrong number but are
> unwilling to find out the correct number and location of the person they
> are trying to locate. So much for their "skip tracing" procedures.
>



I don't understand why you continue to endure this. It'd
be one thing if you were just dodging their collection
attempts but, you're not even the "perp" they're looking
for. You don't disclose your locale, but unless you're
enjoying this entertainment, this is what I'd do.

1). Get a phone recorder.
2). The next call, stop their dialog before it starts, and
inform them that the call is being recorded.
3). Recite the pertinent passages of:
http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm
to these clowns, and inform them they will be liable
for civil penalities. Specifically....
A debt collector may not engage in any conduct the natural consequence of
which is to harass, oppress, or abuse any person in connection with the
collection of a debt. Without limiting the general application of the
foregoing, the following conduct is a violation of this section:

(1) The use or threat of use of violence or other criminal means to harm
the physical person, reputation, or property of any person.

(2) The use of obscene or profane language or language the natural
consequence of which is to abuse the hearer or reader.

(3) The publication of a list of consumers who allegedly refuse to pay
debts, except to a consumer reporting agency or to persons meeting the
requirements of section 603(f) or 604(3)1 of this Act.

(4) The advertisement for sale of any debt to coerce payment of the debt.

(5) Causing a telephone to ring or engaging any person in telephone
conversation repeatedly or continuously with intent to annoy, abuse, or
harass any person at the called number.

(6) Except as provided in section 804, the placement of telephone calls
without meaningful disclosure of the caller's identity.


They'll not call back.




From: Geoff Miller on 23 Feb 2007 15:41


BeaForoni <BeaForoni(a)msn.com> writes:

> I've had this problem also. I just pretended to break down and cry,
> telling them the person they asked for had recently died in a tragic
> car accident. I layed it on thick with gory details and included most
> of the family except three year old Tiffany who lay in a coma as we
> spoke. The calls stopped.


One afternoon after having a couple of beers, I decided to have
a little fun and get creative with the next telemarketer who
called me. This was about a decade ago, before the federal "do
not call" list was so much as a bulge in the legislative Levis,
and when annoying sales calls were at their infuriating peak.

I remember that it was also at around the time when either Dear
Abby or Ann Landers caused a stir by giving her approval to a
reader's suggestion of keeping a coach's whistle next to the
phone to use on these vermin. "B-but you'll blow their eardrums
out!", people protested, not realizing that phones don't have
nearly that sort of frequency range.

<Ring!>

Me: "Hello?"

Telemarketress: "Hi, I'm <so-and-so> with <FooCo>, and I--"

Me (interrupting): "I have *cancer!*" <pause> "Why can't you
people let me die in peace?" <blubbering>
"Dear *God,* why can't you people just let
me die in peace?!"

Telemarketress: <silence>

Then I hung up.

The two friends I was with were looking at me saucer-eyed, in
stunned silence (I'd taken the call on the living room phone).

"That," I explained, "is how to deal with telemarketers!"

I bet that woman not only didn't make any more sales calls that
day, but probably tore off her headset and ran screaming from
whatever "boiler room" she'd been working in.

Heh...



Geoff

--
"Environmentalists are amazing in their consistent ability
to be wrong on everything." -- Gary M. Hetrick

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