I am not surprised. When I was in debt 5 years ago I went through some pretty horrible phone calls. I had to get my number changed it got so bad. They called my boss & co-workers and continually harrassed me at my office and at home.

I was a collections agent in a doctors office. The hardest thing was to hound patients for money I knew they likely did not have, especially if they suffered from cancer or something worse. I never knowingly broke the law, but the doctors were very adament that they wanted their money. I was forced to pass on their threats and was encouraged to intimidate them...anything to get money. At the end of the day, I didn't sleep well at night, and finally quit.
Many of these debt collectors are unhappy in their own lives and this is a way to pass on their misery to others less fortunate than themselves...and get paid for it. Thing is, karma has a way of catching up...one day they could be the ones getting the call. They never know.

Most agencies do not break the law. It is unfortunate that there are some collectors and some agencies out there that do break the law but most of the ones that have been around a while do comply with collectoin laws. To continue to call somebody after they have said they dont have any money isnt harrassment and isnt wrong. Try to picture what the US economy would be like if everybody could legally stop paying their bills if they were in a tough spot. Why is all the publics anger and hatred focused on the debt collectors (who the majority of follow the laws) instead of the past due consumer who causes interest rates to increase?
The 66,627 complaints filed with the FTC represent less then 1% of the total calls and/or accounts handled by collection agencies so while it does seem a lot, it shows that the problem is not as rampant as some would like the populus to believe.

I have been in the collection industry for 18 years. I have worked for attorneys as well as collection agencies. While there are those in our industry as well as most other industries who exploit the system to their advantage, most collectors are carefully monitored. In addition, consumers are more educated, and technology is in their favor. It is unwise from a legal standpoint to break the law. It makes more sense to assist consumers in finding ways to resolve their issue and keep communication open between all involved parties. Nowadays people will just hang up on you if you are rude, as well they should. I have had a great amount of success in this business and have never been sued, and have never had a state complaint. A collector, no matter how "good" they are, is simply a liability to their employer if they are not compliant with the law.

I am suffering from a similar situation. I hounded on my job, at home and recently a neighbor gave a phone message from a creditor. I believe everyone goes thru this time in the life at least once, unfortunately it can't be helped, but what the creditor doesn't understand is we can give you what we don't have. Plain and simple.

When I had my daughter 21 years ago I could not pay the bills. I sent what I could and that was not good enough. I was harased for almost 6 months to the point of tears every time the colectors called me. they told me they would put me in jail and my new born would end up in foster care. they told my husband they would have the police there in the hour to arrest him. I changed my number and they stopped. About 2 years ago I had a bill that I was slow paying on and they started calling my house at all hours. I had learned that I can tell them to stop and send me paper bills and I would pay them as I could. I have called their bluffs ever since and they do not bother me any more.

A lot of debt collectors are in heavy debt themselves --- the job ads promise high commissions, and these folks need the money to get out of debt. So they sometimes cross the line.

What concerns me most is the potential for fraud. It's easy for someone to access your credit record, then call on a really old bill and offer you a settlement. These folks tend to get very abusive if you don't fall for the scam. If I didn't initiate the call, we have nothing to discuss.

I don't deal with collection agents, period. Call me once, you get the warning. Call me twice, I file a complaint. It's that simple.

My daughter won a lawsuit against a debt collector (attorneys from Dallas) who harassed her at work and threatened her with arrest. The abuse was horrible. Now, she has been waiting for over 7 months while they appeal. I am sure that by the time this whole thing is over, her $75,000 victory will have been eaten up by attorney's fees.

You have to be pretty low on the totem pole to even want a job making phone calls to collect debt on behalf of large corporations. I bet the debt level of some of these people is just as bad as those they are calling!

After two layoffs and near financial ruin, my wife got an abusive call from a collector. I was working interim in a metal shop. So, I got the 800 number from her and called it. When the grouchy, bossy lady answered, I put my cell phone down on a metal table and next to it I pounded my sheet-metal hammer 4 times. The sound was was ear-splitting! I had ear plugs in but I swore my ears were ringing after that. That was quite evil of me but it felt good to make someone else's ears ring because my wife was undeserving of that immature abusiveness. Oh, it is kindof fun also to play along with collectors. They call call up and try to "help" the debt get paid. "When I was cooking mac'n'cheese and hotdogs I got a call. The boy told me to eat hot dogs instead of steak to save money. I told him I was doing that before I was in debt because I couldn't afford steak then. After 15 mins. of getting nowhere and being near tears he reached his limit and said he didn't know how else to help me. I told him I never called him and asked for his help so I didn't really need it. Bottom line... I had no money and I wouldn't have it until I got a good job.

I, too, have been through the harassing phone calls with debt collectors. I think it is really a shame that our government, which seems to enjoy putting restrictions on our personal lives, can't seem to put a stop to this.

Well, let's look at the other side. There are countless people out there who don't think they are obligated to pay their bills. Most of the time it's not a question of ability, it's a question of these people deciding to spend their money on other things rather than paying their debts. I certainly don't agree with the tactics described in the story, but we do need to come up with a way to make people pay what they fairly owe. Too many people are squirming out of their debts these days.

I don't mind, I just laugh at them. I like to make fun of them, honestly they don't scare me. If there is a debt collector reading this I have some words for you, "Bring it on!"

I went through this hell twice. In both cases I had money owed to me and the companies insisted I owed them! I had to contact the attorney general's office to stop the harassment and recover what was rightfully mine. Companies are constanly under pressure to make money for their sharholders and wealthy executives. Its too bad innocent people have to make it happen for them.

Fact is, they can do nothing, except ruin your credit rating. There is no debtors prison here. I have had a few dealings with them, but most times, if I was courteous to them and expressed an interest in resolving it, they worked with me. If they played hardball, I immediately hung up, called back and asked for a supervisor. Bottom line, if they treat you like you would treat them, I have no problem cooperating if I actually owe the money. If they act like I'm some scumbag that needs my attitude adjusted, I let them know whose attitude is about to get adjusted.

You have to be a beggar for your meal ticket to get a job as a collector, and resort to these practices. The Internet offers many free templates of letters to send the companies, threatening them back basing your complaint on FTC legislation, and demanding to have them get off your case. USE THEM!

I received a letter from a collection agency that stated a $299 check was sent to me, and asked to return the letter with the appropriate box checked: a) I have received the check and cashed it; b) I have received the check and forwarded it to the doctor's office; c) I have received the check and have not cashed it or forwarded it; or d) I have not received the check. I then called the agency's 800 number and talked to 2 people there, called the insurance company and talked to 2 people there, and called the doctor's office and talked to the billing lady. The lady at the doctor's office was the only one who could confirm it was a legitimate letter, that people do in fact receive checks that are intended for the doctor's office, and most of the people who are honest about it are elderly. I couldn't believe insurance companies would send a patient a check and actually believe it would get to the doctor's office. In my case, no check was ever sent, and I said if I'd received one, I'd call the insurance company myself to get the details. I don't want a check intended for the doctor! Since that call I haven't heard from them again, so hopefully they found the check and paid the doctor.

My wife went through this about two years ago with a debt collector for Finacial Aid. They were very rude and were calling her everyday harrassing her, threatening her even being disrespectful and vulgar on the phone. Finally I told her enough was enough. We reported the collector and threatened them with legal action. By the end of whole ordeal they assigned another agent to my wifes case. I think they fired the other one, but regardless it was all uncalled for. Not everyone who has debts are just not trying to pay them, some are just not able to for whatever reason.

With the economy the way it is there are some that are honestly have trouble making ends meet. When it comes to paying house note or rent and food versus paying a bill, guess which gets paid. I give the collectors credit for their persistance but if you don't have it you don't have it. Calling everyday is not going to make the money come any faster with or without threats.

My son just had his bank account zeroed out by a bill collector. They did a "skip trace" and somehow found one of his brothers cell phone numbers and began harrassing him at all hours. The collector stated the number was put on the credit application-funny since the phone service was signed one year later than the credit app.

Due to holding payments until past due and all the extra charges the credit card company ran up the bill to a thousand dollars. When he stated he owe that amount and could not pay the reduced amount to clear the account the collector stated this "business is over" and hung up on my son. The next day the collector had found his bank account and cleaned it out.

Always question the information that the collector has been given. Often the information is incorrect and of course the collector isn't going to wonder about the verasity of the biller who is paying them for there services. The onus is on you and you have to prove that you don't owe anything. How come they aren't questioned!

Stop whining! Pay for the things you bought with the money you "borrowed" from creditors. If someone owed you money, you want it back!

You can't get whatever you want and then cry because you have to pay for it later! Not paying for stuff is called STEALING!

The ONLY exception is when someone incurs debt as the result of medical expenses. That is something that is beyond their control.

I too have been harrassed. There was a time that my husband was attending school full time and had a full time job, this puts anybody behind. This one company called, I told her that I would pay what I owed, I had to make payments. She insisted that I take out a loan to pay the monies in full. When I told her I could not, she said that I was a piece of trash that did not want to pay her bills. I lived in Wisconsin at the time. I retained an attorney, they took all my bills, went to court and appointed a trustee. If any collectors called they were in contempt of court and they would have been fined. I paid my debt off without any more confrontations from anyone.

To those who work in the collection industry; while in undergrad my main source of income was from collecting returned accounts from businesses...couple of things i have learned; most of the industry does not practice responsible collection procedures, there may be company wide SOPs that illustrate proper collection procedures but those are never practiced and rarely enforced. These companies are money making machines, if a $1500 defaulted debt has been bought by a company for .25 cent and a debtor pays only one hundred dollars on this debt, that company has made a tremendous profit. And when you pay your employees little over minimum wage plus a commission and or bonus that is probably contigent on unreasonable goals you add the two together and you get what has been presented here today. Also, those who say that debtors need to be held responsible for their debt, I don't think that responsiblity should be held in hands of a 9-5 collector or in my case a twenty year old undergrad who is trying to make as much money as possible. Most of these defaulted debts have been covered by insurance companies anyway...i mean the things i saw, collecting after 9:00, collecting on old debts that statues of limitations had ran out on and then marking the debt as new on a debtors credit report, calling more than once a day, calling and harrassing at debtors jobs...it is not by chance that this industry has exploded in recent years...i think we should be more concered about protecting those who owe and not the collectors...

I too was falsely accused - I was assigned a phone number by the phone company, but it had an uncollected debt associated with it. I was called by a debt collector in California who insulted me, swore at me, and harassed me. Even though I could prove I did not have the phone at that time, it did nothing. The attorney general of my state contacted the atrorney general of California and all was resolved. If this is happening to you, contact your state's attorney general's office. They are there to help - and thank goodness they are!

I've been there too. My debts were my own fault, I was irresponsible, and i recognize that. But many of the agencies acted reprehensibly. It was many years ago, before the internet and news programs really worked on educating consumers of their rights. Even though I was an adult, my father was called more than once and given details about my debts (completely illegal). The biggest thing was I didn't know where to turn to report such violations. I've since resolved my issues, but I'm glad I know my rights in case I ever face identity theft issues.

This is so sad I work at a collection agency for 15 years!!Never have we been sued!! My staff is not a bunch of losers as you are all talking about! My agency waived 18,000,000.00 in actual dollars for charity, katrina relif, war veterns and other over the last 5 years. We care about the people we collect from, this christmas alone we had over 100 debtors send us christmas cards thanking us for helping them out of their financial hardship by explaining and helping!!!
So when you all have services at hospitals, Doctors offices remember by not paying them you are keeping food out of the people you needed the help from in the first palce!!!!!

When my husband and I were eighteen we ran up almost fifteen thousand dollars in debt. Instead of filing for bankruptcy as many of our friends do at that age we have spent the last ten years slowly paying it off. I do remember phone calls from creditors that ended with me crying, phone calls at all hours of the day and night, and the fear that I had just to answer the phone. What was worse is we were paying them all off, just not as they wanted. We are down to only one account that is still in collections. It is from 1997 and we only just started receiving collections on it ten years later! I had to do some serious searching to even find an old bill stating it was an account of ours because we didn't remember it and it has never shown on our credit report. This creditor demanded full payment and refused to do a payment plan. I now just ignore the phone calls and the letters in the mail. I do understand that these debts are my problem and that I made the mistake, that is why I paid them all and did not file for bankruptcy but the collection agencies are not willing to work with people. Why would they refuse a payment plan seven months ago of $100 dollars a month which would have paid the debt by now instead of harrassing me for seven months and getting nothing?

I keep getting calls from debt collectors for people who have had my phone number previously. I have had my number changed twice, but I just get someone else. The callers refuse to identify who they work for and insist that I am covering for the person they are looking for. How do I stop this?

As a business owner, it is amazing how many people try to avoid paying any bills they may have created. Some people will claim to have a shortage of funds and are not able to pay off any of their bill...yet these same people routinely spend between $5-$10 per day on cigarettes. Over the course of a month, this adds up to $150-$300 / month. Apply this amount towards your debts and you can get rid of the bill collectors calling you. Granted this is not everyone, but it is a disturbing trend that I am noticing.

I also disagree to the poster who feels the only exception to paying your bills are when a medical condition occurs as it is outside of your control. Ultimately are clinics and hospitals not businesses? Are the employees of these facilities not entitled to their earned wages..and do the clinics responsible for their own bills (electric, water, liability insurance etc...)? The answer is YES and therefore even your bills to medical clinics should not be blown off. If services were rendered and billed appropriately than you should be responsible for paying whatever is your legal obligation.

I had a debt collector set me up on a payment plan some years ago, only to get a threatening phone call 3 days later (after I'd already sent them $350,) stating that if I didn't pay the balance in full, I would be prosecuted. I had to go over MANY heads to get this straightened out.
According to Anderson (stated above); "A debt collector is not the enemy of the consumer. His or her job is to help find a solution and help the person figure out a way to pay the debt." My response (considering my experience); "SuuuUUUuuuUUUre." *note sarcasm*

You can file a written demand that the phone calls stop and they have to leave you alone.

If you think there is no debtor's prison in this country, you have not been paying attention. In December of 2006, the United States Supreme Court ruled in the Lee v. Spellings case that the various collection arms of the United States Government have the right to administratively take a person's social security benefits which are over the first $750. a month, no matter whether the person filed to have old school loans discharged or not because the person has become 100% permanently disabled.
With Social Security increasing at maybe 4% a year, and interest being added onto the old school loans at as high as 18%, it places the 100% permanently disabled person into a financial debtor's prison for the remainder of their life from which they can never escape. Do you want to know what the collection agent supervisor said to my attorney when asked when they were going to grant the administrative discharge due to documented 100% permanent disability (after they had signed for and received the 5th set of medical documentation and request forms)? The collection agent supervisor said, "We don't have to approve it. We are the United States Government!" And you know what? The CFR states that once a collection agent supervisor has made a determination, there is no appeal allowed.

My brother-in-law put our number down and we are being hounded by the Rent-To-Own people when he (brother-in-law) falls behind in his payments. We've told them that we do not have his phone number and to stop calling but they continue calling every day until they get some type of payment from him.

I am so tired of Pentagroup Financial LLC (Houston, TX) calling me in regards to my deadbeat ex-husband who I divorced 12 years ago. He has never lived where I live, and he has never been associated with my current phone number. I have told them 3 times to STOP calling me, I do not know where he is. They don't listen. Every two month...message on my answering machine because they use Skip Trace.

Unfortunately our country hasn't learned from past mistakes and continues to thrive on debt. Credit card companies and collectors, reputable or otherwise, wouldn't exist if we would all learn to live within our means. Collectors are a symptom of the disease but the cause of the disease is our own fault.

DONT WANT THE DEBT COLLECTOR TO CALL???????? PAY YOUR BILLS!!!!

If people would just live within their means and not live paycheck to paycheck and on their credit cards you wouldn't see so many of these stories. My ex-husband and his family were and are the worst about this. They spend every dime in their paychecks and then continue to spend on their credit cards. Some months, they have to skip paying one batch of bills to pay the other. This used to drive me insane! He would hide bills because it was his way of making them disappear -- if he doesn't see it, it doesn't exist. We need to bring back the proper punishments for deadbeats like this. People need to learn to plan for what they need and pay cash instead of using credit. When you do use credit, pay your bills don't pass the buck. No pun intended.

I had the same issue with a loan on my vehicle. I had a bad couple of months, missed one payment and was close to the next month's payment due date. I had been working with someone at my loan company and she was very nice, trying to work with me. Next thing I know, another lady calls and was VERY rude, demanding, and threatening. I told her I had just received some money and she demanded I tell her where I was getting the money from for the payment she demanded that very day. I told her it was none of her business where I got the money (besides my place of employment), but she insisted it was her right. She then threatend me by saying that if she had to pull my file the next day for non-payment, "you will regret it." I asked her if she was threatening me, and she said yes! I thank the god(s) I had received that check or I might have lost my vehicle. I have never been so upset in my life.

Because our son used us as a credit reference, we have been getting harrassing calls from a credit agency that calls themselves UBC. They call every day, some days they use a recording and other days they have a person calling. I informed them that our son no longer lives at our address and we are no longer legally responsible for him. They accused me of hiding him, told me that I "groomed" him to irresponsible. I asked that they remove my number from their records but they refuse do that. They have threatened that they will appear at his work place and will confiscate his car or other possessions. I can't even answer my phone. It's an abosulte nightmare to live in fear in your own home.

In 1999, I got a call from a cell phone company asking me to get service from them. I said no about a dozen times, then gently hung up. The next week, I got another call from the same company, and the next week and the next week. I finally agreed to let them send me literature on the product and service, but two days later I got a package through UPS, containing a cell phone and a contract. The letter attached to the box said that if I wished to cancel the contract, I should use the phone to call *39 or something like that. I followed the instructions and was told by the CSR that because I used the phone (I only made the one call to the company's CS department), I could not cancel the contract. I started getting bills for hundreds of dollars worth of calls every month. It took seven months to finally get things straightened out. I got a statement with a zero balance. Then the collection agency started calling, trying to get me to pay for service I hadn't ordered and never used. I thought, cool, they'll help me get this finished once and for all, but they didn't even try to help, they only wanted me to pay the hundreds of dollars they claimed I owed. They called, they threatened to call my employer, they threatened to take my house away, they even threatened to interfere with an adoption process I was starting. It ended up being on my credit rating, not from the cell company, but from the collection agency. The cell company reported my account closed with a zero balance in good standing. If the rest of my credit report hadn't been spotless, I would not have been able to buy a car when I needed one because of this collection agency!

Some collectors are saints. For 30 years I have wanted to thank a gentleman named Willy, a collector from St. Louis, who took a big brother approach to helping me get caught up on credit card debt ("Come on, you can do it."). The thing is, I spent the money and I had to pay it back. I was broke but little by little, with coaching from Willy, I fixed it. So Willy, wherever you are, thanks. You turned my life around.

I feel for people who cannot pay bills due to illness or health issues but as for the rest, don't buy what you can't pay for and stop whining about having to pay for something you owe. What a bunch of losers!

It is useful to remember that collection agencies are part of an INDUSTRY.

INDUSTRIES are made up of corporations, and the like, and their motive is PROFIT.

It is my theory-I could be wrong-that many of these "Collection Agencies" are tied together in a web of sorts.

One agency issues a notice of a bad "debt", one that might well have been paid and as soon as the alleged debtor pays this bogus debt their name gets "sold" to the next "agency".

And around and around it goes.

Since the sale is often for pennies to the dollar the PROFIT is HUGE, leaving many unscrupulous "agencies" a very BIG MOTIVE to be less than honest in their pursuit of the American Dream, while depriving others of theirs.

I have had trouble with collectors and filed complaints with the FTC.

I have never had any response or any mediation by our FTC.

to stop this the FTC has to be willing to prosecute,

If you threaten to file a complaint with collectors for their abuse, the collectors do not care because they know the FTC are a bunch of people who take 1 break a day (ALL DAY)

I worked for a collection agency for 8 years. while some of the collectors used methods that were less than ideal and the corporation turned its head, the vast majority of the people on the collection floor were just trying to do their jobs.

Do you folks who are laughing at debt collectors and claiming they are going to hell have credit cards? Do you have a mortgage? What a crock that people think they can borrow money and not pay it back because things get a little bumpy.

I recall seeing credit bureau reports where people have luxury cars, houses in gated communities, and managed to pay some of their debts quite regularly. These are the same people who scoffed when a collector would suggest they cut off their cable and send us that $40 a month.

Make reasonable arrangements to pay the bill and you won't have to deal with debt collectors at all.

There is two major differences with the FDCPA.
1)The FDCPA only requires to monitor 3rd party collectors.
2)If you are contacted by the original creditor they do NOT have to abide by the FDCPA.
If the FDCPA was required by law include the original creditors and their employed collectors then many of these abuses would drastically decline. Maybe its time the FDCPA should have them included with the law.
Thank you,
Susieq
Debt counsler
ACA Ceritified

In less then 2 years, I have had a financial disaster after several traumatic occurrences including my brother getting killed by a drunk driver, my husband was out of work due to medical illness and surgery for over one year and my mother had a stroke, who I have had to care for. I had many disturbing collection calls; finally, I turned the table and started questioning the collectors calling. I would not answer any questions unless they gave me their full name, their phone number, their address, etc. They of course refused to do so and got very irritated with me. I attempted to get correct information to notify them not to contact me any other way then by mail and they refused to give me this information in many cases. I have filed Chapter 13 and I have had to complain to the trustee on a few of the collectors, which one the trustee threw out that I didn't have to pay because of the abuse. Stick up for yourself; most of us are honest people that want to do the right thing, but have just had some bad circumstances.

I had a horrible problem with debt collectors and then I enrolled in a consumer credit management program. It costs me $50 per month but it is worth it because I was having a really hard time rounding up all of my debts and arguing with the creditors was making me exhausted. I can pay it off early with no penalty. I am just happy that I am able to pay for all the stuff that I bought whether I needed it or not. Especially rent and bills.

If credit card companies didn't go to the trouble to set up shop in states that have unlimited interest rates I would give them the benefit of the doubt. This country is founded and run on credit but not loan sharks that force people into a downward spiral that should be criminal. That's why there IS such a law as usury laws, not to charge 33% + and incrementally increasing.

I guess I should comment again, as I actually didn't read the original article correctly. I think that people should pay their debts, but I also really do believe that 20/20 is doing a good job here in showing the world exactly what bad debt collectors are doing, and how they are doing it wrong. I apologive for my last comment and its ignorance.

I worked in a big auto company's collections dept. for 2 years. Calls are randomly monitored and if your caught doing something illegal you are walked out of the building on the spot. People still use questionable tactics though, such as calling too much. Fact is, when I talked to people in debt I tried to help the best I could, but so many times I just got attitude from the people I called. A good percentage, though not the majority, just felt they didnt owe my company anything as if vehicles are free these days. There was never one person I didnt exhaust all options to try and help if I thought they were doing all they could too, but when people give you the 'I dont care' attitude and act like they can be foolish with their money and do not have to pay back a dime of the thousands a lender gave them, thats when I became less likely to offer them more help and just kept calling no matter how much they didnt like it. And trust me, it was too easy to be able to tell apart the people that cared and those who didnt.

The whole industry can be unfair. My son is named after his father. My son lives with me. I live in RI and my ex lives in PA. We have been seperated since Jan 2000, divorced since April 2002 and he has NEVER lived in RI and yet they have cross referenced him to me on my credit report. And of course I have to prove he has been remarried since 2002 and lived with her since 2000. I have to prove that I am not responsible for his debt. I have creditors calling me every 3rd day for HIS bills and they just won't listen to reason that he doesn't live in my house, or in the state. None of my bills are late or in collection but yet my credit score is suffering because of HIM.

So it seems not everyone knows the importance of dept collections. In a part to a dept people make the promise to pay that dept. When we don’t pay they want there money its simple so would anyone else in there right mind. Thus without dept collections, banks would keep losing money and not give loans. Who has to pay for it? The answer is everyone is paying for the next person’s dept in jacked up interest rates. Be responsible if you cant pay don’t spend it.

Irrespective of some of the biased industry employed, collectors are malicious law-breakers, and everyone who has had a debt knows it! They continually hound you, often illegally calling more than the law allows, adding their payment to your debt! And to add insult to injury, they are often collecting for "Banks" who are charging their consumers 30% interest. Making the monthly payment will insure that you pay for the rest of your life! They are all crooks!

I too have had issues with debt collectors, especially one who has been investigated in several states for accessing old charged off debts and trying to collect from folks using intimidation and threats. I hope your piece explains to people that under the Fair Debt Collection practices Act, all they have to do to stop the telephone and other harassment is write a letter to the collection agency.

Also, I have had problems with a few debts, and now have a second job, but I really want to pay off what I owe. However, I have come across a few collectors who refuse to accept small amounts like $50 per month - they want huge payments, or offer a settlement for a large amount, also more than I can pay at one time. I find this also to be somewhat repulsive - I make an effort to pay off what I owe, and they refuse to accept the payment. I decided to by pass the debt collector nad go back to the original creditor, who was more than happy to accept a payment arrangement. People may not know that this is an option also.

I think that debt collectors are just by nature "rude", they want their money and they don't care about our "excuses" they want the money now... I get that they are doing their jobs, but we as "debtors" have feelings too!!!!! Why do you think so many people don't answer the phone when they see it is collector????

I've had experiences with both good and bad collection agencies when I was younger. The best from from a major charge card company whose people treated me with respect and drew up a plan I could afford. After a while, talking them for updates was actually pleasurable. The worst did many of the tactics that others have mentioned here. I'm savvy with the law so none of that scared me, but I was most resistant to paying the people who treated me badly. But sometimes the collection problem is with the original lender. Years ago after my wife and I got married we spent three years paying down all of our debts, most of which were student loans. After that was done, a year later we received word from our college that there was one loan left that had escaped attention and that we were being referred to collection. This was a curious situation since the loan had been out there for over fifteen years and I'd never gotten a notice for it at all. My old school also knew where I was all that time since my correct address information was always at the alumni office. So upon notice from the collection agency, I went back to my school and said, "Hey, I don't know how this slipped off the radar screen, but I'm willing to pay the amount of the loan in full immediately. Just call off the collection agency and I'll even throw in a fair interest rate for this being late for your trouble." They said they would think about it. Three days later the collection agengy called again, sealing the fate of my decision. I negotiated a settlement with them, and then my wife and I called our school back and said we would never contribute a dime to them after being treated this way. To this day, we've both turned down all requests for giving to our alma mater, giving the reason why every time. No one from our school has even bothered to contact us about the incident, which is stupid since I'm in the prime earning point in my life. Unbelieveable.

Are you kidding me? Debt collectors are good for the economy. I have worked at my current job which is a collection agency for the past 12 years. We operate ethically. We do not "harrass" DEBTORS on the job. We call and ask them to pay for services they RECEIVED! And maybe if the debtor responded to the numerous bills that were sent to their address we wouldn't have to call at all. Or better yet actually paid or made arrangements to pay the outstanding debt so it wouldn't come to collections. Isn't it interesting how some make it a priority to pay the electric bill so it doesn't get shut off, but could care less about paying a hospital that saved our loved ones life. Isn't it called stealing when you don't pay for something you received?

I only 21, and it makes me feel so much better knowing that I'm not the only one going through this. I'm don't have as much debt as most young adults. And most of them are students loans. But I've always felt like I was the only one getting calls from collectors. Thanks.

The best thing to do if you don't want to be harrassed by creditors is to pay your bills, on time and in full. I understand things like medical debts get out of hand quickly, but if you call the hospital or doctor they will usually try to work something out with you. They don't want to harrass you, they just want to be paid for the rendered services or products.

Too many people in this country buy things they can't really afford and then whine about how they can't afford to make payments. Then the govt rewards them by giving them food stamps and other assistance. How about NOT buying a new car every 2 years, NOT buying a camper you'll use twice and forget about or NOT buying that motorcycle, boat or fancy vacation?

We are all responsible for ourselves and our finances. What we need to do is educate our children and ourselves on the importance of priorities and paying cash.

I have had debt collectors call me saying they are friends on my neighbors and want me to deliver a message to them. I also have them calling trying to find my brother-in-law's mother. I have zero ties! I don't get it. Stop harassing me!

I worked collections for nearly 5 years and both companies were very strict in us staying within the legal limits of the FDCPA - I worked with anything from past due medical bills to cell phones to taxes. I can guarantee you 99% of all bill collectors stay within the limits of the law - try to work with "debtors" and either find solutions, make payment plans, get settlements from their client etc. If people paid their bills there would be no debt collectors, if people did not refuse to pay there would be no "harassing" phone calls. Define harassment...collectors have a job to do, unpleasant as it might be, if the debtor refuses to pay then calling every day is perfectly OK in my book, it is just an embarrassing reminder to the debtor that they do OWE a bill and it needs to get paid. If you as a person go into debt then find a way to pay it, don't call the collector every name in the book in whatever language you feel like. My command of the English language (and 5 others) is fairly decent, I was called things I have never even heard of and certainly did not want or need a translation of it! There are no excuses for not paying your bill, you incur it - so you should pay it! The "I ain't got it, I ain't paying it" is not an option!
To bad collection agencies can't tape and play on national TV all of the stalling, lying, cursing, threatening conversations they have to listen to on a daily basis. When the scores of good and compliant collectors are doing nothing more than trying to retain payment for jobs well done, services rendered, lives and limbs saved, homes repaired...etc. etc. It's scary to think if people would simply pay the clients for these services-then collectors would be out of a job.

A little different twist.

I have been bombarded with phone messages from collectors looking for someone that apparently had my phone number previous to it being issued to me. The most annoying part of it is that it is usually a recording and there is no 'real' person on the line. All you can do is call back the number they leave and demand they cease the calls. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Very annoying.

I have been harassed by a collection agency since September 06 for a doctor's bill that the doctor did not bother to bill me for over 2 years for. I have spoken with my insurance and they have told me that he broke his contract with them and me by not billing either of us within the year of service and therefore neither of use or obligated to pay him and that he will have to write this off. The doctor refused to accepted this an called in his "hounds" to harass me. I have tried to tell this agency what my insurance has told me and they have called me a "liar". I have tried telling them that he did not bother to bill me for this until 2 years had past because according to his office "they had a computer error and I was not billed at time of service" and they have called me a "liar" about this. I have asked several times for them to stop calling but they won't. Now when they call I just hang up the phone.
No one should accept the abuse some of these collectors put out.